All Her Little Secrets

Finished January 8

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris

This thriller moves back and forth between the childhood of the main character, corporate lawyer Ellice Littlejohn, with occasional viewpoints of other people like her younger brother Sam. Ellice escaped her small town, and the life of poverty she lived there through scholarships. She now has an Ivy League degree, and a secret relationship with her married white superior Michael, the EVP and general counsel for Houghton Transportation in Atlanta. That's just one of her secrets. She also keeps secret her origins, passing herself off as an orphan with no family. The woman that saved her, helping protect her from that early life is now in the later stages of dementia and Ellice pays for her stay at a high-scale living facility. But she knows Vera would rather be back on her farm. 

Ellice also hides her younger brother Sam, who's had some legal issues and doesn't seem to be able to keep away from the temptations of that life. She and Sam are close, and she loves him, but she also feels guilty for leaving him behind when she escaped. 

After an episode from the early part of her life, the present-day part of the novel begins with Ellice finding her boss shot in the head when she goes to meet him for an early pre-work assignation. So she hides the fact that she found him too, and goes to her own desk and tries to get on with things. But, soon she finds that with the gossip, the police, and the sudden interest in her from the executive suite, that all those secrets are pretty hard to hide.

Ellice is also one of the very few black employees in the building. Outside of the security staff, and other low-paid workers, she is it. There have been protests outside the corporate building about the lack of racial presence and a threat of a class action suit. This is another thing looming on the horizon. 

As Ellice starts trying to figure out what happened to Michael to save her from the threats now coming at her, she finds even more secrets to deal with. 

The plot is a good one, and I found the main character interesting. The author is also a corporate attorney, so she brings in realistic elements from that life. A good read. 

The Merchant's House

Finished January 5

The Merchant's House by Kate Ellis

I enjoyed The Armada Boy so much (a book I picked up in a charity shop) that I have got most of the rest of the series, and started with this one, which is the first in the series. The Armada Boy was the second in the series, so I'm mostly doing it in order. 

Here, DS Wesley Peterson has just transferred into the local force from London. As he walks to work the first morning, he sees his friend archeologist Neil Watson engaged in a dig at an old structure. They talk briefly and Wesley correctly identifies the structure as a merchant's house from the 17th century. Recently, Neil's team had discovered a child's skeleton that was confirmed to be from the same time.

As Wesley arrives at work, so does a new case, that of a body found by a woman walking her dog. Wesley is pulled into it and gets to know his superior officer Gerry Heffernan, and his fellow officers, including DC Rachel Tracey, who I liked from the book I already read. 

On the homefront, Wesley and his wife Pam are consulting with a fertility clinic as they try to have a child, and Pam is a bit emotional and sensitive about it. 

I liked how the archeology/historical part of the novel echoed what was happening in the present, showing that some issues and behaviours are universal. I also found it interesting to see the chapters starting with a historical diary entry as a bit of foreshadowing what was to be revealed. 

Once again, the various characters are interesting and I can see how the series as a whole will fill them out with added depth. The plotlines here were also intriguing and I enjoyed pondering the ethical dilemmas they revealed. 

You, Again

Finished January 2

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck

This book had a promising premise with the main characters meeting multiple times before starting to spend time together and then finding sparks. 

Ari moved to New York City to become a comedian. Not an easy task, and she works a lot of other jobs even as she makes some headway in her dream career. She also gains friends along the way like Gabe, a fellow comedian, and Rachel, a roommate who works as a chef. Ari comes from a working class background and is a free spirit in many ways. She doesn't accumulate a lot of possessions, and is pretty easygoing about personal space. She is also very open sexually, up for almost anything with almost anyone, and this was a bit outside my comfort zone. She didn't seem to have emotional connections to her sex partners, and didn't seem to consider that they might have feeling for her. 

Josh is a chef, but he's skipped a few steps in experience due to his wealthy family background. That makes him a little arrogant, even as he's very capable and innovative in his profession. 

When they meet again years later, they are both in very bad places in their lives, and they find that shared experience a way to connect that they don't have with other people at the time. They can express very negative feelings about their situation and feel that they aren't alone. 

Because I didn't really connect with the characters and found some lifestyle choices off-putting, it took me a while to make it through the book. I was rooting for them in the end, but this wasn't one of my favourite reads. 

Recap of 2023 Reading Year

 I'm a little late on putting this together. I met my overall reading goals for the year, but only completed one of the challenges I engaged with, the 16th Canadian Reading Challenge. For my challenge activity see my 2023 Reading Challenge page. 

Of the books I read, 158 were for adult readers, 8 for teen readers, and 9 for children.

My reading had a flow to it, with an upsurge at the end of my teaching term, and another in late summer / early August as I was first away from work, and then reading as an escape. 

I read much less nonfiction than most years.

My Genre reading was what I expected, with my two most read genres being mystery and romance

Books in Translation

For translated works, I read 9 this year, 3 from German, 3 from French, 2 from Italian, and 1 from Swedish. 

Origin

85 of the books were ones I owned, with 63 of them leaving to go to other readers. 87 were borrowed from my local public libraries (I use 2 regularly), 4 were borrowed from friends or family, and 9 were e-galleys that I had temporary access to. 

Setting

Of the setting of the books, one was set in a fantasy world, 20 in Canada, 80 in the United States, 1 in Africa, 3 in Asia, 2 in Latin America, and 66 in Europe. Some, of course, weren't the kind of book that had a setting. 

Publication Date

These ranged from 1929 through 2024, with a few in the 1960s, and most in the last 10 years. 

Authors

28 of the authors identified as male, and 141 as female, with 2 books with multiple authors that included both. 

Format

Most of my reads were physical books, with 28 ebooks, and 7 of those from Netgalley. 

Series

71 of the books were part of a series

Mood

This is an interesting statistic that Storygraph provided. 

as is this one, 

__________________________________________________________________________________

The Sun Is Also a Star

Finished December 31

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

This teen novel has the main part of the novel take place over the course of a single day, with a followup chapter and an epilogue that happens years later. 

Natasha's family reformed in the U.S. when she was eight. Her father had gone a couple of years earlier, trying to break into the acting scene in New York, but her mother didn't want to wait anymore.Natasha's younger brother was born in the U.S. 

Daniel's parents emigrated from Korea to the U.S., and were helped by relatives who had gone before them, and by the larger Korean immigrant community. The own a small business.

Natasha and her parents are undocumented, and due to an incident with her father, they are being deported that evening. Natasha is desperate to stay. She is in her final year of high school, has a group of friends she is close to, and has been planning her future life. This will upend it all. 

On this day, she goes to downtown to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) building for an appointment with someone she hopes can help her. As she walks around New York City listening to music on her headphones, she is noticed by Daniel and when circumstances bring them to talk to each other, they find themselves spending the day together. 

They eat, and talk music, and talk about their families, until the day brings them back to Natasha's home. 

This is a tale of friendship and young love, and the struggles of life in the modern world. It is a tale of dreams and expectations, of family and independence, and of sharing cultures.

I could hardly put it down, and I loved the format, with short chapters, differing viewpoints, including of voices that aren't human, and of the wonderful characters that Yoon brings to life. 

The Women with Silver Wings

Finished December 27

The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II by Katherine Sharp Landdeck

This book drew my interest after reading about these women in both history books and fiction. (For fiction, The All Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg, for nonfiction Our Mothers' War by Emily Yellin.)

There were many women looking to do their part during the war, and pilots were a small but vocal group. This book outlines how two women pilots led the charge, but didn't always agree about how to go about it, or about what the end result should be. Those two women were Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran, and at first they led to different endeavours for the female pilots. Nancy Love started with a handful of women who served as ferry pilots, moving planes around the country as needed, to free up male pilots for frontline work. Her pilots had significant experience and were based with Air Transport Command in Wilmington, Delaware. 

Jacqueline Cochran was already flying in a similar capacity in Britain, leading a group of American women pilots flying for the ATA there. (A great fiction book about the female Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) pilots is The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown). When she heard about the women led by Nancy Love, she returned to the U.S. as fast as she could and argued that she was promised a lead role in women pilots flying for the war effort. She was then put in charge of recruiting other women pilots with less experience and getting them trained. She started on this immediately, and started at a Houston, Texas base, later moving to Sweetwater, Texas. 

This book looks at a number of women that were pilots, as well as the two leaders, and we see their different stories, and follow them through training and some of their more memorable flights. 

We also see the decades long fight for them to get the same recognition and status as the men that did the same jobs. 

A well-researched book that highlights a notable group of women pioneers in their field. 

What You Wish For

Finished December 27

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

This novel is about second chances, finding joy in something every day, and giving yourself time to play. Samantha Casey is the librarian at a private school in Galveston, Texas. She has become close with the couple that founded the school, Max and Babette, and lives in the coach house on their property. It was Max that taught her to look for joy. Sam has changed from a woman who was smart but shy into one who delights in colour, who truly engages with the kids in her school because she pays attention to them, and yet also one who has still not allowed herself to dream all those dreams she has. 

When tragedy strikes, Duncan Carpenter is hired to be the new school principal, and Sam can't believe it. Duncan Carpenter is a man from her past, one that provided inspiration for who she is today, but the man who shows up is utterly changed from the one she knew. 

Duncan, and the man who hired him, seem focused on one thing and one thing only, and that focus threatens the heart of this very creative school. Sam, and the rest of the school community must rally together, despite their grief, and work to change Duncan back into the man she had a crush on years ago.

I really related to this second chance love story, and the two main characters. Samantha is a woman after my own heart, one who delights in being creative and fun, and listening to those she cares about to meet their needs in the best way she can. Duncan is a man who has endured a very traumatic event, and who is searching for a way forward, but not always making the best choices. One gets glimpses of his heart early on, but it takes a long time for his story to be revealed.

I also really loved this school, and the other teachers that are part of the story, from math nerd to phys ed teacher. If this school, or ones like it exist, the kids that go there are really lucky. 

A great read, one of my favourites of the year. 

January Reviews for the 17th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge

 This is where you use the linky to connect to the reviews for the books you finished in January 2024 for the 17th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge. Add a comment too!

Thanks for being part of this challenge and promoting all the wonderful Canadian writers that we have.

Snowstorms & Sleigh Bells

Finished December 22

Snowstorms & Sleigh Bells by Kelley Armstrong

This novella is part of the A Stitch in Time series where characters have access to a place where they time travel. Here, Rosalind Courtenay, her husband August, and their five-year-old son Edmund, have come to visit friends at Christmas. At their friends' home, Thorne Manor, there is a room where there is a spot where the house's family time travels often. The wife is from the present day, and the husband from Victorian Scotland, and they have lives in both time periods. Rosalind has recently returned to Victorian times after finding herself stuck in the future for a reasonably long time. So she is wary of that room, and of getting stuck away from her family again. 

When her young son goes into the future alone, she and her husband follow, and have an adventure of their own that brings them closer to each other, and initiates curiosity about their cultural past as well as about the technology of the future. 

This story also brings in a paranormal aspect as Edmund has the ability to see ghosts, and more than one appears in this story.

I haven't read any of this series, but this definitely has me interested reading more.

His Christmas Wish

Finished December 22

His Christmas Wish by Melissa McClone

This short romance novel is set in the mountain town of Hood Hamlet near Mount Hood in Oregon. Carly Bishop has come home for the first time in six years. Six years ago, she was about to get married, when her fiance and her brother were found dead in a climbing accident. Both were very experienced climbers, and no one is sure what went wrong up there. 

Christmas was Carly's favourite holiday, and that had led her to plan a Christmas wedding. Now, she lives on the other side of the country and avoids Christmas as much as she can. This year though, her brother's widow, who has remarried, has asked for her help during the season as she is pregnant with the baby due soon, and she would like Carly's help at that time with Nick's children.

Jake Porter, whose family runs a brewpub in town, was Nick's best friend, and has done everything he can to help Nick's widow, including being very involved with the kids. Jake even introduced her to her new husband. 

Both Carly and Jake had feelings for each other, but the age difference when they were young kept them from moving forward with acting on their feelings. 

As they are increasingly thrown together, and then choose to spend time together, they find they have much in common and also that the feelings are still there. 

This is a seasonal tale of second chances, grief recovery, and family. A comforting read. 

His Christmas Wish is also the first novel in a series set around the Mountain Rescue team that Jake is a part of.