My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Amy     

Lynnie  

fiction

Elsa is 7 years old and her grandmother is her favorite person. Her grandmother was a famous surgeon and aided many children during the wars. They both live in the same apartment building. Her grandmother has instilled a love of fairy tales and literature in Elsa and is her staunch defender. When Elsa’s grandmother dies from cancer, Elsa is left to perform her grandmother’s last wishes of delivering apologies to multiple people. This sets Elsa on a course of adventure and discovery.

Amy’s Review

As with my favorite Fredrik Backman books, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is filled with wonderful, damaged people, his intuitive handling of human nature, and lots of humor. (I laughed out loud several times in this one!) And police. And, also like his other novels, this one is both heartwarming and heart wrenching in a way that made me cry at times. It was beautiful. I loved it!  And I definitely appreciated all the Harry Potter references within the story. The crafting of this one was masterful!

I hadn’t known this going in, but Britt-Marie is in this novel…the same character as the protagonist of his later novel (which I read prior to this one), Britt-Marie Was Here. So Backman, obviously, spun off her own novel from this one. That was a pleasant surprise! I caught, in this novel, when Britt-Marie said she only wanted someone to remember “that she was here”. Well, you can tell by the title of the novel about her, that is exactly the story of the spin-off.  I also couldn’t help but notice that there is a Lennart in this novel. I wonder whether he was the same Lennart later included in Backman’s Anxious People.

The audiobook narrator, Joan Walker, was absolutely phenomenal! She’s a talented voice actress and has a wonderful variety of character voices. Backman’s writing was funny but she made it in even funnier in her delivery. A+! I see that I had also given her an A+ for her narration of Britt-Marie Was Here when I listened to it 3 years ago.

Lynnie’s Review

I love Fredrik Backman and I really wanted to love My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, and I enjoyed it, but I was also frustrated by it. Maybe it was because I only had the audiobook and because I felt rushed (it had to be returned to the library—my fault!), I didn’t go back and read or listen to sections that I might have revisited if I were reading.

I thought Elsa was a fascinating, if unreliable, narrator and the fantasy world that she and her Granny shared was interesting, if often confusing. Again, I chalk that up to my own distractions as none of my other friends seemed to have this issue.

I nearly abandoned this book more than once but I’m glad I stuck with it—once again Backman brings it all home with an emotional message of goodness and humanity.

The audiobook narrator, Joan Walker, was wonderful. I enjoyed her vocal repertoire and never doubted who was speaking. Don’t listen to it at bedtime, though—her voice is very soothing and I fell asleep listening to her more than once.

The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza

Amy   

historical fiction, fiction

Sara is at a low point in her life when her precious great aunt Rosie dies and Sara embarks on a Sicilian adventure to check on some property she’s inheriting. She ends up searching to find out what happened to the family’s matriarch back in Sicily in the early 20th century.

The Sicilian Inheritance is told from two perspectives: Sara’s in the present day and her great grandmother, Serafina’s, in the early 20th century. Both women find themselves struggling the way many women have over the years, attempting to balance home life and societal expectations with their own desires and dreams. How sad that generation after generation of the women in this book (and the world) struggle similarly and that it has been this way forever.

Sara’s adventure in Sicily allowed her to have a little break from reality in which to return to her sense of self. Serafina’s story was the more interesting of the two and, despite more rigid restrictions on her freedom, she seemed to handle her challenges with more confidence. After finally finding joy and purpose of her own design, the people of her village mistrusted her and let their misguided fear of her dictate violence. I was sad for her while hopeful that her great granddaughter, Sara, would find her own joy and purpose after her trip to Sicily. I enjoyed the way Jo Piazza crafted this story.

The audiobook has two narrators: Rachel F. Hirsch voicing Sara’s sections and Carlotta Brentan voicing her great grandmother Serafina’s sections. They both did a nice job with multiple voices—especially Hirsch. I’ll give them an A.

   

 

The Story Collector by Evie Woods

Lynnie 

Amy    

fiction, fantasy

  

Harold, The Story Collector about whom the book is titled, is an American student traveling through Ireland in 1911 to collect stories about fairies for his thesis project. He is introduced to the Butler family and hires their daughter, Anna, to be his assistant in her small town of Thornwood. She introduces him to neighbors who can share local stories with him and also serves as his translator. All is well until they agree to attend a party at the elite Thornwood House. Meanwhile, 100 years later, Sarah is grieving and makes a spontaneous decision to travel from New York to Ireland and ends up staying at the old Butler Cottage where she finds Anna’s diary and begins to piece her life back together.

Lynnie’s Review

I really enjoyed Evie Woods’ The Lost Bookshop (it was one of my favorites in 2024), and I liked The Story Collector, but not nearly as much as Woods’ earlier book. Alternating between a diary written by Anna in 1910 and Sarah who lives in 2010 (stretching into 2011 for the story), The Story Collector weaves together their two stories as Sarah finds and reads Anna’s diary during an impromptu trip to Ireland after the implosion of her marriage.

While Sarah was a far less sympathetic character than Anna, I appreciated and liked both of them and found myself really interested in their stories and how they converge over sharing stories about local fairy legends. I also enjoyed the secondary characters, particularly those in Anna’s story.

One thing I don’t think worked was Anna’s diary because either Anna was an aspiring novelist, or truly has created the most detailed diary ever written. I found it impossible to believe her diary held so much detail including conversations, details about the stories she and Harold gathered, particularly because diaries are supposed to be private for the writer - her diary entries feel like they are written for someone else to read... Just write those chapters from Anna’s point of view and be done with it. Harold’s book could have served as the connective tissue, and frankly would have been a better fit to the title. That said, I enjoyed Anna’s story FAR more than I enjoyed Sarah’s as it was just more interesting. I also felt the ending to both stories was rushed, which was particularly frustrating with such a slow start.

Still, I loved the story enough to recommend the book, just pack your patience when you read it.            

Amy’s Review

As with Evie Woods’ other novel I’ve read, The Lost Bookshop, the dual timelines were used effectively—this time to reveal two fairly parallel storylines set in different time periods. Both Anna’s and Sarah’s stories were interesting to me but I favored Anna’s richer tale. Sarah’s emotional state at the beginning required a little time to be understood.

I enjoyed the characters, the settings, and the fairy stories. I was charmed, really, by the whole thing. And the fairy “magic” felt appropriate, authentic, and fun throughout. Being nitpicky, I did pick out an instance where it was obvious the author was Irish when her American character used a word that isn’t used by Americans the same way it is for Europeans. It was just a point when I was taken out of the story for a moment to think about the author. My only other point of complaint was that Anna’s diary was way too detailed and well-written to be a diary. But it served the purpose of this story so I let myself just enjoy the ride.

Likewise, the audiobook narrator, Heather O’Sullivan, was obviously Irish despite her excellent American accent (in multiple voice tones!) because of some slips in pronunciation a very few times. But she was a terrific narrator for this novel with a versatile repertoire. I give her an A.

 

Amigurumi Critters by Amy Ting

Lynnie

craft, crochet

 

Amy Ting’s Amigurumi Critters is a beautiful book with some adorable patterns. There are some animals you often see in amigurumi books (I never need another penguin pattern, for example), but there are others that seem truly unique. I can’t wait to try some of these patterns, particularly the frog, fox and adorable otter!

Before Ting gets to the patterns, there are some excellent instructions on how to do specific stitches and other tips. It’s all pretty standard for a crochet book, but will be useful for anyone who’s new to the craft. I did notice that Ting prefers a yarn under single crochet rather than the traditional yarn over, but I’m sure you could use either as long as you’re consistent.

Despite how much I love the patterns in this book, the book itself has some accessibility issues. The light text on a white page is challenging to read sometimes, as is the color on color text (for example, a light pink background with darker pink text). There needs to be more contrast if you want it to be readable by everyone. So, 5 stars for content, but 3 for usability and design leaves me with 4 stars.

Thanks to Cider Mill Press & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will publish on June 17, 2025.

Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal

Amy  

fiction

At only 150 pages (2 hours and 20 minutes on audiobook) I would label Eastbound as a novella.

Aliocha, a young conscript in current day Russia, is on the Trans-Siberian train heading east to his compulsory military service location. He is passing the long journey in as much isolation as possible, filled with dread and misery. In his desire to escape the train to gain his freedom, he crosses paths with Helene, a French passenger on her own journey of escape. Despite no common language, the two of them create a partnership toward a more hopeful future.

The pacing slowed periodically but this reader wanted to find out if Aliocha would escape his military service. Maylis de Kerangal‘s writing was beautiful (well, really, the translation by Jessica Moore was beautiful, at least) and the brevity of the story was appropriate. It was just a small slice of life for these two characters. Aliocha’s escape was certainly the most urgent. Helene’s desire to travel away didn’t make complete sense since de Kerangal gave only the barest explanation.

I do feel that it could have been made into a full-length novel with more character background but appreciated that de Kerangal did not artificially inflate the storyline. Even with the sketchy character backgrounds provided, I cared enough about the characters to appreciate their story.

The audiobook was narrated by Jennifer Pickens and she did a fine job with the characters’ internal musings and narrations. But it really wasn’t a very challenging story and she employed no accents which would have made it better. I’ll give her a B+. 

An Astonishment of Stars: Stories by Kirti Bhadresa

Lynnie

short stories

 

An Astonishment of Stars was an interesting book. As with every short story collection I've ever read, I enjoyed some stories more than others. This book's description calls it, a "short story collection that charts the lives of racialized women as they navigate their relationships, aspirations, and the burdens of memory and expectations" which is a decent enough description.

The stories are generally (though not all) about women of various ages, and I found most of the stories interesting. Many of them don't end with a happily ever after, but rather a moment of change or decisiveness or a completed action - and often left me wanting just a little bit more of a their story. I particularly enjoyed the story "Lighten Up" about a college piano player named Naina and her frail aunt, Shanti, and, for reasons I can't explain, the title story.

Kirti Bhadresa shares  the challenges, micro-aggressions, family expectations and moments, both grand and mundane, of the characters. If you're looking for more diverse reading options, this short story collection is a great place to start.  

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

 Amy  

mystery, family drama

Amy’s sister Sylvie is missing. No one has heard from her for weeks. Amy thought Sylvie was traveling abroad for work but, once she begins to ask around, Amy finds out that Sylvie has been hiding information from her. Amy travels from New York City to The Netherlands, Sylvie’s last known location, to search. Told from three perspectives, Amy’s, Sylvie’s, and their mother’s, Searching for Sylvie Lee makes the picture clearer as more information about the past is divulged.

I appreciated Jean Kwok’s crafting of this story. The characters and situations were all compelling and the mystery drove me to keep listening. Sylvie’s parents were Chinese immigrants to America who found themselves pregnant and without sufficient funds to cover their family of three. They decided to send their baby, Sylvie, to be raised by Sylvie’s grandmother and a distant cousin living in The Netherlands for several years. This separation created family drama and fostered unusual dynamics among the families.

Kwok did a good job of laying out several possible scenarios for the mystery surrounding Sylvie. Even though I did eventually figure out most of the answers on my own, I still enjoyed this story a lot. The characters didn’t all have mastery of the same language which caused a lack of clarity and they were also keeping secrets from each other. This made things really interesting as the reader and the characters start to piece things together.

I normally start putting holds on my book club books well in advance of the meetings. I had noticed that this book had no wait for many months which usually indicates it’s not a very popular book. And the Goodreads ratings are lower than I typically like reading. Additionally, I don’t normally love mysteries. So, when it was finally time to read this one, I figured I wasn’t going to like it. But I did enjoy it very much! Perhaps the fact that the mystery is solvable is the reason for these lackluster indicators. Otherwise, I can’t think of any reason for its less than stellar ratings. But, since I don’t love mysteries, I was happy to read a story with rich characters and an interesting plot. Sure, it gets slow at times but definitely not as much as some books I’ve read with higher ratings. I don’t get it. I liked Kwok’s writing!

There were three audiobook narrators: Angela Lin, Samantha Quan, and Caroline McLaughlin. I thought the use of 3 narrators was appropriate and each of them did a fine job with their sections. There was nothing over-the-top amazing, but I was satisfied. I’ll give them a B+ as an ensemble. Warning to audiobook readers. The audiobook’s last 30 minutes is an interview with the author. I thought it was a good interview that helped to clarify a few mysteries and gave me insight into Kwok’s motivations and intentions.