Hello and happy May 1st!
I’m kicking off the month sharing the books that I read in April. After a slow start to 2024, I’ve had a couple of months of my average of reading three books. This month, I loved two of them, and thought one was ok.
{As always, book summaries are from Goodreads…}
The Women:
Summary:
An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
Quick Thoughts:
This book is pretty popular, and I can certainly see why, as it was heartbreaking, inspiring, uplifting, and beautiful. Honestly, I don’t know that I’ve read anything set during the Vietnam War. Of course, with war, we think of the soldiers, but I’d never thought about other heroes of war…the doctors and nurses tending to and trying to keep the wounded soldiers alive. Even more heartbreaking was thinking about the PTSD that these women suffered while having their emotions and concerns brushed aside.
Some quotes that stood out to me:
- In reference to the women not being seen for the work they were doing
“The world changes for me, Frances. For women, it stays pretty much the same.”
- In a letter to Frances from her mother:
“I imagine it would feel wonderful to be good at something that mattered. That is something that too many of the women of my generation didn’t consider. With love, Your mother”
Rating:
I bet this book will be in my top 5 for 2024!
None of This is True:
Summary:
Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.
But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.
Quick Thoughts:
I’ve read and liked Lisa Jewell books in the past, but this book was just odd to me. Of course, it is a psychological thriller…but I just didn’t enjoy the characters and I thought some of the plot was disturbing. I did want to keep reading to see the lies unfold and clarified, but it was just a book that felt odd and flat to me.
Rating:
3.5 stars, to be fair.
The Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI:
Summary:
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And this was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.
As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
Quick Thoughts:
I’d heard quite a bit of hype in regards to this movie, so when my friend let me borrow the book, I was interested in reading it. From the first page, I was hooked. What the members of the Osage nation went through was so heartbreaking, but the making of the FBI was so interesting. The book also had so many pictures, and it was neat to put faces to the names.
I’m torn on if I want to watch the movie or not, but the book is definitely one that I will always remember…and for sure another top read in 2024.
Rating:
It’s hard to believe, but I’m going to start working on my summer reading list. Some books I usually want to read in the summer don’t come out until mid-summer or have long library wait lists, so I want to prioritize and get organized for my summer reading!
Do you have any summer reading recommendations?
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