I was thrilled that two of my reads greatly surpassed my expectations. I had been stubbornly resistant, convinced I wouldn’t enjoy them because of my own preconceived notions, even though they were incredibly popular books. Both, however, turned out to be exceptional reading experiences. They reminded me that initial reservations or a lack of interest in certain genres, settings, or subject matter shouldn’t keep me from giving such books a chance. Thank you, book clubs, for requiring me to read them!
Last month, I mentioned the interesting phenomenon of discovering unintentional connections between reads… This month, three of the novels I read delved into mother-daughter relationships, a topic that always provides interesting food for thought.
Have you read any of the books that I read in March?
Speak to Me of Home by Jeanine Cummins (2025) 📖
Narrated by Almarie Guerra 🎧
This family saga follows three generations of women—Rafaela, Ruth, and Daisy—from a well established Puerto Rican family in San Juan as they struggled with their sense of identity and belonging. The story begins in 1968 in San Juan, when Rafaela marries an Irish American and moves to St. Louis with their two young children, and it culminates in 2023 in San Juan, when Rafaela’s granddaughter Daisy is fighting for her life after a hurricane-related accident. Each of them has very different feelings about their connections to Puerto Rico that results in some complicated relationships between mother and daughter. I loved the insight into Puerto Rico and really enjoyed each of the narratives, and even found I identified with many of the situations. However, the jumps back and forth in time within each narrative were a bit confusing at times (which is why I read it in addition to listening to it). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Read Around the World: Central America/Caribbean (Puerto Rico)
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (2025) 📖
Despite my reservations about epistolary novels, I was hooked from the first letter. Sybil is a 73-year old former lawyer-turned-clerk, divorcee, and mother living alone in Maryland. Her daily routine includes writing letters, mostly by hand, to all sorts of people from her brother in France and best friend in Connecticut and even a neighbor to a university department head who won’t allow her to audit classes anymore and authors whose books she’s read. She is a complex character, full of contradictions. I was completely drawn into her trials and tribulations and resulting transformation over time. I read it, but I hear the audiobook by an ensemble is fantastic. ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️⭐
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (2023)
Performed by Meryl Streep 🎧
Despite my disinterest in books having to do with the pandemic, I agreed to this selection for book club. And wow, am I glad I did, and I think a lot of my love for the book had to do with listening to Meryl Streep perform it. I could close my eyes and see the story unfold before me. It is the story of a mother telling her three adult daughters, who are back home at the family cherry orchard in Michigan in the spring of 2020, about her previous life as an actress, in particular about her summer at the theater company, Tom Lake, where she had a brief romance with a now famous actor. I loved the relationships in the family and the gentle reveals of the story. If you haven’t already read this book, I highly recommend the audiobook.
⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️⭐
- Read Around the World: North America (Michigan)
Katharina-koden by Jørn Lier Horst (2017) 📖
The Katharina Code (The Cold Case Quartet #1) translated by Anne Bruce
I needed a palate cleanser after reading three novels that were all reflections on lives lived, so I picked up a Norwegian crime fiction book in honor of Norway’s Easter fascination with crime fiction. Jørn Lier Horst is a familiar and favorite Norwegian crime fiction author. I like his William Wisting series with the likable police officer and his journalist daughter. Though they don’t work together, their assignments usually have a connection or overlap. This installment is the first in a quartet (within the whole Wisting series) that deals with cold cases. It is available in English. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Read Around the World: Nordic Countries (Norway)
- Nordic Literature Reading Challenge: Norway (Free Choice)
What have you been reading lately?
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With summer now upon us, I am back on track with my reading. My goals for the summer are to catch up on reading challenges, play along with a summer reading bingo that is happening at work, and prepare and participate in 
Last year I read the author’s debut novel Salt Houses, which I really enjoyed, so when her second novel was 
I needed a light and easy audiobook that I could wrap up before our summer trip, and what better choice than one that would take me to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Sadly, this book wasn’t for me. Yes, I escaped to Positano and vicariously enjoyed delicious food and fabulous views, but I was not a fan of the storyline. Thirty-something Katy’s mother, who was her best friend, just died of cancer and Katy decides to take the trip that they had planned to do together anyways. She’s distraught and lost, and on top of that, questioning her marriage. While in Positano she meets two Americans, Carol, who is just like her mother, and Adam, who is totally unlike her husband. There’s a lot of self-reflection and I’m not sure whether time travel or mental breakdown, but she finds herself actually with her mother as a 30-year-old. At that point, I almost stopped listening, but curiosity and the fact that it was a short listen got me to finish it.
I needed a book that would jump start my summer reading so I finally read the third and latest English language installment in this Norwegian duo’s crime series. Like the others, it took place in Oslo and there were many places I recognized and knew, but the structure was very different, at least for the first half. It alternated between the interrogation of police office Alexander Blix about why he had shot someone, the interrogation of journalist Emma Ramm who saw what had happened, and the storyline of how the person was killed, so a lot of telling with jumps to actual action. The second half returned to a more traditional structure, but with a change in the focus of the investigation and a change in role for Blix. Unfortunately, the book was a bit of a disappointment for me. I wasn’t a fan of the structure of the first half and I didn’t like the new role for Blix.
This is the third in a series of four about Ingrid, an independent woman born, raised, and living on a remote island in Northern Norway in the 1900s. This installment takes place just after World War II. Ingrid leaves the island with her baby girl and travels throughout Norway on foot/train/bus to track down the father, a Russian prisoner of war who spent a short while on the island towards the end of the war as Ingrid nursed him back to health after he had survived 
I’m getting back into my reading groove. I was proud of