What I’ve read lately: The Most Notable

Since January, when I shared my favorite reads of 2021, I’ve been thinking about how I want to tackle sharing books with you all this year. In the past, I’ve compiled monthly or quarterly book reports, reporting on every single title I had read. I would share my 5-star reads right along with those I struggled to get through and those I really wanted to like but just didn’t. And as much as I find it helpful to read negative reviews when I’m choosing my next book, I don’t love writing them myself. So this year, rather than sharing my thoughts on every single title I’ve read, I’m only going to chat about the ones I really enjoyed. I just find it abundantly more fun to write about all the reasons I really liked a story! I would much rather make recommendations on what TO read rather than tell you what not to read. 😉 And so my plan this year is to share What I’ve Read Lately here on the blog on the last Wednesday of every month and recap all of the books I think you’ll love! So, here we go!

Wish You Were Here – Jodi Piccoult

This is the first fiction novel I’ve read about the pandemic. And I wasn’t sure I was ready for fiction involving covid, but I was surprisingly glued to these pages right from the start.

Diana O’Toole is an almost thirty-year-old woman living in New York City working towards making all her big life plans a reality. She has her whole life mapped out, and she’s well on her way. With a romantic dream vacation to the Galapagos planned with her adoring surgical resident boyfriend, she’s excitedly expecting a proposal. But the Coronavirus has just appeared and …….

This story takes you on quite the journey with a very unexpected twist. And somehow this fictional story about the virus that changed our whole world felt a little cathartic, and I found the ending real and hopeful. – 4 stars

*Netflix bought the rights to this story!

White Bird – R.J. Palacio

This is actually a graphic novel, but I listened to it on Audible during my drive down to Disney in January and absolutely loved it! The audio version is so well done!

A Jewish grandmother, Grandmere, tells her grandson, Julian, about how she was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II. when a classmate, a boy she and her classmates once ignored and excluded, became her hero and best friend.

It’s a powerful story of courage and kindness. It’s a short read/listen, and I promise you’ll want to check it out before the movie starring Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson is released! – 5 stars

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey

On October 5, 2017, the New York Times published an article by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, breaking the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment story, and thereby albeit unintentional, igniting the #metoo movement. In She Said, the two Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters, tell their story of what it took to get this article published, describing in detail the journeys of the women who chose to speak up and share their truth.

This nonfiction book really focuses on their investigative process and the lengths that they went to break this story. Bringing readers along as they share what it was like in real-time gathering so many womens’ stories – from actresses to former employees. As the mom of a teenage daughter who is thinking she might like to explore journalism as a career, I found this book insightful and fascinating. As a woman, it’s hard to put my feelings into words. This article was the first domino in a movement that has begun to tip the power scale, so getting a behind-the-scenes look at what all went into the process of breaking this story was eye-opening and inspiring. – 4 stars

*The She Said movie is set to be released in November of this year.

Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zanner

This memoir is heartbreakingly beautiful, honest, and hopeful.

Michelle Zanner writes about growing up as a Korean American, losing her mother, and finding herself. Writing about family, food, loss, and love, her writing is self-deprecating and vulnerable. At the heart of it, Crying In H Mart is a grief story that honors the roller coaster ride that is often the mother-daughter relationship during the angsty teenage years and the personal reckoning that often comes later in life when you realize your mom was actually right about a lot of things. This beautiful story of love and loss left me feeling extra grateful for the way that food can be so much more than something to eat. – 5 stars

The Giver of Stars – Jojo Moyes

This historical fiction novel has been on my to-read list for quite a while, and I’m so glad I finally read it! Jojo Moyes is a favorite of mine, and I also very much enjoy historical fiction that centers on womens’ stories.

Set in the mountains of Kentucky, this depression-era story is about the Packhorse Librarians, a team of women called upon to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library. The terrain is tough and everyone in the community isn’t a fan of this new found traveling library venture, but the 5 women of the Packhorse Library are determined to bring books to the women and children in the surrounding areas many of which have never before had access to books.

Jojo Moyes is a masterful storyteller, and I found this story of friendship and love to be heartwarming and unforgettable. – 5 stars

*This is also set to be a movie although I’ve not found any information online about a possible release date.

My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress – Rachel DeLoache Williams

In all honesty, this book would never have been on my radar if I hadn’t watched the Netflix series, Inventing Anna. But after watching that limited series which was based on the true story of Rachel Sorokin aka Delvey, a young woman who pretended to be a German heiress to defraud banks, hotels, and acquaintances, I had to read, her “friend”, Rachel’s side of the story.

And I’m glad I did because the series doesn’t exactly paint Rachel DeLoache Williams in the best light. So hearing ( I listened to the audiobook) Rachel’s story, in her words, in her voice, I felt like I got a little more truth with less theatrics, even though this nonfiction story of a friendship gone horribly wrong is anything but drama-free.

I’ll save my opinion of Rachel’s involvement with Anna or “friendship”, and instead, I’ll say, I can definitely see why the Netflix series painted her the way that they did. What was clear to me throughout My Friend Anna is that Rachel isn’t yet able to see this unfortunate situation from any perspective but her own. And I wonder if someday in the future when the sting of this deception no longer hurts if she’ll see this relationship and her role in it differently.

At any rate, I definitely fell down the rabbit hole with this fake heiress saga, and I’m glad I’m no longer in wonderland. 😉 Why do these kinds of stories suck me in like this?! If you watched that Netflix series with the same oddly fascinated bewilderment, you’ll likely enjoy Rachel’s side of the story too. – 3 1/2 stars

What have you read and loved lately?