A Holly Jolly Diwali

Finished December 5

A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli

This romance novel is set around Niki Randhawa, a late twenties data analyst living in Seattle. As the book opens her parents have approached her, worried about her single status. She agrees to have them give her number to a man they know of through friends. Niki has always made practical choices, as opposed to her older sister Jasmine, who has always been a rebel. Jasmine has followed her dreams and has a great career in the art world she loves. Niki, meanwhile chose practicality despite her own love for music and art, and she is good at what she does, but lately has been bored by her job. 

When she is unexpectedly laid off minutes before she is supposed to meet her date, she acts in a different way, choosing things that aren't safe. Drinking too much on the date, she impulsively decides to change her mind about attending her college best friend's wedding in India, and books a flight. 

She arrives in time for Diwali, and her questions about the holiday get answered in different ways, depending on who she asks. This also prompts questions about her knowledge of Indian culture and language. Her parents, who are Sikh and Punjabi are proud of their heritage, but not strongly religious and never educated their daughters in Punjabi as many of her peers have been educated. 

She also begins to question her own choices and when she meets someone she is attracted to she wavers between moving forward and holding back. While in India, she meets both new friends and relatives she hadn't seen before, and learns more about both herself and her culture. 

Back home in Seattle, she begins to have meaningful conversations with her parents about culture and choices, and she begins to have a true friendship with her sister. 

I liked the growth of the character in this novel. The romance was an interesting plot element, but for me, it was secondary to her own self awareness. 

Things We Do in the Dark

Finished December 18

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier

This novel has a touch of suspense and a lot of delving into the past. In Seattle, Paris Peralta comes home early from a yoga conference. Paris has been married only a few years to the much older Jimmy Peralta, a comedian and actor. Their unlikely relationship is based on real liking for each other and respect. So when she comes in to find him dead in the bathtub, she is shocked, dismayed, and in disbelief. As she tries to save him, even though she knows he is beyond saving, she knocks herself out and thus finds herself waking to screams, police, and an accusation of murder.

In Toronto, Drew Malcolm is upset to learn that convicted murderer Ruby Reyes is being released on parole. It isn't the murder that bothers him as much as the way she is being depicted as a MeToo victim when he knows better. Years before, he was fascinated by the story and it is part of what led him to a career in journalism. He knows does a podcast on criminal cases. He also got to know Ruby's daughter Joelle, and was her roommate for a while, and knows that Ruby was also convicted of child abuse in her treatment of Joelle. That is something that he can't forgive her for and thus why he has a personal stake in the case. When Joelle died in a house fire shortly after Drew confronted her about her life choices, it created both a feeling of guilt in him and one of unresolved issues between them that can never to dealt with. He resolves to make it his mission to paint a picture of Ruby for the public that shows her true colours. 

As these two stories gradually come together, we get a clearer picture of Paris, of Ruby and her daughter Joelle, and of the way that the press influences news stories. We also see more deeply into the foster care system, into the lives of those struggling to afford a place to live and a better future, and into those who can't let go of past relationships. 

A fascinating read with characters that truly come alive to the reader. 

We gradually learn that Paris has a hidden past, one that she definitely doesn't want to come out. The novel jumps back in time to one years before. 

The Geography of You and Me

Finished on February 16 

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

This teen novel opens with two teenagers Lucy, fifteen, and Owen, sixteen, stuck in an elevator together as the power goes out. Lucy's family lives on the 24th floor of this New York City building, and Owen's father recently started as the building manager and lives in the basement. Until now they hadn't exchanged any words, although Lucy had noticed him. 

After they are released from the elevator and discover the power outage is widespread, they stay together, going out for supplies and then up to the roof of the building, staring at the dark city and the stars. 

Soon after, Lucy's family moves to Edinburgh, keeping the apartment for occasional use, and Owen and his father start moving west. Even though their communication is sparse, the two can't stop thinking of each other.

This is a story of first love, of long-distance relationships, of family, and of growing up.

I liked both the main characters and most of the secondary characters here, particularly Owen's dad who is dealing with his own losses. A feel-good story.

Behind Every Lie

Finished February 2

Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald

This is a real page-turner of a novel. It takes place mostly in the Seattle area, with a quick journey to England. Eva Hansen wakes up in the hospital confused and uncertain where she is. She has been struck by lightning and the last thing she remembers is being at a restaurant celebrating her mother's recent award. One of the first things she learns after waking is that her mother Kat is dead, found murdered in her own home, and Eva's car was near her mother's house and she was found in a nearby park.

Eva doesn't believe that she had anything to do with her mother's death, but the police seem to suspect her, and because she can't remember, she doesn't know what happened. 

She decides that she must dig into her and her mother's past to clear her name and find out the truth. This takes her back to London, where she was born, and as she digs deeper, she is unsure who she can trust.

Her brother Andrew seems unsure whether to believe that she is uninvolved, her partner Liam seems to be trying to keep her from talking to the police, and she has doubts about her own behaviour. 

As her memories slowly come back to her and she learns her mother's secrets, she realizes that things are more complex than she realized. 

This book had me gripped to find out what happened next. One secret after another is revealed, slowly as Eva along with the reader learns the truth. Eva is a woman who has been unsure of herself for many reasons, one who hasn't trusted her own instincts until now. 

Uncharted

Finished February 10

Uncharted: A Couple's Epic Empty-Nest Adventure Sailing From One Life to Another by Kim Brown Seely

This memoir is told by a woman in her forties. In 2009, her husband convinced her that they should buy a sailboat that had been repossessed by a bank and was therefore a pretty good deal. They's talked about buying a sailboat, but this 54 foot Moody needed work and was in Rhode Island while they lived in Seattle, and thus would need to be moved across the country. They bought it and her husband Jeff, who had some sailing experience in his youth worked to get Kim and their two tween and teen sons competent sailors. While this book is about one specific sailing trip they took when their youngest left for college, it is also about the experience of having one's children move into adulthood by leaving, and about the way the relationship between a couple changes over time.

Partway through this particular trip, the couple's sons join them for a week, flying in to meet them by float plane. The whole family then docks the boat, locks it up and goes back home, with their older son heading back to his internship in San Francisco, and the couple flying east with their youngest to take him to college in northern New York State. 

There were definitely things that were foreign to me, besides sailing. I can't imagine my parents escorting me to university, or there being so much crying about me setting off on my own adult adventure, but maybe mine hid it well. I found the sailing well described, so that even a complete novice like me could understand, but not full of technical stuff that would bore the reader. 

It was the trip that fascinated me, leaving Seattle, and soon sailing into Canada, along the edge of Vancouver Island and the mainland, and up the Inside Passage to the Great Bear Rainforest. 

There are four pages of maps in the front of the book that show their journey, and they are better marked than other such books that I've read in terms of naming waterways and islands, but there were still a few that were named in the text, but not indicated on the maps. This is a pet peeve of mine. 

The journey was full of wonder at the nature and people that they encountered, and Seely really gave a sense of the feeling and ambience of the days. 

Also fun was that there was a lot of references to music, as they used an iPod for background, company, and mood. 

Seely is an award-winning journalist and the quality of the writing here shows that. I really enjoyed this book, and its setting was of great interest to me. 

Twenty-One Wishes

Finished February 9 

Twenty-One Wishes by Debbie Macomber

This volume is actually two books, the novel Twenty Wishes, and the novella The Twenty-First Wish. At the center of Twenty Wishes is Anne-Marie Roche, the owner of Blossom Street Books, in Seattle. Twenty Wishes is the fifth book in the series set on Blossom Street. The Twenty-First Wish is number 5.5 in the series but I found that the actions here came after those of the sixth book, Summer on Blossom Street, which I read a while ago. 

Anne-Marie is still recovering from the loss of her husband a year earlier. They had been estranged due to Anne-Marie's desire to have a child, something she'd agreed not to have when they married, but then had a change of mind about. They were starting to reconcile when her husband died suddenly. She has formed a small group with three other women who are widows. Elise has recently reconnected with her husband Maverick, only for him to be diagnosed with cancer. Lillie and Barbie are a mother and daughter who both lost their husbands when their plane went down on a business trip. Barbie was very close to her husband, and she and their college-age twin sons are finally beginning to move forward. Lillie didn't have a great marriage, but she pretended not to be aware of her husband's infidelity. On their Valentines Day get-together, the women decide to make lists of twenty wishes that they have for themselves, not necessarily with a definite plan, but as a way to move forward. 

We see them slowly develop these wishes, and each move forward in different ways. The story concentrates most on Anne-Marie, with Lillie and Barbie also having a fair bit of plot line. Elise is a more minor character here. 

The Twenty-First Wish is a development based on some of Anne-Marie's results to her wishes, and is definitely her story. 

I always enjoy the light romance, with some life decisions happening in Macomber's novels. And there is knitting involved again as a part of the plot, but no knitting patterns are included here. 

Written in the Stars

Finished March 12
Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

This romance novel takes place in Seattle and is a delightful rom-com of a read. Darcy Lowell is an entrepreneur and astrologist on the verge of a big business deal, with her and her business partner Margot signing a deal with a popular matchmaking firm. The principal at the matchmaking firm that they've been working with on the deal has set Darcy up with his sister Elle, who's recently come out of a painful break-up and moved to Seattle only after that.
But things don't go well on that first date, which is per usual lately for Darcy. Darcy is feeling down, not just because of her non-existent love life, but also because her family doesn't see her unconventional career choice as a serious venture, despite her success.
Elle is also not feeling great about her life. She's tired of her brother trying to set her up, and doesn't have the energy to keep going on bad dates. When she tells a lie about the date to buy some time from her brother, she ends up making a deal with Darcy that might help them both. If it doesn't hurt them.
Both women have been burnt in relationships and are a bit wary of getting hurt again. Both have families that have some issues.
There's some intriguing things happening her, and I had trouble putting this book down. A fun and engrossing read.

Summer on Blossom Street

Finished October 29
Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

This novel is part of the series that takes place around the shops on Blossom Street in Seattle. Lydia Goetz, co-owner of the knitting store A Good Yarn has just decided to start a new class called Knit to Quit, to help people who are trying to quit a bad habit or anything like that.
The first person to join is Phoebe Rylander. Phoebe has recently called off her engagement to a local lawyer after discovering he's in the habit of cruising for prostitutes. He's a charming man, and his social status is a draw for Phoebe's mother, but she knows he isn't a good man to have in her life. She needs to distract herself with an activity, and get away from her apartment as he is still trying desperately to change her mind.
Alix Turner, a friend of Lydia's who works at the cafe across the street as a baker, is thinking of starting a family with her new husband, but she hasn't exactly had good models for parenthood herself, and she started smoking again around the stress of the wedding, and knows she has to quit before having a baby.
Local businessman Bryan Hutchinson took on the family chocolate business after his father's unexpected death. He's had a steep learning curve, works far too many hours, doesn't always eat as healthy as he should and is even more keyed up than he has been because of a woman suing the company. He also has a thumb injury that hasn't been healing as well as he hoped. His doctor has now told him to go to a knitting class to help with both the thumb and with stress.
Lydia also has stuff going on in her personal life. She and her husband Brad have recently been approved as foster parents, part of their plan to adopt an infant. But when they are asked to take on an older child, due to an urgent need, want to help but are not sure how this will impact their son Cody. Her sister Margaret is dubious as well.
Lydia's friend Anne Marie is also doing some thinking. She recently finalized the adoption on her daughter and they've just returned from a trip to Paris. Now back to running her bookstore, Anne Marie is looking for a larger home for them, and is confronted by a situation that she isn't sure how she feels about.
Lots going on here, with lots of interesting plot lines. The book also includes the pattern the knitting class is working on, a cable sampler scarf.

He's Gone

Finished March 30
He's Gone by Deb Caletti

This novel begins with Dani Keller waking up on her houseboat in Seattle one morning to find her husband not there. At first she assumes that he went out for coffee and the paper, but as the day goes on, she begins to worry.
The night before, the couple had been to a work event for her husband's company. As he was one of the co-founders, Ian insisted on her dressing to a certain image he had, and her discomfort with the expectations placed on her and the social situation meant that she overmedicated herself and has hazy memories of the evening, especially towards the end.
As the police become involved, and Ian's daughters from his first marriage start to make accusations, Dani finds herself more and more worried about what happened that evening.
Did Ian come home with her? She thinks so, but can't remember specifics. They've been having some problems lately, and certainly weren't the loving couple people thought they were lately. Ian has been increasingly critical of Dani, and easier to anger, and Dani hasn't been happy.
This is a story that looks hard at a relationship, its origins, its growth, and its issues.

Close to Home

Finished March 3
Close to Home by Robert Dugoni, performed by Emily Sutton-Smith

This novel is part of a series featuring Tracy Crosswhite, a Seattle detective. Tracy and the rest of her unit, are called in to investigate a hit and run. There is no real reason to think it is anything but an accident, but the victim, D'Andre Miller is a young black teen, and the SPD is mindful of the political issues surrounding such a death. As the investigation moves on and the vehicle of an off-duty US serviceman is linked to the death, questions that are hard to answer begin to arise. The Navy petty officer, Lazlo Trejo, is keeping secrets, but his silence leads Tracy to start wondering about his actions and what he could be hiding. She is determined to bring him to justice, especially after the case is transferred to the Navy and things start to go wrong. Tracy has her own history with loss, and is determined not to leave the Miller family without closure.
Lt. Leah Battles is the navy lawyer assigned to the case, and she is a determined professional who has fought for her promotions, using her skill to represent each case she is involved in with everything she has. When things start to go wrong, she falls under suspicion, but Tracy begins to wonder if Leah is just a convenient fall guy.
During this time, Tracy's partner has faced a health issue of his own and is frustrated to be sitting on the sidelines, when he is a man of action.
One of the other members of Tracy's unit, Del Castiglione, is grieving the recent death of his niece by drug overdose, and looking for revenge against those who supplied her with the drug. As he and his partner Vic Fazzio continue their investigation into the drug's origin continues, he connects with a new-to-the-area lawyer in the DA's office who has also experienced the tragedy of losing a family member to drugs. Her views on solutions are different than his, and Del begins to move through his grief.
This is the fifth book in the series, but the first one that I've read. I really enjoyed it, and want to know more about thiese characters.

Merry and Bright

Finished December 20
Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber

This light romance set around Christmas follows other similar books by the author. Here we have college student Merry Knight who has taken a year off college to work for the money she needs to continue. She is working for a consulting company, Matterson Consulting, primarily on a big project that are working on for Boeing. This is an important project and its success could lead to more work with the company. She is nearly done her contract, which goes until the end of the year.
Merry lives at home with her parents and her younger brother Patrick, who has Down's syndrome. She has a good relationship with all her family, and her mom and Patrick decide to sign her up for a online dating site. They know that what's inside is what is important, so to fend off men attracted by her beauty, they use a picture of the family dog, a golden named Bogie.
Jayson Bright has had a difficult life up to now. Not in the financial sense, he has plenty of money, but in the caring and emotional sense. His parents divorced when he was young and took little interest in him. He is close to his cousin Cooper, and a visit from this cousin makes him realize he has been pouring all his time and energy into the project at his uncle's consulting firm, knowing that if he is successful, this will seal the deal for him to take over the company as his uncle retires. When he looks on the dating site his cousin used, he is surprised to see a local woman whose picture is a dog. It reminds him of his childhood dog Rocky, and on impulse he puts up a profile using Rocky's picture.
Jayson's worry over the project and driving energy have led him to be brusque in the office and he's had a couple of run-ins lately with a young woman in the data office. Of course she hasn't taken well to his attitude, but is a dedicated worker.
And thus the stage is set for a online romance between two people who know each superficially, but not really.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes

Finished December 5
Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford, read by Emily Woo Zeller

This historical novel takes us first to China, and then to Seattle in the early twentieth century. Both these are memories of Ernest Young's decades later, as one of his daughters, a reporter, digs into the past for stories on the upcoming world's fair of 1962. Ernest is living in a small apartment in Chinatown, with his ailing wife Grace living with his journalist daughter. She's been having memory issues, and outbursts, and it has been thought best to leave her there.
Ernest remembers his last moments with his mother and what happened to his baby sister. It was then his journey to the west began. First there was a days long walk with other young Chinese children and youths. Then a voyage by ship. Ernest remembers the other passengers, the spartan quarters and and a few of the men on the ship that they interacted with. He was lucky to survive.
The book then takes us to 1909, when Ernest has been a charitable case by a local female dogooder. When he finds enough courage to challenge her idea of his future, she changes her mind, and uses him as a fund-raising raffle prize. This throws him into a new world, one that is more freeing, but also limited. He is won by the madam of a high-class brothel, to the consternation of his dogooder. Other than the piano player, who lives elsewhere, Ernest is the only male in the house, and becomes an object of affection by the upstairs girls, and a companion to one of the servants near his own age, Fahn. He also connects with the madam's young daughter Maisie, and the three hang out together, explore portions of the town, and on one eventful evening go to the fair.
As Ernest looks back at this time in his life, he recognizes that he loved both girls, for different reasons, and in different ways, but, in the end, could only commit to one.
As the memories continue to come, and Ernest deals with the events of the present, Grace begins to improve and begins to share her own memories. Ernest has been trying to protect her, and the shared history that may not be what she really wants shared, but again, he finds that fate has taken things into her own hands.
This is a fascinating story, based on a newspaper article the author came across of a baby being auctioned off at the fair. Ford looked at other real historical events such as the drive for suffrage and against alcohol and other vices, and used them to tie the story together. I loved it.

Today Will Be Different

Finished December 3
Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

This novel follows Eleanor Flood through a single day of her life. She knows she's been distracted and not living up to what her husband Joe, her son Timby, and herself expect from her. The book starts with an affirmation and intention

Today will be different. Today I will be present. Today, anyone I speak to, I will look them in the eye and listen deeply. Today I'll play a board game with Timby. I'll initiate sex with Joe. Today I will take pride in my appearance. I'll shower, get dressed in proper clothes, and change into yoga clothes only for yoga, which today I will actually attend. Today I won't swear. I won't talk about money. Today there will be an ease about me. My face will be relaxed, its resting place a smile. Today I will radiate calm. Kindness and self-control will abound. Today I will buy local. Today I will be my best self, the person I'm capable of being. Today will be different.

that she fully intends to live by. She does shower and get dressed in a nice dress, but from the beginning she notices some things aren't right, and when more things throw her plans off-balance she reacts emotionally. From her son needing to be taken out of school because he's sick, causing her to leave her poetry lesson midway through to a lunch bringing up old painful memories, we see Eleanor and her feelings.
She lives a good life. She works as an animator, although not to the extent she did a decade ago. Her husband is a renowned hand surgeon. Her son is intelligent and confident. She is well enough off to buy what she wants. As we gradually understand what her true sorrow is based on, we realize both the importance and the limitations of families.
The middle section of the book takes us back into the past to see how Eleanor came to be where she is now, and that section is poignant with unresolved emotions.
This is a story to make you laugh, make you cry, and make you care. I loved how poetry was used. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Murder Strikes a Pose

Finished March 30
Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber

This first novel is set in the Seattle community of Greenwood. Kate Davidson is a yoga instructor who runs a studio in Greenwood. When a homeless man, George, and his dog Bella set up to sell newspapers in front of her studio, at first she just wants their disturbance to move, but ends up finding a way to work with the two of them and becomes friends with George. When Kate finds George dead one night and Bella confined, she can't help but wonder if George's death was premeditated and, if so, who would be behind it. Despite being warned off by the police and George's estranged family, Kate is persistent and works even harder to find the answers to George's death.
With George gone, Kate has also taken on Bella, hoping to find her a welcoming forever home, but Bella's issues are more complicated than Kate realized, and with her health issues and her reactions to other dogs and now some men, finding a good home won't be easy. But Bella seems to attach herself happily to Kate and Kate is determined to do her best by her.
Also, Kate's best friend Rene is determined to do something about Kate's love life, and who better than the owner of the new pet store in the area. But will Kate be able to take down her defences long enough to make a real commitment?
A nice mystery with a strong main character and interesting plotline.

Morning Glory

Finished March 20
Morning Glory by Sarah Jio

This novel moves back and forth between two women, one in present day and one in the 1950s. As the book begins Ada Santorini has chosen to leave New York City as a way to deal with her ongoing grief over the loss of her husband and daughter. She has rented a houseboat in Seattle for the summer and hopes to be able to find a way to move on with her life.
In the 1950s, Penny Wentworth has found that her new marriage is vastly different than she thought it would be. Her new husband Dexter, an artist, is away for long periods of time and yet doesn't want her to find her own occupation. She is bored and lonely, with the other wives in the houseboats around her older and accomplished in their own right. She is sympathetic to young Jimmy, whose parents seem to ignore him or dismiss his interests. As she begins to feel more abandoned, she dreams of a different life, with someone who really cares about what she wants.
When Ada finds a trunk containing Penny's belongings, she grows interested in the secrets surrounding this woman, and begins to ask questions that were buried for years.
This is a story of loss and grief, of moving forward despite those, of finding a life that means something and that speaks to your true self.
It is a story of expectations and miscommunication. It is a story of hope.
I enjoyed this read.

Emerald City

Finished March 31
Emerald City by Alicia K Leppert
This novel, set in Seattle, tells the story of a young woman, Olivia, who is struggling with depression. Her mother died recently, and the hard life the two had after the desertion of Olivia's father has had its toll. Olivia exists, barely, moving through the routine of her life as a waitress and her small studio apartment. Even her friends have deserted her. When she thinks she has hit a low, she finds that someone does care and she has been helped. As she moves forward, she must find the strength within herself to ask for help, find new friends and possibly new love. The young man who has come into her life, Jude, is a bit of a cipher. Olivia finds herself trying to figure him out and once she does, the two together have to figure out the next step in their lives, together or apart.
A love story, a story of redemption, and hope, this is also one with a touch of the other.
Olivia has more backbone than she has given herself credit for, and her honesty with herself and her situation help a lot to keep her moving in a positive direction.

Memoir

Finished September 7
I'm Down by Mishna Wolff
Mishna has a very unusual childhood, growing up in a poor black neighbourhood of Seattle, with a white father who thinks and acts black. Her father works occasional construction jobs, but generally doesn't do a lot to support his family. Her parents split up when she is quite young, but unusually for the time, she and her sister Anora stay with her father. The neighbourhood she grew up in is the same one her father grew up in, and while he fit in, friends with the black men in the area, she doesn't. She feels white and out of place and she doesn't know how to act to fit in, although her sister has a better time of it. When she gets accepted into a progressive school, she finds she doesn't fit in with the white kids there either, as she is too "black" to fit into that culture. When her father remarries, this time to a black woman, it doesn't get any easier and Mishna has a difficult time finding her way, determined to get a better life and yet unsure how to attain that goal.
I found this memoir very engaging and interesting not just for Mishna's own experiences, which she tells in a lively and honest way, but also because I have an adopted sister who is black, and she has told me that she has trouble fitting into black culture because she was raised "white". This is an interesting look at culture and environment and how it shapes us.

First Novel

Finished February 12
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
This is a fascinating look at the world of racial identity during the Second World War.
The main character, Henry Lee, was born in Seattle to a Chinese couple, and educated in Chinese until the Americans entered the war. At that point his father got him accepted into a scholarship program at the white school. As part of his entry he worked in the school cafeteria at lunch, dishing up food to his classmates. He also works after school, cleaning.
When he is joined by another Asian, he is at first unsure what to do, but grows to bond with the girl, Keiko Okabe, who was also born in Seattle, but to a Japanese couple. Her family is better educated than his, with her father working as a lawyer, and thus more open to the two being friends.
Henry has also formed a friendship with a black jazz musician, Sheldon. Rather than have his lunch stolen every day at school, he gives it to Sheldon on his way to school, after stopping to listen to him play on the streetcorner. Keiko also loves the music Sheldon plays, and the two try to listen to him play at a nightclub, getting them noticed by another jazz musician who writes a piece in their honor.
As the war continues, and the Japanese are harassed and then evacuated to camps, Henry struggles with his feelings for Keiko and his family's attitudes toward the Chinese as well as to their place in America.
The story moves back and forth between the war years, and Henry's life in 1986 after his wife has died. Henry's memories are awakened after the discovery in the basement of a hotel of possessions of Japanese citizens of Seattle left in storage during the war and never claimed.
The story is a touching one and shows how individuals made a difference even in difficult times.