Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club

 Book 89 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from November 24 - 25

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club

by J. Ryan Stradal

My Opinion

4 stars

I was able to see this author for the second time at an event in Des Moines, IA and get a signed book.  It always adds to the story when I hear an author speak about it but especially in this case when he writes the Midwest life and women so well.

It's silly but it took me out...the wording after a character suffered a miscarriage about everything they'd gone through for this one brief pregnancy implied they'd never had children so when a child was introduced in a flashback I had to do a lot of flipping to make sure I had dates/characters correct.  This isn't a criticism of how either scenario, the current one or the tragedy in the past, was handled story-wise but in a situation where there were already multiple POVs and timelines, it added an unnecessary scratch to my brain to have it be the same person.

I really enjoy this writer and will definitely continue supporting anything he puts out in the future.

Quote from the Book

"After all the time and money spent, and procedures they endured, here she was.  Not back to where she started, because there's no such thing.  Her body would either bear a child or bear a loss.  Either way, the space was made."

Name Drop

 Book 88 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from November 19 - 20

Name Drop: the Really Good Celebrity Stories 

I Usually Only Tell at Happy Hour

by Ross Mathews

My Opinion

3 stars

A quick, light read chosen because that's what my brain needed.  I'm a little too cynical at the moment to handle his upbeat personality (that's not a critique of him, just an assessment of myself) so I'm glad I didn't do the audio version.

The format of quick stories, especially the chapters with multiple little snippets, was good.  I skipped over the recipes because that's not my interest but I read all the names and the puns were cute.

The Secrets We Keep

 Book 87 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from November 6 - 9

The Secrets We Keep

by Brian Castlemaigne

My Opinion

3 stars

I bought this book at a used book store in Ireland and had already read it by the time we came home.  There was a fairy tale aspect that made me question her grip on reality but it all came together nicely and I was relieved her interactions were real.

The line about overcooking the eggs "until [they] were pale yellow and crumbly, just the way neither of them liked it" made me laugh.  I also err on the side of overcooking, especially chicken, to avoid getting sick.

The Peripatetic Coffin

 Book 86 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read on November 8

The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories

by Ethan Rutherford

My Opinion

3 stars

I read this in a day during a long bus ride.  My initial reaction was that I didn't really connect with most of the stories but then I realized I did read it all in a day so I must've liked it more than I thought.

My favorite story was "john, for christmas"

I intentionally left this book behind in a hotel in London so it can hopefully find a new reader.  I don't re-read books so it would've been donated when I got back home anyway.

Tiny Hot Dogs

 Book 85 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from November 4 - 6

Tiny Hot Dogs: A Memoir in Small Bites

by Mary Giuliani

My Opinion

3 stars

As the note above the copyright states, "all of these stories are true-ish, except for the parts that are not".

It was mildly entertaining but I tire quickly of "oh oops I fell into success" stories in general.  The way she tells it, her success happened in spite of her seemingly best efforts to sabotage them which means either a) she's diminishing her abilities for some reason or b) she's severely downplaying the boost her family's career and access helped her.

I read this on vacation and I left it behind intentionally in a hotel in London so another person can read it and hopefully love it more than I did.

Now that I've written it, the review seems negative for a 3 star rating but I'm catching up after vacation and I gave it 3 stars immediately after finishing it so that's what I'm sticking with.

Maureen

 Book 84 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from November 3 - 4

Maureen

by Rachel Joyce

My Opinion

4 stars

This could've very easily been read in one sitting if I'd had time.  I liked the concept of jumping ahead in time to give some next context as well as a new perspective.

As a coincidence, I was in Edinburgh when I read this and there was a road sign for Berwick-upon-Tweed just across the hotel so that was fun.

The Love Song of Queenie Hennessy

 Book 83 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from October 26 - November 2

The Love Song of Queenie Hennessy

by Rachel Joyce

My Opinion

4 stars

I read this on vacation and it was the perfect way to pass the time.  It was quickly readable and engaging but I also could have little distractions/interruptions occur that didn't impact the flow.  I wish I'd read it a little sooner after The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry or that I had a better memory because I wasted time trying to figure out if things were Easter eggs or genuinely new information.

The ending was jaw-dropping.

Unrelated to the story, I found an item in the book.  It was an appointment card for a salon in Connecticut.  I looked up the date (Sunday, July 16) and it could've been from either 2017 or 2023.  My husband bought it used online and gave it to me for Christmas in 2023.  So at some point it was in Connecticut, it was given to me in Iowa, and I read it in Ireland.