The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin

Amy  

fiction

The Music of Bees tells the stories of three main characters, each of whom has had some personal hurdles to overcome. They find their lives improved with each other’s involvement. Jacob is a high school senior with difficult parents who has suffered a spinal cord injury and lost the use of his legs. Alice is trying to run a bee farm and manage life on her own after her parents’ and husband’s deaths. Harry is a shy young man who finds himself on his own after making some bad decisions and not self-advocating.

This novel was very heartwarming and speaks to the benefit of having people in your corner. I liked the characters and it was easy to root for them.  Their story was sweet. It was interesting learning even more about bees than I’ve learned in prior novels about bees. (There are a surprising number that I’ve read in recent years.) The environmental messages and concerns were also appreciated.

Sometimes, you just need support from other people even if you can’t see that yourself. And “found family” is something special. If you’re looking for a feel-good story, this is a good one. Eileen Garvin was long-winded at times but the momentum stayed fairly consistent and I cared enough about all of the characters to find out how things would turn out.

The audiobook narrator was Therese Plummer and she was fantastic!  She had a wide repertoire of voices, did a super job voice acting, and even sang a tiny bit. However, she pronounced Class V white water as the letter V instead of the Roman numeral five—"Class Vee” rapids. Ugh. I’ll give her a very high A.

  

Blitz by Daniel O'Malley

Lynnie

fantasy, mystery

 

  

After having really enjoyed Daniel O'Malley's first two books in the Checquy Files series (The Rook and Stiletto), I'm sad to say that Blitz fell flat for me. In fact, about mid-way through I decided to stop reading half the book. Bear with me one moment while I explain.

Blitz is really two stories in one- the first is the story of the Checquy during the time of the Blitz and focuses mainly on the exploits of Pamela, Usha, and Bridget who are trying to find a Nazi with Checquy-like powers who is lose in London due to their actions. Meanwhile, they stumble upon some other shenanigans that must be dealt with as well. The second story takes place in modern London. When Lynnette Binns erupts in red lightening in her kitchen one day, the Checquy swoop in to collect her, teach her to control her power and, as one would imagine, completely disrupt her life. When a serial killer is discovered in London bearing the unmistakable mark of Lyn's powers, she goes on the run to try to prove her innocence.

The problem is that those two stories don't really have anything in common. And so, midway through the book, I abandoned the Blitz storyline because I was bored to tears by it and focused on Lyn's story, which I was enjoying. I would usually read the first and last few pages of each chapter of the Blitz story to see if anything had changed (no, it had not). I enjoyed Lyn's story and never felt that I was missing part of the story or didn't understand it. Oh sure, there are small tendrils here and there that link the two storylines, but there are no big a-ha moments of connection; they can (and do!) exist as completely separate stories.

So, 3 stars for Lyn's story, a DNF for the Blitz storyline, gives us a 2 star average I'm afraid. Perhaps I'll go back and read the other story another time.

 

 

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Amy   

fantasy, young adult

Marra is the youngest of three princesses from a small kingdom. When she learns of the abuses her sisters have suffered after marrying the evil king of a neighboring kingdom, she decides to rescue her family from his clutches. Her world is full of witches, spells, curses, and dead people.

T. Kingfisher made a good choice to start Nettle and Bone at a point where Marra is suffering to complete some tasks.  This made me want to know how Marra found herself in this position. The story then backed up and moved chronologically through Marra’s story. While the section regarding Marra’s younger years was a bit slow, the novel grew more interesting as it progressed. The band of misfits that Marra collected to aid in her quest brought me joy. They were competent, just who she needed, and comic relief.

Apparently, Kingfisher is a pen-name for Ursula Vernon which she uses when not writing for children. However, this novel felt like a young adult novel. In fact, sometimes the writing made it feel geared for a younger audience than I like to read. But overall, I enjoyed it. Kingfisher’s creativity was truly astounding at times, especially the creepy imagery.

The narrator, Amara Jasper, was fantastic! She has a huge repertoire of voices including male voices and many accents! I was extremely impressed. In fact, I’m quite sure she aided my enjoyment of this novel. She definitely gets an A+ from me!

   

Still Life by Louise Penny

Amy  

mystery

Still Life is a whodunit mystery.  A woman in a small town south of Montreal, Canada is found dead with an arrow wound through her heart. Inspector Gamache is on the case with his two assistants as well as some helpful townspeople.

This was the first novel in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series about which I’d heard many complimentary things. However, I had never read it because I really don’t tend to enjoy whodunits. Then a friend gave me her book to read so I felt I ought to give it a try. I ended up listening to the audiobook instead of reading her copy, though, because I was in need of an audiobook and it was available at the library.

Honestly, I did not see what was so special about this mystery or the characters. I was confused by too many characters in the beginning and actually bored during several sections. I can see how people who like to try to solve mysteries along with the inspectors would like this since Louise Penny included all the musings and contemplations from the inspector and his team. But it was just another murder mystery to me.

The characters were not developed enough for me to care about any of them, including the poor woman who was murdered, and a few behaved unbelievably at times. The only incentive to keep reading was to follow the process of solving the mystery. Sadly, this incentive wasn’t sufficient for me. But I’m glad I read it so now I know I don’t need to read any more in this series.

On a positive note, I really loved the plainly stated opinion of a character who was a psychologist: “I think many people love their problems. Gives them all sorts of excuses for not growing up and getting on with life…Life is change. If [they] aren’t growing and evolving [they]’re standing still…Waiting for someone to save them or at least protect them from the big, bad world. The thing is no one else can save them because the problem is theirs and so is the solution. Only they can get out of it.”

The audiobook narrator, Ralph Cosham, inexplicably spoke with a British accent in this novel set in the area of Canada that speaks both French and English.  Therefore, he would never have been my choice for narrating this one. Also, he had a very small repertoire of unique voices. His voice acting wasn’t bad but I felt this audiobook could have been cast better. Of course, this audio CD recording is over 15 years old and, perhaps, there weren’t a lot of voice actors to choose from at that time. I give him a B. 

   

Lynnie's Favorite Books of 2022

First of all, I am having a difficult time believing that I have been putting this list together since 2014. 2022 was another great year of reading for me and I hope you found some treasures in your book stack too. I've read 42 books as of publishing and most of them have been enjoyable. I only rated six books below three stars on Goodreads, and left four of them unfinished (yes, it's true, some of the books we read never make it to this blog because we don't think it's fair to review books we don't finish).

 

This year I started reading more comics again, which has been wonderful, but I haven't read as many nonfiction books or cookbooks as in previous years and that is definitely reflected in my favorites. As always, this list is not in order, but these are the books I've been recommending to people when asked. Be sure to click on the title to get our full blog review.

 

Favorite Fiction:

 

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

 

In her debut novel, Angeline Boulley has written a love letter to her Native American community and her family (she is a firekeeper’s daughter herself). The story of 18-year-old Daunis and her relationship with her tribe and her local community and how she navigates the challenges of both kept me riveted from beginning to end. 

Favorite Young Adult:

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

An action-packed fantasy adventure about Bree, a young woman attending UNC as an early college student who discovers she has exceptional abilities beyond her academic excellence and in fact, might just be able to save the world. Deonn weaves important commentary about the minority experience into her fabulous storytelling without missing a beat. I can't wait to read the sequel.  

 

 

Favorite Nonfiction:

 

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMiMillan Cottom

 

Cottom is smart, witty, and knows her own voice and most importantly is unafraid to speak her truth in these pages as she shares her reality of living as a black woman in America today. Whether talking about standards of beauty, class mobility, ethnic diversity within the black community, and much more, Cottom's essays are a mixture of academic education and memoir; through her view as a black woman and a sociologist, she paints a very vivid picture. 

 

Favorite Graphic Novels:

 

Parenthesis by Elodié Durand

An autobiographical graphic novel, Parenthesis was fascinating, as Elodie Durand tries to understand her own trauma and confusion resulting from tumor-induced
epilepsy. This graphic novel is her attempt to piece together the lost time- years- and figure out what really happened from the perspective of those whose memory was more reliable than her own. I can only imagine how terrifying the entire experience must have been for her. It’s a genuinely moving story & Durand’s journey is inspiring.

Runaways by Rainbow Rowell

 

These were a wonderful surprise! I'm an old-school Runaways fan from whence they sprang from the imagination of Brian K. Vaughn, then were carried on through the minds of Whedon and Moore. Because of that I put off the Rainbow Rowell series for... years. I'm glad I finally picked it up though because it's an absolute delight. It may be tough for newer fans to follow at first, but it does a great job of honoring the older storylines while building its own path forward. 

 

 

 

Favorite Audiobooks: 

 

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin, narration by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson

 

Lenni is 17 and Margot is 83. They meet as patients in the hospital and realize that together they have lived 100 years. To celebrate their century, they decide to make 100 paintings about their lives. As these fierce women shared their stories, I celebrated with them, laughed with them, cried with them, and was amazed at their resilience. Truth be told, I can still hear the "voices" of Margot and Lenni in my head some days. Reid and Benson do a beautiful of job of bring Margot and Lenni to life, making it a pleasure to spend time with them and those around them. 

 

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber narrated by Stephanie Willis, Bethany Lind, and Nicholas Techosky

 

Escapism at its finest. I love magical realism and Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe delivers a plateful! It's just a lovely story that will bring a smile to your face. It's absolutely perfect for a weekend getaway or any other time you need a little escape from reality. If you're looking for a pick-me-up in your next novel, look no further than this one. 

 

 

Best Vacation Books:

 

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

 

Each of the characters in Other Birds has secrets and something that they are holding on to that keeps the spirits of their past tethered to present. The residents of the Dellawisp come together to help and heal one another and, maybe while they are doing so, also remind readers that family can be found wherever you are willing to open your heart. Sarah Addison Allen’s magical realism is endlessly creative and never fails to keep a smile on my face as I read her books.

 

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

It's easy to love a book about people who love books and Henry hits the mark on this one- I did not want to put it down once I started reading. Another one to put in your suitcase (or on your Kindle) if you're taking a trip. Book Lovers is a great book for a getaway. Fun and fast-moving with witty banter, the story will fly by just as quickly as your vacation. 

 

 

 

 

Here's to another great year of reading ahead in 2023. In case you're curious and looking for more reading ideas, here's a link to my favorites lists from 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Also don't forget to check out Amy's Favorite Books of 2022, too!

 

Amy's Favorite Books of 2022

Here are the best books I read in 2022. (These are not books that were necessarily released in 2022.) I’ve read 67 books, of which 51 were audiobooks, this year to date. That's the largest percentage of audiobooks I've ever read--3 out of every 4 books! It has become so much more convenient for me to listen to a book while I'm walking, quilling, driving, cleaning, etc. I started but did not finish another 3 books. I didn't read as many books as I did during the COVID years but I think that's a good thing!

To read my full review of any books listed below, click on the title.

 

MY FAVORITE NOVEL OF 2022

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe (5 stars!) by Heather Webber, magical realism: After her grandmother dies in a small town, Anna Kate moves there to manage the diner, famous for its blackbird pies which bring the customers messages from their deceased loved ones. This novel is about family, forgiveness, independence, self-determination, memories, and love. There is character growth, romance, supportive relationships evolving after previous hardships, and a lot of heart. I fell in love with several of the characters. The author did a great job crafting this very satisfying story. 

THE OTHERS IN MY TOP 10:

The Lincoln Highway (4-1/2 stars) by Amor Towles, historical fiction/adventure: After Emmett’s release from a juvenile detention camp and the death of his father, he and his 8-year-old brother plan to drive from Nebraska to California along The Lincoln Highway in order to start their new life together, following the supposed path of their missing mother. However, before their new adventure can begin, two of Emmett’s friends from the detention camp appear with their own plans. This was a fantastic adventure novel in which the author often surprised me. The characters were wonderful and I had to know how things would turn out for all of them. Some repeated themes were routine days vs. unusual experiences, orphaned children, men stepping in to be surrogate father figures, Independence Day, Abraham Lincoln, and, of course, adventure and travel. 

November 9 (4-1/2 stars) by Colleen Hoover, romance: Fallon and Ben met when Ben crashed Fallon’s lunch conversation with her father on November 9th. Fallon was moving to New York City that evening but Fallon and Ben made a promise to each other to meet at the same restaurant on November 9th for the next five years. This was a very fun romance with ups and downs where two people who had each lost their own sense of self found acceptance by someone else. This gave them both a second chance at enjoying life. Hoover’s story crafting was terrific. 

Black Cake (4-1/2 stars) by Charmaine Wilkerson, fiction: Byron and Benny, siblings who haven’t seen each other in 8 years, are forced to get together when their mother, Eleanor, dies. She has left them an audio message to be heard together with her lawyer upon her death. The recording reveals the story of her youth about which her children had been previously unaware. Eleanor’s story was fascinating. The difficulties she suffered were not unique to her, sadly, but her perseverance was inspirational and her particular twists and turns kept things interesting. I was swept into the lives of these characters and the ending felt good. 

The No-Show (4-1/2 stars) by Beth O’Leary, contemporary fiction: Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane are all dating the same man, Joseph. They don’t know about each other. But it’s obvious that Joseph has let them all down, at least once, by being a no-show for a scheduled date. Siobhan thinks he’s perfect for regular hook-ups. Miranda thinks he’s the perfect boyfriend. And Jane doesn’t consider their weekly book discussions to be dates but she’s slowly falling in love with him despite vowing to stay away from men. This story is surprisingly heartwarming! The characters’ lives were complicated and compelling. They were all very different people and there were twists in the story! The pacing was terrific and I could hardly put it down near the end. 

The Shell Seekers (4-1/2 stars) by Rosamunde Pilcher, historical fiction: This family drama about the Keelings, a British family living in the 1980s, is centered around Penelope and her grown children. The characters were unexaggerated and they led normal lives. But their situations were such that I wanted to know how things would turn out for them. I appreciated Pilcher’s writing which included several nuggets of insight and beautiful settings which made me want to visit Cornwall. It was a pleasure to read. 

The Rose Code (4-1/2 stars) by Kate Quinn, historical fiction: Osla and Mab became friends when they were both employed by a code-cracking arm of the British military during WWII. Osla had been raised as a lady in a wealthy family and she even dated Prince Philip before he married Queen Elizabeth. (Her character is based on a real person!) Mab’s family struggled financially but she was determined to do better for herself. Wanting to aid the war effort, both women got hired for top-secret roles and were billeted together in Beth’s house. The reader is driven to find out which one of the three women ends up in an asylum. This novel drew me in immediately and kept me riveted. It’s about people trying to do their best in difficult times. 

Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon (4 stars) by Malcolm Gladwell and Bruce Headlam, memoir/music: This audiobook is less like a book and more like an audio documentary of Paul Simon’s music. It was produced from a series of “sessions” in which Simon met with the authors. It dives into Simon’s songwriting—his aims, accomplishments/failures, ideas/strategies, reflections—and also analyzes his songwriting process. Listening to these interviews lifted my spirits. It would literally put a smile on my face frequently as I listened to Simon explain his happy accidents and his in-depth understanding of musical theory. There was a good bit of recorded and live music played. It was fun when Simon would say, “Here, let me show you.” If you’re a Paul Simon fan, you’ll enjoy this. 

Firekeeper’s Daughter (4 stars) by Angeline Boulley, young adult/contemporary fiction: Eighteen-year-old Daunis has always felt separate from her Ojibwe community because her mother was white. She is beloved by many but still treated differently. After surviving some family tragedies, she decides to assist the undercover police in order to avenge the deaths of those close to her. This is a good teen drama and mystery with engaging characters and situations. I enjoyed learning about the traditions in Daunis' tribe and getting a flavor of life in her contemporary Native American community along the U.S./Canadian border.

Legendborn (4 stars) by Tracy Deonn, young adult/fantasy: Bree's mother died shortly before Bree left home to attend an Early College program. On her first night at college, she sees unexplainable things. Her new friend, Nick, has some surprising answers for her. When she realizes that her mother's death has suspicious similarites to the magic she's recently witnessed, she attempts to find out the truth behind her mother's death and an apparent secret society on campus. I was rivetted to find out what Bree would discover. Deonn realistically depicted teenage life while also addressing serious topics of racism and handling grief. And the fantasy elements were crazy and fun.

 

BEST AUDIOBOOK NARRATION

Julian Elfer reading Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine, young adult/fantasy: Elfer was simply fantastic! He has a large vocal repertoire including multiple accents, stupendous vocal acting, and made the novel that much more enjoyable from his delivery. He was entertaining and did a fabulous job voicing many different characters.

 

If you’re hungry for more, here are my favorites of 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Also, don’t miss Lynnie’s favorites of 2022! We both have Midnight at the Blackbird Café, Firekeeper’s Daughter, and Legendborn on our lists.

 

Vicious and Vengeful (Villains #1 and #2) by V. E. Schwab

Amy   

fantasy

Victor and Eli meet at college as roommates. Both are smart, ambitious, and competitive. However, when Eli decides to embark on an extreme and risky thesis about the controversial ExtraOrdinaries (OEs), people who are rumored to have extraordinary powers, their drive to succeed rises to dangerous recklessness. 

Told from various time periods between the present and ten years in the past (when Victor and Eli were in college), the reader eventually comes to fully understand what has happened. However, it was sort of confusing at the beginning and took me a while to get into the story. When I was finally given enough information to comprehend the basics of the past ten years, I began to enjoy it much more.

The premise is difficult to swallow but I did my best in order to enjoy the story. I’ve loved many of V. E. Schwab’s more recent novels which is why I decided to give this older one a try. As with her other novels, Vicious is populated with characters who have good and bad sides. The badness of Victor and Eli resulted in me not really loving either character, however. Some of the secondary characters were endearing. But the best part of this novel is the creativity of the story itself. It’s creepy and dark. I think I will give the sequel a try.

Amy  

fantasy

Picking up 5 years after Vicious ended, Vengeful looks back over the intervening years (out of sequence, as with the first novel). Eli is now in custody at an EO facility. Victor, Sydney, and Mitch are constantly moving while attempting to find a cure for Victor’s new post-revival predicament. The reader gets to know the main characters better and is introduced to a few new EOs. Schwab’s creativity is on full display with these EOs, which was a fun part of this novel. The action in this one makes for a more interesting story than Vicious. And, of course, there will be another novel in the series which I now want to read.

The audiobook narrator, Jeremy Arthur, was a good voice actor. However, his female voices weren’t great—especially the voice of young Sydney who is the most frequently speaking female character. He made her sound whiny in his attempt at a young voice. He did have a nice Irish accent which was important and a small repertoire of other voices. I’ll give him an A-. 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Amy  

historical fiction

Elizabeth Zott is intelligent, ambitious, beautiful, and a scientist. She really doesn’t have any friends but falls happily in love with a man—another intelligent, ambitious scientist. Elizabeth had been fighting her way through a terrible childhood and the male-dominated world of science in the 1950s.  After her life takes a drastic turn, and through a series of unfortunate events, she finds herself hosting a cooking show.

I had not planned to read this novel because of the title. I have no real interest in chemistry, as a study of science, and figured this novel would contain a lot of it. Thankfully, science is only a tertiary character in the novel. Lessons in Chemistry is mostly about the drive for equal opportunities for women. The 1950/1960s was the right setting for Elizabeth’s story.

The first half of Bonnie Garmus' novel was good but I was having trouble understanding why it had come so highly recommended.  In fact, some pretty terrible things happened and I was getting a bit depressed reading it.  But a little over halfway through, the story finally jumped up a level when Elizabeth’s light began to shine. I appreciated the positive view of librarians in this book as well as the messages around feminism. I enjoyed the dog’s point of view (and his name) very much. In fact, sometimes the story was so dark that his thoughts were the only bright spot. The collection of fun, quirky characters were terrific as were the fun coincidences within the story.

I often found myself incensed due to Elizabeth’s treatment by other people. In fact, the unfairness and cruelty made me want to stop reading a couple times. I guess the real world’s unfairness and cruelty has been bothering me so much recently and I hated to see even a fictional character suffer. Thankfully, the novel ended on a very positive note. This novel reminded me that the treatment of, and opportunities for, women have improved a lot since Elizabeth's time. However, it's maddening that 70 years later we still have a long way to go.

The narrator, Miranda Raison, did a great job.  The voice she gave Elizabeth was perfect. Her voice acting was also terrific.  She had a few voices in her repertoire. And her American accent is really great 99.9% of the time. But it was so obvious to me that she wasn’t American when she pronounced a few words unusually. (For example, she pronounced “been” like “bean”.) I was driven to look her up to find out where she was from. As it turns out, she’s British. I’ll give her an A-.