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Caroline

@bookish_caro

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📍 Cork 🇮🇪 Reader, walker, cosy crime lover. Current: Book no. 35~ Quartet in Autumn~ 📚

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#meetmeinfours Books….Albums…TV Shows…..Films…..
These are a few of my favourite things. Love this challenge idea I saw on @aruralreader stories and love @unaagscriobh sharing her fab template. 🥰 by @bookish_caro

Solace in Winter
~Mary Lawson

A magical, slow page turning & thoughtful story. It’s Winter, 1969 and the lives of three strangers in the Canadian town of Solace are changed forever following an accident. Jack, a recent widow, is living on his own in the deep Ontario back county. Christian, a young man dodging the US army Vietnam draft arrives in Solace. And Ellie, a married woman with kids who is searching for something a little more. (I could read another book on Ellie.)

I went into this novel blind, I’m so glad I had no expectations. I just let it unfold. The writing evokes the deep Winter surrounds perfectly. I wanted to snuggle into the story, I could exactly imagine the setting and feel and hear the sounds of snow. If you love a character driven book this is your story. Every detail of each scene is set just so. I love Anne Tyler, and something about this novel reminds me of her writing. I think it’s the ordinariness of Mary Lawson’s characters. Flaws and all. But the beauty in that ordinary life.

A joy.

Thank you to @vintagebooks @penguinukbooks & @netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Available this November #solaceinwinter by @bookish_caro

The Shampoo Effect
~ Jenny Jackson

I was really looking forward to this one, a Jenna Reads selection and I’ve found I really enjoy her choices. I’m also a terrible mood reader so this was a summer book set in Massachusetts in a small beach town, ticking all my boxes.

Caroline is moving to Greenhead from NYC having quit a successful job in publishing to potentially write her own novel. She’s not necessarily looking for love but….We immediately see her meet Van in the first few pages in a romantic “meet—cute” on the train. Involving sugar donuts & a misunderstanding. Perfect.
The book grabs you from the start & I really enjoyed their early romance. The premise of the novel being how Caroline would fit in with Van’s lifelong friend group and all the ups and downs including some hidden secrets among these people. His friend group did not win me over. A lot about motherhood which wasn’t exactly escapist for me.

The book lost momentum mid way, it could have been a lot shorter & I also think it was wrapped up a bit too smoothly for real life. I would say an easy contemporary read, not enough romance if that’s what you are looking for & not enough substance or drama in the character studies. Unfortunately I probably won’t remember it in a month.
I like her writing but need a bit more.
A solid 3 stars for me. by @bookish_caro

The Eights
~Joanna Miller~

Oxford 1920, four young woman are among the first to enter the University as part of the first female class. We follow each woman as we learn their own personal stories and how the ramifications of World War 1 had lead to their arriving at St.Hugh’s college.

I really enjoyed this story, its setting is so well developed. Oxford becomes a fifth main character of sorts. The descriptions of the college life at that time and the restrictions the women had to abide by are truly mind boggling. Curfews, particular clothing, appearance, no talking to male students, chaperones if they left the college campus, etc. Only over 100 years ago but a life of change has happened because of these first brave women (with more needed).

I’m reminded how much I enjoy novels set in this era of the 1920s. All recommendations for me are greatly received. My historical fiction grá has been rewarded with this fascinating novel.
Many thanks to the #HFbookclub for choosing another great choice. by @bookish_caro

Villa Coco
~Andrew Sean Greer

A summer “charm” novel as described by its author, this book had come recommended to me by people who know. Tuscan sun, olive groves, set sometime in the 1990s with our outsider, college student “Giovedi” arriving to assist a nimble 92 year old aristocrat, Baronessa Coco in what ever her latest whim would be. All my boxes ticked!
So ignoring the tottering pile of books beside my bed I went straight to this one.

The current heatwave in Ireland certainly helped this book. The heat of the Italian country side radiates out of the novel. For once I could squeeze my eyes half shut and pretend I was looking at my olive groves, surrounded by beautiful artworks. (As opposed to the my garden GAA goals. )

It’s slow paced, more character driven than plot and at times I couldn’t place where the story was headed. But I loved picking up the book to dip back in and the ending didn’t disappoint. It charmed me entirely. I really enjoyed my imaginary mini break in Tuscany, a lovely meditation on the choices we make when we are young. And maybe how to live a little more like our Baronessa at 92. Any more heat wave book recommendations for this mood reader?

🤌🏻🤌🏻 by @bookish_caro

The Interestings
~Meg Wolitzer

I’m never sure if book review posts are being read anymore but I love a good summer book recommendation so I’m going to plough on. Hoping at least one of you might be interested. 👀

Six teenagers meet at an artsy summer camp in upstate New York in 1974, we follow the lives of these talented kids over the next 35 years. If you love a character driven plot then this might be the read for you. At times we follow different characters from their perspectives over the years but Jules Jacobson remains our main protagonist. Jules, at 15 has just lost her father, sent on a scholarship to summer camp. It becomes the place where she finally finds herself but maybe also finds a door into a new social world where the rich kids accept Jules into their club and she becomes one of “the interestings”.

“The teenagers around her, all of them from New York City, were like royalty and French movie stars, with a touch of something papal. “

A devastating secret involving two of the group of six changes everything and that secret plays out over the next 30 years

It’s a book about how the experiences that happen as a teenager and the people we meet can often change the circumstances of your life. It also looks at talent, or lack of, envy and how money or lack of it can change relationships and how sometimes being ordinary and living an ordinary life can also be ok.

This book is a chunky monkey. It did at times feel like it could have ended a little earlier. But over all the world created made me want to climb right in, and by the end I felt I knew these people so intimately. A strong four out of five stars. by @bookish_caro

The Spirit Guide
~Bridget Walsh

This is the 3rd book in the Variety Palace Mystery series and it was another little gem of a read.

I can’t remember how I stumbled upon this detective series a few years back but it ticks all my bookish favourites, historical fiction + mystery. (No gore please)
Set in 1879 London, smart as whip Minnie Ward and the posh Albert Easterbrook return as our unlikely detective duo. Bridget Walsh has a great way of recreating the atmosphere of Victorian London. I have loved in her previous books going back stage in the Variety Palace but this book takes us away from the theatre. Instead Albert and Minnie are investigating the spirit medium circles, in particular one group who are into more than speaking to the dead. Minnie goes under cover in Suffolk to discover why young women keep going missing.

I’m hoping there will be a book 4 as it’s fast become one of my favourite mystery series. The ending could be the wrap up we all wanted but I feel the Variety Palace has loads more potential stories to come yet. 🤞🏻

A huge thank you to @pushkin_press for the gift of this book in exchange for an honest review. by @bookish_caro

The Stone Diaries
~Carol Shields

Last Saturday following a lovely book group lunch (s/o to the We All Float gang) we headed to the bookshop. Do I need more books, no but I’ll always purchase. No guilt. I wandered and there shining out from a low shelf was ‘The Stone Diaries’, a book mentioned only the week before to me. I had asked @greigsbooks to recommend his choice in Canadian novels and authors I should read. Of course Greig came up with a great list which included the renowned Carol Shields, and her Pulitzer Prize wining novel - The Stone Diaries.
A sign is a sign.

This is a novel of an ordinary Canadian woman, Daisy Goodwill. From her birth in 1905 to her death as an old lady, it spans the 20th century and takes in all that an ordinary life leads.
I loved it. A character driven story, a fictional biography (sometimes auto-biography) that looks at a life lived in the small everyday motions of childhood, friendships, marriage, motherhood, work and death. We see Daisy from the opinions of people around her, from her own thoughts and from those she never knew. It’s hard to explain but it’s a book that has already stirred so many thoughts for me, on the life we live everyday.

“And the question arises: what is the story of a life? A chronicle of fact or a skilfully wrought impression? “ by @bookish_caro

Buckeye
~Patrick Ryan

I’m a mood reader, to a fault. And my weakness is an epic family saga. So picking up Buckeye by chance was a happy gift.

Bonhomie, Ohio, 1945. An impulsive kiss between two strangers to celebrate the end of WW11, & Germany surrendering to the Allies changes everything in their lives & the in the lives of the generations that follow.

We meet two couples in this small town.
Cal & Becky. He works in the hardware store & struggles with not being able to join the army. One leg being 2 inches shorter than the other. Becky has a gift, she can make contact with spirits in their downstairs parlour & passes messages to the living. Margaret and Felix. A handsome, successful couple who are both trying to hide secrets from themselves and escaping into a marriage of convenience. Trying to ignore their own needs & desires.

We are taken thru the most tumultuous changes of post America 1950s right up to the devastation of the Vietnam war in the 1960s. The author casually dropping snippets of major events that occurred while keeping us glued to this small town story of life passing.
I absolutely loved this book. It broke my heart & made such beautiful points about what’s important in life. Patrick Ryan writes with a beautiful turn of phrase. He writes with heart. All the stars for me.

“What is it about time that confounds us? We spend it. We save it. We while it away. We waste it. We kill it. We complain about not having enough of it, or having too much of it on our hands. We regret what we’ve done with it. We give it away. We want it back. …
All we should ever want of time is more of it.” by @bookish_caro

A Winter in New York
~Josie Silver

A classic will they/won’t they make it rom-com….
I saw this on the library shelf a few weeks back, books set in NYC was the shelf title.
I picked it up on a whim and read that it was set on Mulberry Street in Little Italy. Having just spent a lovely few days in that exact location I decided it was a sign. 😂

My first RomCom in forever, and it was great escapist read. Iris, a chef, has moved to NYC from London to escape. Her grief over her beloved mother’s death and an emotionally abusive relationship with an ex meant she needed a fresh start.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, where she had been staying in the 1980s around the area of Mulberry Street, Iris happens on Belotti gelateria store and meets Gio, son of the owner. Somewhere her mother had previous ties unknown to Iris…..

I enjoyed the descriptions of the city, & the cosy Italian family vibes. I loved the 1980s flashback chapters.
It reminded me of the film “While You Were Sleeping” from the 90’s. A little gem.
*second photo is mine, of Mulberry Street back in May. Magic by @bookish_caro

Among Friends
~Hal Ebbott

Buckle up, this book wasn’t a rave for me.

Two middle-aged men, best friends, rich, living the good life in NYC with their families.
No worries, except the constant overthinking that happens every second sentence. The problem of privilege.

We join them as they gather together for a 50th birthday party upstate. (In one of their beautiful country homes.) Before the actions of one of the men threatens to end their lifelong friendship & break their two families apart. What choices will be made is the crux of the novel but the unlikable characters makes it hard to care.

This book is an endless trail of internal monologues where each character considers the minuscule movements of each other. Told thru a close third person point of view that switches between each person. It’s cold feeling, & at times exhausting to try and find a way in to the mind of these people.

The unravelling of a friendship is an interesting topic, I just wish it could have had more warmth. A novel about privilege, wealth and the luxury of making decisions (having choices) on how to respond to trauma.

Possibly not a novel written for me. And that’s ok. We can all find our genres, that’s the joy of reading.
Not every book hits the spot. by @bookish_caro

Three Days in June
~Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler can really do no wrong in my eyes. She crafts a family novel with such detail that you can see them in your minds eye after a few pages. Her writing is deceptively simple but that’s the magic.

Three Days in June is set over a wedding weekend in Tyler’s Baltimore (where else). Gail, a slightly aloof assistant principal, her more soft ex husband Max and a stray cat deal with their daughter’s wedding and the various family fall outs, emotions and secrets this weekend brings.
A quiet, hopeful and perfectly crafted novella. (Just under 200 pages)
Thank you to @chattobooks and @netgalley for my gifted copy. by @bookish_caro