Looking for a cozy read for this cold weather? Like Maeve Binchy? Then you’ll enjoy The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan. While Colgan’s stories take place in Scotland, rather than Ireland, they have the same feel as Binchy’s Irish tales. This is nothing deep or meaningful, but it’s a good, if predictable, story that keeps the pages turning, even though the ending is just what you expect. Flora left her Scottish island for London and hasn’t returned. She works in a law office and has fallen in love with her boss. When she is forced back home for a case, she realizes what she missed and learns about herself and her family in the process. I would say this is a perfect summer read, but it worked as a snuggle-up selection as well.

My first book of 2018, Home Fire, by Kamila Shamsie was OK, but not fantastic. The story is of an immigrant family. Isma has finally moved to America to pursue her degree after raising her younger siblings, Aneeka and Parvaiz, since their parents’ deaths. But, she continues to worry about the twins, with good reason. Parvaiz has followed in his late father’s footsteps as a jihadist. Aneeka is in a relationship with Eamonn, the son of a political figure who has a history with their father. Everything gets tangled with devastating consequences. The last 50 pages were amazing and made the book worth reading, but the first 200+ were a bit too slow for me. Overall, I think this one is worth adding to your TBR pile, but it wasn’t a favorite of mine. Only upward this year…

I snuck in one more quick book to end 2017 (it took about an hour to read), The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. It’s a novella about the queen discovering that she likes books – and subsequently being consumed by them. The queen reminded me of the queen in The BFG by Roald Dahl. What a delightful romp for the last of the year. I highly recommend if you are looking for something sweet and quick.

Every year, at the end of the year, I look back on all the books I have read the year before and list my favorites overall. The added bonus of this post is that you don’t have to bother to read any of my other posts over the course of the year!

There were three five-star books this year:

And here’s the bulkier list of four-and-a-half stars:

As usual, there were lots of fours this year – too many to include among the favorites. As I say every year to those three fans I have, thank you for reading my thoughts on books and keep the recommendations coming – any great reads for you in 2017 that I need to add to my TBR list?

So, the last book of 2017 was a disappointment. I loved the idea of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. The beginning was full of fun and wickedly entertaining. But, while the history and weaving of the fictitious character into real events was neat, I found myself skimming and wishing the book would end long before it did. Allan Karlsson, after a very full life (told in mostly alternating chapters), leaves his nursing home shortly before a birthday party is being thrown in his honor. The accidental misadventures on his journey made me laugh out loud and that part of the story was most enjoyable. The history of his life, while interesting, bogged down the rest of the book and kept me from truly enjoying this one more.

I almost didn’t pick up The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova because it’s almost 500 pages long and that seemed like too much of a commitment with all the books on my To-Be-Read list. And, while I’m glad I did overall, it was a bit of a slog. Alexandra Boyd moves to Bulgaria to teach English and, upon arriving, ends up with someone else’s luggage. She and her taxi driver endeavor to return the bag and travel all over the country, uncovering history and a mystery along the way. The book had an interesting premise and taught me about Bulgarian history, but was far-fetched and too long.

I have read a number of positive reviews about American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse (including being one of NPR’s Best Books of 2017 and A NYT Book Review Notable Book of the Year) and thought I would enjoy it, even though it is not the type of book I generally choose. In Accomack County, VA, there were 60+ cases of arson in a short period of time. Firefighters were tapped to their limits, citizens formed vigilante groups, and officials couldn’t figure out who was lighting the fires. Turns out the fires were set as part of a love story between Charlie Smith and his girlfriend, Tonya Bundick. I suspect that many people have heard this story and know who was responsible, but I think the book would have been more powerful if they weren’t outed so early in the book. In any event, it was good and I enjoyed it.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf, is a quiet, contemplative read, where not much happens. But, in its brief form and simplicity, it is a lovely story about two older people who unexpectedly fall in love. Addie Moore visits her neighbor, Louis Waters – they have known each other for many years and are both now widowed. They are lonely and find a way to be companions and friends. This book is very short and didn’t take long to read. I really enjoyed it.

I joined a book group at work because I heard Robin DiAngelo speak recently at a conference and I liked what she had to say. The book group was arranged around DiAngelo’s book, What Does it Mean to be White? Developing White Racial Literacy. The book, while somewhat hard to read (not because of the writing, but because of the content) is a must-read for anyone struggling to figure out what is happening in the US right now and why racism is so perplexing and systemic. I “pen-in-handed” the text and have so many sticky-notes throughout the book that it would be impossible for anyone else to pick it up and read it. That’s how good and thought-provoking it is. It’s a must-read in my opinion.

Here are some favorites (but you really need to read the whole book to “get it”)…

“Racism is a system of unequal social, cultural, and institutional power – not individual acts of prejudice.”

“We need to build the capacity to sit with the discomfort and pain of the story rather than…sweep it away with denial, minimalism, and invalidation.”

“…the best antidote to guilt is accountability and corrective action.”

“Anti-racist education seeks to interrupt relations of racial inequality by enabling people to identify, name, and challenge the norms, patterns, structures, and traditions that keep racism and white supremacy in place.”

As I have said before, I love Alice McDermott. While her books are quiet, they are beautiful pieces and enjoyable reads. The Ninth Hour is much like her other works, focused on the Irish experience in New York. The story is told by the children and grandchildren of the main characters, which is an interesting structural choice and one that works well. We begin with the suicide of a husband soon-to-be father. His wife, Annie, ends up becoming employed by a Catholic order of nuns. She brings her daughter, Sally, to work with her until Sally is old enough to go to school. And, then we follow Sally’s life as well. While I would not describe this story as an edge of the seat kind of experience, there’s enough drama to keep you reading.