They say bad things happen in threes(which can be hard to deny) yet I believe that good things can also happen in the same way as well. Kind of a balancing point for the universe there.
With that in mind, I’m wrapping up my reading year with a set of three positive things that hopefully will set the tone for what’s to come in the new year,book wise:
I like Nora Roberts
One of my reading challenges in 2024 was to read three sets of trilogies (made it to two out of the three) and the first one up was the Born In trilogy by Nora Roberts. I use to be a snob about romance novels and even popular writers like Roberts but fortunately, time has shown me that holding to such rigid limitations was only limiting myself and not in a good or productive way.
So, yes, I enjoyed that trio of heartfelt novels have only myself to blame for not diving into such rich and engaging storytelling beforehand. Roberts has a fine hand for character development and developing the setting of her tales in a way that reflects the emotional themes that they’re dealing with on page. Plus, she’s fun and fierce all at once! (yes, I do know about J.D.Robb but there are sixty books in that series so I might hold off on those yet)
Since then, I have read a standalone (Hideaway) and in the middle of another one (Tribute) with a couple of other titles on my TBR. Most recently, I picked up another trilogy-The Boonesboro Inn-which I have heard great word of mouth about. Looking forward to more Roberts reading-maybe some of her paranormal books?-and glad to say that is truly better late than never to discover a great author:
IBroke Two Author Slumps
“What’s an author slump?”
Well, as a reader, have you ever found a writer that you knew you would always be a lifetime fan of?
“Sure! I have so many…”
However, even among those favorites, have you ever just picked up one of their books one day and found yourself putting it back down, perhaps trying one or two after that to only discover that this just wasn’t clicking with you like it did before?
“Embarrassed shuffling of feet, with slight nod”
That’s what I call An Author Slump and first off, it’s not the fault of the writer or book; like Taylor Swift would say-hi, it’s me,I’m the problem.
Such slumps can be short lived or long term; hard to tell in most cases. For me, I was one of the last to read Daisy Jones and the Six and really loved what Taylor Jenkins Reid did there. Having Malibu Rising as one of my Book of the Month Club selections was awesome but after getting a quarter of the way into it, I put it aside and went on to other things.
I really thought that would be that for me and TJR but on on a library visit earlier this year, I added a copy of Carrie Soto is Back(a last minute decision) and wow, I was back onboard the Taylor reading train! It became one of those stay-up-all-night reads for me and now I am devouring The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (part of my TBR reading down challenge) and planning to give Malibu Rising another shot.
I am happy to have recovered my groove with TJR and unlike that LL Cool J song, I have to call it a comeback in this regard. I’m not even a sports fan but this particular book just had the right dramatic hook to get me back into the game:
An author that I was more connected with, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, I found myself to be slumping with after her great success with Mexican Gothic.
Try as I might, I wasn’t getting too far with her following works but when a horror themed readathon came up, I grabbed a copy of Silver Nitrate(a homage to old school fear flicks) and was delighted to be on the edge of my reading seat here.
That rekindling has me all fired up for her newest book, The Seventh Veil of Salome(ironically enough, Evelyn Hugo is also adding fuel to that literary desire fire) and two of her other novels that I have on hand. So happy to reconnect with a writer that I have enjoyed for years and now plan to appreciate for many more:
I took a book off of Pause
What I mean by “pause”, some would call DNF(Did Not Finish), however when it comes to pause, I do intend to give the book another try and even leave a bookmark in it to restart it at some point.
This year, FX aired a new season of Feud(the first one was about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford making What Ever Happened to Baby Jane and it was a hoot) and this time around , the theme was Truman Capote and his falling out with the high society “swans” of the fifties and sixties.
The show was a mixed bag of campy cattiness and sincere performances at best but I did get one very good thing out of that experience; taking out and diving into my paused edition of Melanie Benjamin’s The Swans of Fifth Avenue, which covered this same story line in a much better way in my opinion.
Granted, this book is fiction but it felt more realistic than the Feud series(which had a nonfiction book as it’s source material) and if this novel had been the basis for an adaptation like this, the result would have been better appreciated by audiences and critics alike.
If they ever make another season of Feud, I truly hope that they find a good novel to use as the sturdy spine of their production; plenty of historical fiction writers do a great deal of research to enhance their story and characters and it does make all the difference. At least it got me to unpause this riveting emotional drama page by page:
With that, I wish you all a new year of reading and hope that this year gave you some bookish joy.
This is my last post for 2024 and LRG will be back in January, probably starting with a recap of the Christmas Spirit readathon, a review of Evelyn Hugo as well as the next Down the Reader’s Road book and more to come.
I know this year has been harrowing to say the least and the one upon to begin perhaps not much better than that. However, I do think that we as readers are a strong minded group that, along with many others, are determined to stick together during whatever form of chaos is headed our way and do what we can for each other.
Despair is quite understandable and ignoring your fears isn’t helpful but reaching out for support is always a positive thing to do. We’re more capable than we’ve been told and more braver than we might believe in times of crisis; history has shown us that.
Whether you are fighting the good fight against censorship or just passing on the good word about a wonderful new book and/or author, reading is the path worth taking towards a better world. Maybe this time, we will save the day or make it easier for those who can to find their way forward:
As some of you may know, I was doing a trilogy themed reading challenge for most of this year but upon completing two out of the three sets of books for that project, I decided to pivot to a more achievable goal of reading down my TBR piles.
Thus named “Down The Reader’s Road”(yes, I enjoyed Agatha All Along very much!), I chose a number of my Book of the Month Club picks to tackle and the first one finished is The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani.
Thus multigenerational story introduces us to Matelda, an older woman living in the coastal village of Viareggio, Italy who is trying to preserve the family history for the next generation, particularly her granddaughter Anina currently engaged to be married.
Upon letting Anina chose a piece of heirloom jewelry as part of her engagement gift, Matelda finds herself sharing the story of her own mother Domenica, a woman well before her time who was determined to pursue a career in medicine and not hold back from doing what she believed to be right .
Her forthright approach got Domenica sent to France as a nurse and then later to Scotland just as WWII is gearing up. While over there, she meets John McVicars, a sea captain who becomes the love of her life and he hers:
This is more than just a love story, however; John comes to a tragic end after his marriage to Domenica due to being recruited to partake in the expulsion of Italian citizens from the United Kingdom as a pushback against Italy going forces with Germany.
These people considered themselves “Britalians”, loyal to their country despite their ancestry yet were punished for simply being who they were due to political reasons (a sentiment that is sadly still prevalent in the US today).
Trigiani chronicles this sad chapter in history as a natural element of the overall story without overwhelming the main narrative. She also skillfully showcases the emotional lives of her characters from one generation to the next in harmonious fashion, turning a tale of personal experiences into an universal meditation about accepting the challenges in life and making the best of the choices given unto you.
Granted, I had just finished rereading Trigiani’s Valentine series of novels before picking this one up, so perhaps I was in the right mindset to read this book at this time. However, even someone unfamiliar with her work would find much treasure to discover within these pages.
Ultimately, this is a book about one generation reaching out to another to appreciate what has been before and respect that knowledge on the road that lies ahead of them, something worth exploring at any time:
So, my next step on this bookish journey is Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and so far, this is one of those “what haven’t I read already?!” titles.
I’ve read TJR before (the latest being Carrie Soto is Back) but not this particular book , which chronicles the life and times of a renowned actress in Hollywood of the fifties and onward with her secrets being told to a potential biographer chosen for mysterious reasons.
It’s a lively and engaging book that I might finish by the year is out but no rush here. As they say, it’s not about the destination, it’s the journey and I intend to take the scenic route indeed:
I ended my No-Buy November on books the day before Thanksgiving as it happened to be the exact same time that Book of the Month Club dropped their December selections online.
That works out well for my holiday shopping as I tend to give most of the box over to a family member to give to me as a Christmas present (trust me, it’s much easier this way).
I do however take one book out early, since it’s usually a seasonal read and therefore, better suited to enjoy before Christmas. This year, though, I chose two holiday flavored fictions and choosing between them is as hard as picking just one cookie off of the holiday dessert platter at your favorite relative’s house party.
A tough choice yet I think that Ally Carter’s The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year should be savored now. Cozy mystery writer Maggie Chase is not looking to the holidays due to this one being fresh off of her husband’s running off with her best friend;quite the lump of coal there to say the least!
Getting the chance to spend Christmas at the English home of renowned author Eleanor Ashley promises to be a true delight, even if one of the other guests is obnoxious thriller writer Ethan Wyatt(who always gets her name wrong!). Yet, when the hostess herself goes missing, at first it seems like an elaborate party game but all too soon ,it becomes clear that this is not meant to be a frivolous activity-rather it’s a dangerous test of the group’s detective skills.
Maggie finds herself teaming up with Ethan, hoping that her worst fears aren’t true, especially since she seems to be finding her new partner in crime solving a bit more entertaining than she’d like. Can this Christmas gathering be saved and will someone find heartbreak or happiness under the mistletoe?
This does sound like festive reading and an English country house mystery during Christmas feels like a warm cup of cocoa for my spirit right about now:
The other holiday themed novel , Most Wonderful by Georgia Clark, seems to be a fine storytelling feast that will sustain me throughout the winter months up ahead.
It’s the tale of the Belvedere siblings who are reuniting at their celebrity mother Babs’ house for the holidays, hoping to take this time away from their emotionally complicated lives to reassess their next steps in life.
Big sister Liz is hoping that her hit TV series is not a one and done for her show runner career (not to mention having a bit of a crush on said show’s leading lady) while younger sister Birdie is a rising stand up comedy star that appears to be burning out faster than expected.
Their brother Rafi seems to have the most ordinary life but when he proposes to his co-worker girlfriend in front of the entire company, the response he gets becomes rather epic.
By taking this break from their current reality, the Belvedere trio hope for just a nice quiet time together but fate and their rambunctious mother have other plans for them…
I have heard this book compared to Schitt’s Creek and that is more than enough to make me want to read this! A funny, heartwarming book about family and finding love is truly something we all need these days indeed:
Fortunately, the book that rounds out this triple decker gift set is a cozy fantasy affair.
Julie Leong’s The Teller of Small Fortunes introduces us to Tao, a traveling fortune teller who can predict things such as when a farmer’s crops will get the rain that’s needed or how to find a lost household item thought missing for good. However, her true talent is greater than that and well kept under wraps for her own safety.
One day, Tao stumbles across the path of a missing girl thought dead yet is still very much alive. The girl’s father, a former mercenary named Mash, insists upon Tao’s help in finding his long lost daughter and since she does want to do the right thing for an innocent person, she agrees. However, more than one risk is assumed but hopefully, Tao can use her abilities to bring about some good in the world instead of increasing the harm others delight in.
I wanted to get this book sooner but I think that saving it for the holidays was a better idea. Such an interesting and enchanting story of finding your true path in life ought to be a good guide for our collective new year:
I will be getting more books for Christmas (and will highlight them here) and other things that will no doubt be just as fun. Speaking of fun, my BOTM box also includes a reading prize(a year long challenge for Book Club members; this year’s a hat) and some cool holiday stickers-you’re never too old for stickers, if you ask me.
And yes, I am giving a book or two to folks as well. Look, we all know that what lies in waiting for next year alone is not going to be pretty to say the least but regardless of that, a good way to recharge our spiritual batteries is to embrace the spirit of the season-Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza ,all celebrations are welcome and good for the soul here.
So, enjoy your holiday treats , whether it’s a holiday romantic movie or cookie baking or a holiday romantic movie about cookie baking (they do exist!). However you indulge, let it be a way to bring you towards future joy as books tend to do for many of us, one page at a time:
