Wow. The last two books I read were SO similar.
- The Overdue Life of Amy Byler is about, surprise, Amy Byler, a woman whose husband abandoned her and her two kids three years ago. Her husband shows up asking if he can spend a week with the kids at the beginning of summer vacation. She says yes and takes a trip to NYC to go to a library conference (she’s a librarian) and hang out with a friend from college. She realizes she’s become a martyr and hasn’t done anything for herself since her husband left, so the week off is nice, once she gets in to the swing of things. There is also a romance (and much more, but no spoilers!) involved. This is a cute, fun book. I randomly saw it on BookBub and am glad I got it for 96 cents.
- This has been my summer/fall of Abbi Waxman books! I love her writing. She’s clever, funny, and relevant. The Garden of Small Beginnings is set in Los Angeles, like Waxman’s other books (since she lives there, I suppose), and is about Lilian Girvan, whose husband died three years ago, and left her with two young children. She’s an illustrator, and gets a special assignment to take a gardening class, as she will be drawing vegetables for a vegetable gardening guide. She falls for her gardening instructor, but is conflicted about it, since she still feels so much grief over her husband’s death. She realizes what a martyr she’s been, and that she’s not the only one grieving over his death. There’s lots of fun side stories about her kids, her sister, and the people in her gardening class. It’s a fun book. I’ll read anything Waxman writes. I see the similarity between her characters between books, but I like them all!
- Next up is A Gentleman in Moscow. Now, that can’t be about a woman whose husband left her or died three years ago, has two children, and has become a martyr… can it? Ha, my problem is that I see books recommended (this one was recommended by the author Blake Crouch on his back cover copy of Recursion), put them on my list to read, and don’t have much of a clue what they are about. We’ll see!
Ooo I’m requesting both of these. Perfect timing and I need a new book. I just finished The Same Sky- 2 stories that connect at the end. One about a young Guatamalan girl who tries to get to American after her grandmother died and leaves her alone and one about a woman who is unable to have a child and how that impacts her life. It was a quick read, but good.
Cool! I really loved Waxman’s latest book too – The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.
The Same Sky sounds good. Is it set in modern times?
Off topic, but did you hear what happened with RAGBRAI? https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/ragbrai-staff-resigns-announces-new-ride-2020#stream/0
I did, only because my snister and a friend told me about it! Wow. Dad and I were just talking about the Carson King dramz last week and I never thought about how it would affect RAGBRAI. I am still kind of in shock about it (that they are starting a new ride). What do you think?
Both books sound great although I would have picked the Abbi Waxman one first because of the cover, LOL. #notashamed
Same!!! She has great covers!
Yay! I’m so glad you loved The Garden of Small Beginnings. It’s such a great story. I read it on a cruise and still think about reading that novel on our balcony while the waves crash against the ship. 🙂 Such a delightful memory.
I read a different book by Amor Towles and really enjoyed it. The book was a bit of a slow read, more character-driven than plot, which I usually struggle with but there was just something so lovely about the setting and characters! I hope you love A Gentleman in Moscow – I’ve heard amazing things!
Aww, that is a delightful memory!!!
That is how A Gentleman in Moscow is so far, so there is some struggle. This one is going to slow me down! But it’s really great so far. I feel like I am going to learn a lot from it.
Ha, wow those two books are really similar. I guess there’s a whole genre tapping into women feeling like they have sacrificed everything for other people. (Ugh.)
Is “A Gentleman in Moscow” the one that you’re using the Kindle for work lookups?
In the first book, the mom character did have to sacrifice a lot to stabilize their life after the husband left them and provided no monetary support after being the breadwinner. In the second book, the mom character was so entrenched in her grief she was only thinking about how it affected her life, and not the other people grieving over his death as well. I’ve seen this in real life – I don’t think it’s natural for many people to be perspective in their grief. I hope this is not a genre of books but I can see it as a recurring theme. It’s a hot topic right now. I was glad in both books that supportive family and friends helped them get out of their funks.
It is. I don’t think I could read it without the Kindle. There are way too many references to keep up without looking them up.
I will look for Abbi Waxman books at the library!