I finally read The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. Since I loved What Alice Forgot, and based on the great reviews I’ve read of this book, I was expecting to love it too. And I did like it, but I was also slightly confused. “Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.” First of all, I figured out the secret before it was revealed. I’m not sure if that was supposed to happen. Second of all, I wasn’t quite sure how Tess was supposed to fit into the story. She wasn’t quite as connected to or effected by the secret as Cecilia and Rachel were. I love books where the characters are connected in random ways, and I would have liked to see Tess more effected by the main story than she actually was. I did like the ending of the book where the issue of the unknown is tied together – how are lives made different by the things we don’t know, and is it better to know or for certain things to remain a secret?
I did not read this book straight through as I tend to read most other books. A People’s History of the Peculiar: A Freak Show of Facts, Random Obsessions, and Astounding Truths by Nick Belardes seemed to be more of the kind of book you flip open when you want to read a random fact or a strange piece of trivia, so for the past few weeks, the kids and I have been read some of the curiosities in this book. “Did you know that Thomas Jefferson’s grandson was an ax murderer? Do you delight knowing that some dinosaurs were as teeny tiny as hens? Wonder what it’s like to live in Hell Town at the End of the World? How about an ailment so surreal it’s named after Alice in Wonderland? In A People’s History of the Peculiar, historian Nick Belardes has dug into the raw source material found in historical archives, scientific studies, and libraries the world over to find facts, lists, definitions, and astonishing information guaranteed to provide readers with the best cocktail conversation topics for many years to come! Also found here are first-person interviews with people who can explain the unexplained, from the permanently puzzling Mothman conspiracy to secret Star Wars Jedi religious cults and the charmingly eccentric reason why British aerospace engineers sent teddy bears floating out into space. These real-world facts are outlandish enough to sharpen the brain and occupy readers’ minds for hours of entertainment.” We especially enjoyed the lists of weird phobias and the random remedies for various afflictions. I did have to censor some of the facts in the book that were not appropriate for children! This is an interesting book of facts that we have enjoyed together.
Any book recommendations for me?
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