I tried something new with my reading this month. I was feeling stressed out and was worried that the amount of murder mysteries I was reading, or listening to on podcasts and audiobooks and documentaries, were affecting me. Therefore, I called this my “no murder March” and I had to seek out diverse books to keep myself entertained! Of course, the first few books of the month may have snuck in before I made my decision, so it was more like my “no murder March madness”. This month I read:

• The Coworker by Fredia McFadden [audiobook] – Another McFadden audiobook that is mostly fluff entertainment. This book was told in emails as well as prose, as we got to know Dawn and Natalie, two coworkers at a sales company. Dawn seems to have communication problems which make all relationships challenging for her, while Natalie is the typical “popular” girl. They are both still living in personalities assigned to them in high school, so there was a lot of girl drama in this that flashes back to high school behavior. I’m find that McFadden writes such flawed, dislikeable characters in ways that make me suspect everyone, trust no one, and hope they all get caught for their bad deeds!
• Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas – After discovering this author last month from my library, I knew I wanted to read more in her catalog. In this book we follow Kirsty and her family as they move out of London to run a bed and breakfast with her mother in the country. Kirsty’s husband has had a rough year, and Kirsty and her mother have a tense relationship. As they prepare to open their new business together, other family members show up as guests and when one is found dead there is a big mystery and a lot of suspicion. I didn’t except some of the twists that came in this story and it was a fun ride!
• How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund? by Anna Montague – This is a unique story about love, grief, friendship, and unrequited love, as well as self discovering. We meet Magda after her best friend Sara has died. Magda’s grief is overwhelming and she can’t stand to continue her regular life, as a therapist to people with high anxiety. Magda decides to take a road trip that Sara wanted them to do. Along the way, we get to know Sara through Magda’s memories, and Magda, through her missteps, inaction, and sadness, while she attemps to survive her grief. There was a lot of love in between all that sadness and a beautiful story of found family
• Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten [audiobook] – I watched The Barefoot Contessa cooking show many years ago, but haven’t heard much about her in years. Knowing I love a celebrity memoir, when I heard this was good I borrowed the audiobook from my library. I enjoyed Ina’s stories, whether it was her less-than-loving childhood, or journey to find a career that stimulated her mind and challenged her, and her joyful explorations in cooking, then writing books and making tv. She seems so down-to-earth and her husbad Jeffery seems like such a great partner for her. I enjoyed the story of this memoir!
• Say Everything: A Memoir by Ione Skye [audiobook] – I LOVED the movie Say Anything. When I heard that the female star of that movie, Ione Skye, had a memoir out, I was ready to listen to the audio version right away. Her voice is the exact same! Now, other than that movie and one or two other roles, I have no idea about her life, past or present. Everything was new to me, which should have been more interesting. Unfortunately, for me this felt like a name-dropping attempt at a tell-all, without much happening. Other than a lot of sex, including some inappropriate releatinships when she was very young and vulnerable, Ione seemed to float from one partner to another, always looking to fill the voice from the famous musician father who abandoned her mother before she was born. I kept waiting for big life lessons to be learned, but the epilogue didn’t give me what I was hoping for. Overall, this was underwhelming for me.
• The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center – I picked this up on a whim in my library during my search for non-murder books. This was a rom-com about two writers working on a rom-com screenplay, and despite all of that cheesiness, it was fun and sweet and well written and a happy story I enjoyed! Emma has spent ten years taking care of her father after a serious accident that changed all of their lives. The famous screenwriter Charlie is fighing “the yips” after a break up and cancer and his perpetual pessimism. Emma and her family model how to embrace the good in life, in spite of the very real, hard stuff along the way.
• They Came for the Schools: One Town’s Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America’s Classrooms by Mike Hixenbaugh – Wow. I read this after listening to the Southlake and Grapevine podcasts, done by the author and his reporting partner, about two Texas suburban towns and the battle for school board positions. With aching familiarity, I picked up the book to learn even more. The title itself is genius with the double meaning: 1) Families moved to these beautiful, idyllic suburbs for the incredible schools and all the opportunities for their children and 2) The parents CAME for the schools when they formed PACs that raised thousands of dollars to bring the Seven Mountains religious philosophy into public education (and 6 other parts of society). This story is about a small town in Texas, but it is also about America since 2016. The author tracks the first utterance of “CRT” and how that became a catch all term used to criticize the “woke” liberals, accusing educators of making white children feel guilty, of grooming young kids, of being pedophiles, and more, all to fight to end the separation of church and state. I wish I had known how deep this battle went before I had any first-hand experience. It’s good, yet heartbreaking, to know how many schools and educators are suffering through the same battles all across America, as we work to help ALL children have access to public education. I’m sorry this had to be written, but I’m so grateful I read it.
• Funny Story by Emily Henry [audiobook] – Thanks to my Aunt Ellen for putting this book on my radar. I’ve read most of Henry’s other books and knew I would enjoy this sweet romcom. We meet Daphne just as her fiancee dumps her for his best friend, forcing her to have to move in said friend’s ex-boyfriend Miles. As Daphne and Miles figure out their post-break up lives, they connect through their shared pain and their good hearts. This is a sweet story about the joys of reading, the power of a library, found family, and new friendships. I enjoyed it!
• Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell – This is the BEST book I’ve read so far this year! Wow! I had no idea what I was getting into, but I’m so glad I heard about it from the Currently Reading podcast. The story begins after “The Event” and we meet Charles, a Howard University professor who knows how to fix things. It turns out that Charles is only able to be a professor because of the event, which was when all the white people of the world suddenly walked into water and died, Charles, a Black man, was in prison at the time, but was broken out and able to start a very different life. We follow Charles on an adventure, where he and other characters learn to release their anger and pain, experience and celebreate Black joy, and honor their ancestors and their future. This was a lyrical, poetic, beautifully written story about resilience and learning from history and leaning in to the JOY.
• The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine- for some reason I thought this book was historical fiction. I remember it was so popular a year or so ago, and I was happy to start it at the beginning of my vacation. It is definitely not historical fiction. It is more like a psychological thriller, that changes dramatically when the narrator switches in the second half of the book. I found most of the characters despicable, and I enjoyed the ending.
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead- This is a beautifully written story that is fiction, but based on true events. We follow a young boy on the brink of beginning college at the height of Martin Luther King Jr.’s fame, to his sudden arrest and shipment to a boys work camp/penitentiary. Then we see the horrors and abuse that happened in these work camps, through his eyes. This is the second book I have read by Colson Whitehead, and his writing is beautiful, though often hard to read. This is one of those stories that you don’t want to know, but you are glad you read.

Favorite Book Superlatives

• Best speculative, literary fiction about a world with no white people: Sky Full of Elephants
• Best how-to if you are a concerned educator, parent or community member who doesn’t want religion to become the main curriculum in public schools: They Came for the Schools: One Town’s Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America’s Classrooms
• Best romance that reminds us that gratitude for the good in front of us can change your life: The Rom-Commers