Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston

Great potential, thick setting, but this book tried to be six different books and just didn't work.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Brainy Bunch by Mona Lisa and Kip Harding

The Hardings are homeschooling parents who have prepared their children to start college by age 10-12. The book is written by both parents and contains essays written by the children.

If you think starting college before puberty is a good idea, the lack of organization, stylistic infelicities, generally poor writing skills, and illogical positions that pepper this book will convince you otherwise. I've reviewed over 1,000 books on this blog and I'd be hard pressed to find a half dozen that were as poorly written as this one.

The temptation to do a line-by-line response to this book is great, but I'm going to resist it because it just isn't worth the time. I will mention how jarring it is that they pivot from describing how terrible classroom-based instruction is to how quickly they encouraged their children to enter into it, from the financial difficulties of paying for college for ten kids to references to children taking intermediate algebra and Spanish in college, from the importance of spending time as a family to having mid-teens live away from home and pre-teens in college during the day. I will also say that they remind me of people who seem very proud that they traveled all the way through Europe in just three days, without considering that there might be some benefit to slowing down a little and spending more time exploring instead of trying to set a land-speed record.

If this book were simply describing their family's personal experience, I would hesitate to criticize their choices, but they are advocating this unusual path. It is a terrible idea explained in a terrible book.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman

So this was very engaging, very suspenseful, but then the resolution was kind of lame.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Still Life with Breadcrumbs by Anna Quindlen

Enormously satisfying.

I Will Lead You Along: The Life of Henry B. Eyring by Henry J. Eyring

Things I liked:

1. More frank than your average LDS-leader-bio hagiography (but this isn't Rough Stone Rolling).

2. Lots of excerpts from President Eyring's journal, which provided lots of in-the-moment color.

3. Most church members know the leaders just as conference speakers which, of course, plays to the strengths of some but not to others. President Eyring's speaking style is not one of my favorites (I think it is that second person address thing), so it was good to see a different side of him.

4. His sketches. Wow.

Things I didn't:

1. I've said this about other bios, but it is disturbing to see how much time they spend away from their families, both in their professions and in their church callings.

2. There is something . . . vaguely unfortunate/unsettling . . . about the insularity of church leaders as portrayed in this book. It makes me feel like a Bad Person to say that, but you really get the feeling that they and their multi-generational LDS families and their overlapping educations/career/calling paths exist within a bubble that is largely separate from the rest of the church.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Decent, but the characters were flat and it seemed too-obviously set up for a sequel.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much. I was just completely charmed by this one.

Letters to a Young Mormon by Adam Miller

I did a sort of joint review of this book at Times & Seasons.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Mapmaker's Daughter by Laurel Corona

It really irks me when historical fiction forgets or ignores the fact that people in times past did not have the same mind-set (supporting feminism, individualism, self-determination, etc.) that we have today. But I can almost forgive this book for committing that most common of sins because the setting was so interesting. But the plotting and writing were pretty mediocre, and the setting wasn't enough to overcome all of those weaknesses.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Sycamore Row by John Grisham

I actually kind of liked this.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

meh

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

I can't figure out why this book has won so many awards and why everyone seems to love it. There were a few bright spots here, but it really did nothing for me.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Growing Up Duggar by Jill, Jinger, Jessa, and Jana Duggar

So I'm not exactly the target audience for this book--that would be teen evangelical girls who don't find it odd to get advice from people barely older than they are. Instead, I read this with my anthropologist hat on; I am somewhat embarrassed to admit to my fascination with the Duggars, but I find their approach to Christianity/parenting/homeschooling/lifestyle to be lovely, compelling, and horrifying. 

Review copy provided by publisher.

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

I'm normally a huge Liane Moriarty fangirl, but there were way too many subplots here and this just didn't work.

Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson

I read this to the boys. Maybe my expectations were too high because Ben and Me was so good, but I didn't love this.

The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

Decent.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

Lots of great wisps of material here, but it just didn't come together for me.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Bread and Butter by Michelle Wildgen

I liked this.  You don't normally get emotional drama between three male characters.  And the food was great--the book kept making me hungry.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

The Winter People: A Novel

This started out so strongly--good characters, suspense, nice plot--but then kind of fell apart at the end.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty

I'm a total sucker for Liane Moriarty. I love Australian chick lit!

The Book of Jonah by Joshua Feldman

Great premise, muddled execution.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

I really liked this.

My Name Is Not Angelica by Scott O'Dell

I read this to the boys. It was decent. If you have particularly sensitive children, the depictions of slavery might be a bit much for them (I did a little bit of editing on the fly as I read.)

A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith

Great potential but merely average execution.

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty

I really enjoyed this: a unique plot, clever writing, witty, some moments of depth.

The Last Aloha by Gaellen Quinn

Excellent historical fiction and a clever set-up where the protagonist doesn't realize the many ways that she is being used (but the reader does). But it did drag in some parts.