My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Synopsis

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

Are you ready to get lost in your feelings? You better be if you’re picking up this book. I cried within the first 30 pages. 

This is the second Fredrik Backman book that I’ve read. My first one was “A Man Called Ove” which made me cry at the end. I’m starting to think I should just be ready to cry whenever I crack open one of his novels. 

I’m cool with that. His writing is beautiful and his characters are quirky. 

That’s basically what this whole novel is about. It’s about being different, embracing those differences, and accepting the differences in others. 

Being different is great. What even is “normal” anyway?

On the surface, ‘My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry’ is a fun and cute novel about a smartass almost-eight-year-old girl whose best, and only, friend is her granny. She loves books and fairy tales and going on journeys with her granny to the Land of Almost-Awake. 

What she doesn’t realize is that The Land of Almost-Awake is a lot closer to home than it may seem. 

When her granny dies, Elsa is thrust into an adventure of delivering letters to all of the people her grandmother wants to apologize to. She learns a lot of life, love, loss, and grief along the way. 

This novel cuts deep. The characters are complex. It will make you feel every emotion while acting as an escape to a far away land. 

‘My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry’ is an absolutely incredible read. 

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Not all monsters were monsters in the beginning. Some are monsters born of sorrow.” 

“Not all monsters look like monsters. There are some that carry their monstrosity inside.” 

“It’s strange how quickly the significance of a certain smell can change, depending on what path it decides to take through the brain. It’s strange how close love and fear live to each other.”

“Death’s greatest power is not that it can make people die, but that it can make people want to stop living.”

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Synopsis:

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

First things first, I love being in nature. It’s still winter here in the Midwest. Even though we are starting to get hints of spring, it’s not in full bloom. Being able to escape into the forest and the marsh through this book was so awesome. Delia Owens’s descriptions really bring the scene to life. I’ve read a few opinions on the book saying that it was too descriptive, but it was perfect for me.

All of the characters had really interesting developments. I felt like every character had their stories wrapped up in a fitting fashion. One of them, we never really find out what happens – but, again, it’s fitting. Kya is the main character, and I don’t think you could even ask for more character development. It seems like we got just enough of her life story for it to be complete and wrapped up. That is SO satisfying to me because you don’t always get that.

I just absolutely loved this book. A mixture of a coming of age story as well as a murder mystery and a love note to nature. It’s just beautifully written. The story is told so well. I didn’t want it to end. I would recommend it to anyone who loves nature.

This book has one of the greatest last chapters I’ve ever read in a novel. It ties things up without blatantly just laying out answers to your questions. It’s so beautifully written and wraps up years of Kya’s life swiftly but respectfully.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Sometimes she heard night-sounds she didn’t know or jumped from lightning too close, but whenever she stumbled, it was the land that caught her. Until at last, at some unclaimed moment, the heart-pain seeped away like water into sand. Still there, but deep. Kya laid her head upon the breathing, wet earth, and the marsh became her mother.”

“Crows can’t keep secrets any better than mud; once they see something curious in the forest they have to tell everybody.”

“Autumn was coming; the evergreens might not have noticed, but the sycamores did. They flashed thousands of golden leaves across slate-gray skies.”

“Evil was not in play, just life pulsing on, even at the expense of some of the players. Biology sees right and wrong as the same color in different light.”

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Joyland by Stephen King

Synopsis:

College student Devin Jones took the summer job at Joyland hoping to forget the girl who broke his heart. But he wound up facing something far more terrible: the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and dark truths about life—and what comes after—that would change his world forever.

Stephen King novels are very hit or miss with me. I would love to say that I really enjoy them all and I can get into them right away, but that isn’t the case. When they hit – they hit hard, though. That is exactly what Joyland did. It hooked me from the very first page, and it didn’t let go.

I'm not sure what was so gripping about this novel. It had to be a combination of the amusement park mystique as well as the inner monologue of Devin. He is a very relatable character, and that fact made it easier to read through the book. I would read a sequel written from his point of view as well. He has a lot of insightful thoughts and an interesting personality.

Every character in this novel was really complex, and they all added to the intrigue of the story.

I was expecting it to be a little more in the horror genre, but I would call it more of a suspense novel. Nothing about it was really scary, but the mystery of it all kept me guessing and kept me holding on until the last page.

Also – I loved Annie and Mike, and the end of this book made me very, very sad.

5/5 Stars. Highly, highly recommend this one. This book touched me in ways I never would have expected. 

Memorable Quotes: “That first broken heart is always the most painful, the slowest to mend, and leaves the most visible scar.”

“Love leaves scars.”

“You think ‘Okay, I get it, I’m prepared for the worst,’ but you hold out on that small hope, see, and that’s what fucks you up. That’s what kills you.”

“The powers that be have a way of outlawing many beautiful things made by ordinary people. I don’t know why that should be, I only know it is.”

“The last good time always comes, and when you see the darkness creeping towards you, you hold on to what was bright and good. You hold on for dear life.”

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She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Synopsis:

Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.

Don’t be turned off by the length of this novel. It is long for a reason. It takes us through the hectic journey of Dolores Price’s life starting as a child and leaving off in her thirties.

Nothing seems to ever go right for Dolores. She has been through hell and back. Though broken, there is still a source of strength within her that keeps her pushing even when she wants to just give up.

This book can be taken two ways. It can bee seen as a really sad story of a girl that had too much on her plate and learned to never trust people. Or, it can be seen as a story that reminds you that true love and passion can conquer all. Sometimes forgiveness needs to be given, and sometimes you must just let time heal some deep wounds.

There is never a perfect answer for difficult situations, and for most of Dolores’s life, she probably made all of the wrong decisions, but she was able to come of it kicking and screaming in the end.

I really enjoyed this book. It was deep at times, and it was shallow at times. Dolores’s wit and sarcasm made her an interesting character to read, but also allows the reader to form a connection with her right away. It tells a complete story, but it also leaves Dolores’s ending up to the reader.

I would highly recommend this book.

5/5 stars

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