Jolissa

Little Pieces of Me was so easy for me to get lost in. I love when a book just sucks me in and I don't think about other stuff while reading it, and this one accomplished that for me. Really, how much more can you ask of a good story?

I thought the dual timelines worked really well in this book. I've definitely read some dual timelines that were just difficult to follow and not done very well, but this one was. The concept of jumping back and forth between mother and daughter stories was also something I don't think I've read before (and if I have, it wasn't memorable). I loved seeing Betsy as a young college student, and getting to know her as both a young woman and an older mom.

Paige was easy to like. Her world is rocked, and she has some very believable reactions to that, as well as some fun, banter-y moments with her friends that I enjoyed. The fact that she's getting married at 40+ is also a unique aspect of the story, and that made it stand out for me, too. It's not another 20-something on the cusp of adulthood going through hard stuff.

For my full review, visit https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/05/review-little-pieces-of-me-by-alison-hammer/

Check out my full review here: https://literaryquicksand.com/2021/04/review-are-we-there-yet-by-kathleen-west/

We are Kathleen West fans here at Literary Quicksand, as she used to contribute! So, I was so super excited to read her second book, Are We There Yet? and review it here for her! Spoiler alert (but not really): I loved it...it was a book I just gobbled up.

You've done it again, Kathleen! This book was...well, it was kind of nuts. In a good way

I listened to the audiobook version of Brooklyn. I remembered that it was a popular movie, even though I haven't seen it. I thought maybe I'd listen to the book, then try to stream the movie. It was...just okay. It was super character driven, which I usually tend to like, but this one got boring at times for me. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it just wasn't what I was expecting from such a popular movie. 3 1/2 stars

Check out my full review at https://literaryquicksand.com/2021/04/review-find-me-in-havana-by-serena-burdick/

This book has me conflicted. In some ways I loved it, and in some ways, it didn't quite work for me. I'll try my best to explain my mixed-up feelings here!

Alright so first of all, Estelita's story was fascinating and I couldn't believe the book was based on a true story! So dramatic. I would say, if you plan to read this book, don't look up Estelita Rodriguez. Let yourself be surprised by the story arc instead.

I liked both Estelita and her daughter, Nina, but they were both definitely flawed. Estelita is kind of a horrible mom, and Nina makes some pretty interesting choices throughout the book. I do think Burdick is an excellent relationship writer — I was sucked into this book pretty quickly because the characters and their relationships pulled me in. Nina loves her mom, but Estelita's flaws are hard to deal with. Estelita loves her daughter, but isn't quite sure how to balance their relationship with her career.

What didn't work for me with this book was the letter style. The book goes back and forth between mother and daughter, and the text is written like a letter. So, when it's Nina's chapter, she'll talk about her mom by using “you.” This was weird for me. The chapters are definitely not like letters anyone would write. There are so many details....great details for a novel, not for a believable letter. Plus, in the end, they're speaking in letters when that actually becomes impossible. It's just kind of odd.

My full review is posted here: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/05/review-speak-okinawa-by-elizabeth-miki-brina/

First of all, this was unlike any other memoir that I've read. The way it was laid out was different, and it got really artistic at times. Also, it was incredibly interesting because I had no idea about the history of Okinawa. I've heard a few things I think about it being occupied, but I really had no idea. So, this book was as much a history lesson as it was a beautiful memoir of identity.

Brina's mother is from Okinawa, and her father is from the United States. He was a soldier when he met his wife and took her home to the states, even though she didn't know any English. The two had their daughter, Elizabeth. Primarily, the book is about Elizabeth figuring out who she is in relation to her mom and dad, and how she can straddle the line between English and Okinawan.

When Brina was a child, she identified much more with her father, and didn't understand her mother. Now, as she writes her memoir, she's figuring out why that was and what it all means.

This book was truly beautiful, especially at the end, when Brina writes about identity.

This review is published on my blog: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/03/what-we-read-in-february-2022/

This idea behind this book is just so wonderful. All proceeds from Alone Together, which is a collection of essays and poems about pandemic life, go to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community. In short, it went to bookstores that struggled to stay open during the pandemic. What an awesome idea, and the content of the book totally delivers. I connected with some essays more than others, but appreciated it all. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is I kind of wish it would be all essays instead of essays plus poetry. Poetry that requires me to analyze each line to figure out what the author is really talking about is just not something I love

The Seed Keeper is one of those stories that hits you hard, then sticks with you long after you've read it. It was haunting and heartbreaking and beautiful and hopeful and it just swept me away.

Rosalie's story is interwoven with her ancestors' stories, and they were all just as compelling as hers. I fell into them so naturally – there was no awkwardness in switching stories. Every story was immersive and told with the same passion. I couldn't help wanting to read more of every storyline.

This book is easily headed to my all-time favorites shelf. 5 stars.

Read my full review here: https://literaryquicksand.com/2021/12/review-the-seed-keeper-by-diane-wilson/

The book explains how Child fell in love with food when she and her husband moved to France, because it was just so good. It was so much more thought out and finessed than American food was, and her love affair with it is just delightful to read. The way she describes the tastes and smells had me wishing I could be right there in France along with her, tasting that fish with the perfect buttery sauce.

You learn all about the process of learning to cook for her, in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu. She didn't grow up knowing how to cook, she just learned it all! I hadn't known that. The book also goes through the years-long process of writing her first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I gobbled this book up! If you enjoyed watching Child on TV or the movie Julie & Julia or you just love the romanticism of cooking and French cuisine, you'll love this one. Five stars.

See my full review here: http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2017/10/review-life-france/

I listened to the audiobook version of Brooklyn. I remembered that it was a popular movie, even though I haven't seen it. I thought maybe I'd listen to the book, then try to stream the movie. It was...just okay. It was super character driven, which I usually tend to like, but this one got boring at times for me. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it just wasn't what I was expecting from such a popular movie.

This review is published on my blog: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/02/what-we-read-in-january-2022/

Need some cute quirkiness in your reading life? I highly recommend Nothing to See Here! This book was recommended to me by multiple people on bookstagram, so I finally picked it up off my shelf. Man, it was so good! The story is similar to The House in the Cerulean Sea, except there's a lot more swearing and the kids are human, with a slightly fantastical element: they can burst into flames. This book was so fun and entertaining. Put it on your list right now!

What I loved about A Place for Us was the way Mirza seamlessly weaves together family, identity, religion, and love. Each character struggles with each of those things in his or her own way, and Mizra used their different points of view to narrate the story so very well. It pulled me in and endeared me to each character separately, which gave me a unique perspective of each one, even when the story was being told from another's point of view.

While I really loved that portion of the way this book was written, I had a hard time with the time jumps. I can see how they added to the story, with seeing an incident and then going back into the past to explain how the characters are the way they are or into the future to see how it affected them, but you'll just be reading sections of a chapter and suddenly be in a different time AND from a different perspective. It all just got a little discombobulating, orienting yourself back with another character in another time altogether.

Another thing that I really did like about this book is that it's about being Muslim in America, yet family and relationships are the focus, not that. It's definitely a piece of the novel, having clearly affected each character, but it's not the focus. I felt like this book could have run away in that direction, but it really didn't. While I'd like to read something like this about being a Muslim in America during the last two decades or so, I was glad that the story continued to focus on family from beginning to end.

Overall, A Place for Us was a fantastic read, and one that I definitely recommend picking up.

First of all, I have to say happy release day to Susan Wiggs! Between You and Me is out today, and lucky me, it's touring LQ today!

Susan Wiggs is a best-selling romance author with over 40 published novels. I discovered her when I read and reviewed Family Tree back in January, also on a book tour. Although I'm not a huge fan of your typical fluffy romance novel, I found Wiggs' writing and story to have a little more sustenance to it, making it a better fit for me. Also, Family Tree was set in maple sugar country in Vermont, and it was so idyllic, I just wanted to pack up and move there.

But this is a review of Between You and Me, so let's get to that! This one is all about family, love (of course), and stark differences between one world and another. We follow Reese, a med student, as she struggles to decide which direction her life should go in, and as she meets a family that will end up influencing her life and her decision in big ways. At the same time, we meet Caleb, who is living in an Amish community and practicing that lifestyle, but doesn't share the belief system. He's only there for the sake of his niece and nephew, who he cares for and acts as guardian for.

A terrible accident brings Caleb and his family into Reese's world at the hospital, and that's when life gets complicated, yet amazing, all at once.

My Thoughts
Between You and Me had the sustenance I need to enjoy a girly, romantic read. Sure, it's also got fluff and those oh-so-perfect ways things happen sometimes, but that's really what a romance novel is. This novel goes deep into some pretty tough family situations, which I think Wiggs tackles with great insight and empathy.

I also enjoyed getting the points of view from several different characters in this novel. Instead of a more typical female-protagonist-lead narrative, we got some male insight, too, and it's not just on the romance bits. I really liked the balance of this novel between the romance and the rest of the plot.

Overall, I recommend this one. It's a pretty quick and easy read, hits you in all the right romantic heart spots, and has an interesting story about family and secrets that's layered amongst the romance. If you're like me and you prefer your romance novels to have some good substance, this is one you'll enjoy. This is a solid 3.5 stars from me!

My full review is here: https://literaryquicksand.com/2021/09/review-dear-mrs-bird-and-yours-cheerfully-by-a-j-pearce/

When I found out I would be able to receive an ARC of Yours Cheerfully in exchange for an honest review, I decided that I'd read Dear Mrs. Bird first. Although it's possible for Yours Cheerfully to stand alone, I definitely think reading them in order helped me enjoy the second one more. Although it goes over some of the big points of what happened in Mrs. Bird, I'm glad I read it first.

When I started Dear Mrs. Bird, I had a little bit of a hard time at first getting into the writing style. It's different than what I've read in historical fiction before. The author chooses to capitalize some things, and that's a style that put me off a little. For instance, Emmy might explain something as “having become Quite the Big Thing.” However, as I kept reading, I got more used to it and it didn't bother me quite so much. Still, the grammarian in me had kind of a hard time!

The plot was really light to begin with, but it got deeper and less fluffy for sure. Still, even when the subject matter got heavy with war fallout, Emmy is so good-natured and talks in such a...sweet? way that it's heavy without feeling too gloomy.

Overall, I found Dear Mrs. Bird light, yet it tackles difficult subject matter. The portrayal of friendship was so heartwarming, it was just a fun read. I gave it 4.5 stars overall.

Mysteries and suspense novels aren't usually my favorite thing to read, but after reading Lisa Jewell's The Girls in the Garden back in 2016, I knew I wanted to read her new release, Then She Was Gone. I was hearing about it absolutely everywhere and it had great reviews on Goodreads, so I just had to read it. It was definitely more thrilling/suspenseful than The Girls in the Garden was, but I'm starting to get more into books like that, and I think this was a great one to work on that with.

First of all, I read Then She Was Gone in two days, so it's clear that I didn't want to put it down. It definitely held my attention and kept me wanting to know what comes next, which I think is an indication of a good suspense novel!

For my full review, visit http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2018/06/review-then-she-was-gone/

This memoir was written by Nina during the years before she died from cancer. She writes about fighting the cancer, about losing her mom to cancer during her own fight, and about navigating life as a sick person. While this book was really good, it was hard to read, because it was just very sad. It was hard reading about her decline, knowing that she died before the book came out. Riggs was an artist, and a lot of the chapters in her book are really artistically written. I had to go back a couple of times and reread several of the paragraphs to really understand them and soak them in. Overall it's really deep and very, very good – you just have to be in the right space to read it.

Read more of my reviews at http://www.literaryquicksand.com/

This review was first published at https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/12/what-we-read-in-november-2022/

After reading and loving Tector's The Honeybee Emeralds, I was excited to read her next book, The Foulest Things. I'm glad I did – it was really a fun read!

It all starts when the main character, Jess, finds a body in the archives' art vault. She's an aspiring junior archivist, and suddenly everything in her life goes...a bit nuts. There's a really fun mystery, and Jess is right in the middle of it with a discovery she makes inside some old ledgers.

I really had no idea about the life of an archivist, so this was a really fun read. It lends itself so well to mystery!

Imagine a couple dysfunctional families, Thanksgiving Day, and a concealed pregnancy resulting from infidelity, and you've got Start Without Me by Joshua Max Feldman.

The story happens over the course of one day, which happens to be Thanksgiving. Two strangers meet in a hotel bar, and from there, their stories intertwine as they attempt to navigate the day with their families. Our main characters, Adam and Marissa, both have a large reason why they're not looking forward to going home to their families. For Adam, his alcoholism (now in recovery) made him estranged from his family. For Marissa, she's pregnant by an ex – not her husband.

I don't want to give away much, but the day just goes nuts. To put it bluntly, shit hits the fan.

If you're a fan of dysfunctional family stories like The Nest, you'll probably like this one. It's crazy, but it's also really filled with heart at some points, which I appreciated. The writing style was straightforward yet detailed and expressive, which made it a good, quick read.

For my full review, visit http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2017/10/review-start-without/

This is one heck of a unique novel. Centered around food and baking, it's also a bit futuristic and strangely magical.

Our main character is Lois, a young, gifted software programmer who has just moved to California to work at a company that programs robotic arms to do various jobs. She moves from a slow life in Michigan to a world of long days in an office, surviving on quick bites in between work. She's been trying Slurry, a sort of nutritional meal-replacement paste, to supplement her diet. Until, that is, a new restaurant opens up very close to her apartment called Clement Street Soup and Sourdough. She falls in love with their bread and soup so much that she orders nearly every night, and is soon called their “Number One Eater”.

When the guys who run the restaurant inform her that they're moving away, she's not happy. They show up at her door and hand her something to keep as a gift: some of their sourdough starter.

It's here that the story moves into strange gastronomic territory. The starter creates loaves of bread that seem to have faces in them, and it seems to sing at times. Lois's bread becomes well-loved, and she finds a way to combine both her career and her new love of sourdough baking. She finds camaraderie in a strange gathering of people in an underground farmer's market of sorts, where science is just as much a part of food as the ingredients are.

Although far-fetched at times, Sourdough is a foodie novel unlike any other I've read before, and I liked it. I've been wanting to start my own sourdough starter for some time, and after reading this book, I went for it. As I type up this review, it's growing and bubbling in my kitchen. Our relationship to food is so fascinating, and I thought this book explored that relationship in a really unique way: with a little magic.

Read the rest of my review here: http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2018/01/review-sourdough/

I thought this was a great read. Taylor's writing style grabbed me from the beginning, and I loved the nuggets of great prose about the complexities of life:

Memory is slippery, not even like a fish but like an eel, like an ice cube, like a clot of blood whose membranous skin can barely contain internal shifting liquidity. It's something that, the firmer you try to grasp it, the weaker the hold you have on it, the less trustworthy it becomes. But it doesn't matter what really happened, does it? Reality matters less than how it is perceived, that edge or feather or scale that you catch onto as it flickers by. And after a year or ten in a dingy pocket who can say if it was a lizard's scale or a dragon's in the first place?

Overall, I thought this was a great read. I recommend it if you're a literary fiction lover! It's deep and there are a lot of complicated emotions, yet the story itself is fairly simple. Pick it up if that sounds like your kind of read! 4 stars from me.

For my full review, vist http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2017/10/review-the-lauras/

For anyone who has ever grieved the loss of another human or has/is supporting someone going through grief, this book is wonderful read. Heck, you don't need to be grieving or close to a griever to like it, either. It's a really amazing glimpse into what it really feels like to lose someone as close to you as a spouse, and Sandberg provides some truly enlightening insights into the life of someone who is deep in grief.

Read my full review here: http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2017/09/september-mini-reviews-three-nonfiction-greats/

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken is a beautiful memoir about loss, grief, and hope. It's the story of her first pregnancy that ended in tragedy when her little boy was born still. Her pregnancy and birth story all happen in France, as that's where she and her husband were living at the time, working on writing their books.

Yes, this part of the story is heartbreaking, but she also writes about hope. She and her husband still wanted to have a child after their loss, so she writes about the (guarded) hope they felt for their second child, and about how terrified she was during that pregnancy. Her second child is born healthy, and brings them so much joy.

The story jumps between past and present, which I really liked – it's like she's sitting in the room with you, telling her story. Her writing is clear and matter-of-fact, which I also appreciated. No bells and whistles needed when telling a story like this one...I loved how frank she is.

Above all, though, what really matters here is that she shared this story with the world. Her story of stillbirth, grief, hope and love is exactly what I needed to read after the loss of my son, Jonah. Going through stillbirth is one of those things that you just can't fathom until it happens to you, and I sincerely hope it never does! It's stories like McCracken's that help us who've experienced this understand that we're not alone: not even close.

I recommend this book for anyone who's going through the loss of a baby, or even the loss of a close loved one. Or, heck, if you just want to read an emotional memoir, pick this up. It's a quick read, but it's one that will stick with you for a long time.

For my full review, visit http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2017/02/review-exact-replica-figment-imagination/

At first, I thought this might be a girly beach read, but found that this novel goes far deeper than that. The story made me have a difficult time putting the book down, and the quality of Jackson's writing had me loving every bit of it. I loved her characters – they were well developed and spot on.

The themes of family and race are really well done. I think Jackson did an amazing job of capturing the spectrum of family relationships that we all have in our lives, and the book made me think about my own relationships.

I recommend The Almost Sisters to anyone who enjoys great fiction that explores family relationships and race, and how those themes shape who we are as sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, husbands, wives – all kinds of family. Even the hidden kinds.

For my full review, visit http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2017/07/review-almost-sisters/