Overcoming

Ariel Crashes a Train by Olivia Cole is a 2027 Nutmeg nominee, and is my first read from the list.

This book is a novel in verse telling Ariel’s turmoil with violent thoughts and her obsessive coping mechanisms.

The book takes place during summer break. Ariel works at Wildwood, and it’s the first summer her best friend Leah won’t be with her. Her sister moved away for college the year before. Without these pivotal people nearby, Ariel is forced to navigate through her spiraling psyche.

New friends, Ruth and Rex, help Ariel face her illness along with faraway support from her sister. She realizes that she is experiencing OCD and that it can be controlled.

This book may resonate with anyone experiencing OCD symptoms and feelings of not belonging. Ariel struggled with this (on top of her OCD) as a large-sized gay female.

For me, this book rates a 1.

Deadly Affair

The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews is a murder mystery.

Clare has been in a rut. She loves being a mom to three-year-old Sadie, but she doesn’t have much else going on. Then she meets the handsome museum owner Gabriel. They begin an affair. She is at his home during a break in in which a valuable piece of art he was holding for a secret buyer is stolen and he is murdered.

Now Clare and her husband are suspects, but nobody knows she was there the night of the murder. She works behind the scenes to figure out who Gabriel’s buyer was in order to catch the murderer.

Shady dealings in business and the art world come to the surface as Clare works to exonerate herself and her husband. This was an entertaining read.

Not So Charming

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser is a unique twist on the classic tale of Cinderella.

In this perspective, Lady Ethel Tremaine is a strong, resourceful woman trying to keep her family in good standing despite dwindling resources after the death of her second husband.

Her daughters, Rosie and Mathilde, are also hard working. Her stepdaughter Elin is not. She is the only daughter with a dowry and chooses to spend her time relaxing and spouting virtues from a book left to her by her mother.

At first it’s only Elin who receives an invite to the prince’s ball. It turns out there is some bad blood between Ethel and the current queen around her first husband. Their history is rehashed.

Eventually she secures an invite for her daughters as well. It takes everything they have to scrape together the ability to make suitable dresses to attend. Elin’s laziness prevents her from making her dress in time. However, she ends up getting help from a traveling musician – wearing Ethel’s first wedding dress.

The story progresses with a hidden agenda for the sudden ball and hurried marriage proposal to Elin. The handsome prince is actually a monster in disguise. Ethel needs to decide whether to risk their standing forever by blocking the marriage, or overlooking Elin’s safety for her family’s advancement.

While the story got a little draggy at times for me, it was an interesting perspective.

Misunderstood Mabel

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth is an engaging read.

Elsie (aka Mad Mabel) is an elderly woman living a quiet life in her small neighborhood. This is until she discovers her neighbor dead. This pulls up her sordid past in which she was convicted of murder at the age of fifteen. She was blamed for other deaths or injuries before this event as well, including her younger sister, one of her teachers and a couple boys from her class.

She becomes the target of people who blame her for these deaths now that her location and new name is known. Luckily, a pair of YouTubers hope to share her side of the story.

The book is her retelling of her childhood and all the events that led to her reputation as “Mad Mabel.” Meanwhile, current events include her relationships with her neighbors, specifically the young nuisance Persephone, Peter and others. Her best friend Daphne is along for the ride too.

Through her retelling of the past and current events, readers discover that Elsie was extremely misunderstood and lonely. She is actually a caring, funny person who was unable to form true loving relationships with those around her (for various reasons).

This story hooked me from its first lines and kept my interest throughout.

Introvert

Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung is a graphic novel about an introvert’s experiences through school and post-college employment.

She explains how typical social behaviors and gatherings often leave her feeling out of place and depleted. Luckily, her boyfriend is a very understanding extrovert. They balance each other well.

She gets through college and her first post-college job and begins to understand her true nature better. She realizes that there is nothing wrong and that there are others like her.

Cradle Mates

Kin by Tayari Jones is about the lifelong friendship of two girls from Louisiana. Both are motherless, which forged a special bond that lasted despite vast lifestyle differences as they grew up.

Vernice’s mom was killed by her father in a murder-suicide. She was raised by her Aunt Irene. Annie’s mother abandoned her shortly after birth. She was raised by her grandmother.

Annie’s determination to locate her mother, Hattie Lee, sets her on a very different path than Vernice. She sneaks out before graduation with Bobo, Clyde and Babydoll. They spend several months living at a brothel, working (not as prostitutes) to pay for car repairs on their way to Memphis.

Meanwhile, Vernice moves to Atlanta to attend Spelman College. She has a sexual relationship with her wealthy roommate before being matched with the youngest son of a prominent family. Once they marry, Vernice’s mother in law teaches her how to be a society wife.

Despite this change in circumstance, she maintains her friendship with Annie through letters.

Annie comes to visit when she becomes pregnant by her married boss. She does not want to become like her own mother, and needs help. The events that follow bring the story to its heartbreaking conclusion.

This story takes place during the Civil Rights movement which is an important backdrop to many of the events. It is an extremely well written story about the power of love, family and friends who are family.

A Classic

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – My grandmother loved this book and recommended it to me ages ago. I finally read it.

Jane is a great character. She’s strong, intelligent, caring and thoughtful. Orphaned at a young age, she is taken in by her uncle and aunt. When he passes away, her aunt begrudgingly keeps her according to his wishes. However, Jane’s cousins and her aunt all treat her worse than an outsider.

She ends up being sent to a school, Lowood, meant to improve one’s disposition. It is strict and sparse in its offerings. Jane excels and eventually becomes a teacher here before deciding that she would like to do more with her life.

She gains a position as a governess. Over time, she develops feelings for the master of the home, Mr. Rochester. Their relationship slowly builds to a climactic secret which causes Jane to run away.

On the verge of death, Jane happens upon a family who are willing to help her: St John and his two kind sisters. Jane becomes very close with them and faces a life changing decision. However, her deep feelings and worry for Mr Rochester’s well being drive her back to check on him.

Jane learns important information about her lineage which changes her life. Again, the old-fashioned writing can take a little getting used to, but it’s well worth it. I really enjoyed this story (more than Wuthering Heights). Thank you Grandma ❤️

Road Trip

The Road to Tender Hearts by Anne Hartnett is about a broken family years following the oldest daughter’s death on her prom night.

PJ’s ex-wife Ivy and her fiancé Fred live a few houses down the street from him. He visits them every morning and Ivy still looks out for him. Their remaining daughter, Sophie, still lives in the area too. Ivy and Fred are about to go to Alaska for a couple months, leaving PJ on his own which can be problematic as PJ is an alcoholic.

A terrible tragedy in town leaves him as the only surviving relative of his grandniece Luna and nephew Ollie; they’ve never met. He decides to take them on a road trip to find out if Luna’s real dad is a famous soap actor. The plan also includes a visit to PJ’s high school love interest who was recently widowed.

Sophie and a stray cat named Pancakes (a “killer” cat with quite a personality) join them for the journey. Their trip includes quirky stops (wax museum, purse museum and alpaca ranch), along with plenty of family drama and self discovery.

I loved this book. One line to remember- “a person needs three things to be happy: something to do; someone to love; and something to look forward to” (177). The story and characters were unique, funny, at times maddening, and overall, engaging from start to finish.

Failing Scheme

Bad Girls with Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten involves a catfish scheme that goes horribly wrong.

It’s told from multiple perspectives – Sasha, Xavier and a third perspective that appears to be Ivy.

Sasha and Xavier are best friends, but Sasha has been feeling more than friendship. The problem is that Xavier was in a relationship with Ivy. Sasha vows to tell him how she feels after their breakup. But it’s short-lived. Ivy works her way back into his heart before she can say anything. Sasha decides to prove that Ivy is a cheater and a terrible person by developing a fake guy, Jake. Jake and Ivy are getting closer and closer through messages.

Sasha finally decides to reveal herself to Ivy and to threaten her to back away from Xavier. This is when everything goes terribly wrong.

Spoiler- Ivy dies shortly after their encounter and there’s evidence that Xavier may be the murderer. Sasha sets off to conceal the body and ends up discovering that nothing was what she thought.

This book would be entertaining for upper grade level teens looking for a tragic love story with a twist. The lesson here- be honest about your feelings.

Strange Families

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë was recently made into a movie, so I thought it would be a good time to read it.

It took a bit to acclimate to the old-fashioned writing style, but once I got going it was fine. Mr. Lockwood is a visitor intending to lodge at Thrushcross Range. He accidentally gets snowed in at the neighboring Wuthering Heights. He meets the odd collection of people living there, including Heathcliff, Catherine Linton, Hareton and some of the help. He experiences strange occurrences in the room he stays in. Upon returning to Thrushcross, he asks the housekeeper, Nelly, to fill him in on the people of Wuthering Heights.

From here she takes over telling the story of the Earnshaws and Linton families who lived in the two homes. She grew up with the Earnshaws and recounts their upbringing and dynamics once Heathcliff was brought home to live with them.

Heathcliff and the late Catherine developed an intense relationship that was never to be due to his station. She married Linton and moved to Thrushcross, leaving her brother and Heathcliff behind. Her brother’s child, Hareton, is born of a sickly mother who passes away. Heathcliff marries her sister in law. The story details all the drama across the two households leading up to and beyond Catherine’s death and the turmoil that follows.

It’s a convoluted love story with intense emotions.