Images from Goodreads
I usually post these when I’ve read three books, but am reading less overall, so here’s a two book update!
[29] The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Historical Fiction, recommended by Mica (thank you for the digital copy, Mica!)
Snoypsis: When Grace was fourteen in 1914, she began working as a housemaid for the Hartford family at the Riverton estate outside of London. She eventually becomes a lady’s maid to one of the Hartford sisters, and works for the family for over ten years. It’s now 1999, and filmmakers are retelling the tragic story of the Hartford family, and reach out to Grace for information. This inspires Grace to record her memories to send to her grandson, who’s an author. In these memories, she reveals secrets she’s kept about the family for decades, including what really happened at the summer party for which the family is so well known.
Review: This is very upstairs/downstairs Downton Abbey-esque, which is something I’m interested in, but it was too much of a slow burn, and at 600 pages, it was way too long. The book didn’t pick up until the last 20%, and then the denouement didn’t really exist, which was disappointing. I didn’t mind the obvious foreshadowing, but was annoyed when Grace came to a conclusion about what was being foreshadowed, and didn’t do anything about it. The writing is beautiful, with lots of smart people words, but overall, meh.
[30] When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal
Fiction / Contemporary Women, saw advertised on Kindle
Synopsis: Kit’s sister Josie died in a terrorist train crash in Europe fifteen years ago, but when Kit and her mother see a news story in Auckland showing someone who looks just like Josie, down to the distinct scar on her face, Kit goes there to investigate. Kit engages in a romantic relationship while she’s in New Zealand, and finds time to relax (something she doesn’t make a priority as an ER doctor in California), while simultaneously looking for her sister.
Review: My synopsis is a little misleading, because the chapters actually alternate between between the sisters, Kit and Mari (Josie). You get both of their stories – current day, and a lot of the past. They grew up with a lot of family drama (including some dark stuff, so be warned), which is a theme I particularly enjoy. This was a quick and easy read that kept my interest. I really wanted to know if Kit was going to find Josie, and why Josie was hiding from her family! The story was a bit cheesy at times, but I totally didn’t mind. I definitely recommend this one!
Up next: [31] What Alice Forgot
I think I have the Mermaids book on my Amazon list; currently reading Unorthodox after watching the Netflix series of the same name. I saw the movie What Alice Forgot and liked it but hoo boy, what a sad thing to happen to someone.
Ooo! Let me know if you read it! How is Unorthodox?
Did they actually make the movie of Liane Moriarty’s book What Alice Forgot? I have been looking and haven’t seen anything. When I first saw the title I confused it with Still Alice, which is a different, very sad movie that I would not want to read about right now.
Oof, 600-page books are my nemesis, lol. I feel like most of Kate Morton’s books are exceptionally long, which is probably why I’ve yet to read her.
Excited to hear your thoughts about What Alice Forgot – that’s my least favorite Liane Moriarty book, but most people name it their favorite, so I’m definitely in the minority with my opinion.
In this case I really feel like the story could have been told in less pages. Wah!
I liked it! Which of hers is your fave? This was my first time reading her.
Ha, I was thinking I might be interested in checking at The House at Riverton until you said it was 600 pages long. Nooo thank you. Maybe when I’m back to commuting I can commit to a book that long, but not right now! Speaking of long books, I finally finished Crazy Rich Asians (and watched the movie, which, holy cow, SO different from the book. Not in overall plot (couple goes to Asia, turns out the boyfriend’s family is crazy rich, girlfriend grapples with all that entails), but I’d say they cut, like, 30-50% of the book from the movie. And then added another scene that wasn’t in the book??? There was a bunch of drama that was reconfigured, which really surprised me), so I started Beyond the Point over the weekend! I haven’t made much progress, but up to this point I’m SUPER intrigued!
Yeah, I am struggling big time with reading long books at home right now! I don’t get it. This one and the Stephen King one were hard for me.
Oh gosh! I have heard the movie and book are quite different but they sound VERY different. I really liked the movie! Do you think I should read the book?
I am glad you got to start Beyond the Point! 🙂 <3
omg yes, definitely! It’s long-ish (looks like the paperback is 544 pages), but you get SO much more context on the family dynamics, and some things are completely different, like the Astrid/Michael situation, basically everything about Eleanor’s storyline (aside from her skepticism of Rachel), the big reveal about Rachel’s family history, the bachelorette party (again, same general plot points, but there’s a totally different character in the book that they use Astrid for in the movie). Plus they cut the ENTIRE Charlie story out of the movie, when it’s a huge part of the last third of the book. They hint at Charlie in the post-credits scene of the movie, but it was so bizarre to me that he didn’t figure into the movie at ALL beyond that. I’m guessing they were setting up the second movie in the series with him, but he’s a really important part of the first book! I liked both the movie and the book, but it was pretty wild to me how much of the book was missing in the movie.
Okay, that does sound really wild! Are you going to keep reading the series? I think someone told me one of the books is really funky but now I can’t remember exactly what they said.
Even though it’s long I am curious about reading it, then watching the movie again!
I forgot this book was 600 pages long, sorry for recommending such a tome! Eek! It really ate into your reading time this month.
I think reading longer books is easier in physical copy. I feel frustrated when the the percentage completed doesn’t go up on the Kindle.
Don’t be sorry! I am just struggling with long books right now. And got pretty mad that when she found out who her father was she was like “eh, oh well.” Ha ha. I appreciate you getting me the copy.
It is frustrating when the percentage complete doesn’t move much, but then the physical copy is so heavy and takes up so much space! So I’ve actually been purposefully reading all long books on my Kindle! (At least I was doing this when I commuted so I wouldn’t have to carry heavy books!)