Title Talk 02.2023: What’s on My Bookshelf

Sweet readers, it’s been many moons since I last wrote a Title Talk post.  That is a disappointment to me because one of the reasons I began to blog was in hopes of sharing reviews of the books I read in this season of life.  I had also hoped to share lesson plans and activities for some of my favorite children’s books from my days as an elementary school librarian.  While I have done a little bit of both, it has been 2 1/2 years since my last Title Talk post.  One might think I haven’t read since!!  But one would be incorrect in that assumption.  🙃

Title Talk 02.2023

 

I host an online book club called “Come Read With Me” on Facebook with whom I read at least 1 book a month.  But aside from those ‘reads’, I try to keep up with nonfiction books that cross my path, some of the books recommended by bloggers I follow and the children’s books recognized by the Texas Library Association.

Joining all the girls for the “What’s on Your Bookshelf?” this month:  Deb from Deb’s World, Sue from Women Living Well After 50, Donna from Retirement Reflections and Jo from And Anyways.

So, without further ado (wordiness), I give you…what’s on my bookshelf.

Currently Reading

 

These are the books I am reading right now.  It will soon be time for my book club to vote on our March read so I need to get my behind in gear and finish All the Broken Places.

Historical Fiction

 

All the Broken Places by John Boyne

4.60 out of 5 stars on Amazon
4.52 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

From the “New York Times” bestselling author John Boyne, a devastating, beautiful story about a woman who must confront the sins of her own terrible past, and a present in which it is never too late for bravery. – Amazon

All the Broken Places is a stand-alone sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which I read years ago when it was first published.  I am only about half-way through this second book but hope to finish it this week.  Listening to it on Audible and have been so caught up in watching the Alex Murdaugh trial on YouTube that I haven’t been doing much listening.  The narration is well done and the story is very compelling. Historical fiction with a setting that moves between present day and a past that begins shortly after WWII.  This is my online book club’s February read.  Many of the gals have not read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which is not necessary to follow this story.  However, I feel like I have inside information because I did read it first.

Memoir or Autobiography

 

At Home in the World: a Memoir by Joyce Maynard

4.40 out of 5 stars on Amazon
3.96 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

When it was first published in 1998, At Home in the World set off a furor in the literary world and beyond. Joyce Maynard’s memoir broke a silence concerning her relationship – at age 18 – with J.D. Salinger, the famously reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye, then age 53, who had read a story she wrote for “The New York Times” in her freshman year of college and sent her a letter that changed her life…

With what some have viewed as shocking honesty, Maynard explores her coming of age in an alcoholic family, her mother’s dream to mold her into a writer, her self-imposed exile from the world of her peers when she left Yale to live with Salinger, and her struggle to reclaim her sense of self in the crushing aftermath of his dismissal of her not long after her 19th birthday…

The story she tells – of the girl she was and the woman she became – is at once devastating, inspiring, and triumphant. – Amazon

I chose to read this book after beginning an CreativeLive online writing course taught by Joyce Maynard, the author of this book.  Have only completed about 25% of the course but have learned a lot about “Writing Your Story”.  Thought I should read ‘the story’ of the author teaching me how to write my own.

Heartbreaking Reflection

 

Without My Mum: a Daughter’s Guide to Grief, Loss and Reclaiming Life by Leigh Van Der Horst

3.90 out of 5 stars on Amazon
4.33 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

Perhaps the only thing that can impact and shape a woman’s life with the same power as her mother’s love and guidance is her mother’s death. In Without My Mum, Leigh Van Der Horst shares her own honest, heartfelt story of losing her beloved mother to cancer in 2008. She invites us on a journey that is at times heartbreaking and others heartwarming yet is ultimately comforting and inspiring. With genuine warmth and candor, Leigh tells of her transformative passage through devastating grief to rediscover and redefine her own identity. – Amazon

I learned of this book through a review my blogger friend Min at Write of the Middle wrote years ago.  She made mention of the book in a recent post which linked to her review from 2015.  When I read the review, I knew I wanted to read the book myself.  I am only 17% along (how’s that for precise?) and the author’s mum has not yet died but she is living on borrowed time.  I find myself almost holding my breath as I read this book, alternating between the author’s journal entries and her reflections written later. 

Not sure what I am hoping to glean from this reading book other than maybe an understanding of my feelings after losing my mom.  And a realization that the loss of one’s mother is a unique experience but one we share with much of rest of the world.

Spiritual Nonfiction

 

Faith Still Moves Mountains: Miraculous Stories of the Healing Power of Prayer by Harris Faulkner

4.80 out of 5 stars on Amazon
4.48 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

From FOX News anchor and author Harris Faulkner comes a collection of powerful, true-life stories of resilience, healing, rescue, and protection. – Amazon

My sister Valerie sent this book to me at the end of 2022 and we pledged to read it together this year.  We aren’t really reading it together as in I read a page or a paragraph out loud to her, then she reads the next one out loud to me.  But we are both reading it simultaneously.  I am making it a part of my quiet time some mornings.  Each of the stories I’ve read so far have been incredible, almost unbelievable and very uplifting.

Last week, the year I had been so hopeful about – 2023 – took a downward turn.  I need to try to remain optimistic and hopeful so I am thinking reading this book will help me maintain in both areas.

 

Recently Read

 

I have read the books below over the last month or so.  A few years ago, I bought a reading journal where I could keep track of the books I had read.  But then like all good things, I stopped using it!!  If I can get back into doing regular Title Talk posts, I need to start using it again to write down my thoughts and feelings about the books as I read them.  My memory is so unreliable that I can’t remember anything anymore.

Contemporary Fiction

 

Finding Faith by B.E. Baker

4.50 out of 5 stars on Amazon
4.30 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

Two decades ago, Mary’s mom walked out. A few days later, her dad started drinking. He never stopped. Mary swore off alcohol. She also decided she’d never have kids, just in case she took after her parents. A year ago, Mary’s boyfriend dumped her because she didn’t want to have any children. Yesterday, for the first time in a year, Mary met someone. Someone hunky. Someone smart. Someone who made her goofy smile. Someone who sent a shiver up her spine. Tomorrow she’s going on a first date. She won’t find out he’s a widower with two kids for at least two more days. Can she overcome her fear and find the faith to trust someone else. . .and herself? – Amazon

I think this was another book suggested by my sister.  We have been purchasing some bargain-basement audio books on Chirp.  Have you ever listened to a book on Chirp?  If not, please use my affiliate link to see if there’s anything there that catches your eye.

Finding Faith is not the type of book I usually choose to read but it was entertaining and fun.  I read it over the holidays when some fluff best suited the bill.  Did get a bit frustrated with Mary’s life-long and often-repeated insistence that she would never ever ever have children.  Maybe just because I always wanted children and can’t really imagine that sentiment.  I enjoyed reading about the Christmas charity Mary oversaw, which added the perfect touch of holiday spirit.  Overall, a pleasant read. ⭐⭐⭐

Sweet Story

 

Miss Cecily’s Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman

4.50 out of 5 stars on Amazon
3.80 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

When her life falls apart on the eve of her 40th birthday, Kate Parker finds herself volunteering at the Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. There she meets 97-year-old Cecily Finn….So begins an unlikely friendship between two lonely and stubborn souls – one at the end of her life, one stuck in the middle – who both discover one big life lesson: no one should ever be ashamed to ask for more. – Amazon

My sister read and recommended this book and I adored it.  I heard so much of my mom in her last years of life at the assisted living community in the life and voice of the main character Miss Cecily.  The despair Cecily felt at living on and on without a real purpose or joy for life.  Kate, who is bouncing around in search of her own purpose in life, is a reluctant volunteer at the Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies.  She and Cecily are kind of thrown together but a floundering friendship is begun based on a cookbook the older woman wrote years before and Kate’s interest in preparing those same dishes. 

I laughed – aloud – truly.  Then I sobbed great sobs several pages later.  And in the end, when I heard the last words on the Chirp app, I knew I would keep Cecily and Kate, but especially Cecily tucked in my heart for a long time to come.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

And…

 

So Long, Chester Wheeler by Catherine Ryan Hyde

4.60 out of 5 stars on Amazon
4.51 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

Unlikely road trip companions form an unexpected bond in an uplifting novel about the past—lost and found—by the “New York Times” and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author. – Amazon

This was my online book club’s January book of the month.  Even though I added it to the consideration list of titles from which we voted, I really didn’t dream the book would win.  But it did.  And I am so glad.  I have recommended it to everyone I have talked with since reading it myself.  PC listened to a few minutes of the story while we were driving up to Santa Fe and purchased his own copy on Audible. 

Chester Wheeler reminds me of the Archie Bunker character so artfully portrayed on TV by Ed Asner on “All in the Family” in the ’70s.  He is judgmental, critical and quick to share his opinion without being asked.  But as the story unfolds we learn that he might not have always been that way.  Lewis Madigan accepts a position as Chester’s caretaker.  The unlikely pair soon embark cross country on an end-of-life adventure that had me laughing, crying and feeling terribly frustrated.  A beautiful story of friendship and compassion.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Historical Fiction

 

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

4.60 out of 5 stars on Amazon
4.24 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

Mesmerizing from beginning to end, Winter Garden is that rarest of novels — at once an epic love story and an intimate portrait of women poised at the crossroads of their lives. Evocative, lyrically written, and ultimately uplifting, it will haunt the listener long after the last word is spoken. – Amazon

I read this book on Kindle.  Thought I better quick read something with my eyes (rather than my ears) before I forget how to read completely. 

The first 30% or more of the book really dragged for me.  Maybe because I was reading it at night when I was already dragging myself.  But then the pace of the story and the action picked up.  The story began moving between current day and the WWII era.  In ways, I was reminded of the heart wrenching Sophie’s Choice by William Styron.  In this book, sisters Nina and Meredith are determined to get to know their elusive, mysterious mother before it’s too late to do so.  In getting to know Anya, they learn the difficult details of their mother’s life before their birth and come to understand why she’s been so somber and distant all of their lives.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This quote especially spoke to me.

How could any woman know her own story until she knew her mother’s?

~Hannah, Kristin. Winter Garden (p. 369). Kindle Edition.

Nonfiction

 

The Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life by Allison Fallon

4.50 out of 5 stars on Amazon
3.84 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

Discover the power of (finally) getting unstuck, claiming your clarity, and becoming the person whose life you want to live – all through a simple self-care practice you can build into your daily routine.  – Amazon

As you might remember, I am trying very hard to spend more of my 2023 consistently doing the things I enjoy doing but have put off doing in favor of cleaning house, doing laundry or substitute teaching.  One of those activities at the top of my list is writing.  And I found this book full of encouragement for writing as well as offering solid reasons for why writing it down can be so impactful.  The author provides exercises that aspiring writers can do to get their stories on paper.  I listened to this book on Chirp and can imagine that I will be revisiting it repeatedly. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Self-Help Nonfiction

 

Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan

4.40 out of 5 stars on Amazon
3.92 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

An introvert spends a year trying to live like an extrovert with hilarious results and advice for readers along the way. – Amazon

Not sure I would call this book hilarious but it was an interesting read until it began to go on and on without anything new to say.  Sometimes I think publishers or editors decide that a book needs to be a certain length and they encourage authors to reach that page quota even if it means rambling some to do so.  The author decides to try to overcome or at least exhibit some power over her lifelong introverted-ness with a series of self-imposed challenges over a year’s time.  As an introvert myself, I cannot imagine subjecting myself to some of the things she does.  Stand-up improv comedy.  No way.  But I did pick up some useful information and tips for feigning extroverted-ness when necessary.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Your Turn

 

What are you reading these days?  Do you have a favorite place to read?  A favorite time of day to curl up with that book?  Hope you will share in a comment below.  I am always looking for great book suggestions.  As well as recommendations on titles to avoid!!  Ain’t nobody got time for a bad book.

Before you go, are we friends on Goodreads?  If not, let’s remedy that right away.  You can find me here.  And you can find my Pinterest book boards here and here.  And if you would like to join our LOW-pressure/NO-pressure online book club, please holler!!

Off to finish laundry.  We are going to a baseball game this evening honoring one of the fellas from Paul’s 50-and-over baseball team so hoping for hot dogs at the game for dinner.  Tonight and tomorrow 80 mph winds are being forecasted so I imagine I will be right here at home all day.  What do you have planned?

Thanks for spending a bit of your day here with me.

Hugs and kisses,