Book Life Rambles

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout G👀gle This book is a series of interrelated stories from which you learn about Olive Kitteridge and the people surrounding her. Olive is a difficult woman, at best. She is not easily liked. Over the course of the book, she learns about herself and grows. G👀dreads At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse. As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life – sometimes painful...

The Evolution of Annabel Craig by Lisa Grunwald How cute is the cover?! Cute without being cutsie... G👀gle/AI ...tells the story of Annabel Craig, a young woman in 1920s Dayton, Tennessee, whose life is profoundly impacted by the Scopes Monkey Trial. The trial, which centered on the legality of teaching evolution in schools, forces Annabel to confront her faith, her marriage, and her place in the world as she grapples with new ideas and experiences. G👀dreads I had never questioned a miracle, witnessed a gunfight, or seen a dead body. . . . I had thought I knew exactly what I wanted and what I didn't. Before the summer was over, all that and much more would change. Annabel Hayes—born, baptized, and orphaned in the sleepy conservative town of Dayton, Tennessee—is thrilled to find herself falling quickly and deeply in love with George Craig, a sophisticated attorney newly arrived from Knoxville. But before the end of their first year of marriage, their lives are beset by losses. The...

The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris  by Evie Woods Google/AI "The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris" is a novel by Evie Woods (also known as Evie Gaughan) about Edith Lane, an Irish woman who seeks a fresh start at a bakery in Paris after her mother's death. However, she ends up in Compiègne, a small town an hour outside Paris, working at "La Boulangerie et Patisserie de Compiègne" on Rue de Paris. The bakery is shrouded in mystery, with secrets hidden in its basement and a past connected to World War II. Edie uncovers the truth about the bakery's origins while also navigating personal growth, romance, and the challenges of a new life. Genre: Historical Fiction, Magical Realism.  What's not to like?!? She also wrote The Lost Bookshop and the Story Collector which I haven't read but see scroll by in recommendation groups often.   ⭐⭐⭐ 💫 I gave 3.5 stars. It was slow and VERY predicable right from the beginning. Evie thinks she got a job at a patisse...

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict G👀gle/AI "The Personal Librarian" by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray tells the story of Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan's personal librarian, who, despite being a black woman, passed as white to navigate early 20th-century society and build a world-renowned collection for the Pierpont Morgan Library. The novel explores themes of identity, ambition, and the impact of racial prejudice on one's life and career. Genre: Historical Fiction, Literature, African American Fiction, Books About Books Circa: 1905 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Although she was really more of a curator than a librarian, wheelin’ and dealin’ to build the most impressive collection. It was interesting that her father was an equal rights activist however, due to their lighter skin her mother wanted her and her siblings to live as white in order to have better opportunities in life. I also enjoyed the two authors notes at the end of the book. Marie explains wha...

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn From Goodreads: Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that's their secret weapon. They've spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can't just retire - it's kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller. Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills. When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they've been marked for death. Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I really liked it a lot. It ho...

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick G👀dreads The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick tells the story of four suburban housewives in 1963 Virginia who form a book club to explore the newly published "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan. The book club, initially a way for the women to connect with a new, intriguing neighbor, Charlotte, quickly becomes a catalyst for self-discovery and a challenge to the societal expectations placed upon them. Through their discussions and the book's themes, the women realize they share a sense of unfulfillment and begin to question the "American Dream" they've been sold. The story explores themes of female friendship, the search for identity, and the courage to pursue one's dreams in the face of societal pressures. Genre: Historical Fiction, Feminism, Books About Books  ⭐⭐⭐ Interesting times as women were discovering there could be more to life than being a wife and mother with their da...