Tag: family

You Lucky Dog by Julia London

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‘She’d done everything right. She’d gotten good grades in school, had gotten a good job, and had worked hard. She’d been a decent daughter, a better sister. She didn’t do drugs or drink much. She’d done everything right. It was not supposed to be this way. She was supposed to have it all by now, not be worrying about how to pay her rent.’ – Julia London, You Lucky Dog

Every once in a while, I need a reading break. When that happens, I look up feel good romances that I know will make me smile or laugh. My latest feel good read was You Lucky Dog by Julia London. I won’t lie – the cover hooked me first, giving me 101 Dalmatians vibes with the twisted together leashes. That plus basset hounds and I was ready to start reading. You Lucky Dog is the first in the the Lucky Dog series.

Carly Kennedy is struggling. Her new business, Carly Kennedy Public Relations, is not going well. She only has two clients, yet they are the neediest clients she has ever had and demand so much of her time. Her parents are divorced and are both now going through separate midlife crises that are way too much. Her mother bought her sister a basset hound WITHOUT asking her, causing said sister to completely melt down. Baxter, the basset, is now Carly’s problem. Baxter is a sad basset hound. In fact, Carly thinks he may be depressed. He can frequently be found with his head wedged in the corner of the room no matter Carly’s best efforts to coax him out. Baxter is growing on her though.

Yet another inconvenience is dropped on Carly’s plate when she comes home from work late one night to discover an imposter basset hound in her house. Her dog walker has switched out her sad basset for this perkier female basset who has no boundaries. This one is on her couch, chewing on things she shouldn’t be touching!

Max Sheffington is also confused. His happy basset hound, Haxel, has been replaced by this depressed male basset hound who, for some reason, will not get out of the corner of the room. Max is even more bewildered when Carly shows up on his front step demanding her dog back. It doesn’t help that Carly is pretty and extremely opinionated, facts that distract Max and simultaneously captivate him. He was expecting his dog walker, something that this gorgeous woman is not. Carly was expecting a stuffy old man given the name of the man she was told had her dog. Instead she finds a handsome man who is corrupting poor Baxter! Her dog is sprawled on the couch and has clearly been eating macaroni and cheese.

What most surprises Carly is that Baxter seems to be at home at Max’s house. He loves Hazel and follows her around. Since Baxter’s mood has improved, Carly decides that she needs to spend more time with Hazel and Max to keep him happy. It doesn’t take long for Carly to realize that there are feelings buzzing between her and Max, even though the two couldn’t be more different. Their lives end up being completely altered by an accidental dog swap.

While I enjoyed the premise, I found myself wanting to shake Carly at points (to be fair, I find myself more likely to want to shake the main characters when I’m reading romance – just TALK to each other already). Some of the solutions to her problems were right in front of her face, but she was just not seeing them. Regardless of my frustrations, this novel was adorable and exactly the brain break I needed. The main characters were both genuinely nice and cared about all the people in their lives. The fact that the author made Max’s brother autistic was a breath of fresh air. His portrayal was done sensitively and seeing him through Max’s eyes from both a scientific and familial point of view was also realistic. All in all, I enjoyed this book and am already searching for the second book, It Started with a Dog.

This title is also available in large print, as a Libby eBook, and Libby eAudiobook.

Lucky Dog series

  1. You Lucky Dog (2020)
  2. It Started with a Dog (2021)

‘That was the problem with social media—there were people in the world who seemingly existed just to tear other people down, but you couldn’t give them any oxygen. You couldn’t let them steal your mojo. And the best way to keep your mojo intact was to stay off social media and allow your publicist to post for you and monitor comments.’ – Julia London, You Lucky Dog

A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

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“Thing is, when you put something back together it’s never exactly the same as it was before.”
― Laura Taylor Namey, A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey is gorgeously written, exactly what my heart needed. Even though this cover is bubblegum pink, it deals with heavy topics like grief and heartbreak in a sensitive manner. The writing pulled me in from the start with richly descriptive settings and characters that popped off the page.  (FYI the companion book, A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak, is set to be released at the end of September 2023 and I CANNOT WAIT!)

Lila Reyes did not have ‘spend a summer in England’ on her wishlist after graduation. If everything had worked out the way she planned, she would be moving in with her best friend, taking over as head baker at her abuela’s bakery, and spending more time with her boyfriend. Her plans destroyed when the Trifecta happened. Lila, like her plans, fell apart.

After a twenty mile run leaves Lila crying in a field and her family searching for her, her parents, worried about her mental health, send her to Winchester, England for three months. Her instructions are to relax, reset, and recharge. A complete change of scenery is in order, which combined with a family member she hasn’t seen in years has the possibility to rejuvenate her(if Lila would open up a bit). The lack of anything Miami, no sun, no flavorful food, and grumpy people has Lila anxious and wishing desperately to go back home to Miami.

Lila’s attitude changes when she meets Orion Maxwell. Orion is a clerk in his family’s teashop. He doesn’t swoop in to solve Lila’s problem, quite the opposite. Orion has his own heap of problems, helping him understand that Lila needs an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. Volunteering to be her personal tour guide, Orion takes Lila on trips across the English countryside, showing her that England isn’t as bad as she thinks. Instead England is charming and full of people who only want to help. Lila realizes that the future she originally wanted just months ago may not be where her heart is anymore; part of her may have fallen for England and the boy who showed her how to trust again.

This book is also available as a Libby eBook and Libby eAudiobook.

“I’ve grown to find peace and acceptance in not fighting what I can’t control.”
― Laura Taylor Namey, A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

Did this book catch your interest? Join See YA and discuss this book with us at our October meeting! See YA is our adult book club with a teen book twist. See why so many teen books are being turned into movies and are taking over the best seller lists.

Registration is not required. Books are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Eastern Avenue library. We meet the first Wednesday of the month at Eastern at 6:30pm. Stop by the service desk for more information.

October 4 – A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

November 1 – Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

It Won’t Always Be Like This: A Graphic Memoir by Malaka Gharib

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Malaka Gharib has been on my radar ever since I saw her debut graphic memoir, I Was Their American Dream, on the shelves at the library. In that book, she discusses being first-generation Filipino Egyptian American. Three years later, she published It Won’t Always Be Like This, which talks about her summers in the Middle East visiting family.  Graphic memoirs are one of my favorite forms of nonfiction, specifically when authors write about their childhoods and their families growing up. Watching the authors come to realizations about their lives is riveting, yet also heartbreaking. I was excited to start It Won’t Always be Like This to see what Malaka Gharib had to say.

Malaka Gharib’s childhood was a bit rocky. Her mother is Filipino and her father Egyptian making Malaka Filipino Egyptian American, plus first generation! Her parents divorced when she was young. Her father eventually left the United States and moved back to Egypt. Sha always thought that her father would eventually come back to the States, but every time she visited, he seemed to have settled into his new life even more.

Her annual summer vacation trip to Egypt when she was nine changed everything. On this trip, her father announced that he had remarried. Malaka now has to navigate her space in her father’s new family. She spends the next fifteen years traveling back to Egypt to visit her father and his growing family. Those years are rough. She is navigating adolescence both in America and in a country where she doesn’t fully understand the religion, language, or culture. She is constantly reevaluating how she fits into her father’s new life. Malaka doesn’t look anything like her siblings (they are fair-haired) and she sticks out. The longer she spends with them, the more Malaka starts to adapt. She opens up to new experiences, new food, new music, and starts to see that Hala, her new stepmother, isn’t actually that different as she thought. She’s actually a bit like Malaka. Seeing Malaka’s childhood memories expressed through an adult lens shows how powerful our memories are in helping form ourselves and our relationships with other. It is all messy and complicated, yet necessary.

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto

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“In her experience, it’s best to nod and agree with what people say before doing exactly what you wanted from the very beginning.”
― Jesse Q. Sutanto, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Jesse Q Sutanto proves herself a master of character sketches in Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. Instead of telling her story from one character’s perspective, Sutanto has crafted five characters to share secrets from their own points of view: Sana, Riki, Julia, Oliver, and the title-mentioned Vera Wong. This is a story of found family and the love, friendship, and kindness that can be spread by serving tea.

Vera Wong is a lonely shopkeeper, well really a lonely little old lady, who lives above her tea shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Her shop, aptly named Vera Wong’s World-Famous Teahouse, sadly isn’t doing as well as she would hope. She only has one customer. Her husband is dead and her son Tilbert hardly ever visits. Granted, Tilly is a successful lawyer, but that doesn’t mean he can’t answer her daily texts. She is his mother after all!

Vera enjoys nothing more than designing new tea combinations and trying to figure out just what Tilly is doing that is more important than talking to his mother.  That and waking up at 4:30am and starting her day by going on a power walk. One morning, Vera discovers a dead man lying in the middle of her tea shop. Vera calls the cops, but not before tidying up the shop and investigating the area around the body for clues. When the police show up, the detectives don’t inspire much confidence, leading Vera to decide that she could do a better job than the police and will solve this murder herself! After all, Vera loves her police shows. She is also a Chinese mother who can sniff out guilt just by looking at a person. This shouldn’t be a problem at all. Vera has this all under control.

This title is also available in large print and as a Libby eBook.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

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“It’s a whole new beginning, you know? It’s that moment before the universe expanded, when all of matter is the size of a trillionth of a period, all hot and full of nothing but potential. I could be someone who isn’t always and completely eclipsed by my sister and kicked down by my mom. Who could I be? The skyline whips by us, the clouds white. Everything feels new right along with me. Who could I be? I could be anything. No, scratch that. I could be everything.” – How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

If you’re ever not sure to read, ask a librarian for a recommendation. That is how I ended up with my latest five-star read: How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. This young adult novel with a romance twist was beautifully written and full of tiny bits of humor dropped throughout. Moon Fuentez is an adorably lovable, yet incredibly sarcastic Mexican American teen trying to figure out her place in the world and in her family while on a summer road trip across the country with a group of influencers.

As long as she can remember, Moon Fuentez has been the ugly, unwanted sister. Her twin, Star, has reached social media stardom with Moon tagging behind as her sister’s camerawoman and photo editor. When her mom announces that Star and Moon will be spending their summer touring the country as part of a social media tour with dozens of beautiful influencers, Moon is less than thrilled. She will be working as ‘the merch girl’, giving up her entire summer in service to her sister, yet again.

Moon’s fate starts to change as soon as the two arrive to start the tour. Moon accidentally offends Santiago Phillips, her bunkmate and now her nemesis. They work together since he is ‘the merch guy’. Santiago loves to workout, giving him a massive physique and making him the hottest guy Moon has ever seen. Too bad he can’t stand Moon – he is constantly grumpy and combative whenever they have to work together, which is ALL THE TIME. It’s fine though – she hates him as much as he hates her. (You know where this is going, right?) Their forced proximity leads Moon to think about whether or not their mutual dislike is really true or not. This also leads her to think about how she has been living her life and what she really wants her future to look like.

The descriptions are beautifully written, the characters fully developed, and the story is sweet and serious, yet entertaining. The characters also evolve as the story progresses. Their relationships also change, some in positive ways, others negatively. This book is told first-person from Moon’s point of view with glimpses into Moon’s past between chapters. The author doesn’t shy away from talking about hard topics that some young adult books treat with kid gloves. At the core, this is a book about learning to love yourself, knowing your self-worth, and understanding that you are so much more than you (and others) see yourself and give yourself credit for. This is a serious contender for my favorite book of 2023.

This title is also available as a CD audiobook, single book club books, Libby eBook, and Libby eAudiobook.

Want to talk about How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe with others? Join See YA! See YA is our adult book club with a teen book twist. See why so many teen books are being turned into movies and are taking over the best seller lists. Registration is not required. Books are available on a first-come, first-served basis at the Eastern Avenue library. We meet the first Wednesday of the month at Eastern at 6:30pm.  Our next four months of books are listed below:

September 6th –  How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Gilliland Vasquez​​​​​​​

October 4th – Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey​​​​​​​

November 1st – Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee

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“I love you when you’re at your lowest just as much as at your best.” – In Limbo, Deb JJ Lee

TW for suicide and abuse.

Deb Lee’s powerful new memoir explores coming of age in New Jersey as a Korean-American teenager. Deb examines the Korean-American diaspora and mental illness as she mines her history for answers. Deb left Seoul to come to America with her family when she was only three years old.  Ever since she arrived in the United States, she has been excruciatingly aware of her otherness. Her teachers couldn’t, and still can’t very well, pronounce her Korean name. Her English wasn’t perfect, she spoke Korean, but after some time, she slowly lost her Korean and spoke more and more English. Adjusting to the United States was difficult as her face and her eyes pointed her out as different. She felt wrong.

When Deb started high school, her life became harder. She started to feel increasing pressure at home, while dealing with high school changes. Her classes were more difficult than she expected, plus her friendships changed and ended. Deb struggles with finding a safe place to be herself, but luckily she has orchestra (even though that doesn’t last forever either). Her home life becomes increasingly chaotic as fights with her mom become more frequent, violent, and emotionally abusive. Deb has no idea what to do, feeling like she is stuck in limbo with nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help. Her mental health crashes, which results in a suicide attempt. Her healing process after is slow and methodical, but she is resilient, courageous, and willing to start the process. Art, self-care, and therapy help her start to understand herself and her heritage.

The artwork in this graphic memoir is amazing. Deb has drawn pages of evocative, grayscale artwork that give you the feel of memory. Some of their drawings are sharp while others are hazy, fuzzing out and fading to black. If you’re a fan of Tillie Walden, you will enjoy this art style. Deb worked on this for years before she finally was at a place where it was ready for the world. Their desire to wait makes this memoir feel polished and rewarding. This is a realistic depiction of a teen working through mental health experiences. Add in that this is a memoir and this is sure to be helpful to others.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

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Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal is a thought-provoking, meaningful, and sexy book that was definitely not what I was expecting. Jaswal pairs funny, light, and lively touches with very serious themes like arranged vs. forced marriages and traditional vs. modern cultures. As I was scrolling through the Libby app, I found this title and checked the author’s website where I found this:

Entertainment Weekly:
Write a movie poster tagline for your Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows.

Balli Kaur Jaswal:
You’ll never look at root vegetables the same way again.

Nikki and Mindi are sisters who showcase differences between generations and traditions. Mindi is slightly more traditional than her more modern sister Nikki. The daughters of Indian immigrants, both Nikki and Mindi, are working to find their places in life. Needing a change, Nikki applies for and is hired to teach creative writing at the local Sikh community center. When she arrives for the first class though, she learns that the job posting was a lie. Her students are mostly older Punjabi widows who want to learn how to read and write. Quickly adjusting, Nikki starts teaching them English letters, but the widows become bored. The students soon find a book of sexy/erotic short stories that they read to each other before class starts. This devolves into the widows sharing their own stories. Chaos ensues with issues popping up all over the community and within their own class.

Even though the name of this book sounds scandalous, this book is not erotica nor romance. Yes, there are a couple erotic stories, but the stories presented are meant to appear like they are written by women who cannot read or write. Instead they are lived experiences or stories that come from the heart or from loneliness. These stories are presented in ways that show that these women want to feel equal or loved or wanting to feel pleasure or be able to be on equal terms as men. They add meaning to the book by showcasing issues that women have faced for centuries and are still facing today.

There are lots of triggers in this book: violent murders, threats, oppression of women, mention of rape, religious persecution, and social oppression.

This title is also available in spanish fiction and as a Libby eBook.

Online Reading Challenge – June Wrap-Up

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Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in Australia that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. This book tore my heart out. The more I read, the more I was invested in what was going on in everyone’s lives. The prose is absolutely beautiful as the author describes the remote island setting (and all the other locations in the book). Honestly, I love any books set in Australia, especially narrators with Australian accents, so this was an almost guaranteed enjoyment for me. Let’s talk about the book!

Tom Sherbourn is a young World War I vet described by others as responsible, upstanding, and stalwart. The war ravaged him emotionally. After the war, Tom finds a job as a light-keeper on isolated Janus Rock off the western coast of Australia. During one of his shore leaves, Tom meets Isabel. Isabel is young and free-spirited. The two are soon married and set up house on Janus Rock to begin their life together as starry-eyed new lovers. Janus Rock is gorgeous. Tom starts to heal amongst the silence, solitude, and rumblings of the sea. The thing that would make their life complete is a baby, something that Isabel longs for intensely. Over several years, Isabel suffers two miscarriages and a devastating stillbirth. The couple are crushed.

One day a small boat washes up on Janus Rock. The two are stunned to find a dead body and a very much alive infant in the boat. Tom is required to record and report everything that happens on Janus Rock, but Isabel persuades a very reluctant Tom to not do so in this case. She reasons that the baby is most likely an orphan now. Isabel believes that this is a sign from the universe to reward them after the years of heartbreak the two have suffered in their attempts to have a child. Tom buries the dead man, sets the boat adrift, and tells himself the two are doing the right thing, although his conscience eats at him as time passes.

Tom, Isabel, and the baby have an almost perfect life on Janus Rock. Their trips back to shore to visit Isabel’s family however start to worry even more at Tom’s conscience. He broke the rules and omitted important information from his reports, something that could end his career and lead to him facing formal charges. Tom’s misgivings haunt him and soon enough, his worries actually amount to something. Their idyllic life comes crashing down. The family is forced to deal with the consequences of Tom and Isabel’s actions. Nothing will be the same.

I wasn’t sure what I expected when I started this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. I had never read this before (or seen the movie starring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Rachel Weisz). The depth of emotion presented through written words tore at my heart. As I was reading, I thought I was going to be sympathetic one way, but reading from multiple points of view really had me second-guessing my judgments and feelings. I find myself thinking about this book long after I finished it – wondering what choices I would have made if I had been put in a similar position. This book, to me, was a good reminder that you never know what a person is going through. Everyone has their own reasons for doing something and just because you wouldn’t necessarily behave a certain way doesn’t mean that someone else won’t. All in all, I enjoyed this book and found myself running through a wide range of emotions as I listened.

In July we’re headed to suburbia!

Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars written by Rick Louis and illustrated by Lara Antal

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Trigger warning for child loss.

It’s seldom that I read a book that leaves me in tears. Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars written by Rick Louis and illustrated by Lara Antal emotionally devastated me and tore out my heart. This graphic novel memoir tells the story of one parent’s journey caring for his son with a terminal diagnosis. Rick Louis beautifully wrote this story about his life, while Lara Antal illustrated his words with sensitivity. The pallet of blues, whites, and blacks is breathtaking and tenderly adds to the story of the before, during, and after his son’s life.

Rick and Emily were overjoyed when she became pregnant. After their son Ronan was born and as his development progressed, they noticed a slight issue with his vision that necessitated a trip to the doctor. That visit led them down a rabbit hole of other doctors and ended with a devastating diagnosis for Ronan. Ronan has Tay-Sachs, an incurable neurological disorder. Rick and Emily have to deal with the practical issues of raising their son, while also paired with the emotional hurdles of loving their son under the shadow of their inevitable loss and his inevitable death. They are trapped in an impossible situation with very little positives.

This book was heartbreaking, yet told beautifully by a father destroyed by the loss of his young son. I strongly recommend this book (though have the tissues ready). While this story is sad, Rick also lightens his telling with comedy paired with gorgeous artwork. It’s full of warmth and heartbreak, sorrow and joy, as Rick discusses the importance of finding joy no matter how your life is at the moment.

More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez

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“When we’re shocked someone isn’t who we thought they were, it’s usually not because they hid it so well—more like, the closer we are to a person, the less clearly we see them.”
― Katie Gutierrez, More Than You’ll Ever Know

My latest read was a book that caught my attention because of the cover and then hooked me completely with the synopsis. More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez tells the story of a woman leading a double life, her exposure after one husband murders the other, and the true-crime writer who stumbles upon the story and becomes obsessed with figuring out the truth. This was a dream book for me.

Cassie Bowman is a true crime writer. She spends her days looking up crimes and writing up articles for a popular blog. One day, she comes across the story of Lore Rivera, a woman who was married to two men at once, until one day in 1986, when one of them found out about the other and murdered him. Lore was living a secret double life that ended in a tragic murder. While the story is fascinating, that wasn’t what caught Cassie’s attention. She wants to know more about Lore. After all, Cassie’s past was full of family tragedy. She wants to know how Lore kept up with the lies, how she balanced two full lives, and most of all, what really happened that disastrous day.

Cassie starts researching, reaching out to family members. When she approaches Lore, she’s surprised to find that Lore is willing to talk. She wants to finally tell her story, to set the record straight about what really happened, to detail her reasons. Lore’s tale begins with a dance which led to an affair, a marriage, and a murder. Lore isn’t telling her secrets for free though. For every question she answers, she demands something in return from Cassie. Soon Cassie is spilling her own deep, dark secrets whether she wants to or not. As her investigation continues, Cassie realizes that Lore may be hiding what actually happened the night of the murder. The truth may end up being messier than she thought, leading both women to have to decide if they can trust the other with the truth.

As Cassie says in the book, it’s usually the men who do the crime and the women who pay for it. This time, Lore was the one who set the crimes in motion. The news usually focuses on men as the perpetrators, so reading about a, albeit fictional, woman who did the crime was a nice break. Seeing the story play out from multiple different viewpoints also let me feel like I might eventually learn the truth, while also seeing the motivations for why people behaved the way that they did.

“History is written by those who have power and want to keep it.”
― Katie Gutierrez, More Than You’ll Ever Know

This title is also available as a Libby eBook and in large print.