This month, I have a few favorites to share! I read a lot this month and managed to like most of them. There were 8 books that I rated 5 stars, and those are my favorites! I have already shared two of them, but I will remind you of them here as well. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Favorite Historical Fiction
Historical Fiction is not my favorite genre, and to have two historical books that I loved in one month is pretty amazing!
You can find my review of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah in this post!
Title: The Nature of Fragile Things
Author: Susan Meissner
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Berkley, 2/2/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Heard it was good!
My Rating: 5 Stars
This book tells the story of three women who are effected by the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. It is a lovely story of women’s friendship and survival in harsh circumstances, although I realize that the women chronicled all had some degree of privilege in their lives which helped them survive!
“Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin’s silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin’s odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn’t right. Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved. The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.”
I appreciated that along with the history of the story, there was also a bit of a mystery, as well as page turning story telling!
Favorite Poetry
One of the reasons I read so many books this month was due to shorter and quicker reads, one of which was a book of poetry.
Title: Black Girl, Call Home
Author: Jasmine Mans
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Berkley, 3/9/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Reading for publication date
My Rating: 5 Stars
This book is filled with amazing poems about Black history and icons, being a woman, queer identity, and more. It does include traumatic instances such as slavery and rape.
“From spoken word poet Jasmine Mans comes an unforgettable poetry collection about race, feminism, and queer identity. With echoes of Gwendolyn Brooks and Sonia Sanchez, Mans writes to call herself—and us—home. Each poem explores what it means to be a daughter of Newark, and America—and the painful, joyous path to adulthood as a young, queer Black woman.”
My favorite poems were “She Doesn’t Look Like Rape,” “Crazy,” and “Dear First Lady.” I also loved the inclusion of some unique items like a missing girls word search and word maps of the poet’s inspiration.
Also a type of poetry, this middle grade book in verse, Starfish, was a favorite this month, which I reviewed here.
Favorite YA
I love a good YA, and I read three this month that I truly loved!
Title: Firekeeper’s Daughter
Author: Angeline Boulley
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 3/16/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Heard it was great!
My Rating: 5 Stars
At first, I didn’t consider reading this, because I thought it was fantasy. It isn’t! I’m so glad I decided to give it a listen. It was actually quite long, but it went by very quickly. Written by a member of the Ojibwe people, the book is a thriller but teaches so much about Native culture and traditions.
“Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug. Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims. Now, as the deceptions―and deaths―keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.”
This book speaks to the issues plaguing the Indigenous community and to how Indigenous women are overlooked. It includes rape, murder, suicide, drugs, and guns. Not easy topics, but important ones for sure. The culture and stories of the tribe are woven in, and I learned a lot! I think the audio was great as well because I could hear the correct pronunciation of the language, which I appreciated! I’m so excited that this is going to be adapted for Netflix!
Title: Today Tonight Tomorrow
Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Simon Pulse, 7/28/20
Source: Amazon
Why I Read It: Heard it was great!
My Rating: 5 Stars
This book was recommended to me, and the author has a new one coming out soon, so I finally picked it up. I loved it! Although not specially about the main character being Jewish, there were a few topics discussed within the book that made me feel seen, and I loved that so much.
“Today, she hates him.
It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.
Tonight, she puts up with him.
When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.
As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.
Tomorrow…maybe she’s already fallen for him.”
It’s the last day of high school and Rowan has one last chance to beat her biggest competition in something – their school’s amazing race / scavenger hunt across Seattle. Instead, she and Neil end up teaming up and finding out they have more in common than they’d thought. This was such a fun YA romance and I cannot wait to read Rachel’s newest book when it comes out! This book does include sex and some drug use, so I recommend it for older teen readers and adults.
Title: Cool For The Summer
Author: Dahlia Adler
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Wednesday Books, 5/11/21
Source: Publisher via Net Galley
Why I Read It: Working on Net Galley reads.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Another book with Jewish representation, I loved this fun book about self discovery and sexuality. Larissa has had a crush on Chase forever, and now he finally likes her back. But she just spent the summer with Jasmine, and she can’t stop thinking about her.
“Lara’s had eyes for exactly one person throughout her three years of high school: Chase Harding. He’s tall, strong, sweet, a football star, and frankly, stupid hot. Oh, and he’s talking to her now. On purpose and everything. Maybe…flirting, even? No, wait, he’s definitely flirting, which is pretty much the sum of everything Lara’s wanted out of life. Except she’s haunted by a memory. A memory of a confusing, romantic, strangely perfect summer spent with a girl named Jasmine. A memory that becomes a confusing, disorienting present when Jasmine herself walks through the front doors of the school to see Lara and Chase chatting it up in front of the lockers. Lara has everything she ever wanted: a tight-knit group of friends, a job that borders on cool, and Chase, the boy of her literal dreams. But if she’s finally got the guy, why can’t she stop thinking about the girl?”
I loved the cast of supportive friends and family members in this book. It was a sweet story of coming to terms with oneself! Put this one on your radar for May!
Favorite Adult Contemporary
Finally, I have another favorite in a book that publishes in late May!
Title: The Invisible Husband of Frick Island
Author: Colleen Oakley
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Berkley, 5/25/21
Source: Publisher via Net Galley
Why I Read It: Working on Net Galley reads.
My Rating: 5 Stars
I have loved every book I’ve read by Colleen Oakley and this one was no exception! It begins with Piper losing her husband Tom. And then she acts like he is still alive. Surprisingly, the whole community on Frick Island goes along with acting as if Tom is still alive!
“Piper Parrish’s life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom’s crab boat capsized and his body wasn’t recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper? Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.”
I loved the whole cast of quirky island residents so much! This book made me laugh many times, and I loved seeing the town through Anders’s eyes. I also appreciated that climate change was a topic in the book, as Frick Island is facing the threat of disappearing due to the changing climate. This is another book you should put on your radar for May!
I will be back next week to share the rest of the books I read in March! Do you have a favorite book you read this month?