Review: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published: June 2017

Tennessee 1930s. Georgia Tann took children from poor families and sold them into adoption. There were a few children who were legitimately placed in her care, but the majority of the children that made it to the Tennessee Children's Home Society, were taken from families that loved them and many never saw their families again. This book is based on true events and tells Rill, Fern, and their siblings' story. Switching back from the 1930s to modern day, Avery Stafford is determined to find out more about Ms. Crandle who has gotten her attention while on a tour of a nursing home in South Carolina. What she discovers will be a shock.

I have read a book similar to this, a few years ago. The Pink Bonnet by Liz Tolsma so I was familiar with the story. It is such a heartbreaking story about love and loss and how cruel the world is. I can't imagine what I would do if someone just took my children from me because they thought they could provide a better life for them.

Rill and her siblings were growing up on a boat, 'The Arcadia', on the Mississippi River with their mother and father when people came and took them away. Rill never gave up hope that she would see her family again, but she didn't know how she would ever be able to pull it off. You wanted to jump in the story and hold these children and be the one beside Avery as she began to uncover secrets that had been hidden for many years. Secrets that may have stayed hidden.

I really enjoy novels that are based on true events. It makes the story so much more enjoyable. Although this is a tragic story, it is an important one to know.


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Review: This Close To Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith

This Close To Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Published: February 2021

When Tallie sees Ernest on the bridge, about to jump, she knows she has to stop him. She is a therapist after all. She wonders why he is there and what has brought him to this point in his life. She isn't frightened by him but has a desperate need to help. Ernest asks for a sign not to jump, and here comes Tallie, taking him in and caring about what is going on with him. Tallie decides and Ernest agrees to go back to her house for just the weekend. After the weekend, they can each go back to living their lives. Little do they know that the short time they will spend together will change them both forever.

I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't get enough of these characters and I didn't want this story to end. I had so many emotions throughout this whole book and by the end, I was very disappointed. I will be honest, I didn't like the ending. I wanted more from these characters and I didn't get the outcome I wanted from the story I read.

Have you ever met someone and had an instant connection? You feel like you can talk to them about almost anything and they won't judge you for it but will be supportive or critical as necessary. This is what happened with Tallie and Ernest, they didn't do small talk and got to the serious questions. The only problem is that each of them is hiding something, as we all do when we first meet someone. But the secrets they are keeping could destroy the weekend in one swift blow.

Will this encounter last just the weekend, or the rest of their lives?

This book had a lot of music associated with it, so I made a playlist click here to listen.  

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Review: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Published: June 2020

In the town of Mallard, Louisiana every one is a light-skinned black person. Some could even pass for white. Darker-skinned blacks were frowned on. Twins Stella and Desiree Vignes wanted to get away from Mallard and see what else was out there in the world. When they were sixteen, they did just that. No one saw them again, until many years later when Desiree comes walking back into town with her very dark daughter, Jude. Running away from a dangerous situation to the only other home she has ever known, Desiree doesn't think she will stay in this place, especially without her sister.

This was a book club selection for the month of March. I have read The Mothers and I enjoyed that one, but this one I connected with even more.

When Desiree brings her daughter into town, it reminded me of my mom and me. My mom is dark-skinned and I am lighter-skinned. I recently found out that I'm 37% European. So when I was little, my mom used to get asked a lot whose child she was watching whenever she and I were out together. I could really relate to this story, coming from a family where half are light-skinned black people and the other half are dark-skinned. Another thing, my light-skinned family a few of them all live together on the same land they grew up on. I live there for the first 10 years of my life. I loved it because I know I could go to this aunt's house for cookies, and if I went to this uncle's house, I better take my shoes off at the door.

I really loved this book and I devoured it. I couldn't put it down.

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Review: Silence Is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar

Silence Is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Published: March 2021

As a Syrian refugee now living in Englan, The Voiceless observes the world around her and writes about it. She can see the neighbors in other flats and has names for them all. When the violence that took her from her home erupts in her new neighborhood, she has to make a stand somehow. But how can she do that without a voice?

Thank you to Algonquin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I have no idea what it would be like to be forced from your home because of violence. Having to travel by any means necessary, go through unthinkable trials, just to land in a place where you don't know anyone. You don't know what has become of your family and friends and really don't have a way to find out. Maybe this is why she became voiceless.

“A fierce novel… Layla AlAmmar has skillfully woven a narrative of memory and grief with an illuminating social critique of the position of asylum seekers within contemporary British society. It is daring and devastating.” —Fiona Mozley, Booker-finalist author of Elmet and Hot Stew 

 “Kuwaiti writer AlAmmar explores trauma and voicelessness through fragmented narrative form and a mute protagonist who has survived the war in Syria and is now living in isolation in the UK.” —The Millions 

 “With a powerful prose, AlAmmar pens a story about a young woman traumatized into muteness after a dangerous trip from war-torn Syria to the UK.” — Palm Beach Daily News 

 “Evocative… The conflicts over immigration and racism are brilliantly distilled, and they dovetail seamlessly with the narrator’s lyrical, increasingly defiant narration. Patient readers will find much to ponder.” —Publishers Weekly

Even leaving Syria didn't keep her from the violence against her people. Others want her to write more about these experiences, but she doesn't want to reveal who she really is. While this story takes place in England, this could have taken place anywhere in the world. With the news in our country at this time about Asian-Americans being targeted for violence. Whenever something bad happens in our country, those who are associated with the country, faith, race, that the incident stemmed from, tend to get all of the rage against the injustice. Even though it has nothing to do with them.

Here is a quote from this book, that I think is important for us all(taken from uncorrected proof): "We are one being. All of us. You are not made any differently than I am. And these religions of ours are nothing but languages. You speak English, I speak Punjabi, he speaks French, she speaks Japanese or Chinese, but we all say the same thing. These religions, they are words, only a language. Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, we are all saying the same thing. Your humanity and my humanity are the same. We are of one being, one value. All of us equal, all of us the same."

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Review: Adulting by Liz Talley

Adulting by Liz Talley
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Published: February 2021

Chase London is an actress who has messed her life up. Drinking and drugs have almost destroyed her career. She has one last chance to get her life together and get this movie role. Olivia Han is the person who is going to be the one to do this for her. But will Chase accept the help and be able to get herself on the right path?

Thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

At first, I didn't think I was going to like this book. I wasn't drawn to a book about an entitled actress who wouldn't accept the help she didn't have to pay for. As the story went on and we got to know the characters better, I started to like the story better. Both of the women have issues in their pasts that have turned them into the women that they are today.

Throughout the book, you learn to like both Olivia and Chase. A book with a bit of romance and family secrets. There are a few trigger warnings that aren't dominating the story for rape, drug overdose and sexual child abuse.

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Review: Daughter by Asha Bandele

Daughter by Asha Bandele

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Published: January 2005

Aya has made mistakes in her life, but she has worked hard to turn her life around and is now on the straight and narrow. When she is out for a jog, she is mistakenly shot by the police. As her mother waits to find out what is going to happen to her daughter, she reflects back on her own life and how they have arrived to this point.

This was recommended by @browngirlreading on Instagram.

This book made me think about how well I knew my own mother when she was in her teens and early 20s. I really don't know too much about what her personal life was like. I know she went to community college and got married and had me by the time she was 24. But I don't know if she went to parties or what she and her friends did on the weekends. I'm sure she doesn't know much about what I did in my late teens and early twenties either.

Miriam, Aya's mother looks back on the life she lived before Aya was born and the years right after she arrived. Each choice she made was to make a life for her daughter. Aya's father was killed shortly after she was born and the manner in which this happens I think is the most chilling part of the experience for Miriam.

This is a touching story that will make you think about mother/daughter relationships as well as how to be the best parent and protect your children as best as you can.

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Review: To Catch a Dream by Audrey Carlan

To Catch a Dream by Audrey Carlan
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Published: March 2021

For her entire life, Evie Ross has felt alone. Her mother was a wanderer, leaving her and her sister Suda Kaye with their grandfather, Toko, on the reservation. Her father was in the military and didn't spend too much time at home when he was off of deployment. Her sister was much like their mother and had just decided to settle down after 10 years of wandering around herself after the death of their mother. Now all Evie has left are a stack of letters from her mother and her thoughts of always being left behind. When her childhood crush makes a declaration that he wants to be hers, it makes Evie even more confused about the state of her life right now. Will she be able to put the past behind her and make room in her lonely life for Milo or will she continue to be alone.

Thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I wasn't expecting this to be a mostly romance story when I started reading it, so I wasn't prepared for that being the main focus of the story. I was disappointed that the parts I was looking forward to, mother/daughter relationships, were not prevalent, instead, it was quite repetitive. Overall I enjoyed the story and may have given it more stars if I knew it was romanced centered. The description talks about a secret the mother had been hiding, but that isn’t even mentioned until the last part of the book.

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Review: Float Plan by Trish Doller

Float Plan by Trish Doller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published: March 2021

When Anna's calendar tells her right before Thanksgiving that it's time to set sail, she's not sure if she should take this trip or not. She was supposed to be taking this sail through the Caribbean with her fiance Ben. But ten months ago, Ben committed suicide and now Anna is unsure about everything in her life. She decides to set sail in memory of Ben but soon recognizes that this trip is too much to do alone. With the help of Keane, she navigates through the Caribbean and through the emotions clogging her heart.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Sailing through the Caribbean sounds like a dream come true for sure. I personally have never been to the Caribbean, but I would love to go. It sucks in the manner in which Anna has to go about it, but it seems like it could be a wonderful journey. I'm not sure what I would do if I lost someone and had to go on a trip that was planned for two.

For the first part of the trip, Anna tries to make it through on her own. Then she realizes that the trip is really better suited for at least two people. When Anna gets to Bimini, she hires a one-man crew to help her out. Keane is missing a part of his right leg, but that doesn't hinder him from getting the job done and teaching Anna the ways of the sea.

As they travel through the Caribbean, meeting new people and making new friends, they find out that spending so much time in close quarters could lead to other things. But will Anna be able to let go of Ben to see if there could be a future with Keane, or will this just be a trip through the Caribbean, and then they will each go their own way.

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Review: Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Published: December 2019

Meg has just been named, The Planner of New York City, for her custom planners. She writes out the lives and plans of the rich and famous in lettering and colors that are perfect for them. She also does this in their homes and stationary. But she has decided that she is done with weddings ever since the last one where she hid a message in the program. No one would have noticed the message, except for her. Except, someone did notice, the groom and now he's back in the store to confront her about it.

I read this as part of #TogetherWeRead

At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to like the book. I wasn't sure where the story was going to go. There was a part at the end that had a twist that I really didn't see coming. I was really drawn to the character of Reid (the groom that found the hidden message in the program) because he was very quirky and for a while, I thought he may have Autism. He was very invested in his job that dealt with numbers. Numbers were his thing while letters were Megs. I liked the way their relationship develops and the twists and turns that came about to see if they were going to actually end up together.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and I will read others by this author.

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Review: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Published: June 2017

This is a memoir of the author's body. How her body was abused and how she abused her body so it could be used as a defense mechanism. She was raped by a boy she thought she loved at an age where you are too young to know what love is.

Unfortunately, I could really relate to this book and the author's story. It really touched my heart and made me look back on my own life and the decisions I have made with my body in order to "survive" certain ordeals in my life.

This book hooked me in from the very beginning. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, but this was a compelling book that spoke to me. We as women go through so much with our bodies. They start to change on us, and things happen to us, that men don't understand and sometimes that we ourselves don't understand. We have babies and our bodies change some more. We judge ourselves harshly about our bodies no matter what size they are.

I think this is a book almost any woman can relate to. If you haven't read it, I highly suggest that you do.

**Trigger Warning for rape**

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Review: Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published: February 2021  

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Grace has had a plan for the past 11 years. Graduate from college, get her doctorate, and become the best astronomer she can. But waking up in Vegas married, definitely was not part of that plan. That is just the start for Grace feeling out of place and confused about what the rest of her life is supposed to be like. She leaves her home in Portland to find out what her next step should be.

Thank you to Park Row Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It will make you take a look at your life and see if all the stress you put yourself under is really worth it. It will show you how to make a way in this world no matter what obstacles may come in your way.

Grace had just gotten her doctorate and is excited for a job interview she has that her mentor has set up for her. But that interview did not go as planned and now Grace is questioning everything about her future and the steps she took to get there. She will travel from the west coast to the east in order to find out what she is going to do with the rest of her life.

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