I kicked off my year of reading with The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. I was nervous because I also chose this to be my first ever SFAD Virtual Book Club pick so I had all my fingers and toes crossed that it would be a story we would all enjoy, and I have to say, I think it was an excellent choice! So excited to discuss this book with you all because I LOVED it! I felt all of the emotions with this one. I felt heartbroken and also joyful; angry but also pleased; sympathetic as well as content. This book tells the story of 17 year old Lenni and 83 year old Margot who develop a unique friendship in a hospital as they are both approaching the end of their lives. The two meet up and tell each other stories of the events that have shaped their lives. I had such respect for Margot and how she handled difficult relationships throughout her life and was in awe of how mature and selfless Lenni could be (esp in regards to her father). This is a book that will stick with me for a while. I highly recommend it!

Next up was The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. Sometimes a book gets stuck in my To Be Read pile because of it’s length which is what happened here. I’d been putting it off because over 400 pages seemed daunting but I am so glad I finally decided to go for it. This book is excellent! It reminded me a bit of The Four Winds, so if you enjoyed that (despite the heartache) I think you will also enjoy this one! For reference, The Giver of Stars is heavy, but not nearly as heavy as The Four Winds, in my opinion. On to the recap…Alice meets and is immediately smitten with handsome and successful Bennet. They quickly marry and Alice escapes England to make a better life for herself in America. Alice soon realizes that life in Kentucky, as well as married life, is not what she had imagined. She is bored and lonely. To give her days purpose, she signs on to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, and that is where the real story begins. This book is about friendship, support, love and the lack thereof. It’s about hope and the ability to look past disappointment. It’s about STRONG WOMEN! Read it and love it!

After that, it was time for something lighthearted so I grabbed It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey. If you are looking for an easy-breezy beach read, this could be the one for you! We meet Piper who is an uber-popular influencer with a giant monetary cushion provided by her wealthy stepfather. When her “long-term” boyfriend of 2 whole weeks breaks up with her, Piper distracts from the negative attention by throwing a wild party and lands herself in jail. At this point, her stepfather has had enough and decides it’s time to teach Piper a lesson. He cuts her off and forces her to spend the summer in Washington running her late-father’s dive bar. From the moment she arrives, Piper is counting down the days until she can get back to her life as a socialite. You can guess what happens next…girl meets boy and boy complicates her plans. This book is fun but not super deep. There are some downright raunchy scenes, so I would skip this one if you are sensitive to that. There were also some very sweet scenes between Piper and Brendan as he sees more than just a pretty face, and she realizes that she is capable of more meaningful relationships and that there’s more to life than likes and followers.

I wrapped up the month with Finlay Donovan is Killing It: A Mystery by Elle Cosimano. I am very interested to hear what you guys think of this one because the reviews are great but it just fell flat for me. Finlay is a recently divorced mother of 2 with a less than successful career as a writer. She is having trouble making ends meet and is worried she is going to lose custody of her kids if her husband and his fiancé have any say in it. Finlay meets up for breakfast with her boss and they talk about her next murder mystery. Their conversation is overheard by a woman nearby who assumes Finlay is a contract killer and Finlay somehow accepts her proposal to get rid of a problem husband. What??? How is she supposed to get out of this??? Finlay’s interest is peaked as to why this woman would be willing to pay her to kill her husband. She decides to do a little research (for her book of course) to find out what is so bad about this guy. WHY???? She is now entangled in a murder investigation and doesn’t know how to get out of it. I found this story to be too far fetched. I was trying to put my finger on what I disliked about the book and realized that I really didn’t like any of the characters in the book. Usually there is at least one person you are rooting for or connect with but that didn’t happen for me. The plot could have gone one of two ways and I really didn’t care which way it went. Ugh. If you’ve already read this one, tell me what you think in the comments!!!

See all of the books I’ve read in 2022 here, 2021 here and those I read in 2020 here!

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