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okiecozyreader's reviews
1191 reviews
How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days by Kari Leibowitz
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
I started on audio but going to wait for the kindle version to come available on my library hold.
The author/narrator is fine, but it’s too repetitive for me and I want to be able to go through it quicker for key points. She is a Stanford-trained scientist who went to Tromsø, Norway, 200 miles north of the arctic circle to experience winter, because she and many others dread the season. She found that people there have about the same levels of seasonal affective disorder as other places (instead of higher rates), so she wondered what caused them to have healthy “winter well-being,” and “winter was the best season,” “something people look forward to,” “to be enjoyed, not endured.” (Quotes from prelude)
In the book, she gives suggestions for others to “change their mindsets and embrace winter.”
“…how we approach winter is a pretty good litmus test for how we approach other dark, difficult seasons in our lives. How do we respond to situations out of our control? How do we react to circumstances we did not choose? Do we shrink and wither, or do we turn inward with intention and cultivate moments of joy? Do we focus on frustration, or do we seek wonder and connection to get us through?” (Introduction)
From what I have read so far, it echos much of Wintering by Katherine May, which I loved. While that book was a personal experience, this was written for research. It seems to have become her experience also.
3 parts:
Appreciate Winter
Make it Special (nights, lights, and rites)
Get Outside
The author/narrator is fine, but it’s too repetitive for me and I want to be able to go through it quicker for key points. She is a Stanford-trained scientist who went to Tromsø, Norway, 200 miles north of the arctic circle to experience winter, because she and many others dread the season. She found that people there have about the same levels of seasonal affective disorder as other places (instead of higher rates), so she wondered what caused them to have healthy “winter well-being,” and “winter was the best season,” “something people look forward to,” “to be enjoyed, not endured.” (Quotes from prelude)
In the book, she gives suggestions for others to “change their mindsets and embrace winter.”
“…how we approach winter is a pretty good litmus test for how we approach other dark, difficult seasons in our lives. How do we respond to situations out of our control? How do we react to circumstances we did not choose? Do we shrink and wither, or do we turn inward with intention and cultivate moments of joy? Do we focus on frustration, or do we seek wonder and connection to get us through?” (Introduction)
From what I have read so far, it echos much of Wintering by Katherine May, which I loved. While that book was a personal experience, this was written for research. It seems to have become her experience also.
3 parts:
Appreciate Winter
Make it Special (nights, lights, and rites)
Get Outside
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
This book kind of reminds me of Kristin Hannah’s writing - things get worse and worse and worse… and when you finish the book, you miss the characters and wonder how they are doing, and think about them throughout your day. I guess it’s the amount of time you spend with them, and of course, the writing.
I read this book for my local bookclub tonight and I probably wouldn’t have read it if it wasn’t the selection. It’s kind of overwhelming in size and it is a tough read. Hundreds of pages of drug abuse and tough situations.
Demon has red hair, green eyes and begins the book living with his mother, who is an addict. His dad died early in his life, and when his mom meets a man who makes life difficult, it begins his journey of figuring out life for himself. We watch him grow up in foster homes, going back to his grandparents and try to find someone who cares for him as a family. It is all a tough journey, to say the least.
I felt like, at times, there was more detail given than necessary, like stories that didn’t pertain to the plot. I felt like it could have been edited down some.
I didn’t read David Copperfield, so I went and read a synopsis of it. It does seem to follow the original format (600-1200 pages depending on version). It’s interesting how Kingsolver wanted to tell a story of the opioid crisis in Appalachia and found a format through Charles Dickens work featuring a life of poverty.
“Everybody warns about bad influences, but it's these things already inside you that are going to take you down.” Ch 36
“Good people, bad people, what does that even mean? Get down to the rock and the hard place, and we're all just soft flesh and the weapon at hand. Ch 40
“Where does the road to ruin start?” Oprah asked this question in her bookclub, and I thought it was a good one. Ch 41
“Many had tried their best with us, but we came out of too-hungry mothers. Four demons spawned by four different starving hearts.” Cho 45
“The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.” ch 56
There is a little propaganda about the issue of oxy
“She said Purdue looked at data and everything with their computers, and handpicked targets like Lee County that were gold mines. They actually looked up which doctors had the most pain patients on disability, and sent out their drug reps for the full offensive.” Ch 49
I read this book for my local bookclub tonight and I probably wouldn’t have read it if it wasn’t the selection. It’s kind of overwhelming in size and it is a tough read. Hundreds of pages of drug abuse and tough situations.
Demon has red hair, green eyes and begins the book living with his mother, who is an addict. His dad died early in his life, and when his mom meets a man who makes life difficult, it begins his journey of figuring out life for himself. We watch him grow up in foster homes, going back to his grandparents and try to find someone who cares for him as a family. It is all a tough journey, to say the least.
I felt like, at times, there was more detail given than necessary, like stories that didn’t pertain to the plot. I felt like it could have been edited down some.
I didn’t read David Copperfield, so I went and read a synopsis of it. It does seem to follow the original format (600-1200 pages depending on version). It’s interesting how Kingsolver wanted to tell a story of the opioid crisis in Appalachia and found a format through Charles Dickens work featuring a life of poverty.
“Everybody warns about bad influences, but it's these things already inside you that are going to take you down.” Ch 36
“Good people, bad people, what does that even mean? Get down to the rock and the hard place, and we're all just soft flesh and the weapon at hand. Ch 40
“Where does the road to ruin start?” Oprah asked this question in her bookclub, and I thought it was a good one. Ch 41
“Many had tried their best with us, but we came out of too-hungry mothers. Four demons spawned by four different starving hearts.” Cho 45
“The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.” ch 56
There is a little propaganda about the issue of oxy
“She said Purdue looked at data and everything with their computers, and handpicked targets like Lee County that were gold mines. They actually looked up which doctors had the most pain patients on disability, and sent out their drug reps for the full offensive.” Ch 49
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Drug abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This was the perfect companion book to The Sing Sing Files, which I listened to this week. The cover and title are great, but they don’t really give you an idea what this book is about.
It is about a wonderful bookclub in a women’s prison, where Harriet (aka Bookie) brings books to the women and tries to find ones that resonate with them and help them to grow. She bonds with them (more than she should), and when Violet is released and they run into each other, she welcomes Violet back into the real world, when her own family doesn’t want anything to do with her.
It is such a lovely found family story for all of them - Harriet, Violet, and Frank Diagle, the husband of the woman in Violet’s accident, that sent her to jail.
It is also a beautiful love letter to parrots and how loving animals are, and the difference they make in our lives.
“Hard to believe that on Harriet’s first day as volunteer Book Club leader, these same twelve women had struck her as nearly identical. Of course that was the point of uniforms, to render the women interchangeable.
…
She could hear the women now, channeling voices dying to be heard.“ ch 3
“Books won’t solve my problems, Harriet.”
“No, but they give your problems perspective. They allow your problems to breathe.” Ch 9
“ The line between this and that, you and her, us and them, the line is thin.” Ch 11
“The writer writes the words. The given reader reads the words. And the book, the unique and unrepeatable book, doesn’t exist until the given reader meets the writer on the page.” Ch 26
“ She’d been raised to say yes, to agree and approve and adapt and accommodate, to step aside as the architect of her own happiness. After Lou’s death she vowed to say yes only when that yes belonged to her, solely to her. “ ch 30
“It’s what Harriet would call the meanwhile, the important thing that was happening while the rest of the story moved along.” Epitaph
It is about a wonderful bookclub in a women’s prison, where Harriet (aka Bookie) brings books to the women and tries to find ones that resonate with them and help them to grow. She bonds with them (more than she should), and when Violet is released and they run into each other, she welcomes Violet back into the real world, when her own family doesn’t want anything to do with her.
It is such a lovely found family story for all of them - Harriet, Violet, and Frank Diagle, the husband of the woman in Violet’s accident, that sent her to jail.
It is also a beautiful love letter to parrots and how loving animals are, and the difference they make in our lives.
“Hard to believe that on Harriet’s first day as volunteer Book Club leader, these same twelve women had struck her as nearly identical. Of course that was the point of uniforms, to render the women interchangeable.
…
She could hear the women now, channeling voices dying to be heard.“ ch 3
“Books won’t solve my problems, Harriet.”
“No, but they give your problems perspective. They allow your problems to breathe.” Ch 9
“ The line between this and that, you and her, us and them, the line is thin.” Ch 11
“The writer writes the words. The given reader reads the words. And the book, the unique and unrepeatable book, doesn’t exist until the given reader meets the writer on the page.” Ch 26
“ She’d been raised to say yes, to agree and approve and adapt and accommodate, to step aside as the architect of her own happiness. After Lou’s death she vowed to say yes only when that yes belonged to her, solely to her. “ ch 30
“It’s what Harriet would call the meanwhile, the important thing that was happening while the rest of the story moved along.” Epitaph
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
There are a few storylines in this book that confused me for a little while, but then when they came together, I figured it out better.
Egypt, 1936 - Charlotte goes on a dig and meets her husband and has a child. She helps uncover some precious artifacts about an Egyptian queen.
New York City, 1978 - Annie lives with her alcoholic mother while trying to make ends meet. Her landlord asks her to run an errand to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where her life changes.
At the same time, Charlotte is working for the Met to organize Egyptian art and various exhibitions. She is living with a man who she doesn’t feel like she can be completely honest with, even about some pieces at the museum that she feels were illegally acquired.
The Egyptian art in this story is based on certain pieces but the storylines had to change, so she made them all fictional pieces and events. The scenes in the book that brought more action in real life were related to other pieces, instead of the ones mentioned.
There were parts of this I really loved and parts that moved slower. I have enjoyed how Fiona Davis always finds another great NYC landmark to highlight.
“Lots of museums are asking themselves the same questions these days, including the Met. Is the goal deaccession-sending everything back to its country of origin, no matter what—or is it better for an institution like the Met to hold on 8 to the object and keep it safe?” Ch 35
“The irony that Charlotte was desperate to find her missing child while Joyce was doing everything she could to erase Annie from her life was not lost on Annie.” Ch 31
Thank you libro.fm for providing audio copies to librarians! I enjoyed listening!
Egypt, 1936 - Charlotte goes on a dig and meets her husband and has a child. She helps uncover some precious artifacts about an Egyptian queen.
New York City, 1978 - Annie lives with her alcoholic mother while trying to make ends meet. Her landlord asks her to run an errand to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where her life changes.
At the same time, Charlotte is working for the Met to organize Egyptian art and various exhibitions. She is living with a man who she doesn’t feel like she can be completely honest with, even about some pieces at the museum that she feels were illegally acquired.
The Egyptian art in this story is based on certain pieces but the storylines had to change, so she made them all fictional pieces and events. The scenes in the book that brought more action in real life were related to other pieces, instead of the ones mentioned.
There were parts of this I really loved and parts that moved slower. I have enjoyed how Fiona Davis always finds another great NYC landmark to highlight.
“Lots of museums are asking themselves the same questions these days, including the Met. Is the goal deaccession-sending everything back to its country of origin, no matter what—or is it better for an institution like the Met to hold on 8 to the object and keep it safe?” Ch 35
“
Thank you libro.fm for providing audio copies to librarians! I enjoyed listening!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, and Death
Minor: Death of parent
The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice by Dan Slepian
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I have seen this book compared to Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, and it is similar for sure - it is the story of Dan Slepian, who began investigating one wrongful conviction at the Sing Sing correctional institution in New York, and subsequently finding 5 more at the same facility, that were processed by some of the same offices.
As Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, Dan Slepian is a journalist, so he has a different process and goal as he is doing his research. As he tells each person, if I find facts against your case, I will report on those as well, I am interested in the truth, not a defender for your case (my summary of his words).
The audio for this book is incredible, read by Slepian, with letters read by the people who wrote them, and other audio from real events. One case is weaved through most of the others is for Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. It took so many years for progress to be made in the case, and it’s shocking that he is still labeled as a murderer (at the time of this book)… but there is good news in a special update to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/last-stop-on-the-road-to-freedom/id1671212466?i=1000671609706
After reading Just Mercy, I knew that many innocent people are in jail, but this book did bring so much reality to their lives, the lives they missed and the personal pain people endure when they are wrongfully imprisoned (in JJ’s case for 20 years).
This book is based on his Pulitzer Prize podcast finalist, The Sing Sing Files https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/letters-from-sing-sing/id1671212466
“While I have a responsibility to the truth, I also have a responsibility to be a decent person, and it has been a tricky thing to navigate in my dealings with false imprisonment and the men who had suffered because of it. And that moment in the courthouse was one time when I was not living up to my obligations as a human being. I was behaving in a way I was taught to behave. That rigidity, that lack of humanity, that desire to appear ethical, is why people are wrongfully convicted in the first place.” Ch 19
“He said he had been convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years to life for a murder in the Bronx despite giving police the names of not one or two but thirteen witnesses who could swear he was a thousand miles away in Florida at the time of the crime for which he was convicted. The number left me dumbfounded. How could I not investigate this one?” Ch 20
This story is told in more detail in his podcast
13 Alibis - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/13-alibis/id1463081342
As Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, Dan Slepian is a journalist, so he has a different process and goal as he is doing his research. As he tells each person, if I find facts against your case, I will report on those as well, I am interested in the truth, not a defender for your case (my summary of his words).
The audio for this book is incredible, read by Slepian, with letters read by the people who wrote them, and other audio from real events. One case is weaved through most of the others is for Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. It took so many years for progress to be made in the case, and it’s shocking that he is still labeled as a murderer (at the time of this book)… but there is good news in a special update to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/last-stop-on-the-road-to-freedom/id1671212466?i=1000671609706
After reading Just Mercy, I knew that many innocent people are in jail, but this book did bring so much reality to their lives, the lives they missed and the personal pain people endure when they are wrongfully imprisoned (in JJ’s case for 20 years).
This book is based on his Pulitzer Prize podcast finalist, The Sing Sing Files https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/letters-from-sing-sing/id1671212466
“While I have a responsibility to the truth, I also have a responsibility to be a decent person, and it has been a tricky thing to navigate in my dealings with false imprisonment and the men who had suffered because of it. And that moment in the courthouse was one time when I was not living up to my obligations as a human being. I was behaving in a way I was taught to behave. That rigidity, that lack of humanity, that desire to appear ethical, is why people are wrongfully convicted in the first place.” Ch 19
“He said he had been convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years to life for a murder in the Bronx despite giving police the names of not one or two but thirteen witnesses who could swear he was a thousand miles away in Florida at the time of the crime for which he was convicted. The number left me dumbfounded. How could I not investigate this one?” Ch 20
This story is told in more detail in his podcast
13 Alibis - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/13-alibis/id1463081342
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
This is one of the most beautiful children’s books I have ever seen. The illustrations throughout and the reference in the back of magical (impossible) creatures were delightful. This book was listed as the Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and Target children’s book of the year.
It’s a lot to live up to, and it seems like it did for many readers. My son loved fantasy when he was this age and I know he would have enjoyed this one. I saw Rick Riordan gave this an amazing review, and I feel like it reads like so many of his books and those in his RR Presents label.
The book mainly alternates between two points of view -
Mal, a young girl who has a special set of wings that allows her to fly - and Christopher, a boy who is a magnet for animals. He gets sent to his grandfather’s house and is told not to enter a specific part of the forest. Which of course, he immediately does. Mal and her baby Griffin were in a horrible chase and he finds that he needs to protect them. They end up with their own motley crew of characters to help them fight the evil forces that are damaging their world of Archipelago.
Honestly, I felt like it read like all the other fantasy books I’ve read. But if you have a child who loves fantasy, my guess would be that they would love this. It is a longer read for either older elementary or middle school readers. I felt like it took forever for things to really happen (50% in until you find out).
Katherine Rundell has such an interesting life and career and definitely has the skills to write a great story.
“And then she spoke the most powerful and exhausting, the bravest, most exasperating and galvanic sentence in the human language.
Some sentences have the power to change everything. There are the usual suspects: I Love you, I hate you, I'm pregnant, I'm dying, I regret to tell you that this country is at war. But the words with the greatest power to create both havoc and marvels are these:”
"I need your help." P59
It’s a lot to live up to, and it seems like it did for many readers. My son loved fantasy when he was this age and I know he would have enjoyed this one. I saw Rick Riordan gave this an amazing review, and I feel like it reads like so many of his books and those in his RR Presents label.
The book mainly alternates between two points of view -
Mal, a young girl who has a special set of wings that allows her to fly - and Christopher, a boy who is a magnet for animals. He gets sent to his grandfather’s house and is told not to enter a specific part of the forest. Which of course, he immediately does. Mal and her baby Griffin were in a horrible chase and he finds that he needs to protect them. They end up with their own motley crew of characters to help them fight the evil forces that are damaging their world of Archipelago.
Honestly, I felt like it read like all the other fantasy books I’ve read. But if you have a child who loves fantasy, my guess would be that they would love this. It is a longer read for either older elementary or middle school readers. I felt like it took forever for things to really happen (50% in until you find out).
Katherine Rundell has such an interesting life and career and definitely has the skills to write a great story.
“And then she spoke the most powerful and exhausting, the bravest, most exasperating and galvanic sentence in the human language.
Some sentences have the power to change everything. There are the usual suspects: I Love you, I hate you, I'm pregnant, I'm dying, I regret to tell you that this country is at war. But the words with the greatest power to create both havoc and marvels are these:”
"I need your help." P59
Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love by Marianne Cronin
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
“There are men of over ninety
That have never yet kissed a girl.”
The Ramblin’ Rover by Andy Stewart
Both books by this author have two main characters- one of an older age and one remarkably younger and how they become found family. I have found I love British found family books and this is no exception.
Eddie Winston (the main narrator) is 90 and working at a charity shop. One day, Bella comes in with a box of things that were her boyfriend’s, who has recently died. Eddie has a habit of keeping things that he thinks means something to people, just in case they come back for them later. Because he once had a woman he cared about, whose husband donated a locket that was special to her, and she felt it was better to not look for it, than to not be able to find it.
We go back to his meetings with her as a young man, we meet Bella in the park, and we go with Eddie on his search for his first kiss. This book gives us several points of view from different characters (some with very minor roles), but it’s always a surprise what will happen.
“I’ve never really known whether I am rescuing or stealing the items I take from the shop. Whether I am an archivist or a thief.” P32
“Why won’t you tell me about your first kiss?” “I can’t tell you,” I say, raising my glass and toasting to her, “because it hasn’t happened yet.” P50
…
“It’s not too late, Eddie Winston.” P54
“My grandmother used to say that anger is the jacket that fear wears to keep from shaking.” P57
“The years fly, don’t they?” she says with a sigh.
I wonder if they do. Like birds, forever flapping away from us, off to sunnier climes.” P100
“I wanted to know what Shakespeare and Brontë and Austen had to say about the matter, so that I might be better prepared.”p170
“And it all begins,” she says, “with just one moment where something tips, from friendship into something else.” P175
“Bella’s definition of love will have to be expanded to include friendship. Because friendship is just two people who can’t keep away from each other.” P200
That have never yet kissed a girl.”
The Ramblin’ Rover by Andy Stewart
Both books by this author have two main characters- one of an older age and one remarkably younger and how they become found family. I have found I love British found family books and this is no exception.
Eddie Winston (the main narrator) is 90 and working at a charity shop. One day, Bella comes in with a box of things that were her boyfriend’s, who has recently died. Eddie has a habit of keeping things that he thinks means something to people, just in case they come back for them later. Because he once had a woman he cared about, whose husband donated a locket that was special to her, and she felt it was better to not look for it, than to not be able to find it.
We go back to his meetings with her as a young man, we meet Bella in the park, and we go with Eddie on his search for his first kiss. This book gives us several points of view from different characters (some with very minor roles), but it’s always a surprise what will happen.
“I’ve never really known whether I am rescuing or stealing the items I take from the shop. Whether I am an archivist or a thief.” P32
“Why won’t you tell me about your first kiss?” “I can’t tell you,” I say, raising my glass and toasting to her, “because it hasn’t happened yet.” P50
…
“It’s not too late, Eddie Winston.” P54
“My grandmother used to say that anger is the jacket that fear wears to keep from shaking.” P57
“The years fly, don’t they?” she says with a sigh.
I wonder if they do. Like birds, forever flapping away from us, off to sunnier climes.” P100
“I wanted to know what Shakespeare and Brontë and Austen had to say about the matter, so that I might be better prepared.”p170
“And it all begins,” she says, “with just one moment where something tips, from friendship into something else.” P175
“Bella’s definition of love will have to be expanded to include friendship. Because friendship is just two people who can’t keep away from each other.” P200
The Lodge by Kayla Olson
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Vermont is so dreamy. Any time of year. We went there in the summer and it was so fun to return for ski season in this book. We didn’t make it to Stowe, but it’s fun to imagine.
Alix Morgan has been an entertainment writer for years, and she gets a big break to ghostwrite a memoir for a former member of a big boy band. He sends her to a resort in Vermont to write it, while he is jetsetting around the world. He doesn’t make it easy for her - he ghosts her a lot, so she has time to spare, which is quickly taken up by the cute ski instructor who happens to share the penthouse next to hers. All of their dates were so thoughtful and wintery. It gave me all of the best winter yet cozy vibes. There is also this little mystery about another missing member of the band, as well as a couple of big twists and some moments that really made me smile.
“He melts into me, holding me in the silence like his world will fall apart if he dares to let go.” P261
Alix Morgan has been an entertainment writer for years, and she gets a big break to ghostwrite a memoir for a former member of a big boy band. He sends her to a resort in Vermont to write it, while he is jetsetting around the world. He doesn’t make it easy for her - he ghosts her a lot, so she has time to spare, which is quickly taken up by the cute ski instructor who happens to share the penthouse next to hers. All of their dates were so thoughtful and wintery. It gave me all of the best winter yet cozy vibes. There is also this little mystery about another missing member of the band, as well as a couple of big twists and some moments that really made me smile.
“He melts into me, holding me in the silence like his world will fall apart if he dares to let go.” P261
The Empress of Cooke County by Elizabeth Bass Parman
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This cover (which I think is adorable) makes this book seem like lighter content than it is. It’s hard to classify the genre. It takes place in the 1960s, but I would say it’s southern fiction.
Posey wants to be a rich southern Tennessee housewife, an empress of Cooke County. But she is married to a man who owns a general story and is content in the house he grew up in. She tries to marry off her daughter to a guy from a great family, so she will have a better life, but her daughter Callie Jane isn’t sure marriage is what she wants right now. Callie Jane works for her dad and tries to follow her mom’s rules, but she also wants to become her own person.
Chapters alternate between Callie Jane and Posey’s perspective. The audiobook is narrated by Brittany Presley.
I loved the father daughter relationship. The hair and a few other descriptions kept taking me back to the 1960s, which helped me remember the times. If you love a small town southern story, this is one to consider. Check triggers possibly, if you have them, this does have a couple.
“People remember Victoria as only a queen, but she was an empress, which is the only thing better than being a queen,”… “When you’re a queen, you rule the country, but when you’re an empress, you rule the world.”
…
“I can’t impress Cooke County with a beat-up truck.”
…
“…her mother had to “empress” the whole county.”
“…moniker was for her mother: the Empress of Cooke County. Nothing was ever good enough, and appearances were valued way more than the truth.” P19-20
“The Empress (tarot card) embodied abundance and success. What Callie Jane had was an unfulfilling life orchestrated by her parents, her fiancé, and even her future mother-in-law, all of whom had more ideas for her life than she had for her own.” Ch 4
“You and I were both a mess, trying to make everybody else happy, even though it’d mean we were miserable.”ch 22
Posey wants to be a rich southern Tennessee housewife, an empress of Cooke County. But she is married to a man who owns a general story and is content in the house he grew up in. She tries to marry off her daughter to a guy from a great family, so she will have a better life, but her daughter Callie Jane isn’t sure marriage is what she wants right now. Callie Jane works for her dad and tries to follow her mom’s rules, but she also wants to become her own person.
Chapters alternate between Callie Jane and Posey’s perspective. The audiobook is narrated by Brittany Presley.
I loved the father daughter relationship. The hair and a few other descriptions kept taking me back to the 1960s, which helped me remember the times. If you love a small town southern story, this is one to consider. Check triggers possibly, if you have them, this does have a couple.
“People remember Victoria as only a queen, but she was an empress, which is the only thing better than being a queen,”… “When you’re a queen, you rule the country, but when you’re an empress, you rule the world.”
…
“I can’t impress Cooke County with a beat-up truck.”
…
“…her mother had to “empress” the whole county.”
“…moniker was for her mother: the Empress of Cooke County. Nothing was ever good enough, and appearances were valued way more than the truth.” P19-20
“The Empress (tarot card) embodied abundance and success. What Callie Jane had was an unfulfilling life orchestrated by her parents, her fiancé, and even her future mother-in-law, all of whom had more ideas for her life than she had for her own.” Ch 4
“You and I were both a mess, trying to make everybody else happy, even though it’d mean we were miserable.”ch 22
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Murder
Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me by Glory Edim
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
I really loved this memoir by the Well Read Black GIrl, Glory Edim. She has such an interesting life story - from a mother from Nigeria who immigrates with a Nigerian man who lives in DC, to the demise of their marriage and his return to Nigeria. Her mother goes into a deep depression, leaving Glory to manage her mother and her brothers at a young age.
The book is told through the perspective of books that she read that helped transform the way she thought. She mentions one or two then describes how she interpreted them in her life and how her thoughts changed.
I really enjoyed listening to her narration and visiting with her in Zibby’s bookclub. If you want a shorter memoir to try, this one is about 8 hours at 100% speed and worth a listen.
“She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind.”
—TONI MORRISON, Beloved
Epigraph
Davis, Giovanni, West, Brooks, Butler, Lorde, hooks, Adichie, Shange, Kincaid, Hurston, Naylor, Angelou, Bambara, Walker, Hansberry, Morrison, Smith, Sanchez.
“Books have been my ladder, my stepping-stones, my therapist, my teacher, my medicine, my parents, my religion, my lover, my fool, my instructional manual for life. Words, sentences, pages, and chapters have echoed my loneliness, reflected my joy, guided me to the shadowy corners of my heart and soul that needed to be coaxed into the light, given me strength, helped me grow and change.
Books taught me to bloom.
Books gave me my direction. My career. My community. My chosen family. My purpose.” Prologue
“In between her loving preparations of food, there was no room to understand the struggles her daughter might be going through.
No space to contemplate what it was to be a minority, to grow up Black in America. Instead, she fed and nurtured me the best way she knew how.” Ch 1
“I wasn’t searching out these books to see myself reflected because I was already surrounded by people who looked like me…. What I was truly interested in were stories of children who were in peril and somehow made it out. I needed to read to understand survival and… come out an in tact person. I was looking for practical advice.” Ch 2
“You think your pain, and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world. And then you read James Baldwin.” Ch 8
The book is told through the perspective of books that she read that helped transform the way she thought. She mentions one or two then describes how she interpreted them in her life and how her thoughts changed.
I really enjoyed listening to her narration and visiting with her in Zibby’s bookclub. If you want a shorter memoir to try, this one is about 8 hours at 100% speed and worth a listen.
“She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind.”
—TONI MORRISON, Beloved
Epigraph
Davis, Giovanni, West, Brooks, Butler, Lorde, hooks, Adichie, Shange, Kincaid, Hurston, Naylor, Angelou, Bambara, Walker, Hansberry, Morrison, Smith, Sanchez.
“Books have been my ladder, my stepping-stones, my therapist, my teacher, my medicine, my parents, my religion, my lover, my fool, my instructional manual for life. Words, sentences, pages, and chapters have echoed my loneliness, reflected my joy, guided me to the shadowy corners of my heart and soul that needed to be coaxed into the light, given me strength, helped me grow and change.
Books taught me to bloom.
Books gave me my direction. My career. My community. My chosen family. My purpose.” Prologue
“In between her loving preparations of food, there was no room to understand the struggles her daughter might be going through.
No space to contemplate what it was to be a minority, to grow up Black in America. Instead, she fed and nurtured me the best way she knew how.” Ch 1
“I wasn’t searching out these books to see myself reflected because I was already surrounded by people who looked like me…. What I was truly interested in were stories of children who were in peril and somehow made it out. I needed to read to understand survival and… come out an in tact person. I was looking for practical advice.” Ch 2
“You think your pain, and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world. And then you read James Baldwin.” Ch 8
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death of parent