This past month, the quantity of books was lower than I had hoped (I try to aim for at least 4 books a month) but the quality of the reading experiences certainly exceeded expectations. They were all extremely enjoyable books. I continue to slowly check off unread Book of the Month selections, which is an ongoing reading goal. Unfortunately, my Nordic Literature Reading Challenge has fallen off my radar as I’ve pursued the Diversity Across Genres and Book Voyage: Read Around the World reading challenges. I will have to rethink that one for next year.

What have you been reading lately?

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson (2023) 📖🎧

This book takes place in the 1950s in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and follows two young Black women in separate storylines that converge over time. High school student Ruby hopes to be the first in her family to attend college through a program for young, promising Black students. Eleanor is at Howard University thanks to sacrifices by her working class family. Both women fall in love with men which threatens their planned futures and leads to some hard choices. I loved the insight into the time and place of the stories, much of it unfamiliar to me. In particular, it was fascinating and eye-opening to read about DC’s elite wealthy Black community. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• #DiversityAcrossGenres: Black / Romance
• Book Voyage: Read Around the World: North America (USA)

The Survivors by Jane Harper (2021) 📖

This book was my first introduction to Jane Harper as well as to Tasmania, an island state of Australia. The story takes place in a small fictional seaside town very popular with tourists during the summer season, but otherwise very quiet. At the heart of the book are some dangerous ocean caves and a tragedy that happened 12 years ago and still haunts the locals, especially when a visitor to the area is found dead. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Book Voyage: Read Around the World: Australia & New Zealand
• #unreadBOTMselection

Nothing to See Here (2019) by Kevin Wilson 🎧
Narrated by Marin Ireland

I’ve always been turned off by the cover and the premise of kids spontaneously combusting. When it was selected as a book club pick at work, I decided to listen to it. Lillian, a scholarship student, and Madison, from a wealthy family, were best friends at boarding school until a scandal separated them. Years later Madison needs Lillian’s help taking care of her 10 year old step-kids who erupt into flames when agitated. The story is from Lillian’s perspective. I loved her personality and relationship with the kids. The narration was fabulous, the delivery and tone of the narrator were spot on. Those of us who listened to it, seemed to enjoy it much more than those who read it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What have you been reading lately?

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