Book Review: "Two Women Walk Into a Bar" by Cheryl Strayed

Sounds like the setup to a joke, doesn’t it? But this story by Cheryl Strayed definitely packs an emotional punch.

Cheryl and her husband Brian get the news that Brian’s mother Joan is dying. It’s not unexpected news but obviously it’s still a blow, and it causes major upheaval in their lives. As they work on moving Joan into the assisted living facility in her community, Cheryl reflects on their relationship, nearly 20 years to the day that Cheryl first met Joan.

“Over the previous two decades, we’d come to love each other, but it was a particular, conditional sort of love, one based on circumstance and courtesy rather than connection and compatibility.”

Like many relationships between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, there was always a note of competition between the two, fighting for superiority in Brian’s life. Joan praised Cheryl, but always with qualifiers or slight condescension. (She once said, “You’re big, but you’re firm. Like sculpted butter.”) Joan was always a small reminder of Cheryl’s mother, who died of cancer when Cheryl was much younger.

This was beautifully told, full of humorous and poignant moments. Cheryl not only has to process her own emotions in the wake of Joan’s impending death, but also be sensitive to Brian’s grief, and help their two young children comprehend the loss of the only grandparent they’d ever known.

If you’ve recently experienced loss, this may be a bit triggering for you. But as always, I’m struck by Strayed’s storytelling ability, making you care about people you don’t know.

Book Review: "The Quiet Librarian" by Allen Eskens

“But Hana had learned long ago that living was like walking atop an old fence rail. Get too comfortable, too trusting, and you invite the fall.”

I’ve become an enormous fan of Allen Eskens’ books over the last several years. He delivers thrillers that not only keep you guessing, but they are also so well-written.

His newest book is just as good and it packs an emotional punch as well. Hana is a librarian in Minnesota who, outside of her job, really keeps to herself. She is thrown for a loop when she learns that her best friend Amina has been murdered. Hana knows this isn’t just a random killing; she knows that Amina’s death means she too is in danger.

Hana grew up in Bosnia in the war-torn 1990s. Back then her name was Nura, and she lived with her family in the mountains. But one day, Serbian soldiers murdered her entire family in front of her, and she was able to avoid being killed thanks to some quick thinking.

The horrors of that day ignited her thirst to fight back. She became a fierce warrior bent on destruction and defeat, known through stories as Night Mora. But when she finds herself in even more danger, she flees to the U.S., knowing she’ll eventually be hunted down. And Amina’s murder means her hunters are close—can she become Night Mora again in order to vanquish her enemies once and for all?

This was one of my favorite books of February. It’s full of grief, bravery, sacrifice, and the need for a fresh start. I was hooked from start to finish, and I loved Hana’s bad-assery.

Book Review: "Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels" by Caroline Eden

I love how evocative a particular food or meal can be. There are certain dishes or foods that can take you back to a particular point in your life, or remind you of a specific person, place, or time.

That concept is at the core of Cold Kitchen. Caroline Eden is a food, travel, and arts writer in the UK, who has written two food books chronicling her travel and culinary adventures. In this book, she recalls past trips and meals from the vantage point of her basement kitchen in Edinburgh.

“Sometimes what we choose to cook mirrors what our soul misses, and sometimes the food we eat is a reflection of past routes taken.”

Each chapter of the book represents a particular dish and a particular trip. In a chapter about Russian hand pies, she recalls a seven-day, 5,772-mile railway journey she took with her husband to Vladivostok, on the Pacific edge of Asia. At the end of each chapter is a recipe of the dish she discussed.

This is a very interesting book, in that less-familiar ingredients from Europe, Asia, and Africa are explored. There’s a springtime soup from Georgia (the country), an apple strudel from the Ukraine, and a watermelon and feta salad which takes inspiration from the winter melons of Uzbekistan.

If you’re well-traveled or have a travel bucket list that includes some of these countries, this book is for you. And if you’re an adventurous chef, this book is for you. It’s truly a fascinating read.

Book Review: "A Love Like the Sun" by Riss M. Neilsen

I can’t seem to get enough romances with fake dating and friends to lovers tropes. And this book had both, so how could I resist?

Laniah and Issac have been friends since childhood. They’re kind of like family but at the same time, there’s an indisputable pull between them that tempted them once when they were teenagers.

Now, as adults, Issac is a famous influencer and brand spokesperson who has gained notoriety for both his art and his videos about relationships. Laniah is still in their hometown of Providence, running a natural hair products store with her mother. As much as Issac is a presence online, Laniah couldn’t be more private.

When Issac returns to the East Coast for the first time in a long while, he is surprised to learn that Laniah’s business is failing. He offers to bail her and her mother out financially, but she categorically refuses to take his money. So he mentions on his social media that they’re dating, and that’s all it takes.

The minute Issac mentions Laniah, business explodes. She reluctantly agrees to a fake relationship for the summer, so she can get her feet back under her financially and perhaps find an eager investor. But when the lines between friendship and love get blurred, how can you separate real from fake?

This book has been on my stack for a while but I’m so glad I read it. It’s beautifully written, emotionally evocative, and it has such well-drawn characters I couldn’t stop rooting for. This kind of relationship always melts my heart.

Book Review: "Keeping it Casual" by Jax Calder

“Apparently, the whole town of Mineral Creek is just a giant Grindr site where all swipes lead to Jeremy King.”

Dustin is worried that his teenage son Lachie is heading down the wrong path, so he moves them to the small town of Mineral Creek. No sooner have they gotten the keys to their rental house than Dustin hears from townspeople—repeatedly—that he should meet Jeremy, since Jeremy is the town’s other single gay dad.

When Dustin and Jeremy meet, there’s instantaneous chemistry. But during his last relationship, Dustin found his focus drifted away from Lachie, and he doesn’t want that to happen again. The two men decide just to be friends.

Of course, they decide just to be friends and then they run into each other everywhere. And after a casual lunch at Jeremy’s office, their attraction ignites and they wind up becoming friends with benefits. Because that always works, right?

The more time they spend with one another, the more they both realize how strong their feelings are for one another. But when Lachie gets himself in trouble, Dustin has to decide if being a good father has to mean sacrificing his own happiness.

I’ve really been enjoying Jax Calder’s books over the last year or so. I love the balance of banter, emotion, romance that leaves me grinning, and steam. Even though this was predictable, I loved every minute of it.

Book Review: "Show Don't Tell" by Curtis Sittenfeld

In 2005, I was working at a bookstore and one of my colleagues told me to read a book called Prep. It was excellent, despite my never having gone to a prep school, and that book launched my love of Curtis Sittenfeld’s storytelling.

Now, 20 years later, I’ve read all of her books, including her newest one, which is a collection of short stories. For me, as much as I love short stories, collections are often uneven, but this book was uniformly excellent. Sittenfeld’s writing is sharp and funny and emotional, and her stories are all so much more complex than they seem at first.

The story that has gotten the most attention is “Lost But Not Forgotten.” It follows Lee, the main character of Prep, as she attends her 30-year reunion. She also recalls an encounter with perhaps the school’s most famous alumnus. (It’s okay if you’ve never read or don’t remember Prep.)

So many of the other stories in the book really wowed me. In “The Richest Babysitter in the World,” a woman remembers working as a babysitter for a Jeff Bezos-like character on the cusp of Amazon’s creation. “White Women LOL” follows a suburban wife and mother whose social blunder (is she or isn’t she a racist) goes viral. “Creative Differences” is about a documentary crew’s travel to Wichita, Kansas, and the trouble that ensues when a subject feels misled.

Other stories I enjoyed were “The Marriage Clock,” about a filmmaker who meets the author of a relationship manual—and is surprised by her visit; “The Hug,” which takes place during the pandemic and deals with the underlying anxiety about encounters; and the title story, in which a woman remembers being in graduate school and waiting to find out if she won a prestigious fellowship.

This was one of the books I was eagerly anticipating this year, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. Sittenfeld is definitely an auto-buy author for me, and I’ll continue to get excited when I learn she has a new book out!

Book Review: "Deep Cuts" by Holly Brickley

“I think songs gave me a window into a magical life,” I said. “Something bigger, or whatever, waiting out there. And I felt like the only way to get there was through the songs. Like the songs, if I listened hard enough, would show me how to get it right.”

Have you ever met someone that got you completely, someone on the exact same wavelength as you? A person who shares your obsession about a particular subject, which you can discuss for hours?

When Percy meets Joe for the first time in the fall of 2000, they’re both students at Berkeley. Percy loves music—listening to it, not performing—and she is sitting in a bar, commenting about a song, when Joe overhears her. Percy has lots of opinions about music, and a lot of knowledge about musical minutiae, and she’s not shy about sharing them.

Unlike many people Percy has encountered, Joe is utterly fixated on her opinions, and counters with his own. This marks the beginning of a friendship, a collaboration, which will impact their lives tremendously.

Joe is a songwriter, and he asks Percy for her opinion on a song. She gives her thoughts—not always as diplomatically or constructively as she should—and Joe listens. The first song she helps him with becomes the jumping-off point for a relationship shaped by Joe’s need for feedback and Percy’s desire to give it. But does her unequivocal honesty harm their relationship? Does this collaboration put Percy at a disadvantage?

I am a huge fan of music, so much of the dialogue in this book resonated for me. At times, though, I felt like an outsider looking in, because I wasn’t familiar with the bands and/or songs Percy referred to. None of the characters are particularly sympathetic, but I found their relationship to be flawed and fascinating.