Shelf Control: Taking stock – 2022 round-up

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

A few years ago already, I shared my intention to do a “taking stock” Shelf Control post on an annual basis, to see how many of the books that I’ve featured as Shelf Control picks I’ve actually ended up reading.

Well… that was in 2019, and I only just remembered that I’d intended to make it a yearly tradition! Oops.

Better late than never — so here I am, at the end of 2022, ready to do a little tallying.

In 2022, I shared 47 Shelf Control posts.

Of those 47:

I have read a grand total of TWO books.
There are FIFTEEN that I’d put into the “unlikely to read” category. Upon reflection, I just don’t feel all that interested in taking the time to read them.
Some of these may end up in my donation pile, whenever I get around to doing another bookshelf purge.

Keep in mind, that’s just the 2022 selection of Shelf Control books!

Going back to when I first started this weekly feature (in 2015 — I can’t quite believe I’ve been doing these post for that long!) my stats are a little intimidating:

Total Shelf Control books so far: 347
Number of Shelf Control books I’ve read since posting about them: 33
Number of Shelf Control books donated or otherwise discarded: 63
Number of Shelf Control books that I doubt I’ll ever read (I still have them, but they may be next to go): 61

Which means:

Of the books I’ve featured, I have…

190 books still to read!

Which just goes to show that these Shelf Control posts do seem to help me in some way — they at least force me to really think about the books on my shelves, and eventually decide if I’m still interested. Although as my stats show, the most probably outcome for my Shelf Control books (particularly those I’ve owned for more than a year or two) is that I’m unlikely to actually read or keep them, when push comes to shove.

Still, this isn’t necessarily a negative. Since I don’t seem to ever quite stop adding to my home library, getting a bit of organization and motivation to donate the books I don’t intend to read is really a good thing.

Onward to 2023! Let’s see how my shelves are looking a year from now.

Happy New Year!

And for those doing a regular Shelf Control post this week:

A Novel Start
Bookshelf Journeys

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

Save

27Dec2022

All the books I meant to read – 2022 edition

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s time for my annual end-of-year tradition — all the books I meant to read! Here’s a look back at all the books I purchased in 2022, but just didn’t get around to reading for one reason or another.

And… oops… I did manage to order a few more that are set to arrive later this week, but I’ll just go ahead and consider them 2023 purchases!

When it comes to physical books, I seem to have improved my track record during this past year! I bought fewer hard copies overall, and of the ones I did buy, I actually read quite a few (so they’re not included in this post).

In past years, this round-up post only included physical books (hardcovers and paperbacks), but I thought it might be fun (or embarrassing or daunting or overwhelming…) to also include all the e-books I added to my Kindle library but haven’t read yet.

Here’s a salute to my unread books of 2022!

First, the hardcovers and paperbacks:

And now, the Kindle books purchased in 2022. (In my defense, I tend to grab books I’m interested in when I see a good price drop… so most of these were deals that I snatched up, not necessarily books that I intended to read immediately and then just didn’t get to). My 2022 e-books:

Save

So, if I prioritized reading all of these 2022 book purchases in 2023… that would take up most of the year! I’ll give it a fair shot — and will try to stick to just buying the books I know I’ll read right away.

Have you read (and loved) any of my 2022 “meant-to-read” books? Please let me know if you see any you’d consider best of the bunch!

Onward to 2023! Happy New Year!Save

26Dec2022

The Monday Check-In ~ 12/26/2022

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

Life.

Silly me… This is my 2nd try at creating this post. The first time, I mistakenly ended up editing an existing post rather than copying the template and starting a new one. Sigh. Let’s try this again.

Here goes…

Happy holidays! I am completely thrilled to have a week off with nothing planned other than organizing bookshelves, seeing a movie or two, walking every day the sun is shining, and of course, lots ‘o reading.

I’m hoping this will be me by the end of the week:

What did I read during the last week?

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt: Amazing for plenty of reasons — but especially because some chapters are narrated by an octopus! My review is here.

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca: This 4th installment in the author’s RenFaire-centered series is just as much romantic fun as expected. My review is here.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: My book group’s read of Persuasion wrapped up this past week. This was my 3rd or 4th time reading this book… and I loved it all over again.

Pop culture & TV:

I just finished season 5 of The Crown, and it left me feeling very uneasy. The Diana years are still too recent to really feel like history, and the dramatization of her unhappiness feels perhaps too real and disturbing.

Puzzles of the week:

A holiday-themed puzzle this week:

SO much snow and sky! Still quite fun, though.

Fresh Catch:

One new book this week:

A gift from a friend who knew just what to get me!

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I’m somewhere around 80%, and I’m really enjoying it (after a somewhat slow start).

Now playing via audiobook:

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers: Book two in the Wayfarers series. I haven’t gotten very far yet, but I’m really glad to have started.

Ongoing reads:

My longer-term reading commitments:

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon: Over at Outlander Book Club, we’re doing a group read of BEES, reading and discussing two chapters per week. We’re at about 60% at this point.
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: This is my newest Classics Club Spin book! The target date to finish is at the end of January, so I’ve been holding off on starting it… but I’m leaving it here as a reminder to myself to make time for it!
An Immense World by Ed Yong: Another bookish holiday gift! I don’t typically pick up non-fiction, but this does sound interesting, and I so appreciate when someone gives me a book. I’m going to keep this one on my nightstand and read it in little bits.

So many books, so little time…

25Dec2022

Audiobook Review: Well Traveled (Well Met, #4) by Jen DeLuca

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Well Traveled
Series: Well Met, #4
Author: Jen DeLuca
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: December 6, 2022
Print length: 304 pages
Audiobook length: 9 hours, 29 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Purchased (audiobook); e-ARC via NetGalley
Rating:

The Renaissance Faire is on the move, and Lulu and Dex are along for the ride, in the next utterly charming rom-com from Jen DeLuca.

A high-powered attorney from a success-oriented family, Louisa “Lulu” Malone lives to work, and everything seems to be going right, until the day she realizes it’s all wrong. Lulu’s cousin Mitch introduced her to the world of Renaissance Faires, and when she spies one at a time just when she needs an escape, she leaps into the welcoming environment of turkey legs, taverns, and tarot readers. The only drawback? Dex MacLean: a guitarist with a killer smile, the Casanova of the Faire… and her traveling companion for the summer.

Dex has never had to work for much in his life, and why should he? Touring with his brothers as The Dueling Kilts is going great, and he always finds a woman at every Faire. But when Lulu proves indifferent to his many plaid charms and a shake-up threatens the fate of the band, Dex must confront something he never has before: his future.

Forced to spend days and nights together on the road, Lulu’s interest in the kilted bad boy grows as he shows her a side of himself no one else has seen. The stresses of her old lifestyle fade away as she learns to trust her intuition and follow her heart instead of her head. But when her time on the road is over, will Lulu go with her gut, or are she and Dex destined for separate paths?

Four books in, Jen DeLuca’s Well Met series is going strong, consistently hitting the sweet spot of mixing unexpected romantic pairing with a super fun setting — the world of Renaissance Faires.

In Well Traveled, the focus shifts to Louisa “Lulu” Malone, whom we met in book #3 (where she was introduced as the cousin of the male romanctic lead). Here, Lulu takes center stage, and she’s a great character to tag along with.

Raised in a high-achieving, highly competitive family, Lulu is an intensely driven attorney working her butt off for partner status… but getting passed over year after year with promises that it’ll be different next time. Out of town on a pointless assignment, Lulu decides to unwind by visiting the nearby RenFaire (which she associates with her beloved cousin Mitch), but even in her few moments of relaxation, the demands of work keep her cell phone ringing and buzzing the entire time. Finally pushed too far, Lulu quits in dramatic and memorable style, but then doesn’t quite know what to do with herself.

Fortunately, the nearby performing group all know Mitch, and with his encouragement, invite Lulu to tag along with them for the next few stops on the Faire circuit, which will eventually lead to Mitch’s hometown, a place of refuge for her. With nothing else on the horizon, Lulu accepts the offer, and soon finds herself on the road and camping out with the Dueling Kilts — whose guitar-playing singer Dex is hot and charming, but has the reputation of being the ultimate player and king of the pick-up and hook-up.

Lulu and Dex become friendly, and Lulu also starts to find herself in this new world of Faire life. She learns how to put on a bodice and skirt and wander the lanes of Faire, making herself useful by serving turkey legs or passing the tip basket after Dueling Kilts performances. When she comes across a trio of fortune tellers who draw huge crowds that they can never quite accommodate, Lulu realizes that they need her help, and soon becomes their de facto “office manager”, organizing their schedules, taking appointments, and along the way, shedding her own skepticism and learning more about tarot, gems, and crystals.

The central storyline has two main points of focus — Lulu’s search for purpose, and her growing attraction to Dex. Lulu does not want to return to the old-boys-club world of corporate law, but she does still love her profession, and wants to figure out how to practice law without selling her soul. Meanwhile, as they travel together and share a small camper in very close quarters, Lulu’s connection to Dex deepens, and she begins to see that there’s more to him than the flirty, sexy guy who supposedly has a woman at every Faire.

What can I say? This book is sweet and loads of fun, and makes me want to chuck it all and run away with the Renaissance Faire! Lulu’s search for meaning is touching and relatable, and I enjoyed seeing her struggle not just with her romantic life, but with embracing her need for emotional fulfillment and recognizing that success doesn’t have to mean making work the only focus of her life.

I did get annoyed toward the end of the book, when miscommunications and assumptions seem to derail her relationship with Dex and threaten to permanently separate them. Of course, this is a romance, so a happily-ever-after is guaranteed. Yes, of course there has to be an obstacle before the HEA resolution, but the obstacles here seemed a little short-sighted and silly for such a smart woman to see as insurmountable.

All in all, this is yet another super enjoyable installment in a terrific series. I haven’t seen any promises of a 5th book yet, but I certainly hope there’s another on the way! I always enjoy these visits to the RenFaire. Let’s lift a tankard of mead and give a big huzzah to the world of Well Met!

22Dec2022

Book Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Remarkably Bright Creatures
Author: Shelby Van Pelt
Publisher: Ecco
Publication date: May 3, 2022
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow’s unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors–until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

If I tell you that I’m recommending a book with parts narrated by an octopus, would you think I’m joking? I hope not, because I’m here to tell you that Remarkably Bright Creatures (a) has an octopus as one of its POV characters and (b) is simply too great to miss!

Remarkably Bright Creatures opens with Tova, a 70-year-old woman, a life-long resident of Sowell Bay, Washington, and a night-shift aquarium employee. Tova loves the solitude and peace she finds in lovingly cleaning every nook and cranny of the aquarium after hours, saying a quiet hello to each animal on display as she cleans the glass of their enclosures and wipes the floor.

Tova does not actually have to work for a living — she’s a widow with enough funds to living comfortably in her house and not worry about her financial situation. However, she’s also a deeply sad and lonely person. Yes, she has friends (the “Knit-Wits”) whom she gets together with each week, and the own of the local grocery store seems to have a massive (but unrequited) crush on her. For thirty years, though, Tova has been carrying the deep grief filling her heart after the death of her only son, 18-year-old Erik, in a boating accident that’s never been fully explained.

Soon after we meet Tova, we also meet Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus who observes the world around him from within his enclosure, and who narrates the story of his captivity and his knowledge of his impending demise as he nears the end of his species’ typical lifespan. Marcellus sees all and understands everything he sees. He’s also an escape artist, letting himself out of his enclosure through the tiniest of gaps to roam the aquarium at night in search of treats (the sea cucumbers are particularly yummy, although he tries to hold back to prevent anyone starting to question why the sea cucumber population keeps decreasing).

Oh, and also? Marcellus is super funny:

IF THERE IS ONE TOPIC OF CONVERSATION HUMANS never exhaust, it is the status of their outdoor environment. And for as much as they discuss it, their incredulity is . . . well, incredible. That preposterous phrase: Can you believe this weather we’re having? How many times have I heard it? One thousand, nine hundred and ten, to be exact. One and a half times a day, on average. Tell me again about the intelligence of humans. They cannot even manage to comprehend predictable meteorological events.

When Tova and Marcellus cross paths on one of his midnight adventures, they connect and seem to understand one another. While Tova can only wonder whether what she picks up from him is real or just something she imagines, we know from Marcellus’s POV chapters that he knows much more than Tova could dream of, including some key facts about Erik’s disappearance.

As the story progresses, more characters are introduced… including Cameron, a 30-year-old man who’s been rootless and unable to stick with anything in his life, ever since being abandoned by his mother as a young child. When he stumbles upon a lead that might just help him identify his biological father, he hits the road for Sowell Bay, where his path becomes entwined with that of Tova and Marcellus.

Does this sounds weird to you? Yes, Marcellus is a very unusual narrator — but at its heart, Remarkably Bright Creatures is about connection, family, and love. Tova is a tough character in some ways, so entrenched in her ways, so determined to keep herself apart from others and not let herself be touched by other people’s care or warmth. Yet we see throughout the book how her pain and loss have informed the rest of her life, so even though she has good memories of her life with her late husband, the shadow of her son’s death has darkened every moment since.

I loved seeing Tova’s interactions with Marcellus, and how just that little bit of understanding that passes between them enables her to open up to life once more. The story of Cameron’s search for his father is amusing, but the outcome is obvious from the start, so while I enjoyed some of his misadventures, parts seemed to take slightly too long to get resolved.

That’s really just a minor quibble. Overall, I loved the freshness of the viewpoints in this story, and the lovely sense of heart and connection that lies underneath the action. The characters are memorable, the storytelling is lovely (and has plenty of funny moments to balance out the sadness), and the book ends with a very satisfying wrap-up.

I really enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures, and absolutely recommend it.

21Dec2022

Shelf Control #347: The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: The Wild Silence
Author: Raynor Winn
Published: 2020
Length: 280 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Nature holds the answers for Raynor and her husband Moth. After walking 630 homeless miles along The Salt Path, living on the windswept and wild English coastline; the cliffs, the sky and the chalky earth now feel like their home.

Moth has a terminal diagnosis, but against all medical odds, he seems revitalized in nature. Together on the wild coastal path, with their feet firmly rooted outdoors, they discover that anything is possible.

Now, life beyond The Salt Path awaits and they come back to four walls, but the sense of home is illusive and returning to normality is proving difficult – until an incredible gesture by someone who reads their story changes everything.

A chance to breathe life back into a beautiful farmhouse nestled deep in the Cornish hills; rewilding the land and returning nature to its hedgerows becomes their saving grace and their new path to follow.

The Wild Silence is a story of hope triumphing over despair, of lifelong love prevailing over everything. It is a luminous account of the human spirit’s instinctive connection to nature, and how vital it is for us all.

How and when I got it:

I bought a copy about a year ago.

Why I want to read it:

The Wild Silence is the follow-up to The Salt Path, Raynor Winn’s memoir of the journey she and her ailing husband made along the 630-mile Coast Path of Cornwall. I absolutely loved The Salt Path, feeling both incredibly impressed and incredulous that they attempted this trek during the lowest period of their lives. It’s an astounding feat, and the book is powerful, honest, funny, and touching.

But, at the end of The Salt Path, we readers are left with questions. What happened to the couple next? Did they find peace and happiness? How did the next chapter of their lives unfold?

As soon as I heard that the author would be publishing a sequel, I knew I needed it! Since I listened to the audio version of the first book, my intention was to do the same with The Wild Silence, but I also wanted the paperback to be able to follow along. Unfortunately, my good intentions just haven’t panned out, and I still haven’t started either the print or audio of this book.

Still, this is a Shelf Control book that I’m certain I want to read. I tend to always choose fiction over non-fiction whenever it’s time to start a new book, but I do love a good memoir. I’m excited to read/listen to The Wild Silence in 2023.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!

Literary Potpourri
Bookshelf Journeys

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

19Dec2022

The Monday Check-In ~ 12/19/2022

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life.

Happy Hanukkah! Last night was the first night — latkes, draydels, candles… good times!

What did I read during the last week?

The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev: A really touching (and sometimes very funny) story of three generations of women in an Indian-American family. Very enjoyable. My review is here.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman: I guess timing is everything — I first read this book last year and only gave it three stars, yet when I re-read it this week for an upcoming book group discussion, I absolutely loved it!

All the Murmuring Bones by A. G. Slatter: A darkly magical tale of a family’s ancient bargain with the mer folk and what it’s cost them, and the lengths the last remaining descendent will go through to finally break free of her family’s toxic past. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

With some hesitation, I started season 5 of The Crown this week. And… it’s okay? I’ve watched five (out of ten) episodes so far. Not loving the depiction of Diana this season — she seems more like a caricature than like Diana herself, if that makes any sense. In any case, I’m interested enough to keep going.

The Survivor finale aired this week (season 43!) and I have to say, it was a fairly mediocre end to a mediocre season. The show needs to figure out a better way to get to the final three. The fire-making competition is getting old, and the process is just dumb. I’m tired of seeing the best players out at 4 or 5, leaving a group of finalists that it’s impossible to feel excited about. (Of course, I’ll still watch the next season… but my annoyance will continue to grow if they don’t make some changes.)

Puzzles of the week:

Getting back in the puzzle zone!

This was a fun one (and looks much better in person — the lighting at my puzzle table is pretty sucky).

Fresh Catch:

One new book this week:

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt: Loving it so far!

Now playing via audiobook:

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca: This series is so much fun!

Ongoing reads:

My longer-term reading commitments:

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon: Over at Outlander Book Club, we’re doing a group read of BEES, reading and discussing two chapters per week. We’re past the halfway point!
Persuasion by Jane Austen: My book group’s current classic read. I’ve read this several times already, but I’m always up for another go! Almost done! We discuss the final chapter this coming Wednesday.
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: This is my newest Classics Club Spin book! The target date to finish is at the end of January, so I probably won’t start this one just yet… but I’m leaving it here as a reminder to myself to make time for it!

So many books, so little time…

17Dec2022

Book Review: All the Murmuring Bones by A. G. Slatter

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: All the Murmuring Bones
Author: A. G. Slatter
Publisher: Titan Books
Publication date: March 9, 2021
Length: 337 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Long ago Miren O’Malley’s family prospered due to a deal struck with the Mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren’s grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren’s freedom.

A spellbinding tale of dark family secrets, magic and witches, and creatures of myth and the sea; of strong women and the men who seek to control them.

The beautiful writing in this unusual book creates a spell that’s darkly magical yet feels frighteningly real. There are strong fantasy elements, but at its core, All the Murmuring Bones is the story of a young woman desperately seeking a way to break free from the burden of her family’s terrible, ancient bargains.

Miren O’Malley, at age eighteen, lives in the crumbling mansion of Hob’s Hollow located on a cliff overlooking the sea. Once, the O’Malley family was rich and powerful, but that was long ago. Now Miren lives in the decaying ruin with her elderly grandparents and two equally elderly servants. Miren has been raised on tales of mer folk and the people who bargain with them, but how much of that is just family lore?

When Miren’s grandfather dies, her grandmother wastes no time in arranging for Miren to marry a wealthy cousin — he’s not a “real” O’Malley of the original bloodline, but he’s still family, and he has reasons of his own for wanting the marriage. Miren, however, is horrified and wants only to break free. After further loss, the walls seem to be closing in, and Miren finally makes her escape, determined to find the parents who abandoned her so may years ago.

I won’t give away more of the plot, but suffice it to say that Miren’s flight from her angry, vengeful cousin is full of danger and wonder, and she meets strange allies along the way before finally reaching her destination. But even there, more dangers await, and there’s a mystery to unravel that further threatens Miren’s freedom and even her life.

I was, well, spell-bound by this intricate tale of bargains and magicks — the more so because it’s also a tale of family dynamics and manipulations. Miren herself is a terrific character, raised to be obedient, yet unable to just go along with the horrible future she’s being sacrificed to for the sake of the good of the O’Malley family.

There were some elements that I felt needed further explanation, and the drama that unfolds once Miren’s journey finally leads her to her destination isn’t entirely satisfying — but overall, I loved the overarching sense of wonder and dread that mingle together throughout the narrative. I picked up a copy of this book over a year ago — I’m glad I finally read it!

16Dec2022

Book Review: The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Vibrant Years
Author: Sonali Dev
Publisher: Mindy’s Book Studio
Publication date: December 1, 2022
Length: 272 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Kindle freebie
Rating:

When sixty-five-year-old Bindu Desai inherits a million dollars, she’s astounded―and horrified. The windfall threatens to expose a shameful mistake from her youth. On an impulse, Bindu quickly spends it on something unexpected: a condo in a posh retirement community in Florida.

The impulsive decision blindsides Bindu’s daughter-in-law, Aly. At forty-seven, Aly still shares a home with Bindu even after her divorce from Bindu’s son. But maybe this change is just the push Aly needs to fight for her own dreams.

As Bindu and Aly navigate their new dynamic, Aly’s daughter, Cullie, is faced with losing the business that made her a tech-world star. The only way to save it is to deliver a new idea to her investors―and they want the dating app she pitched them in a panic. Problem is, Cullie has never been on a real date. Naturally, enlisting her single mother and grandmother to help her with the research is the answer.

From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes a heartfelt novel about three generations of hilarious, unconventional, ambitious women who embark on a shared journey of self-discovery. Join the Desai women as they come together to embrace the hijinks and heartbreak of facing their greatest fears to finally live their most vibrant lives.

Having read and enjoyed Sonali Dev’s Rajes series, which riffs on Jane Austen’s novels while also introduces a large, dynamic Indian American family, I was eager to grab The Vibrant Years when Amazon offered it as a free First Reads book in November. Seeing that this is Mindy Kaling’s first book club selection (Mindy’s Book Studio) made me even more keen to read it.

In The Vibrant Years, we follow three generations of interesting women as they navigate work, love, and family. Bindu inherits money (although she hides the true source from her family) and decides to break out of her steady, modest life as a widow and grandmother and become “vibrant”. She moves into a fancy senior community and becomes the belle of the ball, attracting both eager suitors and the envy and cattiness of what she refers to as “the coven” — the women of the HOA who watch and criticize her every move.

Bindu’s daughter-in-law Aly is a journalist with a local TV station who just can’t seem to get her big break. Despite landing the biggest interview imaginable for the station, her boss wants the more relatable (i.e., whiter) reporter to actually carry out the interview. Aly fights for herself and her career, while also worrying about her daughter and resenting her ex-husband, who never truly supported her professional goals and dreams.

Aly’s daughter Cullie is a tech whiz who, at 25, is the creator of the world’s most successful mental health app, but is now at risk of having her vision compromised by the funder’s pursuit of even more money. Her only hope of saving the app she believes in so strongly is to give the funder something new to profit off of, but her attempt to make a better dating app seems to be headed for failure.

As the story progresses, we get tantalizing hints of Bindu’s hidden past. Something significant happened when she was seventeen — but her enraged parents forced her into a very different life of domesticity and devotion to being a wife and mother rather than risk any hint of shame or scandal. Bindu has never talked about her past, but certain reminders continue to pop up, and it seems like the past won’t remain forgotten for much longer.

The Vibrant Years is perhaps more heartfelt and serious than the synopsis implies, but the promised “hijinks” definitely play a part too. The book neatly balances some truly awful (and hilarious) dating situations with the inner lives of the three main characters, adding humor to heartbreak and loss and self-doubt. (I’m not sure I’ve ever read about dates quite as bad as these… )

Bindu is really the star of the book, a truly “vibrant” woman who gives herself freedom to finally live her own life at age 65. She refuses to be the meek grandmother she seemed destined to remain, but instead puts herself out into the world with bold colors, independent choices, and a fiery defiance that is awesome to behold. There were times in the story when I wished the story of her teen years was told more sequentially, to give us time to really invest in it and see it unfold, but by the end of the book, it’s clear what happened. The revelations are powerful and emotional.

I felt less invested in Aly and Cullie, but still enjoyed their character development, their struggles, and their determination to achieve their goals and also fight for their chances at personal happiness. The dynamics between the three women are not always smooth and peaceful, but their love is unconditional. When’s the last time you read a book about such a loving bond between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law? I really liked the strong and unconditional connection between all three characters. No matter the challenges, their love and support gets each of them through the worst days and helps them find hope.

Overall, I really enjoyed this family story. Each character is memorable in her own right, and the love between the three is what really makes The Vibrant Years shine.

14Dec2022

Shelf Control #346: Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

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Title: Black Rabbit Hall
Author: Eve Chase
Published: 2015
Length: 400 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

For fans of Kate Morton and Sarah Waters, here’s a magnetic debut novel of wrenching family secrets, forbidden love, and heartbreaking loss housed within the grand gothic manor of Black Rabbit Hall.

Ghosts are everywhere, not just the ghost of Momma in the woods, but ghosts of us too, what we used to be like in those long summers …

Amber Alton knows that the hours pass differently at Black Rabbit Hall, her London family’s country estate, where no two clocks read the same. Summers there are perfect, timeless. Not much ever happens. Until, of course, it does.

More than three decades later, Lorna is determined to be married within the grand, ivy-covered walls of Pencraw Hall, known as Black Rabbit Hall among the locals. But as she’s drawn deeper into the overgrown grounds, half-buried memories of her mother begin to surface and Lorna soon finds herself ensnared within the manor’s labyrinthine history, overcome with an insatiable need for answers about her own past and that of the once-happy family whose memory still haunts the estate.

Stunning and atmospheric, this debut novel is a thrilling spiral into the hearts of two women separated by decades but inescapably linked by the dark and tangled secrets of Black Rabbit Hall.

How and when I got it:

I added the e-book to my library several years ago.

Why I want to read it:

I remember seeing promotional material for this book and thinking it looked good, and then saw it featured while browsing at the library and was drawn to the dark and mysterious cover. I didn’t actually borrow it at that time, but when I saw a Kindle deal for it, I grabbed it.

I’m intrigued by the synopsis. Why would the clocks always be different? What actually happened at Black Rabbit Hall? Why does it have a different name 30 years later, and what happened to the family who used to live there? So many riddles to untangle!

I do like grim, gothic stories, and nothing beats a decrepit old mansion with a secret past! I don’t know anyone who’s actually read this book, but I’m interested enough to want to hold on to it and finally give it a try.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!

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