Michelle's Musings: August 2022

24 August 2022

September book pick

Good day to you all,

A couple of years ago, I discovered Sara Ackerman and found her books exciting. She writes books set in Hawaii during WWII. The first one that I read was Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers in case you want to check it out too.

This book is all about Izzy and how the death of her brother completely changes the course of her life. I love books that feature the setting as a character and this one falls right into that category.

Here is what I wrote on Goodreads:

This dual timeline book is set in Hawaii during WWII and the mid-1960s. During the wartime plot, Pearl Harbor was attacked and Walt was killed. We meet Izzy a code breaker who has joined the war to avenge the death of her brother, Walt. She also tries to spend all of her free time doing the Hawaiian things her brother loved so much.

In the 1960s timeline, we meet Lu who has been sent to photograph a fancy hotel opening. She spends her time with the hotel owner and a local photographer. When they discover a body in a cave, it brings back the photographer's past and ties the two timelines together.

20 August 2022

Review: Finding Me

Finding Me by Viola Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

Review: The Trial and Execution of the Traitor George Washington

The Trial and Execution of the Traitor George Washington by Charles Rosenberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

Review: Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love from Little House's Ma

Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love from Little House's Ma by Karen Grassle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

Review: As Bright as Heaven

As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

13 August 2022

Review: The Lindbergh Nanny

The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

07 August 2022

August book pick

My August book pick is late because I have been at work, I apologize for that. Still, this book is worth waiting for. I have always been a big fan of Jamie Ford, always. I read his first book (On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) because it was the local "meet the author" event at our local community college. The book was spectacular!! Jamie sent out a digital book on one of the characters from that book and with those two books, I knew I was going to read anything he would write from now on.

Fast forward to November 2021, this book was scheduled to be published in early 2022 and I got ahold of an advanced reader's copy. I just adored it!!! The book got delayed and I read it again because I loved it so much. I decided that when it was published, it would be my monthly book pick. The day has finally come, and before I could tell you how much I loved it, Jenna Bush Hager picked it for her monthly book. I am telling you, it is spectacular!!!!!

Here is what I wrote on Goodreads:

First of all, this was a complete departure from anything I have ever read. Secondly, once I started reading I did not stop until I finished the book, it just sucked me right into its grasp. I was a bit wary of keeping all the women straight, but I worried for nothing because the book was written so that you didn't get lost in the characters, you got lost in the story. Dorothy is our main character and she struggles with life, mentally. Dorothy is a former poet laureate and married to a man that she really doesn't love (maybe doesn't realize it), and absolutely adores her little girl. Her problems arise when her husband tries to make her feel she is inadequate and she feels haunted by the past (enter all the other characters). The book takes you on. the journey of how Dorothy seeks therapy and experimental treatment that is supposed to help her connect these bridges to her past (and the other characters).