The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars - Sometimes the stars align and you find a book that is just right at the right time. This book, about three orphaned witches taken in by a motley crew that includes an older gay couple who've been together for 50 years, a middle aged woman, who acts as household manager, and a thirty-ish male librarian with trust issues. They decide they need a witchy tutor for the girls to help them accept themselves and master their talents, and Mika Moon fits the bill. Mika herself grew up without a family, as female witches die young if they give birth. Primrose, the self-appointed leader of the English witch group, took her in and used a series of nanny/tutors to raise her, while being mostly absent. One of Primrose's steadfast rules is that witches need to be solitary, for the protection of all. Mika has been alone, lonely and found it hard to trust others for much of her life. But she finds herself with strong feelings for the girls and their caretakers, much to her chagrin.
This book is about finding ourselves, and our places in the world, and taking risks, and it really spoke to me.

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Foreign Correspondence by Geraldine Brooks

Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey from Down Under to All Over by Geraldine Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have read all the novels Geraldine Brooks has written, enjoyed them all, and have wanted to read this memoir for years. It isn't available in many public libraries, but I was able to get it From UT Knoxville, through interlibrary loan.
I didn't realize that before Brooks wrote novels, she was a foreign correspondent, who grew up in Australia. Her introduction to the larger world was developed through a series of pen friends that she regularly corresponded with from adolescence through young adulthood. It was when she came home to bury her father, as an adult, that she found the many letters from these friends, who came from America, France, Israel, and one from Australia. She decides that she will see what has happened to these people 23 years later. The second half of the book sees her visiting them, or in the case of her favorite friend, who died in her early twenties, her mother. She will continue that relationship for the rest of their lives.
I really enjoyed reading this memoir and seeing clues to some of the themes in her other books.

It was my first childish inkling of the way writing can reveal us to ourselves. It was also my introduction to the notion that Australians have lives that were worth writing about. p. 32

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Violeta by Isabel Allende (a reread 3 years later)

Violeta by Isabel Allende
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 rounded to 4.0 stars - This is the first book that I have read by Isabel Allende, it jumped out at me from a New Book shelf at the library. The storyline is epic, covering a full century, but the author does it in just over 300 pages. While this is a very reasonable length for a book, the premise is that this is basically a letter that she is writing (albeit on her computer) from her deathbed to her beloved grandson.
Violeta is born during the 1920s flu pandemic and dies 100 years later during the COViD pandemic. In between she lives an interesting life filled with lovers, revolutions, family, and fortune. From Depression to depression, wealth to poverty, tiny villages to world travel, feminism, Cold War, and the war on drugs, this book encompasses it all in a way that was interesting, but not overwhelming.

Update 1/24/25 - I didn't realize this was a reread, until I had checked it out. I started reading it at the library, and by the end of the day had devoured it. It was really interesting, having read the earlier book The Soul of a Woman, which was a memoir, and seeing the parallels between her life and the main character's life. Well worth the reread.

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The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5.0 - Loved this book that takes place in the NYPL, and a tiny town in upstate NY. A group of cartographic students meet their freshman year at the UW, form a tiny friendship that lasts throughout their academic career, and spend the summer after their PhDs in a small town in the Catskills, after which their lives are never the same. Highly recommend!

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The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5.0/5.0 - After reading Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows last year, I was looking forward to this book. My library didn't have it, but I was able to get it through ILL. I enjoyed this in so many ways. First, it was a story about 3 sisters which immediately appealed to me. The sisters weren't very close, but to honor their mother's dying wish they take a pilgrimage to India, to reconnect and find out more about Indian culture and their religion. Each sister has secrets they are holding. Piece by piece they are revealed, both to the reader, and finally to each other, and they become a source of strength to each other. The book kept my interest to the very end, both through the sisters' stories, and the Indian culture.
AtY #44 A book whose title contains a negative
Book 139 of 2021


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Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 rounded to 4 stars - I had a friend at Drake who used to read J.D. Robb all the time. Three or four books a week. This is my first book, but I enjoyed it enough that it won't be my last. The takes place in 2058, in NYC. The book was written 26 years ago, and the author did a good job projecting how life might be, there are no obvious anachronisms.
Eve Dallas is a police lieutenant with a haunting past. Abused and abandoned as a child, her memories of her early childhood are spotty and terrifying. When she takes lead on a brutal rape/murder case that soon becomes serial, she is thrown into a high powered world of politics and money. Along the way, she meets and falls in love with Roarke, a man of incredible wealth, power and ingenuity with a past of his own. Will their love continue to grow? We will find out, as this popular series now numbers 53 books.
AtY #1: A book related to “In the Beginning...”
Book 119 of 2021


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Make Your Own Sunshine: Inspiring Stories of People Who Find Light in Dark Times by Janice Dean

Make Your Own Sunshine: Inspiring Stories of People Who Find Light in Dark Times by Janice Dean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - Maybe you know of Janice Dean. My husband did, but I didn't. So I didn't pick this book up based on the author, maybe a little bit based on the cover and more based on the title and the implied subject. The book delivers on what it promises, serving up stories that range from a small child selling cocoa and cookies and donating the money to pay off negative lunch balances at her school, to the principal who makes each graduating student's pandemic related experience special by dressing in full regalia and going to each home and placing a sign in their yard. There are several other stories of teachers who have made a difference in the lives of their students. Some stories are tug at your heart, like the first responder who spent months working the Pile after 9/11, who died, as many others did, from cancer, likely as a result of his time there. Besides his work there, he was active in advocating for a permanent health and compensation fund for the victims, and even while dying, raised money to buy a transport van for other sick responders. Parents and siblings also provided inspiring stories, lunchbox notes to last a lifetime, and a video with audio clips for a young bride whose father had died before her marriage. In all, there are more than 20 such stories.
There was a personal connection for me, as well. Ms. Dean turned 50 this year, had planned a big trip that had to be postponed due to the pandemic, and has MS. This also describes a friend and I felt like I understood her a little better, having read this. She is bright, brave and like two of the other people with MS in the book, climbs mountains and runs races. Another former colleague of mine reminds me of Janice, as he seeks out stories of optimism and is such a positive person. These people are gifts in my life.
I'd recommend this to anyone who has struggled during these past months, and especially for those who feel like they've lost control over their lives. Maybe there will be a story in here that will light your way or give you inspiration.
AtY #50: A Book Published in 2021
Book 107 of 2021




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Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr

Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - This was a step up from the first book in the series for me. Preacher (John) Middleton is such a likeable hero, stepping in as surrogate father to Christopher, falling deeply in love with Paige, and acting as a role model for young Rick. Paige, though abused and running for her life, takes a chance with John, and over time learns to love and trust again. She can see how very different he is from her abusive ex. Of course, Jack and Melinda were also on the scene, and had a baby, with Jack having to be the catcher to Melinda's pitcher (sorry for the bad pun). Then there was Liz and Rick's sad story, and the introduction of the new characters (and stars of the next book), Brie and Mike. Virgin River is one big, loyal family. One caveat, if you're a fan of the Netflix series, it doesn't stay true to the book, but in my opinion, the book is better.
AtY #13: A book written by an author of one of your best reads of 2020
Book 97 of 2021


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Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5/5.0 - I listened to the audio book from Audible, and I believe I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the print edition. The story is told through two perspectives and timelines- that of Marisol, visiting Havana in 2017 from Miami, and Elisa, her grandmother, who grew up in Havana and left in 1958. Elisa's story is framed by the Cuban Revolution. The man she falls in love with is a revolutionary, as is her brother. Both are brutally killed, she believes. Elisa's father is a sugar baron, and the family's lives are in danger when Castro takes power and so they escape to the United States. Almost sixty years later, her granddaughter, Marisol, a journalist, comes back to Cuba to bring her grandmother's ashes home, and to learn more about the family and friends she left behind. This is the first of four books in The Cuba Saga, it would be interesting to read more.
AtY #35: A book set in a country on or below the Tropic of Cancer
Book 80 of 2021

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The Last Days of Café Leila by Donia Bijan

The Last Days of Café Leila by Donia Bijan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - Told by a young Persian woman, author, and chef who left Iran following the Islamic Revolution, this book shows how terrible and heartbreaking be courageous can be. Noor and her brother Mehrdad are sent to their uncle in California when they are 18 and 19 years old. Noor, especially, does not understand why their baba-jan has sent them away and longs for home. But Zod, their father, knows to stay would be dangerous, perhaps even fatal, and though it breaks his heart and theirs, they must go. Zod owns the Café Leila, keeping it open during good times and bad, feeding anyone who walks in the door, and beloved by all. Before her untimely death, the secret behind which he never shares with his children. (view spoiler)[ She is killed for being a woman and insulting a cab driver. She is kept in prison for months, being tortured, until she is hanged the day after they allow her husband to see her. Her body is never returned to the family, and the children are unaware. (hide spoiler)]
Zod finally gives Noor permission to come home, when he is dying. She brings her daughter, Lily, who has never known her Iranian roots. In the end, Noor realizes she must stay, at least for a time, to carry on her father's dream and to try and improve life for those who remain.
AtY #39: A book involving an immigrant
Book 78 of 2021


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Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Thomas L. Friedman

Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Thomas L. Friedman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.0/5.0 - This has been on my TBR since 2016, right after it first came out. I had previously read his book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, and liked it. Five years later, the book seems a little dated, or at least some of the technological innovations that he was so impressed with, iPhone, AirBnB, Android, LED lighting to name a few, are things we take for granted today. But for Friedman, the world changed in 2007.
The book could be summed up in a few sentences. First community is essential for us to survive and thrive, whether the community is your neighborhood, country, the global community or even the universe. Lifelong learning is something we must embrace at all levels. Finally, universal application of the Golden Rule could solve a multitude of problems.
AtY #47: A non-fiction book other than biography, autobiography or memoir
Book 75 of 2021 (halfway to my reading goal of 150 books)


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Trials and Tribulations - The Robinswood Story Book 3 by Jean Grainger

Trials and Tribulations - The Robinswood Story Book 3 by Jean Grainger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5.0 - I am sad to see this series end, but I think it ended well. Each book in this three book series got better and I enjoyed watching Eve, Aisling, and Kate grow up. In the end, even "Lady" Lillian did, too. A new generation of children were born, and an older beloved character dies. Throughout all the trials and tribulations, love and family loyalty keeps them going.
AtY #36: Related to "The End" (the last two words in the book are The End.)
Book 69 of 2021


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Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera (warning - may contain triggers)

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5.0/5.0 - Best book that I've read so far this year, and it's a debut novel, to boot. Historical fiction set in 1924 in South Carolina, it's the story of three strong women from different walks of life whose lives intertwine. Annie is the matriarch of the leading family in the town, owner of The Sewing Circle, and mother of 7 children, four who survived childhood and are now adults. She is haunted by the death of her son, Buck, when he committed suicide at the age of twelve. Retta, first generation freed-slave, has worked for the family for years, as did her mother and grandmother before. Gertrude is a poor woman whose husband beats her and her daughters, and drinks away all their money, leaving them to starve. The truths they find out, the actions they talk, the strength they share are told through their three voices. There may be triggers for some, so be aware - domestic abuse, child abuse, murder, suicide, and some historically accurate use of the N-word (view spoiler)[the author addresses this:

I wrestled with whether or not to use the N-word in this novel. It is a word I deeply despise, but to avoid it felt dishonest to the place and time. Historically...it has been used as a tool to systematically degrade and dehumanize an entire race of people. To ignore its existence is to ignore the plight of what the African American community has endured at the hands of the white majority. I've used the word sparingly in these pages to demonstrate the low moral arc of a society...p. 343 in the background notes

(hide spoiler)]

AtY #40: A book with flowers or greenery on the cover
Book 68 of 2021

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Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet by H.P. Wood

Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet by H.P. Wood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5.0/5.0 - I loved this book! I hope they make it into a movie or mini-series, there was so much to the story. The large cast of characters were well fleshed out, it was well researched, the plot was clever and moved along. I would definitely read another book by this author.
AtY #43: A book with elements of magic
Book 67 of 2021


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Ladies of the Lake by Haywood Smith

Ladies of the Lake by Haywood Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5/5.0 - Enjoyable read about four sisters - Dahlia, Iris, Violet and Rose, who must spend the summer together at their deceased grandmother's lake house, in order to inherit it. Dahlia, the primary character is recently divorced and her husband has run off with their teenage son to avoid prosecution, leaving her broke and alone. The sisters range in age from Rose, the youngest at 52 to Dahlia, the oldest at 60. I liked the fact that this was a story about mature women, and sibling interactions. There were two sets of siblings in the story. The sisters, and the Slocum siblings. The Slocums, including Clete, who is the hero of the story are tightly bound and supportive of each other. The sisters, have issues going way back to childhood, and that is part of the reason the grandmother puts this condition on the inheritance.
While I'm not sure you would classify this as Christian fiction, faith is very important to both Dahlia and Clete (view spoiler)[ and although the sisters urge Dahlia to go to bed with Clete, she doesn't believe in sex outside of marriage (hide spoiler)].
AtY #33: Title Refers to People Without Naming Them
Book 65 of 2021


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An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der Zijl

An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der Zijl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - I am surprised by the amount of non-fiction I have been reading this year, including this biography/memoir of Allene Tew. I was intrigued from the start to learn that Allene lived in Jamestown, NY during a time when my family lived in the area (1850s). She was a lovely young woman and even though she lacked social status, she captured the heart of a Pittsburgh heir, who would marry her and father her three children, all who died young (29, 2, and 21). She would go on to marry four more men, including Anson Burchard, the love of her life, and two European royalty - a prince and a count, and lived a very international life that began just after the American Civil War and ended in the 1950s. She saw multiple economic disasters, but always managed to come out on top, through careful money management, despite her generosity in helping others.
AtY #12: A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation
Book 61 of 2021


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A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings by Helen Jukes

A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings by Helen Jukes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5/5.0 - An interesting mix of memoir and research, this short book is a glimpse into the life of a thirty-something English woman who decides to keep bees, after learning about them from spending time with her beekeeping friend. Her work life is stressful and so this seems to be an answer that will relax and ground her. She divides the book into 7 sections - Doorway, Hive, Bee, Orientation, Losing Sight, Swarm and Honey, which act as a framework for the research, observation and lessons she learns. The sections are further divided into months, where she adds personal tidbits about her life, her friends and her personal growth. Have kept bees before, it is interesting to see the differences, the monthly examination of the hive, the dress in full beekeeping gear rather than smoking, among others. You don't have to be a beekeeper to enjoy this book, there's many life lessons in there, too.
AtY #3: A book related to the lyrics for the song "My Favorite Things" (when the bee stings)
Book 59 of 2021


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From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5.0 stars - A look at the way different cultures handle the death process and dispose of the remains. In some cultures, they are honored, visited frequently or even kept in the homes as corpses (Mexico) or skulls (Bolivia). There are celebrations, such as the Day of the Dead or the Fiesta de las Natitas. Often, there is the ability for families to actually sit with the bodies, such as in Spain or Japan. In Japan, there is a very special columbarian where the remains are represented by individual buddhas and families have smart cards so that their buddha lights up when they visit.
Here is the United States, death has become an industry, with laws to protect it. In some places, though, people are rebelling and trying to reclaim death as a natural process. Two such places are Crestone, Colorado and Cullowhee, North Carolina. In Colorado, cremation is out in the open, with family and friends gathered to celebrate the life. In North Carolina, experiments are being done with natural decomposition or recomposition as it is called. Both emphasis honoring the deceased.
This was an interesting book, just long enough to be enticing, and sprinkled with beautiful black and white illustrations that added so much to the enjoyment.
AtY #28: A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?"


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My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

I'm going to post an entry about this, not because it was a great book, but because it's so far afield from my normal reading choices. My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.0/5.0 - A departure from my normal reading choices, this British humor audiobook was just the right thing to fill a winter afternoon while I worked on COVID puzzle #12.
AtY #2: A book by an author whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y
Book 48 of 2021


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One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow: A Novel by Olivia Hawker

One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow: A Novel by Olivia Hawker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5/5.0 - Set in Wyoming in 1870, this book tells the story of the Bemis and Webber families, the women and children who must stick together to survive the winter, after Clyde Bemis kills Substance Webber, when he finds him and his wife Cora together. As one might imagine, Substance's wife, Nettie Mae has no love for the Bemis family but is convinced by her son, Clyde to take the family in for the winter. Clyde and Beulah Bemis become close, working together in the fields and with the animals. Beulah is special, she understands nature and animals in an almost mystical way.
I listened to the audiobook, and the author gives such details as allows you to feel like you are there with the characters, seeing and feeling as they do. I think if there was one thing that took away, ever so slightly, from my enjoyment, it was the narrator's portrayal of Cora, whispery and childlike. This was a book in which the two teenagers, Clyde - 16 and Cora - 13(?), were really the strong members of their families, without whom none would survive.
AtY #36: A book with six or more words in the title
Book 47 of 2021

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