I've got some lightning fast book reviews for you!  I'll keep them to two sentences, I promise!

Death and Other Happy Endings by Melanie Cantor
Starts out pretty much like Last Holiday by Queen Latifah, but then again there's nothing new under the sun, right?  Then it gets even wonkier, and it's frankly all just kind of silly but also pretty good if you can let yourself just go with it.  

The Far Away Brothers:  Two Teenage Immigrants Making a Life in America by Lauren Markham
A great read to help me answer the question: What would be people be running from to risk so much to illegally cross the border?  This was an illuminating and honest book, and makes me want to keep reading and keep learning.

Recipes for Love and Murder:  A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew
If you're into cozy mysteries, this book will probably rock your world.  I'm not, and it didn't.



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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone:  A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
For me, this was a hands down five star read that was entertaining, emotional, and really made me think.  I can't get over how super good it was, and I feel like I'll be recommending it left and right.

Up Next:  I just started Lilac Girls, which has been on my TBR list for EVER, but it's $2.99 for Kindle right now so I nabbed it.  I'm also working through Such a Fun Age.  What are YOU reading?

Is the opposite of a reading slump a reading surge?  I'm having a surge, and I hope you are too!  Here's what I've finished up lately:

Presence:  Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy
​This book was definitely good at providing insights as to how to tackle challenging presentations, meetings, events, and whatever else.  Although I appreciated all of the examples and research that was shared to flesh it all out, I know I could have gotten just as much out of it if it were condensed down to maybe a one-pager, or perhaps if I were to just watch the author’s Ted Talk.  I think the main takeaway from both the talk and the book is to pose like Wonder Woman for a minute or two before you’re about to do the scary thing.  Then you feel powerful!  

The Other's Gold by Elizabeth Ames
​I would really like for one of the six of you to read this book so that we can discuss it.  There’s a LOT to mull over, and it would be a perfect read for book clubs.  The premise sounds a little flighty – four different women meet freshmen year in college and deal with their crazy lives with their friendship always there to help prop them up.  What made it a book I can’t stop thinking about are the events that happened within – far beyond the typical unfaithfulness and pregnancy loss and mental illness you’re likely to find in any other book with this sort of setup.  I didn’t care for most of the characters, I didn’t care for the ending….but as the days go by since I’ve turned the last page – I’m still chewing on it and starting to think it was actually really good.  Must talk about!

Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur
​The thing that kills me about this book about a mother who involves her 14 year old daughter in the managing of her affair, is that it’s a memoir.  If this were a novel, I would probably think, “Pish posh, would any mother really behave in the way that this *character* behaved?”  But the answer is apparently yes, and I honestly had a blast reading the author dissect all of her decisions and relationships and mommy issues.  It could’ve been boring.  But it wasn’t!  I would recommend.

Next up:  Our book club selection is definitely not one I would've normally selected, but so far I'm enjoying it and there's SO MUCH FOOD in this book that I'm constantly hungry.  I need to finish it fast or I'm going to go up a dress size before book club meets again.
​How about you?