October Book Report

Hello! Another two months have passed (somehow I missed a month) and, as I often do, I’m following the lead of Modern Mrs. Darcy and sharing quick reviews of what I’ve been reading.

A word about these reviews: I generally don’t finish books I don’t like so if a book makes this report I was at least interested enough to read to the end. Some books I like better than others, obviously; Becoming was a standout for me this time around.

Also, this post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. More details are here if you’re interested.

Now, onto the books…

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand. I read all of Elin’s new releases and I snuck this one in at the end of summer. 28 Summers covers Mallory Blessing and Jake McCloud’s same time next year-style romance over the course of, well, 28 summers. The books opens as Mallory is dying and asks her son Link to call Jake, who Link has no knowledge of. Much to Link’s surprise, Jake is the husband of a presidential candidate and on hearing the news, comes immediately to Mallory’s side. From that point, the book goes back to 1993 and we re-live the 28 years of Mallory and Jake’s relationship. I loved the characters and the setting (Nantucket) as I do with all of Elin’s books. And while I enjoyed the book, it wasn’t my favorite. I don’t usually need my books to have happy endings, but something about knowing that Mallory and Jake wouldn’t end up together kept me from really enjoying the story. Also, a head’s up: Mallory is dying from cancer, in case that is a sensitive subject for you for any reason.

Becoming by Michelle Obama. Tom and I recently watched the Netflix documentary based on this book and I enjoyed it so much that he bought me the book for my birthday. I knew I would enjoy the part of the book that covered the Obamas’ White House years (and there were some fascinating behind-the-scenes details there) but I was not expecting to enjoy reading about Michelle’s earlier life as much as I did. From growing up in her tight-knit family of four, to her experiences at Princeton, to beginning her career and meeting Barack, it was all fascinating to me. I also loved that so much of the book was set in Chicago, one of my favorite places. An interesting topic and so well-written, Becoming will surely be one of my favorite books of the year.

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore. This was my book club pick for October. It tells the story of two men from Baltimore with the same name who grew up in similar circumstances. One ended up serving a life sentence in prison, the other became a Rhodes Scholar. This book provided lots of to discuss for my book club. One thing that surprised me: the author doesn’t draw any conclusions about why his path varied so much from that of the other Wes Moore, rather he just lays out their lives and lets the reader draw their own conclusion.

What have you been reading lately? Anything good?