On my recent vacation to Mexico, I got so much reading done; even for me, it was a lot. There are a few reasons for this: a) I get up way earlier than anyone else in our group, and so I read until breakfast and then I read until our friends finished breakfast, b) we had one day of rain and wind, and the best thing to do was to curl up on our sheltered balcony and read while our friends did some work, c) uncharacteristically, I wasn’t really interested in getting into too many involved conversations with strangers, and d) we had a lot of travel time. Shortly after we got to the airport in Kelowna the prescribed two hours prior to takeoff, it was announced that our flight was delayed two hours. Since the flight itself was six hours long, I basically spent ten straight hours reading. Similarly, on the way home, we arrived at the airport a stunning three and a half hours prior to takeoff, as the road traffic was unusually light, and then we sailed through security in under ten minutes.
I also read books that were not difficult or overly involved, and mostly quite short. I also had three – THREE! – DNFs, which is a new record for me. Two of them – The Good Part and The Seven Year Slip – involved magical time travel, which is a hard no for me. The third – Just Haven’t Met You Yet – was not interesting to me. Why I downloaded these books on Libby in the first place is somewhat of a mystery, but I’m proud of myself for just saying no.
Winter in Paradise. This was exactly like reading a soap opera! A woman gets a call to discover her husband is dead, at which point she learns a) he has a $15 million dollar villa in the USVI, and b) he has another family. So that’s where we start and there’s lots of details to uncover, but the ending is clearly setting up for a series and you know what, I was not into it. It was fine for the plane though, but I’m not tempted to read more.
All The Lonely People. This had all the elements of a good read for me: sympathetic characters, a lonely elderly man who wants to make friends before his daughter visits him, so she won’t be worried, a theme of community and different generations coming together to combat isolation and loneliness. HOWEVER. There was a twist near the end which was SO VERY STUPID that it completely wrecked the book for me. Honestly, it was so dumb that I wondered how on earth it even got published. Sometimes I despair thinking of all the lonely writers out there who are desperate to get published, and then I read something like this, and it pushes the despair into white-hot rage.
Small Things Like These. I had not heard the term Magdalen laundry before; these were institutions run by the Catholic Church in Ireland, for unwed mothers. It’s unknown how many babies and young women died in these institutions, but it’s thought to be in the tens of thousands. This book is about one such place, and a man who is living the very saying “there but for the grace of god go I.” It’s a very thoughtful little book, well written and moving.
What Alice Forgot. I’m continuing my revisiting of Liane Moriarty! Imagine suddenly having every memory for the last ten years erased; that’s the premise of this book. It’s a reread for me and it was a good one! A woman suffers a head injury and wakes up to discover her life is unrecognizable – she has three children and is the midst of divorce. Think of what your life was in 2015, imagine you couldn’t remember anything from the last decade. I mean, some things I would rather forget, it’s true, but still. Wouldn’t it be bizarre to wake up and discover what had happened even in the last five years? You’d never believe it if someone told you about the pandemic, for example. I really like this book and it was definitely worth the reread.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I had heard about this book for decades and hadn’t yet read it. It was worth the wait! I really enjoyed this book; it was written from the perspective of a 15 year old boy with autism. In trying to find out who killed the neighbourhood dog and why, he discovers a lot more. The writing style is so interesting and compelling.
Just As Long As We’re Together and Here’s To You, Rachel Robinson. Recently Sarah (HI SARAH) mentioned these books and I had to go back and reread them. I downloaded everything Judy Blume I could, including Blubber, which is still a wildly upsetting book, but it only took me about forty-five minutes to read and contains the great line “It’s pretty hard to be on the other side, isn’t it?” Truth. These books about a trio of friends were perfect for a poolside read. Judy Blume was really the master of empathy and showing that people can be many different things. Also, we are all carrying burdens that no one else can see.
My Darling Wife. Thrillers are not usually my jam, so I have no idea how or why I downloaded this from Libby. Are we sensing a theme here? Was I drunk when I loaded up my Libby prior to vacation? I don’t remember doing that, but I guess I wouldn’t, WOULD I? Or maybe someone recommended this? I DON’T KNOW. Anyway, I’m not generally a fan of thrillers but this was diverting enough. It follows a married couple who seem to find murdering young girls an aphrodisiac. They try to pin these murders on a serial killer but things, as they are wont to do, go askew. It’s pretty creepy and twisty, so if that’s your thing, you’ll probably enjoy this. It was too creepy for me, but maybe that’s a selling point for you thriller lovers out there.
I’ve got some great, non-vacation books to talk to you about next week. Don’t forget that Daylight Saving Time starts THIS WEEKEND JUST KILL ME NOW. Honestly, there are currently hundreds, perhaps even thousands of things that we could all rage about every minute of the day, but this is the hill I am going to die on today. WE NEED TO STOP THE MADNESS. If you have ten minutes, listen to the episode of the Wirecutter podcast, entitled “How To Survive Daylight Saving Time.” Lots of helpful advice, as well as empirical evidence that affirms what I have always believed, and that is that DST and time change is terrible for our health and well-being. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE! It is possible I am projecting my feelings about the international situation, such as it is, on to the concept of time change, but so be it. Take care of yourselves, friends. Reading is a great distraction; tell me if you’ve read anything good lately, or bad, or ugly. Any DNFs? Tell me everything. xo
Hee hee… I like that mug.
What Alice Forgot- such a good book. I love the little details, like she can’t remember that she now drinks coffee and can’t figure out why she has such a headache. Or, she forgot that she is now a runner- she goes for a walk and finds herself mysteriously bounding down the street. Those parts made me laugh.
Judy Blume!!! On the Happier Podcast, Gretchen and Liz just interviewed Judy Blume and it was good. I loved her books so, so much. And yes, I did reread Blubber as an adult. It reminded me that in the 1970s there was a strange lack of supervision in the schools (like, most of the really bad stuff in Blubber happens when the kids were eating lunch in the classroom WITH NO TEACHER AROUND.) I guess that’s one thing that’s better now- the school have really cracked down on bullying.
Anyway- I’m very envious of all this reading time you had! I want a vacation like that!
Jenny, isn’t it wild to think how little adult supervision there was in the 70s and 80s?? No wonder there was so much Lord of the Flies-like bullying. And reading Blubber really made me remember that.
There were so many great details like that in Alice. I loved how it was a scent memory that brought everything back but even before that, I liked how her body remembered what her mind didn’t, like when she drove through a certain intersection and suddenly felt scared.
I learned about the Magdalene laundries from the Joni Mitchell song of the same name. It’s on Turbulent Indigo.
A friend of mine has recommended The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night to me multiple times. Maybe I should read it.
And I call myself a Joni Mitchell fan! I’ve never heard that song! Shame on me!
I remember reading What Alice Forgot and enjoying the story. It got me thinking back to who I was 10 years ago and how that version of me would be lost now. I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night also. I don’t remember a thing about it, so I guess I didn’t find it as compelling as you did.
Hahaha Ally, so many books are like that for me, in that I know that I read them, but have NO idea about the details! That happens to me all the time!
Oh, I LOVED Curious Incident, what a wonderful book. I’m glad you read it.
I really enjoyed What Alice Forgot, too. You said go back to 2015…wow. I would have never met Mulder (he was born in April 2015, we met him in October), and my Dad was still alive and very healthy and traveling the world.
I haven’t read those two Judy Blume books, they came out when I was an adult. Maybe I should give them a try, I loved Judy Blume when I was a teenager/tween.
I DNF a book recently, The Anthropocene Review, by John Green. It’s essays, and I liked the ones I read, but I got tired of it and gave up.
I’m currently reading Ina Garten’s memoir, and I was loving it at first but now it’s feeling a little rushed and disjointed to me. Still a good read. I’m listening to The Heart’s Invisible Furies, which is about a man who was adopted in Ireland, though not from one of the Magdalene laundries. I had heard about those horrible places before, but I don’t remember hearing that term.
Isn’t it wild to think how much you would have missed in ten years? I mean, we would have missed the whole pandemic. I personally would have NEVER believed it if I hadn’t lived it!
I had Ina Garten’s book downloaded, but I had heard so many mixed things…and then the first page was about her boyfriend’s jeans, and you know what, I just felt like I couldn’t do it for some reason.
If you want a fun, light teen read I totally recommend the Blumes!
Is it weird that ten years ago my life was basically the same, minus a dog? I would be GLEEFUL to discover a dog.
I need to be better about DNFing, Nicole. I NEED TO BE BETTER. I am listening to a Big Book and I sort of don’t like it, but now I’m halfway through and I just keep thinking “there’s only fourteen hours left,” but that’s FOURTEEN HOURS. Why did I start my Big Books with Gone With the Wind? Nothing can be as good as that?
Engie, I understand. I am bad at it too, which makes it remarkable that I DNFed three books! I have that same feeling of a sunk cost, like “I’ve already put so much of my time into this, I might as well finish.” But sunk cost fallacy is a fallacy for a reason, because it’s better to abandon ship and do something else with those fourteen hours! Or however many hours. And yet I struggle with it so much, and almost never does it pay off. I usually can tell if I’m going to enjoy a book within the first 50 pages (All The Lonely People being a notable exception!!!)
Nicole, this phenomenon you describe of being drunk or unconscious whilst downloading books from Libby is VERY FAMILIAR to me. I will go on vacation and open up my kindle and there are so many books I have never heard of and have no idea why I would want to read them. Mysterious. I think it must be some sort of fugue state of pre-vacation panic, wherein I think I will RUN OUT OF BOOKS, which would be pretty terrible, so I start downloading whatever is available with wild abandon.
Loved the Moriarty and of course the Judy Blume. I haven’t read Curious Incident in a very long time but I kind of want to read it with/to my kid? I wonder if she would like it?
I have no intention of reading All the Lonely People and I want you to spill the tea about the terrible twist!!!
Well, but there is a dead dog, so I’m not sure – would Carla be okay with that?
Lololol I am glad I’m not alone. Don’t drink and use the Libby app, I guess is the point. I do get that feeling of panic WHAT IF I RUN OUT OF BOOKS??? So far that hasn’t happened but WHAT IF IT DID?
I love seeing the pictures of your KOBO with palm trees and water in the background! This sounds like the ultimate vacation to me, with lots of reading time! I just started listening to The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie, a lovely non-stressful story read by a lovely narrator, Alison Larkin.
Gosh, now I’m SO curious about that bad ending that made you so angry!
And I’m dying on the DST hill with you, Nicole. It has me feeling enraged as well.
Well, Michelle, I’ll tell you but SPOILER ALERT STOP READING for anyone who doesn’t want to know about All The Lonely People. So the premise is this lonely old man has made up a whole story of friendship so that his daughter, who lives in Australia (he’s in England) will not worry about him. But she’s coming for a visit, so he has to make friends and QUICK so he can prove he’s okay. This is the whole point of the story. And then we find that the daughter has been dead for five years just…imagined all their phone conversations. It was so dumb and I’m still mad!
Well, color me surprised that you disliked the Hilderbrand book but loved Curious Incident! Because I’m a big stan for everything Hilderbrand but I can’t even tell you how much I hated Curious Incident. I think it irritated me because it painted a picture of autism (in 2003, the diagnosis was still not common) that was so extreme and clearly, the author was not an expert in the field. And good grief on the profanity!
I’m all about Judy Blume, so I’ll check that out! I’m currently reading one of my fave author’s short story collections, Curtis Sittenfeld’s Show Don’t Tell. So FREAKING good! And I just finished Yellow Face, which I disliked. Have you read it?
Bijoux, we are in the non-overlapping parts of our Venn diagram because I really liked Yellow Face! I thought it was so smart and thoughtful. I do like Sittenfeld so I put that book on hold. I have read only a couple of Hilderbrand books and I thought they were good, but I didn’t love them like a lot of people do. This one was just a bit silly for me, although it was a good plane read.
I really enjoyed the Curious Incident as I thought it brought great humanity to a person who was looked at differently by the world – and profanity doesn’t bother me at all.
I started to tag the recommendation source for books so I can figure out what prompted me to read the book! You might have heard about “The Seven Year Slip” from Stephany or me. I read and liked it even though I usually don’t like time travel/magical realism. But I’ve given up on that author as all of her books seem to involve ghosts or some other magical realism and my brain just cannot go there!!
That Hilderbrand book reminds me of The Pilot’s Wife. Did you read that? I read it in college and thought it was such a page turner! Imagine finding out your husband had another wife after he dies. Gah. I can’t even.
I expect that I will do a ton of reading on our Mexico trip, too, since I tend to wake earlier than my husband. I can’t just lay in bed awake – I have to get up and do something! Last time we were in Mexico I would go get a latte and then sit on the beach and read/stare at the rising sun.
Ugh. Springing ahead. I actually prefer this to falling back though because falling back = extra hour/hours of parenting! We don’t do anything with the kids bedtimes. We just make them adjust and deal with some cranky days. I was going to have a double whammy of a 7am flight to NYC on Monday but I was able to move it back as the sales team doesn’t need me for meetings that day. Phew. Because getting up at 4:30 is hard enough for me WITHOUT THE GD TIME CHANGE. Yes, this is a hill I will die on as well.
I’ve been trying to write down where I hear about books from, but the trouble is I’m not always good about it! Maybe it was from you or Stephany, but I should have known – time travel NEVER works for me!
I do remember the days of small children, and that the spring forward was strangely better than the fall back.
I hope you have the best trip! I am always the first one up and I love to just go get our poolside lounges and have that time to myself.
I just read The Drift, by CJ Tudor, and it is so far outside what I normally read that I thought I would DNF it…. but it was really compelling! I’m not normally a standard thriller type of reader, but this one is extremely well done. I figured it out but it takes time and you realize very slowly what is happening, and more so the further you get as little pieces get revealed. It’s kind of a pandemic/apocalyptic book that follows three groups of people as the world is falling apart around them. I do recommend it!
Eeek, I just looked it up and it looks scary! Is it scary?
Since you read Alice again I get to tell the story of what that book means to me again. It was a good ten years ago, and I was barely reading fiction. A blogger raved about Alice, so I decided to try it and I simply adored it. I know that there a good number of people out there who don’t like it, and other Moriarty books haven’t been as successful for me, but Alice was the gateway for getting me back into fiction and it is a book that I will always have the special feels for.
I agree that My Beautiful Wife was a little too creepy, but I still enjoyed it very much at the time.
Lately I’ve had a slew of books that were in the gray area between DNFing and continuing to read. I read ’em, but they weren’t the best.
I’m not looking forward to losing the morning light with the time change, but at least it’s another marker that we’re wrapping up winter so I will take it.
There is only one Moriarty book I didn’t enjoy, I think it was 9 Perfect Strangers? Other than that I’ve really liked her books.
Did I get My Beautiful Wife from you? I am trying to write down where I hear books from and I AM FAILING AT IT.
Same, re Moriarty. Nine Perfect Strangers was a minefield of triggers and weird as hell to boot. No way could I ever handle watching the show. I like or love all her other books though.
There’s a show??? Hard pass!
Yes! Nicole Kidman as Magda! Melissa McCarthy! Luke Evans I think! Other people I forget right now! Hardest of passes.
I have All the Lonely People on my TBR, and I’m glad I read this spoiler. I hate this twist as a plot device and it’s not even original! I can think of three other books right off the bat that use this same twist. I have liked all of Claire Keegan’s “books” (in quotes because they’re all just really long short stories) so definitely pick up her others if you haven’t already.
He Who Shall Not Be Named has talked about stopping daylight savings time and honestly that is the ONLY thing I want him to do, so he probably won’t. I’ve been trying to get up 10 minutes earlier each day to prepare but so far it’s just shifting the misery to a different week.
“…that is the only thing I want him to do, so he probably won’t” – lol. There was talk about it a few elections ago when I lived in Alberta, and nothing came of it, which makes me even ragey-er.
This was the first of Claire Keegan I have read so I will immediately put the others on hold!
SARAH THAT BOOK WAS SO DUMB. I was so mad!!! It’s like that old Dallas thing, it was all a dream. NO IT WASN’T YOU IDIOTS, IT’S BAD WRITING. Just think of all those books that don’t get published, and then bullshit like this IS??? Pardon me while I scream into the void.
BC and Washington are trying so hard to switch to permanent time, but the US Congress is holding everything up for everybody. BC won’t do it without America, even though Yukon already has.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-daylight-saving-time-2024-1.7139158
Oh interesting! I didn’t know that the Yukon changed! Thanks!
Well more books are now on hold for me. I read both What Alice Forgot & Curious Incident years ago — don’t remember anything about the books but know I enjoyed both. I have had THREE DNF’s in the past two weeks. I read a lot when we are in Mexico for 3 months (not Nicole volume reading but 7-8 books a month) but had three in a row I couldn’t get into (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Driver & Family Family). It could be that our son, daughter in law plus 2 1/2 year and 9 month old grandsons visited for the same 2 weeks. I never had more than 15 minutes at a time to read….so that could be it. It was however so much fun & better than reading). My fave books in the past month were How to Read a Book by Monica Wood, Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent & Piglet by Lottie Hazel. Who knows, they may have been your recommendations but I’m terrible at tracking that.
Oh I loved Strange Sally Diamond! It was such an interesting (and disturbing!) book. Piglet too, interesting and disturbing.
I totally get the DNF when there are so many distractions! Cute distractions though.
I have Small Things Like These on hold. It’s been made into a movie starring Cillian Murphy. I new about these laundries from a previous movie, The Magdalene Sisters, I watched years ago. Did you know the last Magdalene Laundry closed in 1996??!! Shocking and sad what these places did to the psych of these young girls.
The Moriarty book sounds interesting and I’ll add to my TBR list. I read Curious Dog when it first came out and really enjoyed it. I’m glad you found it worth the wait!
I read Flowers in the Attic and can see why it was so appealing to the early teen set. I found the last half a slog, so skimmed and checked Wikipedia to see if I missed any pertinent plot details – I didn’t – and decided that I would not continue on with the 4 other (bonkers!) books in the series. Was fun to see what all the fuss was about!
I am not a huge thriller reader, but I just finished Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone and really enjoyed it. I’m currently reading The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier and have Margo Has Money Troubles and The Wedding People lined up next – both recommended by you.
Sounds like you had a lovely vacation!
Really, it’s being made into a movie! That will be interesting. I did know that the last one closed in 1996, but only because I read the afterword in the book. What a shocking and terrible thing.
Thank you for reporting back on FITA! Lol, what a weird and crazy book that was!
Well, wonder no more! The Good Part and Just Haven’t Met You Yet are both Sophie Cousens books I highly recommended to you. 😂 It is interesting to me that you loved What Alice Forgot but couldn’t abide The Good Part; the plots are quite similar (VERY, IMO, but I read What Alice Forgot a lot of years ago), and it isn’t clear in The Good Part until the end (I think??) whether there’s magic involved. But that’s the way it goes with books! I am normally very very anti-magic myself (I do not read fantasy except Lewis and Tolkien) but that one worked for me (as have several other time-travelly ones) because the rest of the story was so grounded.
Regardless! We got delayed when we went there for our honeymoon too, and didn’t end up getting to our room until 2:00 in the morning. And I got food poisoned for a day. But I would still go back in a heartbeat! Such a beautiful place.
Mystery solved! I will say that I did read a Sophie Cousens book you recommended and liked it – I can’t recall the title but it was the two people born on New Year’s Day. It was fun! I think the difference between the Good Part and Alice was that Alice lost her memory due to an accident, but in the Good Part, she wishes on a magical penny dispenser at a convenience store. And then it got into diaper poop and I had to DNF. Sorry! I will try another Cousens and report back!
Lol, I forgot the diaper detail! 😂 This Time Next Year is wonderful — I just did an audio reread and the narration was perfect. I suspect the two remaining won’t live up to it for you — but no other magic that I recall.
THAT was the title, yes! It was lovely!
Wow! You really did read a lot! Good for you! I heard What Alice Forgot is good. But that mug..just perfect..lol!
Hahaha isn’t it the best?
What Alice Forgot was my first and favourite Moriarty (I think I have read all her books now), I loved it so much.
I’m in a bit of a reading slump at the moment so considering a re- read…
It was an excellent reread! And I didn’t remember the details so it was delightful to revisit.
What a lot of books, Nicole!! Haven’t read a lot of these…
_Curious Incident_ really took me back! I remember thining it was very clever and loving it when I first read it, but I wondered how it holds up given all the insights and activism that have sprung up around Autism. And there’s a Broadway show based on the book too!
Your mug is TFF!! My “mug” when I read the second line :D!
Actually, I felt it held up really well. I thought it really was kind and sensitive about the boy – when he’d describe being overwhelmed and needing to scream, for example, which was something people around him didn’t understand. I thought it was great!
Wow! That is a lot of reading. What a good idea to list/review them on your blog; it’s a great way to keep track of them. Also love the mug and can fully relate in these days of whiplash news reports. Who knew the “Shawinigan Handshake” would become a news item once again? Crazy. Book recommendations from me: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – total chick lit cover which would normally turn me off (don’t know why because I really am not a book snob) but the book is such a fun, emotional, lovely read and it has an amazing dog character who I loved and also I could relate so much to the treatment of women in the workplace and Garmus can write about that without descending into a screed or a rant (whew. Now there is a wonderful example of a run on sentence). The Midnight Library by Matt Haig – I underlined, I copied sentences and paragraphs into my journal, I cried. Loved this book so much and related to it so much. The Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice – a cataclysm results in a blackout and a community moves north and back into the bush where they are safe and can rekindle their Anishinaabe traditions. As resources start being used up, they realize they must venture to the more dangerous south in order for their younger members to thrive. There’s three from the top of my head. Now to start noting the next books on my blog! Thanks for the inspiration.
I am sorry! Moon of the Turning Leaves is the sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow. I would totally recommend to read Moon of the Crusted Snow first. It gives the origin story and the background to the characters. Even though Moon of the Turning Leaves is good, I think the Moon of the Crusted Snow is much, much better. And I love the titles. So romantic and evocative and descriptive.
The Shawinigan Handshake, that’s a blast from the past, isn’t it!
Thanks for the recs! I’ve read the first two (was totally unprepared for the sexual violence and dark subject matter of Lessons in Chemistry, but the dog saved the day for me!) but not the other two. I’ll look them up!
Sometimes it is just nice to have a beach read, which I never really think of as anything serious, and usually they are kind of crap, but they are easy to get through! Have you ever read Marian Keyes? She is an Irish writer who writes fluffy stories of romance and families being families set in small Irish towns. I think my average rating for her is about a 3 (out of 5) but I have read a lot of them on the beach, and keep reading them!
My favorite book last month was Brain on Fire, but it is not a fun, light read! I also enjoyed Home Stretch. I had no DNFs in February! Yay. 🙂 Oh, and I remember reading the Curious Incident, gosh, maybe 20 years ago (?) and really enjoying it! It was actually one that stuck with me.
Kyria, it’s so funny you should mention Marian Keyes because Monday’s post contains a review of her and also my newfound adoration! I won’t get into it now but I loved the book I read – five stars! – it was so funny and also thoughtful. Where has she been all my life???
I loved Curious Incident when I read it years ago. They also made it into a play that was very … kinetic. Brilliant, but busy. Also very funny.
I’ve been wanting to read Small Things Like These for ages, but I can never get a copy of it from the library.
I wish Libby had a way of making notes on books because I would love to note where I hear about books. For a while, I just created a tag for some of the places that I’d come across books and then tag the book twice (once for TBR and once for where I’d heard about it) but that’s too much work. I guess for now, I just try to remember. Or not.
Diane, I have a spreadsheet I use to note down who recommended what…but the problem is I don’t always remember to note it down!
I too have been re-visiting Judy Blume lately! I just finished Tiger Eyes which was every bit as touching and readable to me at 51 as it was at 15. I read Blubber a few years ago after intending for my then early teen daughters to read it. WOW, that was a lot. And now I hear there’s a movie of Forever coming out! Funny to think that my 1984 experience of the mothers getting together and banning us from reading it (which of course did not stop us from actually reading it) was probably something experienced all over the world.
TIGER EYES!!!! I need to reread that immediately. Hang on, going to put that on my library list. Oh and Forever! I think that book is so real, it was so much like what relationships were for teens at that time. I’m sure it’s all different now, but it was really resonant for me. Remember Ralph?? Ralph the penis?
Nicoooooole. I think it’s time to admit it: We are anti-book twins. Sigh. This is devastating to me.
I *loved* All the Lonely People (the twist was whatever, I saw it coming, but just the found family aspect made me soooo happy). I could barely get through What Alice Forgot. And I DNF-ed My Lovely Wife.
I need time to digest all of this.
Stephanyyyyyyy!!!! We aren’t total anti-book twins, we have some overlap of our Venn diagrams, don’t we? DON’T WE??? I did love Yours Truly!!!