What We've Been Reading Lately - December 2018

An unusual reading month for me, I finished five novels and only one non-fiction book. Just a few years ago that ratio would have been reversed, but I'm grateful that fiction now occupies a greater share of my reading life.

First the non-fiction:

Stretched Too Thin by Jessica Turner

Once you stop trying to be someone you are not and doing things that don't align with your desires and/or your responsibilities, you are better able to thrive in your life.

I know this book is targeted toward working moms, but I would assert that every mom is a working mom whether you work inside the home, outside the home, homeschool, traditional school, parent littles, teenagers or grown children, children you birthed or children you've wrapped in love and made your own. Mothering is hard work all the way around. No matter how you mother or how you work, I feel confident there are insights for you in this book.

Jessica's style is vulnerable, funny, and relatable. She offers practical strategies around common stressors like work boundaries, housekeeping, relationships, and self care drawn from her personal experience and her survey of over 2000 working moms. I loved this book and will definitely be rereading it.

Plus the cover just makes me smile! (I picked it as my favorite cover of 2018 in my End of the Year Reading Survey).

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

“You know, people come to Italy for all sorts of reasons, but when they stay, it's for the same two things." 

"What?" 

"Love and gelato.”  

This book is unbelievably cute. I may be biased by my own teenage travels to Italy, but this sweet story of a teenage romance mixed with lovely descriptions of Italian scenery, architecture and food was a wonderful world to get lost in for a little while. I so appreciated that though there are romantic elements, the storytelling is very clean. I'm excited to read Jenna's next book which takes place in Ireland.

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker’s Daughter is a story of murder, mystery, and thievery, of art, love and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river, is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter. 

Multiple voices is right! I had such a hard time keeping all the different characters, settings and storylines straight. Even though I was irritated with all the flipping back and forth I had to do to try to remember details I'd originally glossed over that turned out to be essential to the plot, I so badly wanted to figure out the mystery that I couldn't put it down despite my frustration. I'd like to reread this book again sometime now that I now how it all ends.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

She knew the years of isolation had altered her behavior until she was different from others, but it wasn't her fault she'd been alone. Most of what she knew, she'd learned from the wild. Nature had nurtured, tutored, and protected her when no one else would.

I loved the atmospheric writing and the snippets of poetry woven throughout. I loved Kya's resilience and the healing role of nature in her story. I didn't so much care for the teenage romance, and many aspects of the plot felt completely implausible to me. I know I'm in the minority on this one, but to me this book was just okay.


Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley

When you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean.

This 100-year-old novel about a worn-out housewife turned traveling book salesman is a delightfully light and comical adventure for any book lover. At just over 100 pages it's a quick read that will make you smile and fill you with bookish warm fuzzies.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Just after midnight, a snowstorm stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks in the middle of Yugoslavia. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for this time of year. But by morning there is one passenger less. A ‘respectable American gentleman’ lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Hercule Poirot is also aboard, having arrived in the nick of time to claim a second-class compartment — and the most astounding case of his illustrious career.

I first read this back in 8th grade, but apparently I forgot almost everything because the ending came as just as much of a complete and clever surprise as the first time. A perfect cozy mystery to cuddle up with on a snowy day.

If you're a reader, you can connect with the book-loving community at Modern Mrs. Darcy and let us know what you've been reading lately. We'd love to see you over there!