Monica’s Musings: A House with Good Bones

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

“Strange, the powers you find sometimes, in a garden at the end of the road.”
― T. Kingfisher, A House with Good Bones

Summary: “Mom seems off.” Her brother’s words echo in Sam’s ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam is excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. When Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

My Thoughts: Sam is hilarious with her quirky sense of humor, which captured my attention immediately. She is a great protagonist, but most of the book is listening to her inner monologue. There are just a few characters in this book, and it takes a very long time for them to begin to interact with one another. I did think that the characters complement each other well in the story, and I enjoyed how it all came together by the end.

T. Kingfisher’s horror in this book is surprisingly normal-ish. She uses very ordinary people in very ordinary settings and then allows the dread to grow. Unlike the previous T. Kingfisher book I read, What Moves the Dead, I found this story much less creepy.

Podcast: And That’s Why We Drink

If you are a fan of paranormal and true crime stories, I highly recommend giving this podcast, And That’s Why We Drink, a shot! I found it while I was in-between books, and I have been binging the content for a few weeks. Hosts Christine and Em are both very well-spoken, and their friendship reflects in their banter back and forth on topics. Each host brings a story to share, and the episodes are each two hours long or more! I personally listen on Spotify or YouTube.

*Found wherever you get your podcasts!

Monica’s Musings: A Flicker in the Dark

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

“It made me realize that monsters don’t hide in the woods; they aren’t shadows in the trees or invisible things lurking in darkened corners. No, the real monsters move in plain sight.”

― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark

Summary: When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as the serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.

Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she worked so hard to get.

And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid and seeing parallels that are not really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

My Thoughts: I have never had so many guesses for how a book would end. It was fun to keep up with because I kept switching my prediction on who was guilty. The story is solid and structured in an interesting way, integrating Chloe’s past memories seamlessly into the current narrative, where she is either lost in thought, dreaming, or having flashbacks, rather than using the format of the past/present chapters.

I really liked all the characters. They were interesting, and each had something to hide. That helped add extra twists and turns. They all had a purpose, whether to confuse us or reveal more about Chloe’s past, traits, and fears.

Monica’s Musings: Maame

Maame by Jessica George

“Accept that your life is different now because of this monumental, irreversible change and that it’s okay to feel guilty one day and indescribable happiness another. This is life now. This is how you live.”
― Jessica George, Maame

Summary: Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman.

It is fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced-stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare, and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.

When her mom returns from her latest trip to Ghana, Maddie leaps at the chance to get out of the family home and finally start living. She finds a flatshare, says yes to after-work drinks, pushes for more recognition in her career, and throws herself into the bewildering world of internet dating. But it is not long before tragedy strikes, forcing Maddie to face the true nature of her unconventional family.

Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Jessica George’s Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism to the complexity of love. Most importantly, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures, and it celebrates finally finding where you belong.

My Thoughts: Maddie is a very naive 25-year-old navigating the world as she has just moved out. Throughout the book, she is asking Google how she should handle all of these situations coming up in her life, and it is pretty hilarious. The author did a fantastic job portraying Maddie’s emotions because it feels like you are experiencing this new world right along with her!

I was fully immersed and engaged in her life as she faced all her ups and downs. It is sad sometimes and sweet at others. The relationship between Maddie and her father is very moving and is written with empathy and love. You will want to yell at her mother and brother, whose selfish use of Maddie makes you so angry.

This is a book that takes you on a journey. It includes some difficult topics such as; grief, microaggressions, and depression, but does so really well and with sensitivity. I love the ending, or better yet, I love the whole book!

Monica’s Musings: The Soulmate

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

“The line between normal and not normal had always been so thin for Gabe; sometimes I didn’t know if I was talking to a genius or a madman.”

― Sally Hepworth, The Soulmate

Summary: There is a cottage on a cliff. It is Gabe and Pippa’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Night after night Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until he doesn’t.

When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral…Did the victim jump? Was she pushed?

And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate…lie? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel.

My Thoughts: To describe this book, I would say it is twisty. Sally Hepworth structures the story so that the character’s secrets slowly unravel. Gabe has a complicated past, and their marriage is recovering from an affair. The police have mounting questions as they uncover more details about the situation.

I loved the original concept and the ominous feel of the first half. And there were some cliffhangers that kept me intrigued. However, I felt the last half dragged on, and it became a bit repetitive. The final twists were decent but not amazing. Overall I enjoyed this, but it was not my favorite kind of suspense.

Monica’s Musings: What Happened To You?

What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey

“So I’m not crazy?” “No. Your brain is doing exactly what you would expect it to do considering what you lived through.”
― Oprah Winfrey, What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

Summary: Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Here, Winfrey shares stories from her past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. In conversation throughout the book, she and Dr. Perry focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It’s a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it allows us to understand our pasts to clear a path to our future—opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven powerful way.

My Thoughts: This book has something for everyone, and I highly recommend it! You absolutely should go with the audiobook for this one. Oprah narrates it along with Dr. Perry, and it is almost like listening to an in-depth podcast. There are scientific facts tied to real-life examples and experiences that keep you interested while also helping you better understand the concepts.

The discussions of the brain were well-done and easy for a layperson like me to understand. I appreciated the wide variety of stories Oprah and Perry shared that illustrate the impact trauma has on a person. Everyone has a reason as to why they are the way they are, and this is a good book to start digging deeper into that.

Monica’s Musings: The Woman in the Library

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

“I am a bricklayer without drawings, laying words in sentences, sentences into paragraphs, allowing my walls to twist and turn on a whim…”

― Sulari Gentill, The Woman in the Library

Summary: In every person’s story, there is something to hide…

The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who’d happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation, and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.

Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

My Thoughts: I loved the idea of this clever mystery within a mystery.

The main character Freddie is an author who is writing a fictional story about what is happening in real life. The way reality played alongside the fictional story in a unique format had me intrigued from the start. There is a lot to unpack in this book. Murder at the library, people bonded by a scream, another murder or two, a manuscript, and many interesting turns!

The whole time it had me double guessing myself and swaying my opinion of the murderer’s identity. I found myself wanting to read more to find out who it was! It was fun to guess along with the characters as they tossed around theories. Overall I enjoyed this one, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a murder mystery to solve as the story develops.

Monica’s Musings: Everything I Never Told You

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

“He can guess, but he won’t ever know, not really. What it was like, what she was thinking, everything she’d never told him.”
― Celeste Ng, Everything I Never Told You

Summary:

Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.

So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering how mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

My Thoughts:

This story starts with the reader finding out about the death of the favorite child, Lydia. I assumed it would just be an emotional book about finding the cause of death, but I was wrong, but somehow also right. This book is beyond what I was first expecting, and it branches off in so many directions as we follow the family before and after the death of Lydia. This book truly hit the nail on the head with the title. It focuses on each family member and their hopes, fears, and dreams. Showing us so many parts of their lives where they never voiced their emotions but should have. Celeste Ng showed the reader the consequences of them not doing so.

Additionally, this book is set in the 1970s and deals with both race identity and gender identity. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I finished the audiobook in a day, and it has stuck with me for several weeks now. I recommend this to anyone looking for a “hit you in the feels” type of read.

Monica’s Musings: How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

“She knew I had to cry until I undrown from the inside.”
― Angie Cruz, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

Summary:

Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life. Over the course of twelve sessions, Cara recounts her tempestuous love affairs, her alternately biting and loving relationships with her neighbor Lulu and her sister Angela, her struggles with debt, gentrification, and loss, and, eventually, what really happened between her and her estranged son, Fernando. As Cara confronts her darkest secrets and regrets, we see a woman buffeted by life but still full of fight.

My Thoughts:

I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator did a great job of making Cara feel real. Cara’s story is narrated in the first person, but other details are shared through the paperwork she files through the course of the program, which makes for some interesting reading! Beautifully–written and thought-provoking, with humor, a whole lot of heart, and an endearing protagonist whose story will make you smile, sob, laugh out loud, and cheer her on. This is a short but impactful and memorable read that I would definitely recommend.

Monica’s Musings: The People We Keep

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin

“We have people we get to keep, who won’t ever let us go. And that’s the most important part.”
― Allison Larkin, The People We Keep

Summary:

April lives in a motor-less motor home that her father won in a poker game. Failing out of school and picking up shifts at Margo’s diner, she is left fending for herself in a town where she has never quite felt at home. When she “borrows” her neighbor’s car to perform at an open mic night, she realizes her life could be much bigger than where she came from. After a fight with her dad, April packs her stuff and leaves for good, setting off on a journey to find a life that is all hers.

As April moves through the world, meeting people who feel like home, she chronicles her life in the songs she writes and discovers that where she came from does not dictate who she has to be. This lyrical tale is for anyone who has ever yearned for a found family or belonging.

My Thoughts:

This is an emotional story, but it is sometimes problematic. I didn’t find April likable in some parts of the book, so it was hard to agree with all of her decisions. She did grow on me, but it took a while. This book discusses April’s relationships as a 16-year-old pretending that she is older. While the relationships were strange, they did add to the plot and help her character grow.

As stated before, April eventually grew on me, and I felt for her and her situation. She meets some good people, and it is endearing to read. I found myself rooting for her by the end. While I felt that everything wrapped up a little too perfectly, I have to admit I did enjoy the journey overall.

*Spoiler Alert Below

Monica’s Musings: Have I Told You This Already?

Have I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham

“Why do squirrels keep breaking into my houses?… I mean, how many people do you know who’ve had one significant squirrel experience, let alone three?” -Lauren Graham, Have I Told You This Already?

Summary:

The beloved star, Lauren Graham, of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, shares more of her story with essays about life, love, and lessons learned as an actress in Hollywood.

She writes with her signature sense of humor and down-to-earth storytelling. Graham opens up about her years working and shares personal stories about everything from family and friendships to the challenges of aging gracefully.

Filled with surprising anecdotes, advice, and hilarious observations, Graham’s latest collection of essays showcases the charm and wit she’s known for.

My Thoughts:

This book not only caught my attention with the bright yellow and hot pink cover but also with the face of one of my favorite actresses! I have been a fan of Gilmore Girls since the first time my mom and I binge-watched it together during my freshman year of high school. Lauren Graham is effortlessly funny, and I knew from how much I loved her as Lorelei Gilmore that I would adore her writing in this book.

As I read, I had the show playing in the background, which provided the perfect atmosphere. Graham tells stories that are relatable to all ages. She reflects on her life and gives us an honest interpretation of who she is. I love reading autobiographies because they can feel like having a conversation with someone you have known forever.

I enjoyed hearing her take on aging, acting, and life in general. Even though she’s close to 30 years my senior, I felt I could resonate with most of her feelings.