Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in March 2024. I shared what I read in the first half of the month here. I shared my five star reads here – I do have one more 5 star read to share today! 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. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: Flirty Little Secret
Author: Jessica Lepe
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Forever, 3/19/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Flirty Little Secret by Jessica Lepe is about Lucy, a school guidance counselor who has an anonymous instagram account where she gives advice. When she meets the new history teacher at the school where she works, neither realize that they already are good friends on instagram. Fletcher is the one who figures it out first, and this leads to some deception on his part. At the same time, the in person Lucy and Fletcher have some major insta love!
“School counselor Lucy Galindo has a secret. To her coworkers, friends, and even family, she’s shy, sweet, and constantly struggling to hold off disaster (read: manage her anxiety and depression). But online? She’s bold, confident, and always knows what to say—it’s how she’s become the wildly popular @TheMissGuidedCounselor. It’s also why she keeps her identity anonymous. Her followers would never trust the real Lucy with their problems. History teacher Aldrich Fletcher thought a new job would give him some relief from his drama-filled family. Instead, he’s dodging his ex-girlfriend and pining over his new co-worker—who only ever seems to see him at his worst. Thankfully, he can count on his online confidant for advice . . . until he discovers @TheMissGuidedCounselor is Lucy. Now Fletcher has a secret too. And while Lucy can’t deny there’s something between them, she’s not sure she can trust him. Can they both find the courage to share the truth and step out from behind their screens?”
I enjoyed the high school setting and the other teacher side characters as well as Lucy and Fletcher’s sisters. There is mental health rep with Lucy dealing with depression, anxiety, and ADHD, plus Sephardic Jewish rep as Lucy is Jewish Moroccan and Mexican.
Title: The Chestnut Man
Author: Søren Sveistrup
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Harper Audio, 9/3/19
Source: Library Audio / Publisher Paper Back
Why I Read It: Backlist Book 24 in 24 Challenge
My Rating: 4 Stars
The 8th book I read from my #backlistbooks24 list was The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup. I received this in 2020 from Harper Books and listened to the audio this month. The narrator did a good job voicing all of the characters in this book. The Chestnut Man is a book about a detective who finds a doll made of chestnuts at the scene of a murder. She also finds the fingerprint of a missing girl on the doll. This missing child is the daughter of a government minister. The detective sets out to discover the connection between the cases and it soon appears a serial killer is involved.
“A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen. His calling card is a ‘chestnut man’—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene. Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery—a fingerprint belonging to a young girl, a government minister’s daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago. A tragic coincidence—or something more twisted? To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the Chestnut Man’s gruesome clues. Because it’s clear that the madman is on a mission that is far from over. And no one is safe.”
Because a lot of the characters were called by their last names, I was confused by who was who at times. I did enjoy the book for the most part and now I wonder if I should watch the show!
Title: Wave After Wave
Author: Sarah Ansbaucher
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Casa Mocha Books, 1/7/24
Source: Author
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Wave After Wave follows Lilly as she attempts to escape Vienna after Kristallnacht. She secures a place on a ship down the Danube River full of refugees heading for the land of Israel. The story of the ships and their harrowing journey features a group of friends from varied Jewish backgrounds who all have the goal of freedom from persecution.
“Newlywed Lilly is looking forward to the future with her husband until the Nazi annexation of Austria throws everything into uncertainty. Suddenly, their Jewish heritage turns them into outcasts, facing persecution and daily humiliation. Despite their tireless efforts to emigrate, no country will grant them the visas they desperately need. Then Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, shatters Lilly’s world. With the outbreak of war, Lilly remains trapped in Vienna, fearful of what lies ahead. Her cousin discovers a possible escape: joining a group of Jewish refugees on a daring journey down the Danube River and across the Black Sea to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine. Leaving comes at a price, and though it may offer Lilly a second chance and new friendships, it will also test her resilience to the limit. With danger and difficulties at every turn, can Lilly and all the other refugees survive the journey and reach the Promised Land?”
I was surprised by the point where the book ended due to my own knowledge of these refugee experiences, but the author says this is the start of a trilogy – I’m already looking forward to following the next part of the journey of these characters.
Title: The Lonely Hearts Book Club
Author: Lucy Gilmore
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, 3/28/23
Source: Library Audio / Publisher Print
Why I Read It: Backlist Read / Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore was a surprise sent to me by the publisher last year. I listened to the audio this month. It is about Sloane, a librarian who meets curmudgeon Arthur and befriends him, notices when he doesn’t visit the library on schedule, and goes to his home to check on him.
“Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely…but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane’s day that when Arthur doesn’t show up one morning, she’s instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another. Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden…and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur’s gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart―and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.”
Sloane meets Arthur’s neighbor Maisey and his estranged grandson Greg. Along with her fellow librarian Mateo, the group starts a book club at Arthur’s home. Each of the characters have family issues and they each have a section in the book, which surprised me! I enjoyed the found family themes and the way books play a part in the story.
Title: Till There Was You
Author: Lindsay Hameroff
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, 3/28/24
Source: Library Audio / Publisher Print
Why I Read It: Backlist Read / Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I somehow forgot how much I love celebrity / normal people romances and this book reminded me! This one is about Lexi, a chef who meets Jake, a singer. They spend a weekend together but then Jake disappears. Awhile later, he comes back to her asking for another chance.
“Culinary student Lexi Berman, 24, has one goal: to make her late mother proud by becoming an executive chef in a Michelin-star restaurant. And she isn’t going to let anything–or anyone–get in the way. But when she meets Jake Taylor, a dive bar musician who charms her with show tunes, she makes a rare exception to her no-dating rule. After a steamy weekend together, Jake leaves for L.A. to record his demo, and Lexi never expects to see him again. And she definitely doesn’t expect him to become an overnight celebrity, with a breakout single that’s almost certainly about her famous blueberry pancake recipe. As Jake’s star rises and the world speculates about the subject of his song, Lexi keeps the affair to herself. After all, she’s finally found her footing at her new restaurant job, and even has a prospective romance with her coworker. But when a distraught Jake turns up on her doorstep late one night, her carefully-laid plans are thrown for a loop. Though she and Jake try to be friends, things between them soon reheat faster than a bowl of Lexi’s matzah ball soup. But a relationship with Jake means risking her face in tabloids, withstanding cruel internet comments, and worst of all, jeopardizing her career. As Jake’s upcoming tour approaches, and rumors swirl about him and another pop star, Lexi has to decide if holding onto her meticulously-planned future is worth walking away from what could be the perfect recipe for love.”
I wasn’t sure about their relationship as it seemed quite like insta love when they had only spent the one weekend together! I enjoyed the Les Mis references and the Jewish rep in this one!
Title: 50 Ways To More Calm, Less Stress
Author: Megy Karydes
Genre: Non Fiction
Publisher: Sourcebooks, 12/26/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This book is about activating your 5 senses to destress and welcome in self care. The subtitle is Scientifically Proven Ways to Relieve Anxiety & Boost Your Mental Health Using Your Five Senses.
“Let’s face it: We all feel stress. Deep breathing, meditation, and yoga only go so far, and not being able to sit still and be alone with our thoughts isn’t that unusual. The mind is designed to engage with the world around us, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to finding what calms us because we are so unique in our circumstances, our lifestyles, our finances, and our interests. 50 Ways to More Calm, Less Stress explores different ways each of our five senses can help bring more calm and less stress into our lives. Whether through touch, sight, taste, smell, or sound, each activity includes research or science-backed studies that support why it offers health and wellness benefits as well as ways you can incorporate them into your own life. The best part―most of the activities are either low or no cost and can be done inside your own home or right outside your door.
Activities include:
- The magic of gardening
- Losing yourself while doodling
- Culinary therapy
- The nostalgic power of perfume
- Nature therapy
- Bathing in sound
- Capturing a memory
- Slow reading
If your brain constantly feels like an internet browser with thirty-five tabs open, or if you want to quiet the noise in your head long enough to think about what matters most in your life, this book is for you.”
Divided into sections pertaining to each of our senses, the book itself produces calm with its smooth pages and pastel colors. Many of the calming activities in the book are things that appeal to me, including slow reading, photography, finding community, going for a walk, petting a cat (well for me it’s a dog!), journaling, etc.
Title: The Wife Upstairs
Author: Freida McFadden
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, 3/23/20
Source: Library Audio
Why I Read It: Book Club Pick
My Rating: 4 Stars
My book club chose to read The Wife Upstairs by Freida McFadden with a question in mind. Is this the same book as Verity by Colleen Hoover? My answer is yes and no. The set up of the story is very much the same. Both books involve a wife who was injured and needs care, a caretaker who falls for the husband, the wife’s viewpoint through her writing, and a question as to who is telling the truth.
“Victoria Barnett has it all. A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect—or so it seems. Then she’s in a terrible accident… and everything falls apart. Now Victoria is unable to walk. She can’t feed or dress herself. She can’t even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care. Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria’s husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn’t as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There’s a story Victoria desperately wants to tell… if only she could get out the words. Then Sylvia discovers Victoria’s diary hidden away in a drawer. And what’s inside is shocking.”
The wife is Victoria, who has a diary that Sylvia, the caretaker, reads. The story revealed in the diary is not the same story as the one in Verity, so this is where the books differ. This was a fast listen for me and I didn’t guess the twist at the end at all! Overall, this was interesting to read with its similarities and differences to Verity in mind. Also funny – it had the same narrator as The Lonely Hearts Book Club!
Title: After Annie
Author: Anna Quindlen
Genre: Literary
Publisher: Random House, 2/27/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I remember reading and loving Anna Quindlen’s book Black and Blue way back in the 90s so I was interested in checking out her newest, After Annie. Although Annie dies at the beginning of the book, one could say she is still the main character, as the book is about the effect her death leaves on those she left behind. The viewpoints are that of Annie’s oldest child Ali, her best friend Annemarie, and her husband Bill. Each of these characters deal with their grief along with their personal issues and experience a year of growth.
“When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie’s children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life. Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody’s fool, a voice in their heads that is funny and sharp and remarkably clear. The power she has given to those who loved her is the power to go on without her. The lesson they learn is that no one beloved is ever truly gone.”
Although character driven books are not my usual style, I liked this one and enjoyed the author’s writing style.
Title: Late Night Love
Author: Chayla Wolfberg
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Independently Published, 2/20/24
Source: Author
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Emily is a writer on Live From New York, a Saturday Night Live type show. Her dream is to write for the Weekend Update sketch. She ends up replacing the host who works with Chris, who is her nemesis. Starting as enemies and making their way to coworkers, friends, and then falling for one another, a slow burn love story ensues.
“She has her dream job…but her cohost is a nightmare. Emily Beckerman has the dream job as a writer on Live From New York, a world-famous sketch comedy show. But what she really wants is to write for the legendary Weekend Update segment. When it becomes clear that the current hosts will never give her that chance, Emily takes matters into her own hands and replaces one of their jokes with her own. She never expected that her moment of revenge would cause an on-air meltdown that got the show’s Head Writer fired. Emily is even more surprised to learn that she’s going to be his replacement, because Live From New York is dangerously close to being cancelled. The only problem is Chris Galloway, the other Update host and Head Writer. Emily and Chris are both convinced that they know the best way to save the show, and neither of them is happy about being forced to work together. But Chris isn’t who Emily thought he was, and when their animosity gives way to white-hot chemistry, she realizes that Live From New York isn’t the only thing at risk.”
The funniest part of the book for me was the Rosh Hashanah scene. I of course appreciated the Jewish representation in the book, as well as the plus size and mental health representation. I also liked how Emily and Chris made comedy out of painful moments and how their dialogue felt real and relatable.
Title: Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine
Author: Nicole Melleby
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers, 4/2/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Nicole Melleby is one of my favorite Middle Grade authors because she has an amazing ability to bring out the big emotions that tweens feel and allow you to feel them too. This is about Winnie, who is sent to spend the summer with her grandma. Winnie’s parents instruct her not to tell her grandmother that she likes girls, which puts Winnie into a closet she never previously occupied. Plus, Winnie’s mom is pregnant again after multiple losses, but no one will talk to Winnie about the pregnancy or the losses and the emotions they left behind.
“Winnie Nash never used to have so many secrets. But then she agreed to stay with her grandma for the summer so her mom can take care of her health during her latest pregnancy. Now Winnie plays card games with Grandma’s friends (boring), joins the senior citizen book club (fine, even if no one thinks she’ll read the books), and absolutely does not talk about her mom’s sad days (she never used to be so sad…). The biggest secret is that her parents asked Winnie not to mention she’s gay to Grandma. And there’s a really cute girl who also hangs out with the senior citizens. What happens if Grandma notices just how much Winnie likes Pippa? The longer Winnie hides the truth, the more she longs to be surrounded by her LGBTQ+ community and the more she feels like the only place she can be herself is at New York City’s Pride celebration. Winnie decides she’ll get to Pride, one way or another. But is this just one more secret she has to keep?”
The people who support Winnie during her summer with her grandma are all amazing, and I loved the relationship that Winnie formed with Grandma herself. I also enjoyed its Jersey shore setting! I read this book in a day and loved it as much as I’ve loved all the Melleby books I’ve read!
Title: The Kill Club
Author: Wendy Heard
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Mira Books, 12/17/19
Source: Library Audio, Publisher Print
Why I Read It: Backlist Book 24 in 24 Challenge
My Rating: 4 Stars
The 9th book I read from my 24 in 24 Backlist list was The Kill Club by Wendy Heard. This was one of the earliest book I requested from the publisher as a new bookstagrammer and I neglected to read it at the time. This is about Jazz, who is trying to save her younger brother from their abusive foster mother. Joaquin has diabetes and Carol is threatening to withhold his insulin. Jazz has gone to child services and they haven’t helped. She is offered the chance to have Carol taken care of, but for that to happen, she needs to kill someone herself.
“Jazz will stop at nothing to save her brother. Their foster mother, Carol, has always been fanatical, but with Jazz grown up and out of the house, Carol takes a dangerous turn that threatens thirteen-year-old Joaquin’s life. Over and over, child services fails to intervene, and Joaquin is running out of time. Then Jazz gets a blocked call from someone offering a solution. There are others like her—people the law has failed. They’ve formed an underground network of “helpers,” each agreeing to eliminate the abuser of another. They’re taking back their power and leaving a trail of bodies throughout Los Angeles—dubbed the Blackbird Killings. If Jazz joins them, they’ll take care of Carol for good.”
I know I added this book to my TBR because I used to work with foster children and because a vigilante story appeals to me. This vigilante network involves killing a stranger to have your person killed. It was a bit far fetched at times, but it was suspenseful and it kept my interest! The perspective given is sometimes that of the various killers, which was fun to listen to. It also includes LGBTQ rep.
There you have it, the rest of my March reading! This post included 11 of the books I read in March. 7 of these books were in print and 4 were audio. Genres included rom com, thriller, historical fiction, contemporary, non fiction, and literary. 1 was middle grade and 10 were adult reads.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?