Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger

July 10, 2025

Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger

Lila Pereira is an unconventional mother, focusing on her career as the executive editor of a major newspaper and leaving the raising of their daughters to her husband Joe and household help. But her youngest daughter Grace yearns for a regular mother who goes to PTA meetings, bakes cupcakes and takes her to soccer practice. After Lila's death, Grace receives a letter that Lila left her, telling her to go find out what really happened to Lila's mother, who disappeared when Lila was a toddler. Grace realizes how little she actually knows about her mother's family and wonders if you can ever know yourself if you don't know your past.

Part 1 is Lila and Joe's story, and I loved it. But the last 2/3 of the book is mostly about Grace, the youngest daughter, a real whiner and completely unlikeable, probably the least interesting character in the book. When I first started reading it, I thought it would appeal to readers who enjoyed Ann Patchett or Ann Napolitano, but the last two thirds morphed into something more like Sally Rooney, with a bunch of characters under 30 who are completely self-centered and unaware (putting your life on hold for five years to start a podcast???? Or "I can't ask her to marry me until she gives me the signal"???? What does that even mean????). It takes until around the 85% mark for the search for Lila's mother to begin, and then it is anti-climatic. Disappointing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley

April 10, 2025

Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley

Dan scores a reservation at the exclusive La Fin du Monde restaurant and takes his wife Jane to celebrate their wedding anniversary. But his timing is off, since Jane has decided that she is going to ask for a divorce over dinner (also maybe not the best timing). Not to mention that climate change activists have chosen that night to bomb the restaurant.

Quirky and fun, with a long-term marriage that turns out to be a romance after all. Recommended for readers who enjoy off-beat fiction like Nothing to See Here or Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review. 

Daughters of Olympus by Hannah Lynn

September 4, 2024

Daughters of Olympus by Hannah Lynn

Demeter, goddess of the harvest was one of the 12 Olympians, a daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. After her brother Zeus raped her, she gave birth to Core, later known as Persephone. After the death of her human lover and the loss of her other children, Demeter lived for her daughter until Core was stolen by Hades, god of the underworld.

A retelling of the myth of Persephone and Demeter. The first part is from Demeter's POV, and the second part is from Persephone's POV. Slow moving narrative with a lot of description of the settings. Will appeal to readers who enjoy reinterpretations of myths and fairy tales, such as Madeleine Miller's Circe.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Persephone with her mother Demeter

Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung

July 31, 2024

Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung

The cultural revolution erupts in China in 1948, but in rural Shandong, the Ang family is living according to 10th century traditions and is more concerned about the lack of a male heir. The oldest son's wife produced only daughters, considered to be useless mouths to feed until they marry and leave. When the Communists take control of the country, the son and his parents flee, leaving his wife and their daughters behind at the family home, with little food and no money. When they are evicted, the mother and daughters decide to go to the city to try to find the rest of the family.

Based on the author's grandmother's story of fleeing China for Taiwan during the Cultural Revolution. The Chinese treated their girls like crap; they may still. And the mothers and grandmothers not only put up with it, they encouraged it. Not that the Chinese have a patent on treating daughters with disdain - my own parents weren't that crazy about having a daughter (I was the only one) and made it obvious that they much preferred my brothers, until they got old and then having a daughter to look after them was a good thing. Inspiring story but depressing at the same time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Cutting off a man's pigtail, considered to be a sign of the ruling or wealthy class, during the Cultural Revolution

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson

March 21, 2023

Ginny, aka Big, lives with her daughter Liza and Liza's daughter Mosey. Big was 15 when Liza was born, and Liza was 15 when Mosey was born, and Big is hoping that Mosey will break the family pattern now that she is about to turn 15. Liza had a stroke the year before, and Big is responsible for her care as well as working to support the family. When an infant's skeletal remains are found buried in their backyard, Mosey and her BFF Roger decide to investigate.

I love family secrets. My parents and grandparents worked very hard to be beige, boring and middle-classed. Their biggest goal was keeping up with the Joneses (or in their case, the Asches). And this book has lots of family secrets, and also a lot of family love and loyalty. I have read previous books by Jackson and enjoy her tangled family stories with a little mystery thrown in. Fans of Diane Chamberlain and Kate Morton will enjoy Jackson's novels.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

May 21, 2022

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Following the death of her mother from cancer, Michelle Zauner found herself crying in the most unexpected places, like H Mart, the Asian mega-supermarket. Despite resenting her mother's expectations, Zauner writes about growing up Korean-American in Eugene, Oregon, where she was one of the few Asian Americans in the community. Her family bonded through food, and some of the best parts are where she talks about visiting her grandmother in Seoul and cooking and eating wonderful meals with her mother.

Maybe because I like the previous memoir that I read so much (Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter), I was disappointed in this one. I picked it up because of all the positive reviews, and I know a lot of people loved it but I didn't care for the writing or how the story was told. I also don't really know who Michelle Zauner is - I know, that makes me some kind of dinosaur, but I don't follow influencers or indie pop types on line. Actually, I don't follow anyone and have very little social media presence.

We have H Mart here in the Chicago area, and it's actually a pretty cool store. Lots of fresh fish, beautiful vegetables, and for some reason, a French pastry shop inside the store. The only problem I have is that it sometimes smells very strongly of fish, at least the one in Niles does, near where I live.

In case they don't have H Mart where you live

Me, when it comes to social media

Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

 July 24, 2020

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

Tilda and her mother Grace were never close.  Tilda always suspected it was because she inherited an ability to see the dead from her father, a trait that her mother detested.  After her father’s death, the best thing to happen to Tilda was moving into Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel in Brighton, where Tilda found a second mother in Queenie and a family in the quirky group of employees and guests at the hotel.  But shortly after their move, Grace inexplicably shipped Tilda off to a remote boarding school, wrenching her away from the only real home she had ever known.  After Grace’s death over 40 years later, Tilda fears that she has inherited not only her father’s psychic ability, but also her mother’s mental illness.  She is desperate for answers, and with her faithful canine companion Eli by her side, Tilda returns to Brighton to search for answers about their lives, why her mother always seemed to be punishing her, and what really happened to her father.

My sciatica was acting up yesterday, so I spent most of the day lying down on a heating pad, reading.  I was fortunate to have Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel checked out from the library.  I fell in love with Queenie and her hotel at the first description.  Brighton in the 1970’s sounds like a child’s paradise.  There is a slight supernatural element in Tilda’s ability to see those who are no longer living – she can’t always distinguish between the living and the dead.  Things aren’t always the way you think they are (especially when you’re a child) and the plotline has a number of unexpected developments.  But children also accept some things without question, while adults might be put off or make judgments.

Eli the dog is a wonderful character, and yes, he is fine and living with Tilda at the end of the book.  Queenie also is a marvelous flamboyant character, but she makes only sporadic appearances until the middle of the book.

Although the story has a dark side and there are complex issues here, I found Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel to be a delightful and engaging read.  I finished the novel in a day, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy quirky fiction.

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

March 7, 2020

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

For 18 years, Rose Gold Watts believed that she was seriously ill, until an internet search made her suspicious that her that her mother was poisoning and starving her to gain attention.  She testified against her mother in court, and “Poisonous Patty” Watts went to prison for five years.  Patty is about to be released and with nowhere to go, asks Rose Gold if she can stay with her.  Rose Gold reluctantly agrees, since she now has a child of her own and fears what Patty might do to him.  Patty always gets revenge on those who wronged her, but Rose Gold is no longer a helpless child and has her own brand of revenge in mind.  As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold.

What a great piece of psychological fiction!  The story alternates between Patty and Rose Gold in the present, and Rose Gold in the past.  Both Patty and Rose Gold have had years to think about revenge, and the pacing of the story really ratchets up the tension as the reader watches Patty and Rose Gold circle around each other like a pair of jungle cats.  They have a lot more in common than they think:  neither one is likable; both are highly manipulative; both women are unreliable narrators telling their own version of the truth.  Fascinating yet disturbing and twisted, this is definitely like a train wreck:  you just can’t look away.  Once you start this book, it’s really hard to put it down.

Loved the cover art!  The plot for Darling Rose Gold sounds a lot like the story of Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy Rose.  Hulu recently did an original series called The Act which was based on Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose.

I have a compressed vertebrae in my back so I have been having a lot of doctors’ appointments and tests over the last ten days.  Somewhere along the way, I lost my print ARC of Darling Rose Gold.  This irritated me almost as much as all the poking and prodding.  Fortunately, NetGalley was gracious enough to provide me with an e-ARC so that I could finish the book and write a review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

The Nanny by Gilly MacMillan

August 31, 2019

The Nanny by Gilly MacMillan

When Jocelyn Holt was seven years old, her beloved nanny left in the middle of the night without saying goodbye.  When she asked where Nanny Hannah had gone, her mother blamed Jocelyn for the nanny's departure, saying that she was a terrible child and the nanny couldn't stand her anymore.  With her parents spending most of their time in London, the little girl was soon shipped off to boarding school, and she never forgave her parents' for her loveless childhood.  Thirty years later, Jo is widowed and forced to return to her family's estate in rural England with her daughter, Ruby.  While Jo and Ruby are boating on the lake, they find a human skull in the water.  Jo suspects it may be Hannah, but if it is, who put it there?  And if it's not Hannah, who is it?

I enjoyed this very much.  Nannies are popular fictional characters because they are outsiders who are invited into the home to share intimate space with the family.  Fictional nannies can be wonderful (like Mary Poppins) or they can be psychopaths.  I usually don't read "nanny" books (The Perfect Nanny, Woman No. 17, The Au Pair) because the nannies all tend to be troubled women out for revenge, but this one appealed to me because it was about a missing person at an English country home that might be a cold case.  

The Nanny includes many of the themes that make psychological fiction so great:  family secrets, false identity, tense relations between the family and the locals, missing or false memories, illegal business dealings.  With interesting characters and fast pacing, this is a great reading choice for vacation or a long weekend.

Many thanks to NetGally and the publisher for an e-ARC in return for a review.