Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers - Jesse Q. Sutanto

March's Book Club choice is utterly charming. As annoying as I can imagine the titular Vera Wong can be,    she is also super lovable and I want her to visit my house and cook for me for like three days maximum LOL I will say that there were times the book took just a little too long to get to the point and to tell us the stories of all the suspects, but I was having so much fun following the story that I didn't mind. I would totally read this author's other books. Recommended. 

Independence - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

This was a deceptively short and fast read that covers a lot of history. Told through the story of two families, we learn a lot about India's independence as we experience the events in their lives. I loved all of the characters, who felt real - they react in sometimes unexpected ways, just like "real" people, and it's always gratifying to see characters develop their strength and resilience. Recommended.  

Groundskeeping - Lee Cole

This book box book for February was a welcome one. The writing is excellent, even if there were a few paragraphs here and there that definitely felt like "this sounds like someone who is doing an MFA for writing" LOL If I had the time I would love to reread it and take note of the symbolism - this would have been an interesting book to write a college paper on for sure. Recommended. 

Hello Beautiful - Ann Napolitano

February's book club choice was a decent read. I enjoyed the story even if I thought this book was sometimes a little repetitive about making a point about why characters are the way they are. It will be an interesting discussion. 

The Last Secret of the Secret Annex - Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl and Jeroen De Bruyn

Wow, readers, this book was fascinating. You might remember that in June 2015 my reading theme was Anne Frank and the Holocaust. I had not heard of this recent book, which is subtitled "The Untold Story of Anne Frank, Her Silent Protector, and a Family Betrayal." The authors are Bep Voskuijl's son, and an independent Anne Frank researcher who have provided a well written narrative of the events before, during, and after the Franks, van Pelses, and Dr. Pfeffer went into hiding. I knew some of the things that occurred after the people in hiding were betrayed and captured by the Nazis, but this particular account benefits from firsthand knowledge on the part of Bep's son Joop. There was a lot of information that could only come from someone with this firsthand knowledge, so I am so happy that he has told his story. Definitely recommended. 

Beloved - Toni Morrison (Spoilers?)

Well, this was a real tonal shift in reading from the previous book! 

This book was a challenge for many reasons. Obviously slavery in the U.S. is something we all have to confront and come to terms with, and it isn't easy to read about it or its (ongoing) aftereffects. The story here was kind of perplexing to me though. Is it someone's descent into madness, based on past trauma? Who really was Beloved? I am not sure what to make of it to be honest, but I will definitely be thinking about it for some time. 

Secret Connecticut: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure - Anastasia Mills Healy

April's theme is: books I have been putting off reading for no good reason! 

When I travel, I love to seek out places that are, as the title suggests, weird, wonderful, and obscure. Sure, it's fun to hit the main tourist sites and all that - imagine visiting Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower, for example - but I love offbeat stuff so this book appealed to me on that level. 

Who knew that Connecticut, one of the smallest states in the U.S., had so many weird places?? I had no idea that the inspiration for Arsenic and Old Lace took place there, or that the Amistad was docked there. There is a bridge with huge frog statues, a brain archive, a hotel with a helicopter in one of the rooms, so many interesting places to see. The author's writing style is very clear and conversational and she makes everything sound like someplace I want to visit. If you are planning a trip to Connecticut, this book is a must-have. Recommended. 

The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch - Daniel Kraus

I know 3 books seems like a small amount for a month's reading, but this third and final book in the March  theme is a whopping 642 pages long, so in effect it could have counted for 3 full books in itself. This YA book* is in fact "Volume One: At the Edge of Empire" and covers the titular character's life and ... well, second life? from the turn of the 20th century until the 1930s. The writing is great, and for the most part the characters feel really alive in the sense that you may not agree with everything they do, but they seem like real people. There is a lot of attention to detail that I appreciated. There were times here and there that I felt the book could have been just a wee bit shorter, but the story kept me going. Apparently there is a sequel which I would totally read. Recommended. 

*I'm sensing there was a theme in that cardboard box

The Secret of Nightingale Wood - Lucy Strange

By coincidence, this YA book has a lot in common thematically with the previous theme book, however, the setting is completely different. I think I would have loved this book if it had been available to me as a kid (the target audience). As an adult I thought it was a lovely, well written book that felt like a classic book I would have read during my childhood. Recommended. 

The Space Between Before and After - Sue Stauffacher

Before we get to the review, I'd like to announce March's reading theme: books I got for free at the library! To clarify: these aren't books I got for free by borrowing them from the library, they are books I was able to take home and keep for free. 

It happened like this: 

One Saturday, I was out running errands with Mr. K and one of the errands was returning a library book. In the library lobby, there was a huge cardboard box filled with books with "FREE - PLEASE HELP YOURSELF" written on it. If you think I can pass that up, you are sadly mistaken! Mr. K was waiting in the car so to save time I randomly grabbed 3 books from this box and left. So the books in this theme are all from this generous cardboard box, ha ha!

And now, on to the review:

This YA (I think) book was a really touching story that I thought was well told. I really sympathized with the main characters, although the father got on my nerves from time to time with his rigid realism. It's a very sad story but the author is able to show how people can help a young person make it through a tragedy. Recommended.