In an effort to catch up on ALL THE THINGS that I have fallen behind on this year, I’m going to be posting my Reading Wrap-ups for the first half of this year. Then I’ll be posting on a monthly basis as much as possible. I’ve read some excellent books this year and I don’t want to miss out on sharing those and these wrap-ups are the easiest and most efficient way to share what I’ve been reading.
I’ll post each book, a short summary and my star rating. I hope you find this useful as you’re looking for your next read!
I started the year off strong with some really great books!! I read a total of eleven books in January with only one of them being on audio format.
Here are the books I read in January 2022…
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Short Summary – Anthony Doerr’s gorgeous third novel is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, who find resilience, hope–and a book. In Cloud Cuckoo Land, Doerr has created a magnificent tapestry of times and places that reflects our vast interconnectedness–with other species, with each other, with those who lived before us, and with those who will be here after we’re gone.
My Thoughts – I had high hopes for this newest book by Anthony Doerr since I loved All The Light We Cannot See. While this was completely different, it did not disappoint! I loved how all the characters were interconnected and I loved how they were all impacted greatly by the written word. You can read my full review here.
Still Life by Sarah Winman
Short Summary – Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amongst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses’s life for the next four decades. Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a richly drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.
My Thoughts – This was a captivating and beautifully told story. I loved so many of the characters and how they came together to form a special family.
Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly
Short Summary – Sunflower Sisters tells the story of her ancestor Georgeanna Woolsey, a Union nurse who joins the war effort during the Civil War, and how her calling leads her to cross paths with Jemma, a young enslaved girl who is sold off and conscripted into the army, and Ann-May Wilson, a southern plantation mistress whose husband enlists.
My Thoughts – I’ve read the other books in this series and loved this book as much as I have loved the others. I love how the author focuses on the stories of three women. I cheered on Jemma and really despised Anne-May. Actually, I can’t think of many literary characters I liked less. This was a quick read that fans of historical fiction will love.
A Little Hope by Ethan Joella
Short Summary – A Little Hope is a life-affirming novel that follows the residents of an idyllic Connecticut town over the course of a year. It explores the intertwining lives of a dozen neighbors as they confront everyday desires and fears: a lost love, a stalled career, an illness, and a betrayal.
My Thoughts – Gosh…I cannot think of this novel without wanting to reach for it and give it a hug. I think that’s a sign that I absolutely loved it!! This will defnin
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Short Summary – In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames’s life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. Reverend Ames writes to his son about the tension between his father–an ardent pacifist–and his grandfather, whose pistol and bloody shirts, concealed in an army blanket, may be relics from the fight between the abolitionists and those settlers who wanted to vote Kansas into the union as a slave state. And he tells a story of the sacred bonds between fathers and sons, which are tested in his tender and strained relationship with his namesake, John Ames Boughton, his best friend’s wayward son.
My Thoughts – I received Jack, also by Marilynne Robinson, from my husband for Christmas and decided to read all the books in this series in order. I don’t think they have to be read in order, but the characters in these books are related. Gilead is a highly contemplative book that must be read slowly to take it all in.
How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
Short Summary – Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks-those that are honest about the past and those that are not-that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history, and ourselves.
My Thoughts – I listened to this on audio during walks this winter. It was an excellent listen, but I also think it would have been just as impactful in written form. This is an important read! I learned so much as I listened to the author tell the history of so many of America’s monuments and landmarks and their ties to slavery.
The Family by Naomi Krupitsky
Short Summary – Two daughters. Two families. One inescapable fate.
Sofia Colicchio is a free spirit, a loud, untamed thing. Antonia Russo is thoughtful, ever observing the world around her. Best friends from birth, their homes share a brick wall and their fathers are part of an unspoken community that connects them all: the Family. Sunday dinners gather the Family each week to feast, discuss business, and renew the intoxicating bond borne of blood and love.
Until Antonia’s father dares to dream of a different life and goes missing soon after. His disappearance drives a whisper-thin wedge between Sofia and Antonia as they become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship. Both women are pushing against the walls of a prison made up of expectations, even as they remain bound to one another, their hearts expanding in tandem with Red Hook and Brooklyn around them. One fateful night their loyalty to each other and the Family will be tested. Only one of them can pull the trigger before it’s too late.
My Thoughts – I never would have thought that I would enjoy a story about a mafia family, but I was honestly captivated by this story. It was so much more than a mafia story. It was a story about friendship and women’s roles in society. I’ve heard rumors of this being the beginning of a series and, if it is, I’m on board!
The Late Bloomer’s Club by Louise Miller
Short Summary – The Late Bloomers’ Club is a delightful novel about two headstrong sisters, a small town’s efforts to do right by the community, and the power of a lost dog to summon true love
Nora, the owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, is perfectly happy serving up apple cider donuts, coffee, and eggs-any-way-you-like-em to her regulars, but her life is soon shaken when she discovers she and her free-spirited, younger sister Kit stand to inherit the home and land of the town’s beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson.
Time is running out, and the sisters need to make a decision soon, but Nora isn’t quite ready to let go of the land. Troubled by the conflicting needs of the town, and confused by her growing feelings towards Elliot, the big-box developer’s rep, Nora throws herself into solving the one problem that everyone in town can agree on–finding Peggy’s missing dog, Freckles.
My Thoughts – This was such a heart-warming comfort read that made me want to bake!! I still have plans to make the Burnt Sugar Cake with Maple Icing recipe that’s in the back of the book. I wanted nothing but the absolutely best for every character in this novel. And I immediately put Louise Miller’s first novel, The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living on my TBR list.
Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
Short Summary – Late summer, 1938. Hollywood film star Fredric Stahl is on his way to Paris to make a movie. The Nazis know he’s coming—a secret bureau within the Reich has been waging political warfare against France, and for their purposes, Fredric Stahl is a perfect agent of influence. What they don’t know is that Stahl, horrified by the Nazi war on Jews and intellectuals, has become part of an informal spy service run out of the American embassy.
My Thoughts – I would not have finished this book if I weren’t reading it for book club. The writing was terrible, there wasn’t much of a plot, and then it just…ended quite abruptly. I’m not a spy novel reader and this definitely did not encourage me to be one. I gave it a rare and generous two stars…do not recommend.
The Postmistress of Paris by Meg Waite Clayton
Short Summary – Wealthy, beautiful Naneé was born with a spirit of adventure. When German tanks roll across the border and into Paris she joins the resistance. Known as the Postmistress because she delivers information to those in hiding, Naneé uses her charms and skill to house the hunted and deliver them to safety.
Photographer Edouard Moss has escaped Germany with his young daughter only to be interned in a French labor camp. His life collides with Nanée’s in this sweeping tale of romance and danger set in a world aflame with personal and political passion.
My Thoughts – I received this from Book of the Month and chose to read it next because I needed a good palate cleanser after reading Mission to Paris. This book had the plot and characters of substance that the other lacked. It was interesting to know that the events of this novel were inspired by a real life heiress who worked to smuggle artists and intellectuals out of France.
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
Short Summary – Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she provides a poignant coming-of-age recollection that speaks to finding the threads between who you are and what you were born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.
My Thoughts – This was a captivating and mesmerizing memoir that explored many themes. It deals with a lot of hard topics, but was written in a very real way. It left me aching for the little girl Ashley who was hurt and betrayed and proud of the woman that little girl became.
What a list of really great books (well, except one)!!!