Lessons in Chemistry

In Lessons in Chemistry, we meet Elizabeth Zott, a chemist, a mother, a cooking show host. Bonnie Garmus shows how horrible the sexism was in the sciences in the 1960’s by how Zott is treated and how much she’s denied due to her gender. She meets and falls in love with another scientist but when that ends, she’s left with even less options.

There’s so much in this book that was historically interesting and frustratingly sexist. This was so well written with such creative characters. Highly recommend.

Read February 2024

Weyward

Weyward by Emilia Clarke tells a multi-generational story of strong women and men who try to control/abuse them. There’s lots of violence against these strong women and accusations of witchcraft. We cross hundreds of years to learn the history of Kate’s family that was kept from her. Her story is intertwined w/ the prior generation as well as a witch from the 1600’s.

This fun tale really mixes modern life with history in a way that shows how interconnected we all are.

Fun, easy read.

Read October 2023

Pineapple Street

Jenny Jackson’s Pineapple Street shows an interesting side of wealthy New Yorkers. I read this a month ago, so I don’t remember names, but one woman married into a very wealthy NYC family, one woman is a member of that family who wants things to stay the way it is, and one is a young member of the family who’s starting to realize the inequality of a system that made her a multi-millionaire without having actually done anything.

Power dynamics are at play in all the relationships in ways that those who came from money don’t recognize and feel compelled to brush aside. Its a really great look into how people who have money live beyond normal life and cannot comprehend the everyday realities of most New Yorkers, or most people in general.

Great read, highly recommend.

Read October 2023

The Five-Star Weekend

Elin Hilderbrand’s newest Nantucket novel, The Five-Star Weekend, tells the story of what happens after Holly Shaw’s husband dies in a car accident. She had been a successful popular food blogger, mostly happily married, and mother of a college aged daughter. Now she’s a widow who has daughter seems to blame her for not properly grieving her father and seems a little lost. She decides to have a Five-Star weekend, where she invites four friends from different aspects of her life to a pampered weekend at her Nantucket home. Her childhood best friend whom she grew apart from and hasn’t spoken to in years. Her college best friend who’s so busy with her successful career that she didn’t come back for the funeral. Her friend from when the kids were little. Her online, current friend whom she’s never actually met in person. And she also invites her moody adult daughter to film the weekend for her blog.

All six women bring their own baggage to this weekend, trying to hide what’s going on in their lives to keep the focus on Holly. But of course, that can’t happen and secrets come pouring out over the weekend.

Quick, enjoyable read and so realistic about how people’s lives can fall apart so quickly.

The House at Riverton

Kate Morton’s The House at Riverton tells the story of Grace Bradley who started working at Riverton House when she was a young girl and follows to her end of life over 70 years later. She was a young girl when the daughters of the house, Hannah and Emmeline, were growing up and she was there when a young poet committed suicide.

The novel jumps between the past and the present when Grace relives the past and is interviewed by a filmmaker. It was a great peak at the lower class and the close relationship that can build, possibly more in the servants mind. It also dives into the social changes that start happening after World War I.

This was a good read with lots of beautiful scenes.

Read August 2023

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a page turner. We follow Evelyn Hugo, a huge old hollywood star through multiple husbands, some of whom she actually loved, and her female love of her life. At the end of her life, Evelyn decides to do a tell-all novel to Monique, a small time journalist that’s been personally hand-picked. The stories are glamourous and cruel. Full of love and hate. And the twist is enough for most people to hate her.

This was a great, captivating read! Highly recommend.

Read July 2023

A Summer to Remember

Erika Montgomery’s A Summer to Remember follows Frankie Simon from a Hollywood memorabilia shop to Cape Cod to find her mother’s connection to famous movie stars that made their home and a movie festival there. Frankie follows some clues that her mother’s old pictures lead her and she finds out many secrets that her mom held from her. She also finds a handsome man with just enough attitude to be a turn off or a turn on.

This was a light, summer romance. Easy read.

Read July 2023

A Little Life

Hanya Yanahihara’s A Little Life. My friend loaned it to me when I needed something to read, almost taking it back saying this novel was too “brutal” to share. Being on a lake vacation, maybe reading something brutal wasn’t something I should be going for, but I did. This novel, about 4 friends who meet in college, but mostly about one of them who comes into their world possessing none of their humanity and sees them as something to aspire to or at least mimic. We follow these friends, plus many others in their orbit from 16-18 years old until most of their deaths. This novel is about how low society/man can go and oppositely how wonderful friends can be. The depth of this book and the characters are heartbreaking and unreadable in parts.

I cannot say more. I just finished this novel and even thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. Both for lovely, beautiful reasons and also for terrible, horrifying ones.

Highly recommended, but not for the lay reader. This is a serious novel, 816 pages, filled with brutality and love.

Read July 2023

The Hotel Nantucket

Elin Hilderbrand’s The Hotel Nantucket, tells how the newly single Lizbet opens the newly renovated Hotel Nantucket. No expenses have been spared to made this a luxurious hotel with the finest linens, amenities and a brand new restaurant opened by a celebrity chef. The story primarily follows Lizbet as she steps into this new role and how she thrives. She does have some obstacles, her ex-boyfriend and a ghost who’s taken up residence in the hotel since 1922.

This is a great beach, summertime read. A compelling plot with lots of little twists and side storylines, and of course a great romance.

Read June 2023

One Last Gift

One Last Gift by Emily Stone starts pretty slow. Cassie, who lost her parents when she was young, her brother Tom, and Tom’s friend/Cassie’s crush are navigating their own life as they move into the world. I had a hard time getting into the novel until disaster strikes. Cassie needing to navigate life without Tom by her side is an emotional journey.

Overall, quick read if you can get past the first bit.

Read May 2023