booktalkwithkarla's reviews
1337 reviews

This book begins with a missing person, and the tale of another missing person from the same family more than a decade before. There are many characters and a few storylines that come together beautifully. 

Liz Moore is brilliant. I love her writing and storytelling. She tells the story from many points of view and travels seamlessly from the present to the past and back to the present again and again. I appreciated that in many chapters we get the POV person and the full timeline with the relevant time for that chapter in bold. That was super helpful to anchor myself in where we were in the story. So smart. Moore’s title, book cover, and all the details in the pages lead to a great reading experience and a wonderful discussion. 

I enjoyed this story for its creativity, depth, and themes. How marriage and parenting are addressed really contributed to our book club discussion. The side characters were fully formed and added so much to the complexity of the story. I could not have guessed the ending, and not for lack of trying. This is a great and discussable novel, one I highly recommend. 

“His own father had taught him this well, when he was learning to guide: in the woods, each decision you make is irreversible, and sometimes catastrophic.”

“It was funny, she thought, how many relationships one could have with the same man, over the course of a lifetime together.”

“I am the keeper of the stories, the writer, the one who has carried the stories in my apron for so many years, the one who considers a rusty metal recipe box my finest family heirloom. I am the one who makes a pot of chicken and dumplings and cornbread, who conjures up the kitchen ghosts of my rural homeland every time I cook.”

I heard about this book on a reading podcast I listen to and was intrigued. The draw for me involved the elements of traditions passed down and generational honor. Both were present in this work. I was disappointed since very few of the recipes sounded good to me or possible in my life right now. But I respected the author’s heart and goal. The deep honor she has for her ancestors and love for her children come through in her writing, stories, and love of cooking. 

Over the past several years, I have been listening to podcasts and reading books about attachment and healing through story. Anytime these topics are engaged with starting from biblical worldview and in a God honoring way, I am delighted. 

I was alerted to Joyful Journey and Immanuel Journaling by a podcast. And I’m so grateful to know about it. Before reading the book I practiced IJ three times using a pdf from joyful journaling.com and experienced the benefits firsthand. IJ had only been better after reading the book. Now I understand more of the origin story, know the reasons why it works with the human brain, and how to apply IJ in different settings. 

The authors do a fabulous job of organizing the content, sharing real examples, and connecting the tool/process to the main things - experiencing the presence of God and having deeper connection with God and others. I highly recommend this book and Immanuel Journaling. 

Reading is always an adventure, one I love in part because I learn more about myself with each book. In this novel, I learned that I don’t love to read about unlikeable characters or religious abuses. Both are found in Matrix, a novel about a nun living in an abbey in the 12th century. The novel follows the life of Marie, her pride, sexual sin, and visions. 

Lauren Groff has a wild imagination. Her writing is rich and descriptive, on both an external and internal level. She definitely makes you think and have strong emotional reactions. I respect her abilities and will continue to read her work. 

I almost put this novel down several times, forcing myself to continue. Groff delivers what she promises but in a way I did not expect. I found the story profane and heretical. Since this is based on a real person, I am unsure how much is truth and how much is Groff’s imagination. Read if you wish, but not based on my recommendation. 

This book is the real story of how Gretchen Huijskens finds her purpose and in the process helps other women find opportunity, security, and meaning (my words). You’ll want to read every page to know the whole story.

Huijskens tells her story beautifully, including important details that place you in the scene. She tells it, giving much dignity and respect to every person in it. I loved knowing the end (creating jobs and opportunities for families to stay together) and then going back to the beginning (willing spirit, adoption, family) to see how it all came to be. This book is filled with hope, even in the midst of horrific stories of abuse and poverty (some on the page and many we know to be true). Much has been accomplished toward Huijskens’s mission and yet there is more to do. I appreciate that Huijskens allows women (Artisans) to share their own stories and gives practical ways to participate. 

I really enjoyed this book. I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. Thank you to Melanie Sunukjian for recommending Gretchen’s (we have many things in common so now on a first name basis 😀) book to me. Melanie knows I love real stories and this one is not only real, but really good! I’ll be speaking with Gretchen soon on The Commons with Karla podcast. If you are a woman who likes memoir and wants to make an impact, read this and be inspired. Know your values. Create a vision. Take action.  Check out Trades of Hope and support women whenever you can.

Bahman and Roya are 17 when they fall in love. Their romance and correspondence is facilitated by Mr. Fakhri, owner of the Stationery Shop. On the eve of their wedding, a coup and related violence changes the future of Iran. In the weeks after Roya attempts to reach Bahran, without success. Eventually she moves on - moving to the US - and he marries another. Sixty years later an accident of fate allows them to ask and answer the many questions from 1953 Tehran. 

Marjan Kamali creates this beautiful story, at times in letters, always well-written and fascinating. The historical events matched along the personal lives of two people across the generations make for a wonderful novel. She writes each character with nuance, addressing class, love, grief, cruelty, delusion, death, and deception. And the addition of Rumi poems, stationery, and books is perfection to the story. 

This is the second reading for me. Knowing the full story and starting from the beginning again revealed many relevant details making the story even richer. The narrator in the audio version was great. Her voice sharing the story made the reread a fantastic reading experience. I love this book! 

“It is a love from which we never recover.”

Sadly I bought this book 4 years ago and just read it. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I probably needed it 8-10 years ago. In Natural Hotmone Balance for Women, Uzzi Reiss, M.D./O.B.-GYN., provides his expertise from decades of clinical practice and observation of thousands of women. He knows what he is talking about and writes in an easy to understand style, like you are sitting across from him. I learned so much about the benefits of hormones, and the results of deficiencies. I am armed to take next steps and you will be too with this foundational read. The book was published in 2001 and we know even more now about the importance of hormones for optimal health, not just reproductive health. Highly recommend women of an age read up on this topic. Each woman has to make decisions based on many factors. My hope is that we will open up dialogue with our health providers and each other. 

This is a book about the unintended consequences of overprotecting our children, of wisdom and its opposite.

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt cowrite this bestseller. Each brings their own expertise and experience to bare. The organization and flow of the book helped to present three untruths and their effects. With this foundation the authors show recent dramatic events and how we got here, so the reader understands more of the root reasons. The final part of the book offers a path forward. 

I can’t remember who recommended this book to me but I’m really glad they did. This was an interesting reading experience - on many levels including as a parent to a teen daughter. It is well written and worth the honor of being a NYT notable book. I listened on audio and then bought a paper copy for my husband to read. 

The authors chose many (too many to note) wonderful quotes that evoke meaning and illustrate principles well. Here is one of the many I appreciated. 

“Choose not to be harmed, and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.” - Marcus Arelius (quoted in The Coddling of the American Mind)

Rating 1.5 stars.

Rocky is menopausal and angry. Over the course of a week in Sandwich, we are privy to her every thought and emotion. Her two grown children, her son’s girlfriend, and her senior parents join her for their annual vacation. Rocky then recalls key trips in the past where she experienced her pregnancies and children, as well as interactions with her husband. I was annoyed by Rocky from the beginning. Her symptoms and some of her experiences as a mother were relatable. Yet I couldn’t muster compassion for her. Her flippancy and sarcasm irritated me. She was rude and disrespectful to her husband, not to mention dishonest. There isn’t much to celebrate here. And I really can’t celebrate a women’s freedom (without spoilers) when it so drastically steals life from others. 

I regret that I read this and feel tricked that I thought I was getting a menopause book and instead other agendas were pushed. I only continued reading because the recommendation was from a trusted source (she will not be going forward). The parts of the book where the character deals with motherhood, menopause, and aging parents had some outstanding moments and writing. The other parts are regretful and leave me with a sick feeling in my gut. 

I am sorry I read this book and apologize to anyone I recommended it to thinking it was telling a story of a woman sandwiched between adult children and aging parents. Please tread carefully and look for trigger warnings before reading, or just skip this one. 

Go Your Own Way: 7 Student-Centered Paths to the Best College Experience offers much needed encouragement and ideas for parents (guides, counselors, and other supporters) during an important time of life. Through stories and practical counsel the author dispels myths and gives direction for the college application process. 

Alex Ellison, an education consultant, brings her expertise, experience, and research to bear in this organized and well written book. The structure around archetypes is useful, while the real life stories provide inspiration and a lens to understand more about your young adult. Throughout, Ellison provides counsel and directly addresses misguided motivations and misinformation about college acceptance rates, student expectations, skill sets, goals, values, happiness, parent’s fears, and more. 

Ellison focuses so much on encouraging stories and what we can do that this book is a joy to engage with. She succeeds in counseling parents and others to support young people as they make their way in the world, learning resilience and life skills alongside college education. Ellison’s care for people and her expertise provide much comfort to me, as a mom, a former employer, and a community member. Our future is in good hands with leaders like Ellison. 

I enjoyed this book so much, especially Ellison’s ability to focus on possibilities for students, truly seeing them. I highly recommend parents read it early in the process and wish I had read it a year ago when I bought it. A few times as I read, I thought “uh oh, she’s talking about me” when she highlighted a parent’s unintentional misstep. Yet, as parents, we need to hear these things, at least I did. Our daughter, a high school Senior, is currently working on the college application process with Ellison and her team so we have seen her application of ideas in the book first hand.