American Fantasy by Emma Straub

Lynnie 

contemporary fiction 

It was easy to get into Emma Straub's novel about Annie, a recently divorced woman on a theme cruise with a few thousand of her closest friends as they spend four days celebrating their love of a boy band from the 90s. After Annie's sister breaks her leg, Annie is forced to room with a stranger on the cruise or forfeit her money, so she goes on the solo adventure she didn't know she needed. 

In American Fantasy, we see the cruise from several perspectives. Annie's of course, but also Sarah’s, a production manager who is responsible for ensuring the band is happy and that the guests are enjoying themselves and following the rules, and Keith’s, one of the members of the band, Boy Talk. 

I found it interesting to see the cruise from so many different points of view - the fans who want to see their teenage dreams of spending time with the band come true, the band members who have a variety of reasons for setting sail with their fans and, of course, the production company putting it all together. Who, exactly, is living the fantasy? 

There is humor, heart and introspection in the pages of American Fantasy and I enjoyed all of it. I definitely think this is a book that is probably going to be enjoyed more by those who know what it's like to want to revisit their younger years or are trying to figure out who they are going to be in their next chapter.

Marin Ireland narrated the audiobook and as always, did a marvelous job. I always enjoy listening to audiobooks when she's behind the mic.  

Whistler by Ann Patchett

Amy   

fiction, historical fiction

Whistler is the name of a horse (pictured on the book cover) but this novel is not about the horse. Therefore, it was an odd choice for the book name. I suppose Whistler is a metaphor for rescue or redemption. The novel follows Daphne, is a woman in her 50s, who runs into the man who had briefly been her stepfather when she was 9 years old. They had shared a traumatic experience back then before Daphne’s mother demanded a divorce and Daphne never saw him again. This book is basically about their reconnection.

None of the characters were extraordinary. Some were a little quirky. But they seemed realistic to me. There was no big driving mystery but some smaller mysteries along the way. There was no particular climax to speak of. Rather, the pages revealed Daphne’s family’s history. It was a perfectly pleasant story with fun rapport between the characters and just enough interesting situations and characters to keep it from getting boring. I would say that the main themes in the book are impermanence, family, and death.

I’ve read several Ann Patchett novels, some of which I loved and some of which I didn’t. This one falls in the middle for me.

The author narrated the audiobook. She read with a clear voice and I always love hearing an author’s intonations, emphases, and performance of their own words. However, she spoke very slowly. I sped up the audiobook to move it along. Also, she had a very small vocal repertoire which made it hard to be sure who was speaking all the time during dialogues between the main characters. But she sang—several times—which I loved. Oddly, there were a few songs she didn’t sing and just read the lyrics. I’m unsure why she didn’t just sing them all. Anyway, weighing the pluses and minuses, I’ll give her an A- for this audiobook performance.

Threshing Day (The Empyrean #3.5) by Rebecca Yarros

Amy      
Lynnie   

fantasy

Threshing Day is a collection of short stories—a novella meant to feed the fans during the lengthy gap while we await the fourth novel in The Empyrean Series. Each story is the experience of Threshing Day, the day that dragons claim their riders, for one dragon/rider pair. Not only does each story include the rider’s inner thoughts and the conversation that takes place between the rider and their dragon, but other characters also appear in many of the stories when the rider has conversations with them prior to bonding with a dragon. All of the major characters from The Empyrean series have a chapter except for Violet Sorrengail. Of course, this is because we got her Threshing Day experience in The Fourth Wing.

Amy’s Review

I thought this was a fabulous filler novella! It gave the readers some insight into the characters’ backstories and personalities. It was fun getting to know everyone better and to learn how Threshing Day was different for everyone. Rebecca Yarros put the stories in order of the riders’ ages, so the older characters were early in the novel and the newest dragon riders’ stories were at the end. It was perfect, really!

If you’re a fan of The Empyrean Series I highly recommend reading this book!

The audiobook included 14 narrators! Each riders’ section had its own voice actor. It worked very well and made their stories feel authentic and unique. Most sections didn’t require many different voices but each one had to include at least the rider’s and the dragon’s voices. All of the voice actors did a great job with their section. I won’t bother naming all the narrators but I’ll give the cast an A!

Lynnie’s Review

I generally do not like the little novellas that series writers toss into the mix to keep readers interested between releases. I rarely find them interesting and they usually make me angry that I wasted time with them. Often, they introduce chaos and confusion. That is NOT the case with Threshing Day! I loved nearly every word of this little addition to the Empyrean series.

This was a great way to get to know some of the secondary characters and their dragons a little better as we saw Threshing Day through their eyes and we learned more about the universe of the Empyrean. I’m eager to see how the breadcrumbs we got in this book will play into the larger picture.

Without spoiling anything, we learned about some of the dragons who share family lines, we learned that dragons don’t have to wait until Threshing to choose a rider (which gave me some interesting ideas the think about), and I think we got some insight into why some of the riders developed their signets.

I also just really enjoyed learning more about some of the riders. I particularly enjoyed Xaden’s, Garrick’s, and Imogen’s chapters. (I will always be an Imogen fan!) Liam’s was as heartbreaking as I expected it to be. Sloane’s was unexpectedly touching, and Aaric’s made me the most excited about what will come next in book four.

I loved all the narrators. I had only heard of a few of them, but was fascinated to learn how many of them are romance narrators after looking them up. Though, I guess, I’m not surprised knowing that Rebecca Yarros started as a romance author. 

The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook by Julie Tremaine and Carly Caramanna

Lynnie 

cookbook

A combination history book and cookbook, The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook is a fun read for any Disney fan. There's a lot of nostalgia in the pages of this cookbook no matter what decade of Disney, or which park, is your favorite, with stories and recipes covering almost every park from the beginning of the Disney story. Authors Julie Tremaine and Carly Caramanna clearly did their research.

The variety of recipes is impressive considering it's all theme park food, but in its pages you'll find cocktails, burgers, desserts, soup, and more. I was surprised by the number of drinks listed. One thing to keep in mind, for a 200+ page book, you're only getting about 60 recipes, most of which (as the title tells you), are not actual Disney recipes. Many are inspired by, or similar to, in the spirit of or is just made with ingredients that the authors seem to think will taste better. They might be right, but the final product connects these recipes to the House of Mouse with the thinnest of threads. The bulk of this book is spent on storytelling.

Still, the stories are entertaining and the recipes look tasty - I have several bookmarked to try (hello Black Truffle Macaroni and Cheese!).

The Unofficial Disney Parks Retro Cookbook will be published on October 13, 2026. 

Thanks to Harper Celebrate, NetGalley, and authors Julie Tremaine and Carly Caramanna for the advance review copy.  

The One Man by Andrew Gross

Amy   

historical fiction

A very old man nearing death finally feels ready to tell his daughter the story of how he received the United States Distinguished Service Cross Medal during WWII. The novel describes his involvement in the attempt to break one Jewish man—The One Man—out of Auschwitz, where he was a prisoner during the Holocaust. Unbeknownst to the Germans, this man was the only non-German person on the planet who had critical weaponry information that the United States desired to aid the war effort. 

The story was one of incredible bravery, unbelievable luck, and extreme intelligence. Of course, a lot of terrible things took place as well. This novel was written as a thriller and, indeed, the ending was un-put-downable. Andrew Gross used a truthful historical backdrop to set his fictional story of a scientist stuck in Auschwitz and the brave man sent there for 72 hours to break him out. There were several slow sections but, outside of those, it was a gripping story—both heartbreaking and hopeful.

The audiobook was narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Edoardo Ballerini. As expected, he was terrific! But, I must admit that, though his accents and voice acting were top notch, this story didn’t lend itself to his ability to display numerous different voices for different characters. A lot of them sounded the same. So I’ll give him an A- for this one.

Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson

Lynnie 

contemporary romance

Parker Navarro is an author whose huge advance on his debut novel marked him as literature's next big thing. At least until critic Selina Chan's blistering review made that novel a huge flop. Years later, having written a new book, Navarro tries to keep the advance copy out of Chan's hand as much as she tries to avoid reviewing it, but life and literary circles have other plans, leading to another terrible review which ignites a viral feud between the two of them. As the internet and the literary world encourages their feud, Navarro and Chan begin to talk to one another privately, getting to know each other beyond the book, and have to decide what is more important, the person or the page.

I absolutely enjoyed Rioghnach Robinson's Bad Words. But I also felt like I was the intended audience for this book — someone who loves books and loves to review and recommend books. Because while Bad Words is the ultimate enemies to lovers romance, and it might be the first real enemies to lovers story I've actually read (I mean, Peter Navarro and Selina Chan really do not like each other. At. All.), it's also an examination of the role of criticism in the publishing industry.

How seriously can you take literary criticism when it really is just one person's opinion? Does it hold more weight when that criticism comes from an industry source that can sway markets and book sales, rather than the collective opinions of readers and social media? It's an interesting thought experiment and something I found myself considering. Knowing that there are certain genres I simply don't enjoy, and friends whose reading tastes I almost never agree with, I can understand that what individual readers believe make a book "good" varies not only from reader to reader, but even from year to year within my own reading experiences; a book I loved 20 years ago, may be unreadable to me today. I loved seeing that same recognition in the pages of this novel.

I also really liked the characters. While their individual quirks, insecurities and mental health struggles were often hard to read about, they felt very realistic and honest to me. And of course, I loved watching Peter and Selina get over themselves, make peace and find love. There are some very sexy scenes, but not until the book is nearly over and it's definitely not the focus of the book. I enjoyed watching all the connections form; yes, certainly between Selina and Parker, but also those with their families, their friends, authors, people in the neighborhood. Who has your back when it feels like the world wants to see you crash? 

I think this is one of those books that people will either love or hate with very little middle ground. It certainly requires patience, particularly at the beginning when Peter and his author friends are being really childish and cruel toward Selina who, I kept wanting to shout, is just doing her job. But hang in there if you can, because the payoff is worth it in my opinion.

Bad Words will be published on October 6, 2026. Thanks to Saint Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Rioghnach Robinson for the advanced reader copy.  

Crochet Book Reviews - Carla Mitrani and Naomi Vincent

I read a couple crochet books in the last week and thought I would review them together for my fellow crafters. Enjoy! -Lynnie  

Crochet Makes From Scrap Cakes by Naomi Vincent

 

Like every single crocheter I know, I have a yarn problem. I love to get new yarn for projects and I always have leftover extra yarn. Sure, I use it when I can for other projects, but sometimes that's just not possible. But it's beautiful yarn, perfectly useful yarn, and I don't want to get rid of it, so... it sits in a basket waiting for some sort of inspiration to strike.

Well, look no further! I saw Crochet Makes From Scrap Cakes in my library's recommended section and knew I needed to download it. Naomi Vincent has some great ideas about what to do with all the scraps, not the least of which is some great suggestions about how to turn it into useful yarn cakes AND some project patterns you can use those cakes for. Genius!

I have my eyes on some other patterns I was thinking about for some of my scraps, but turning the scraps into cakes was never on my radar, and I think that may make those projects even easier to accomplish. Vincent gives practical tips on managing that scrap pile that has inspired me on what my next project may be. I think this will be a useful read for any yarn crafter out there.  

Peter Rabbit Crochet Toys: Adorable Amigurumi From the Tales of Beatrix Potter by Carla Mitrani

 

I adore Carla Mitrani's (who's online creator name is Amour Fou) crochet patterns and have made many of them in the last couple years, particularly from her Iconic Women and Zodiac series, but also from patterns that I have gotten from her online shop. Her patterns always work up beautifully and have fantastic attention to detail.

When I saw she was releasing a new book, I couldn't wait to read it. Her Peter Rabbit Crochet Toys is a wonderful collection. It's faithful to the characters in the Beatrix Potter stories & Potter's own illustrations while also having Mitrani's signature style. The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is that some of the characters clearly look like they won't be able to support themselves without additional support through a stand, or other assistance - the legs are very thin in comparison to the body. That's fine if you want the character to sit on a shelf, but if you want it to stand, you'll need to think about it.

Still, I'm eager to make a few of these designs, and appreciate Mitrani's attention to detail, as always.  

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Amy   

memoir

Born a Crime is a memoir of Trevor Noah’s childhood in South Africa. His black mother asked his white birth father for a child, and he obliged. They never married but his father stayed in Trevor’s life. Trevor’s earliest years were spent living with his mother and her family in poverty. His later childhood years included an abusive stepfather and young half-brothers. But, despite the limited resources available to his family, Trevor was smart and his mother was resourceful and inspiring. Together, they managed to give Trevor the best opportunities that were available to him. This book is really a compilation of short stories giving the reader a very good idea of Trevor’s childhood.

Not only was Trevor’s story fascinating, but I learned so much about South Africa. Hearing about his childhood experiences in apartheid, and then post-apartheid, as well as learning about culture and systems in his country, was really all new information to me. Realizing what Trevor had to overcome before becoming famous in the United States was astounding! He certainly made the most of his talents and upbringing! I also appreciated that he did not shy away from telling unflattering stories about himself. His stories felt authentic and now, knowing his backstory, I like him even more than I did before. My only complaint about the book is that Trevor’s stories jumped forward and backward in time. While it didn’t cause too much confusion, it did result in some repeated information. I’d have preferred a sequential story but I’m assuming someone told him the book would better hold readers’ attention if it wasn’t sequential. Alas, I disagree. I also wish he included the details about how he got from South Africa to the United States and a career in comedy. But this memoir ends before that point.

Of course, Trevor narrated the audiobook himself and he was fantastic! I loved hearing him share his stories. I also read the Kindle book sometimes in the evenings. But I preferred listening to him tell his tales. He even sang! I give him an A+!

More is More by Molly Baz

 

 

Lynnie  

cookbook 

Molly Baz has never met a word she can’t shorten or cutesify.

It’s been a minute since I’ve read through a cookbook, but the library chose Molly Baz’s More is More for their monthly cookbook club and, even though I can’t go, I decided to grab a copy and read it. Let’s start with the reason you read a cookbook: the recipes.

They are ok but overly complicated and, for reasons I can’t explain, heavy on the mortadella (which of course, she calls “morty-d”). OK, there aren’t that many recipes with mortadella, but enough that I noticed. There are more mortadella recipes in this book than in all my other cookbooks combined,  I think. Out of the entire cookbook, though, there are just three recipes I found interesting. Most of her recipes take ingredients that I love and slather them in mayonnaise-heavy sauces. It’s just not my culinary jam.

Worse though, I just hated this book. There are some awful font choices including a font that runs as if it’s going up and down hills and is REALLY hard to read and light fonts on light pages that my eyes also just couldn’t handle.

And, as mentioned, Baz has never met a word she can’t shorten. I never realized before reading this how much I hate it when people refer to sandwiches as “sandos.” Every. Single. Time. Cauliflower is “cauli,” smoothies are “smoo” and yogurt is “yog.” I wish I were kidding. It’s like reading a toddler's dialogue. I guess it’s her schtick, but as I said, it’s not my thing. I found this book to be exhausting and unpleasant to read with little payoff in the end. 

The Seven Sisters (#1) by Lucinda Riley

Amy    

fiction, historical fiction, romance

The Seven Sisters introduces six girls who were all adopted by their unconventional father during his journeys  around the world and raised as sisters in his home near Geneva, Switzerland. At the beginning of the novel, they receive the news that their father has died. The sisters (now ranging in age from about 20 to 30 years old) gather in the home where they grew up and learn that their father has left them all clues about their birth should they choose to investigate their heritages. This first book in the series by Lucinda Riley is really the story of the eldest sister, Maia. She discovers her home country is Brazil and heads there to try to learn about her birth relatives.

Told from five different perspectives, but mainly Maia’s and her birth great-grandmother’s in dual time periods, we learn about Maia’s ancestors and, ultimately, the circumstances that brought her to being put up for adoption as a baby. Lucinda Riley kept me interested in learning about Maia’s family history. The storytelling made me care about the characters and I felt invested in Maia’s discoveries.

Left with a compelling mystery at the end, as well as the promise of discovering the other sisters’ backgrounds, I’ll continue to read this series. The fiction with a little historical fiction and a little romance was the perfect balance.

The audiobook was narrated by Tuppence Middleton and she did a great job with multiple character voices and accents. I’ll give her an A.

Flirty Fall Fling by Lyra Parish

Lynnie

contemporary romance 

If you've ever read a book from Lyra Parish you know that even though they can all stand on their own, the characters connect them and everything is more fun if you've read the books that come before.

In this case, Flirty Fall Fling features Blair (who previously appeared in Parish's Fall I Want and maybe in the Hookup Situation, though I can't remember, to be honest), and Jamie (who is the twin brother of Patterson from the Hockey Situation, brother of Addison from the Royal Situation and appears in other Billionaire Situation books, briefly).

Blair has inherited her aunt's witchy shop, selling spells, readings and other magical notions with some of her friends. After a scandal, Jamie has been forced to take a leave of absence from his company and he settles in Blair's town for a few weeks of relaxation. As soon as they meet, sparks fly and it appears that the universe, and their friends, are conspiring to bring the two of them together. And how can you argue with the universe? They agree to have a fall fling and, as one would expect, things don't quite work out as planned.

Interestingly, I came into this book not liking Jamie. From the previous books, I thought he was a jerk. My opinion of him quickly changed in Flirty Fall Fling as he was allowed to be charming, just like all of Parish's leading men. Blair, and her friends Winter and Josie (also from other books in the Parishverse) are delightfully whimsical and witchy. Pay attention to Winter and Josie because it looks like Winter is getting her own book next, which means Josie probably won't be far behind.

If you're looking for a seasonal fall romance, this is a fun, steamy choice.   

Flirty Fall Fling will be published on September 3, 2026. 

Thank you to the author for the advance review copy. 

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

Amy   

fiction

Elsie, an 81-year old formerly known as the youngest jailed Australian Mad Mabel, is forced back into the spotlight when her elderly next door neighbor dies and someone divulges to the police that Elsie is really Mad Mabel.

This is another old curmudgeon redemption story. You’ve read others like this, no doubt. An elderly person who’s experienced trauma avoids people until meddling neighbors kindheartedly ruin their peaceful, miserable solitude. In this novel, that meddling neighbor is a lonely 7-year old who lives across the street.

I’ve read five other Sally Hepworth novels and they average 3-1/2 hearts in my reviews which means I generally like her novels. But I’ve not been interested in reading all of her novels. Mad Mabel was getting early rave reviews and I also liked the cover art. Sadly, this is my least favorite of all of them.

Why? Unbelievability, depressing vibe, and unoriginal storylines. I know that sounds harsh. I’m sorry about that.

Despite the happy ending and some really fun characters, I just had a hard time swallowing the main premise—that a parent would go around badmouthing his child to such a degree for something that happened when she was 3 years old. Sure, he was likely feeling guilty. But could he feel cornered and narcissistic enough to carry on a long-running smear campaign against his own child? And even if that is to be believed, the idea that other grown adults would be spreading that stigma against a small child and carrying it on for years is ludicrous to me. Sure, it was the 1940s and 50s but I wasn’t buying it.

Most of the time I was reading this novel, I felt a pervasive sense of sadness and dread because poor Mabel was failed by grownups at practically every turn. She lost the opportunities to experience true friendship and was led astray by multiple people who should have been protecting her. On top of that, there are two reveals in this novel which, I imagine, were intended to surprise readers at the end. However, I’ve read those storylines in other novels and could see them coming before the halfway point.

Overall this book was depressing. Even the “happy ending” was bittersweet because positive change came so late in Mabel’s life.

The audiobook narrators were Hannah Fredericksen (voicing young Mabel) and Jenny Seedsman (voicing old Mabel). They both did a great job—especially Seedsman who had more diverse material to work with. I’ll give them an A- as an ensemble. Although, I feel one narrator could’ve carried this novel.

Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen

Amy           

Lynnie       

 

magical realism

In Hen Town, North Carolina, generations of residents have had strong opinions about the Wester women; some want to be them, others fear them and still others want to ruin them. Once in a while, someone even loves them.

Paper Ghosts begins with the story of Willamena "Wills" Wester as a high school student. As a member of the school's popular clique, she felt trapped by her family's expectations for her future. In an attempt to rebel, she sealed her fate to stay in Hen Town and Wester House for the rest of her life. Years later, when her son moves back to town with his daughter, Bailey, Wills tries not to repeat her own grandmother's mistakes as Bailey grows up, but the ghosts of Wills' past turn out to be hard to avoid and Bailey is a lot more like Wills than anyone would like to admit. 

Amy's Review

The Wester women tend to be wealthy, reclusive, all-knowing, and intimidating so, through their generations, the townspeople sometimes call them witches. It’s as if the Wester women have eyes and ears everywhere. In the 1970s, teenage Willamena Wester generally follows all of her grandmother’s rules but, when Willamena makes a last-minute decision of her own, tragedy strikes. She becomes ruled by fear and resentment and eventually molds her granddaughter into the person she thinks she should be. 

I always adore Sarah Addison Allen’s magical realism and her southern characters and settings. I loved the concept that photographs of dead people are “paper ghosts”. All her novels are entirely different from each other, which is incredible. While the magic in this one was creative, as expected, Allen didn’t allow us to get to know her main characters very well because she had to keep their motivations and impulses mysterious. Because of this, I did not particularly care all that much about them. They were portrayed very stoically with their primary personality traits being bossiness, self-imposed loneliness, and secrecy. 

The secondary characters were more interesting to me, even though they were on the lower end of the Sarah Addison Allen Quirky Scale. Unlike the Wester women, the other characters were free to do anything and become whomever they wanted to be. Perhaps the moral of the story is to live the life you want to live. Make mistakes, face consequences, and don’t lock yourself away. Don’t make drastic life decisions because of one situation. And understand that you also have to let your children become their own people. 

Lynnie's Review  

In many ways, this book is darker and has a more gothic feel that many of Sarah Addison Allen's earlier books (I didn't realize I had read most of them before we started this blog!). I felt a lot of empathy for all of the characters and generally enjoyed watching them grow throughout the book. I was eager to see how their stories would be resolved and hoped to get answers to many of the questions I had as I read. I did get answers, but only to some of the questions.

Ultimately, I enjoyed my time with the Westers and the rest of Hen Town just as I knew I would when opening a book by SAA; it often left me feeling like I was getting a cozy fall hug. While this book was a little less magical and a little more paranormal than a typical SAA book, I think her usual fans will really enjoy it.

Paper Ghosts will be published on September 1, 2026.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and Sarah Addison Allen for the advanced reader copy.

Ideal Life by Evelyn Skye

 

 

Lynnie  

contemporary fantasy, magical realism 

In Evelyn Skye's Ideal Life, Talia Morgan is an idealistic tech whiz, about to sell her startup company which creates wearable tech featuring a personal assistant that helps individuals analyze and adjust their habits and decisions to be their best selves. After discovering a bug in the software, Talia wakes up with a mysterious watch on her wrist and discovers that she can rewind time. After going back in time to fix the bug, Talia begins to reverse time to experiment with making other corrections to her life. As you can imagine, things don't go as well as she would like and, as every movie and book have ever warned, the fallout of these timeline changes are unpredictable for Talia, her company and everyone else in her life.

I loved Skye's previous novel, The Incredible Kindness of Paper, so my hopes were high for Ideal Life. Unfortunately, while I liked this story, I also found it frustrating. The idea of it was really intriguing, but I found much of the story repetitive and predictable, and never really connected with any of the characters. Some aspects of the book were never properly explained, and others were over-explained to the point that I found myself skipping paragraphs just to get through.

There are multiple points of view in this book and I found myself wondering if that was necessary. Did Erin the intern's viewpoint add anything to the narrative? Honestly, not really. However, I did love the connection of this book to Chloe and Oliver from The Incredible Kindness of Paper - that section made me smile more than anything else in this novel, which might say more about this book than anything.

I do think the overall message of this novel is an important one, living in the moment and not allowing technology to control us. But I fear that it gets lost in some of the meandering plot points.

Ideal Life will publish on August 18, 2026. Thank you to Atria Books, NetGalley and Evelyn Skye for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

Amy       

romance

Samantha and Xavier meet when Samantha brings a newfound kitten to Xavier’s veterinary clinic in Minnesota. They eventually reconnect and have a very fun, memorable date. But Samantha moves to California the very next day and the two of them try to forget each other since it’s impossible for either of them to leave their respective cities.

I had much higher hopes for Say You’ll Remember Me after enjoying several of Abby Jimenez’s novels this year. But it really dragged and grew monotonous. The vast majority of the novel is the two of them complaining and stressing about missing each other and being unable to visit each other due to limited finances. And another huge chunk is about Samantha and her family caring for her mother who is suffering from dementia. It was depressing and not what I expect in romance novels. In fact, there wasn’t really much romance. It was instant falling in love and then the whole story was their inability to be together. That was it. Finally, at the end, they do live happily ever after. But it was a fairly frustrating reading experience.

I wish I had more to say about it but there wasn’t much to the story. *shrug* 

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Amy        


family drama

Natalie is an influencer, sharing her family life on a farm in Idaho via social media. She positions herself as a modern-day pioneer mother, working the Yesteryear farm while caring for her five children and husband. And she’s got a couple million followers. Unfortunately, her reality is not what she presents to the world. And when things get out of her control, she doesn’t handle it well. And then she seems to be uprooted and sent back in time as an actual pioneer mother of some other family.

This book is like nothing I’ve read before. It got really crazy at times. In that way, it was promising. I was interested in the influencer storyline up until I realized I’d really had enough of Natalie already. She wasn’t a pleasant person by any measure. And I generally don’t enjoy reading about unlikeable protagonists. However, I was curious about the time travel storyline. That, in combination with all the positive reviews I’d heard about this novel, I stuck with it.

Caro Claire Burke uses “flashbacks” into the contemporary life Natalie left behind when she was whisked into the past to explain how Natalie got to the point where she was at the beginning of the novel.

Natalie has a superiority complex and is a control freak. Everyone in her life is a prop, as is her religion. For someone claiming that religion is so important to her, she is extremely uncharitable and doesn’t even go to church. Anyone who disagrees with her is incorrect or stupid or jealous of her. She doesn’t mother her children. She doesn’t connect with her husband. Her family members are simply pawns in her giant, fictional, perfect life, and she is never at fault for anything. She doesn’t work the farm. The driving force in her life is to be more interesting and satisfied than her college roommate. She thinks she’s smarter than everyone else when, in actually, she lacks critical thinking skills and emotional intelligence. She shows no appreciation or love for anyone. She doesn’t know how to fit into the construct of every day civilization. She doesn’t know how to find her own joy, let alone share in other people’s joy. The one thing that arouses her is her idea of God.

There were some thought-provoking aspects of Natalie’s story which will make good fodder for book club (other than “what did we just read???”). For one, the idea of framing undesired tasks as if you’re performing for an audience was intriguing. For another, Burke spotlighted some genuine feminist concerns regarding “women’s duties” and struggles faced by women working outside the home. Additionally, I liked seeing the juxtaposition of current day life on a farm vs. American pioneer days on a farm.

AND THEN at the very end, the book turns out to be a recrimination of most of the people portrayed in this novel! After having to listen to almost 14 hours of Natalie’s life, I was rewarded with rational reality! That made me feel much better, honestly, despite the sadness with which this book left me. The moral of the story is that you can’t stop progress and if you try to stop time or avoid change, you are misguided and will lose in the end. Down with censuring! Down with people who think they know what’s best for everyone and have any right to impose their beliefs on others! Down with liars! 

The audiobook narrator, Rebecca Lowman, was good. She especially had some nice male voices in her repertoire. But she often read the book robotically. I tend to think this was intentional in order for her to relay Natalie’s psychopathy. Also, I’ve heard her narrate another novel as the voice of a sullen teenager and my comments about that performance were that she didn’t come across as robotic or unfeeling, as might have happened in another narrator’s hands. So, I’ll say that Lowman’s robotic portrayal served to make me even more annoyed with Natalie and that was probably her intention. I’ll give her an A-.