Independence is the story of three sisters living near Calcutta in the 1940s as India finally escapes from colonial rule. I was woefully uneducated about how violent a time this was and about the way India was partitioned into India and Pakistan.  Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni not only writes a beautifully compelling story of a family during this time, but she also gently weaves in so much historical information so you are learning while engrossed in the precarious stories of Priya, Jamini, and Deepa. 

Priya dreams of being a doctor in a country that does not allow women in that position. Deepa is in love with a family friend but it must be a secret. And Jamini is the often left out sister, walking with a limp and feeling every bit left out of the fun her sisters are always having.  Tragedy strikes their family to begin the story, and then more atrocities of the struggle for independence happen to and around them. Through it all, the sisters are clear individuals and I loved each of their personalities. The way their stories diverge and then come back together in this novel is poignant and incredible when you consider that it is done in under 300 pages. 

Once I learned the names of the family members and their dear friends, I couldn't put this book down and my only complaint is that I wanted to be with these characters longer. This story was absolutely stunning and I cannot wait to read from  Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni  again. 

Banned Book Club is not your typical YA graphic novel. Based on true stories and experiences of people in South Korea in the 1980s, this book tells the story of Kim Hyun Sook going to college in 1983. Her parents are reluctant, but she is over the moon to expand her horizons. 

Kim Hyun looks to many different campus organizations for a group of friends. She finds herself in a banned book club, with very real life and death circumstances. 

Let me say this book is serious while also very enjoyable, and there is some depiction of torture. This isn't a pick me up graphic novel. It is incredibly timely if you live in the US where book bans and book challenges are happening at an alarming rate. If you can handle the content of a heavier read, this is a must for your TBR regardless of age. 

Really Good, Actually is definitely a book that feels very of the moment in 2023. There are so many books about a woman facing a major life upheaval or emotional health crisis. I personally feel drawn to many of these titles, so I gave this one a chance. And let's be honest, this cover is attention grabbing too. 

But for me, Really Good, Actually fell flat compared to other books in this sub-genre. Maggie was a fine character, grating at times but I know that was the point. What didn't work for me was the lack of build towards ownership of her mistakes and gradual, nonlinear improvement. Maggie floundered and failed at being a decent human for the first three quarters of the book and then suddenly started acting reasonably. Throw in a lack of well developed side characters and a ho-hum story, and you've got a three star read for me. 

If you're interested in this synopsis- by all means, give it a try. Also consider Maame and Adelaide, both phenomenal books about women facing major challenges in their twenties and finding themselves in the end. 

Might try again with a physical copy, too many names to follow well on audio. 

Maybe an Artist is a very easy to read graphic novel categorized as young adult but very suitable for middle grade readers. This memoir is about Liz Montague and her journey to becoming an artist, something she never thought was realistic or attainable. 

Organized by periods of her life (elementary, middle, high school, and then college and an afterword), we learn about various parts of Liz's life- not just her creative side. I think this makes the story so relatable for young people because we are never just one thing, but we often feel pressured to be. Liz also writes about being one of very few Black people in a semi-rural area and the pressures of being compared to her two older siblings. 

As an adult, the icing on the cake for this already enjoyable graphic memoir was the afterword with comics that Liz had published in the New Yorker. You should read this to find out the incredible story of how she made it there. I seriously dare you to read this book and not feel happy and even a bit inspired. 

Way to go, Liz. Thanks for sharing your story with all of us readers. 

The Soulmate is a buzzy book at the moment, and I decided to give it a read. I've never read Sally Hepworth before and I can now say I get the hype. Her writing is very easy to read, the pace of this book kept me going, and I finished this book in two days. If I had fewer obligations and responsibilities (or more apathy), I could have definitely read it in one. 

This is a dual perspective, dual timeline book. We read from the perspectives of Amanda and Pippa, and they each have chapters set both now and in the past. Pippa is married to Gabe, and they recently bought a house by a cliff. Gabe has developed a reputation for saving people who come to the cliff to jump. But one night, Gabe sees a woman at the cliff and she does jump. Pippa sees the interaction from inside the house and has her doubts about what happened, but she can't share that for fear of what the police will think. 

As the story progresses, we learn how Pippa and Gabe were connected to the woman who jumped. I think it's best to go into this book without more information than that, lest the early twists and turns read as boring. 

I enjoyed this book but have gone back and forth about how to rate it because I was not a fan of the mental health representation, especially by the end. What I did love was the portrayal of two different marriages and all the challenges the couples faced. Hepworth was spot on in her depiction of the internal and external lives of a marriage, the decisions we make with our spouse and all the feelings and choices we hold in ourselves for better or worse. 

Overall, I think I recommend this book. If mental health rep is a sensitive topic for you, I'd skip it. I've definitely read better and I've definitely read worse around that. It's not nearly as bad as The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica but it's not as well done as The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh. 

I'll begin by saying I love Brendan Slocumb, and I anticipated this book from the moment it was announced. The Violin Conspiracy, Slocumb's debut novel, was an absolute hit for me. Symphony of Secrets had very high expectations to live up to, and it did not disappoint. 

The book is told in dual timelines with some omniscience in the past timeline, which injected even more tension into the present storyline. Bern Hendricks is a professor at a state university and he receives the call of a lifetime; he is asked to interpret the notes of a famous composer on a symphony that has been believed to be lost for almost a century. Bern calls upon Eboni for help and they soon realize together that the history is much more complicated than what the public believes about the composer, Frank Delaney. 

In the 1920s, Delaney was a mildly successful musician and songwriter. Then he met a beautiful black woman named Josephine Reed. A secret relationship began and suddenly Delaney became wildly more successful. And that's the mystery that Bern and Eboni are unraveling, but it will not be without danger for themselves. 

This book is long but so easy to read and so hard to put down. The narration of the audiobook is fantastic. And again, I'm blown away by Slocumb's ability to tell a beautiful, moving story with a complex mystery with no plot holes. It's just so incredible, and then there is all of the rich knowledge and appreciation of music that he brings to his writing from being a performer and teacher himself. I can't capture the intense mood of this book, the spot on commentary about racism and microaggressions, the haunting mystery, and all the rest, but trust me- it hits every note. Sorry not sorry for the music pun. :)  

Detransition, Baby is a powerful story about gender identity and how it impacts so much of our lives. The main character Reese is living a good life, especially considering all the challenges she has faced as a transgender woman. Reese has a loving relationship with Amy after a not so great past relationship, she has a job she doesn't hate, and she enjoys living in NYC. But the relationship does not last and Amy detransitions and now goes by Ames. 

Ames isn't has happy as he expected to be, detransitioning made some things easier but also cost him his relationship with Reese and being true to himself is still a struggle. As he navigates a new relationship and a pregnant partner, he sees the pregnancy and coming baby as a way to have a new and different relationship with Reese- with her as a coparent in a parenting triad. 

So while the plot is marketed as being about this future baby and coparenting, this book is actually much more about the past events and relationships that led Reese and Ames to where they are now. There are frequent, vivid flashback scenes that help us understand the characters. To me, these flashbacks were the base of what made this story so engaging and moving. By the end when the plot focuses more on coparenting and pregnancy, the events felt contrived and cheesy. I know that made have been the point, but it lost me a bit. 

It's hard to criticize a book that is about an experience so far from my own, and overall I enjoyed this book immensely. I learned so much and this book also affirmed many things I believe about the joy and respect that everyone deserves in life and in love. Take care of yourself  and read with caution if pregnancy, gender dysphoria, or body shame are sensitive topics for you.