happiestwhenreading's reviews
1414 reviews

I literally just don't care. Maybe because my kids are past this age and maybe because I think the real issue is that parents give these devices to their kids instead of parenting. There's no boundaries around them...the parents are just as checked out as the kids.

Very slow…I’m not super familiar with the conflict btw Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland…just didn’t feel a connection to the story. 

Described as a coming-of-age/historical/literary fiction book, Playworld is a chunky book. Clocking in at over 500 pages, it’s a book that demands attention, and in return, one would hope to have an engaging, pleasurable reading experience. 

 

Unfortunately, this book was anything but pleasurable. While there are vignettes sprinkled throughout that I enjoyed, after finishing, there are just too many things that make this a hard book for me to recommend. 

 

At it’s best, this novel is atmospheric and the writing is great. I highlighted a ton of passages and have caught myself reflecting on pieces of the story. The characters are memorable, and I have no doubt that this is a book I’ll be able to remember next December when I begin reflecting back on my reading year. Poor Griffin…I’d love to know what happened to him as he grew up and how he came to terms with everything that happened in this one year span of the book! 

Another aspect I loved was how Ross made New York City SHINE! It made me want to travel these streets like Griffin did in the early 1980s. I can’t fathom sending my kid on a subway or train or taxi without me, but I think New Yorkers are built different. If anything, this book is a love letter to the city and she basks in the praise! 

 

What didn’t work for me was the predatory behavior of the adults. Naomi is a family friend who is 36 years old, a wife, and mother to two girls. She is obsessed with Griffin who is 14 YEARS OLD! in this book. Their relationship doesn’t start out as sexual, but it is wildly inappropriate and I couldn’t understand what the purpose was. In addition to Naomi, Griffin’s wrestling coach is sexually abusive to his players, and again, it was just too much. (I literally read this entire book, against my better judgment to DNF, in hopes that the inclusions of these two plot points would be cleared up for me. They weren’t.) 

 

Since finishing, I’ve concluded that life in NYC in the 80s was something very different than we’re used to now. This is pre-helicopter parenting - where children roamed much more freely than kids do now. Regardless, Ross took that too far for me when the kids became neglected by every adult in their lives - and not just neglected - but flat-out preyed upon and ignored. The parents were so self-absorbed that eventually started hate reading so I could get it finished. 

When Marguerite is orphaned at nine years old, her cousin (whom she does not know) becomes her guardian, therefore, in charge of her estate. Roberval is a miserable person who likes to adventure and gamble - with Marguerite’s money. When he’s effectively lost all of her inheritance, he then orders her to sail to the New World with him. While on the ship, Marguerite falls in love with Roberval’s secretary, angering him so much he abandons her with very little to a deserted island with her lover and maid. 

How will these three survive the harsh conditions of an island in what we now know as modern Canada? It is in these years that Marguerite truly comes into her own - finding her strength, courage, resilience, and voice.

I didn’t know what to expect from this one. Ancient time periods (1542), New World exploration, and survival stories aren’t necessarily intriguing to me on paper. But what ultimately made this an enjoyable reading experience, besides the beautiful writing, was Marguerite’s transformation. She went from being noble to slaying bears and fighting for her life! It’s a testament to humanity’s will to survive the impossible and to come out on the other side stronger. While her circumstances are hard, her story is hopeful and her resilience inspirational.

Fans of Maggie O’Farrell (Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait) will enjoy this one!

Anne Marie Callahan is on the run - from herself. After her best friend is involved in a tragic accident, she assumes different identities - first, Cass Ford, and then later as the mysterious best-selling author, Cate Kay. With interweaving accounts from multiple characters, Fagan explores themes of love, identity, and the courage to face yourself.

These characters were stunning. Through all their flaws and tragedies, Fagan manages to give them depth, emotion, and connection that makes them quite memorable. Through all the timeline shifts and changing points of views, the book could have been confusing, but Fagan is masterful in how she crafts this story.

While there was a plot point or two that drove me crazy, overall, this story shines. I was a big fan of Fagan’s nonfiction/journalistic writing in What Made Maddy Run, but this book also demonstrates that Fagan has true talent in the fictional genre as well. I am excited to see if she continues to write fictionally, and this book is also the prompt I need to finally pick up another one of her books currently on my bookshelf: All the Colors Came Out.

I have a weird thing about reading books to be published next year this year. I personally hate books in my Top 10 that weren’t published in the same year…all of this to say, I snuck this one in right at the end. It felt safe bc it was published in 2024, there was a ton of buzz around it, and it was unlikely to make my Top 10 list (thrillers rarely do for me).

Anyway, this one was highly entertaining. I loved the podcast element which kept the story moving forward and fresh. I didn’t love the hookup between Lucy and Ben…it felt too convenient and forced. I felt like a lot of the characters weren’t likeable…and I felt Lucy’s acceptance of Savvy’s past was not believable. Either way, Lucy was snappy and funny and I loved that about her.

This one made me feel like all thrillers do…easy to read, doesn’t require a ton of investment from me, and completely forgettable by tomorrow. 

At this point, I sound like a broken record but...Louise Penny does it again! I have no idea how she manages to keep the series fresh, new, and exciting, but she somehow does it.

This time, Gamache has come out of retirement to teach at the academy. He is still trying to root out the corruption and feels like professors may be corrupting future officers at the training school. Gamache brings in old friends - many of them questionable - to help him in his first year...and within just a few months, one of them is dead. Who killed the professor? One of the students? Another professor? Gamache?

It's not only that I love the mysteries involved at the center of each book, but I'm so attached to the characters, the town, and the new tidbits of information Penny gives us as we continue reading the series. She's masterful with her trail of breadcrumbs. She drops just enough to add a new element and to keep the readers engaged and rooting for each of them!

In 2024, I read 8 books in this series. I had no intention of doing that...this was going to be a very slow and steady project, but there were times I couldn't find something to read, and Gamache and his friends became dependable. I will no doubt be completely caught up by the time 2025 is over...and I will be equally excited to have completed the series as I will be sad to not have more to read. Yes, these books are that special!

Abby Jimenez does it again! 

Dr. Briana Ortiz is not having a good time in life. She is an ER doctor, and in a few days' time, her divorce will be finalized after she caught her husband cheating on her with her best friend. She throws herself into her work, and is even considering applying for the Chief position because she is never, ever going to date or get married again!

On a chance encounter with the new ER doctor in the supply closet, Briana's icy heart starts to melt. As she makes a deal to fake date him, Jacob shows her what love looks and feels like. They slowly let their guards down and become one of the cutest couples in the romance genre!

There is one more book in the series, Just For the Summer, and to say I'm excited to read it is an understatement. In fact, it was the rave reviews for this one that started me on the AJ journey to begin with!

Along with Emily Henry and Kennedy Ryan, Abby Jimenez will be an author I look to in the romance category!

When a young woman leaves home (Brazil) to travel to the US (Vermont) for college, her connection with her mother is reduced to the "blue light hours" - the time they share through Skype on their computers. During this time, they talk about what's going on in their lives - how it's changed, yet also remained the same. There is loneliness as they both yearn to be back together. There is support as the mother knows this is what is good for her daughter. There is hardship as the daughter navigates a new language, culture, and world.

While I can't relate to being an international student, I felt this book as a child who left for college, and more recently, as a mom whose son left for college this year. It's that feeling of letting your child go - letting them figure things out for themselves. The intense sense of loneliness and missing that one feels when their child no longer lives below their own roof. Last semester, I remember waiting for him to call - our own "blue light hours" - just to simply catch up, but also to be able to put physical eyes on him to reassure me that he was doing ok. 

This book is simple, short, and profound. Lobato has paired the story down to the bare minimum, and in doing so, she has conveyed that loneliness and isolation so well. While a lot of the book felt melancholic, there is also a lot of hope. Ultimately, anyone with children will face the day when their child becomes independent, and this book captures those feelings so well.

John Marrs is so good at taking our modern society and tweaking one little thing so that the world he creates doesn’t feel that unrealistic or far-fetched. In the world of The Passengers, we have driverless cars - 5 different levels where the passenger can override the autonomous vehicle to a fully functional vehicle that doesn’t need human interaction at all.

Within the first few pages, we learn that 8 vehicles have been hacked and overtaken. The passengers are held hostage within the vehicle; there is nothing they can do to stop, control, or exit the vehicle.

This near-future, realistic book had me tearing through the pages to see how it was going to conclude. It made me stop and think through so many different, but equally terrifying, scenarios. I know there are already driverless cars in our society; I can’t imagine the majority of vehicles on the road being fully autonomous! I love technology, but often wonder when we reach the tipping point from being helpful and beneficial to the demise of humanity and society.

There is so much here for book clubs to explore. I was left wishing I had read this with a friend because there were so many things that would make for lively discussion.

Would you buy a driverless vehicle?