Ahh -- It was so good to revisit Hogwarts! I started this on audio but then got impatient and had to just pick up the book and read it again for myself! I'm still waiting for my acceptance letter to Hogwarts... maybe the window has passed?

Looking over my notebooks, I think this is the third time I've read this one, so I've updated my 'dates read' data based on the info I was tracking at the time.

I listened to this on audio and had a bit of trouble following along. But I found that it forced me to really sink into the story and ride the waves in order to understand what was happening, which deepened my emotional attachment to the characters. I thought this was going to be a 3-star read for me until the last quarter of the book, which is when it really got interesting and the puzzle started falling into place. This was such an interesting story about how society has managed to control women for so long - and I'll be thinking about Esme Lennox for a very long time.

Remember the image of the little boy fleeing Syria who washed up on the beach a few years ago? Now imagine that he was the only survivor of that shipwreck and he's helped by a little girl who knows to keep him a secret from some people and how to find someone who can actually help him.

For me, this was a reminder that we all have a part to play in helping people flee from terror. Who will I be? The person that this little boy needs to hide from or the person he can run to?

This was a powerful book that forces you to think about the paths in your life. Written in 5 short stories about the same woman, yet imagining 5 very different lives for her. My main takeaway: suffering is inevitable in life. It's the very basis of our lives. And I must stop second guessing my choices because I have no idea what sort of life I'd be living otherwise!

Also: this is another book that illustrates the depths of suffering Eastern Europe experienced prior to and between the World Wars. That suffering is what gave Hitler his foothold, allowed him to press the us vs. them mentality, and festered such hatred towards a specific group of people. What a reminder that we have a responsibility to help those suffering. It has such repercussions throughout history!

I'd checked this book out from the library a while back ago because I loved the cover and the title. I read the plot when I got home and decided it wasn't for me and returned it to the library unread. The plot sounded so... absurd. But I decided to actually try it after it made the Women's Prize long list this year (mostly because my library doesn't have many of the books on the list and I want to read as many as I can). Once I started the book, I was hooked. Couldn't put it down. The author beautifully told the multi-generational history of the family's run-down shabby camp, lovingly and ironically dubbed The Paper Palace. It also showed us how young love sinks its hooks into you and, sometimes, just won't let you go. I loved this author's writing: it was sharp, poetic, and page-turning; I can't believe it's her first novel! And the ending. I'd love to chat about it when you get there!

Moral of the story: Always judge a book by its cover, not the plot.

Read aloud with Bryce.

This was a Kindle deal and is on the 2022 Women's Prize long list. It's set in the Caribbean and is written in a Creole dialect, which took a little getting used to but was necessary to transport me from snowy New Hampshire to a tropical island. This is a story about a 40 year old woman, Allie, who has been abused in one way or another her entire life. It's also a story about how genuine, nonjudgemental friendships and unconditional love can help people in abusive situations more than we realize. I loved getting to know Allie, understanding her point of view, and cheering her on.

Beware of many triggers in this book. Physical abuse, sexual abuse, the abuse of children, to name a few.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. This is a difficult book to write about. Going into it, you might want to do a bit of research about the Egyptian gods, Nephthys and Osiris, the twin siblings this book centers around. This is set in the 70s in the foggy outskirts of Washington DC and is full of supernatural activities that were unsettling, to say the least.

This was a difficult book to read, full of trigger warnings: child abuse and neglect, violence, drug and alcohol abuse. It was uncomfortable to read and showed the United States' vast chasm between the haves and have nots. It was written almost as if the author was in a dream and boy, did she take us on a journey.

I keep making a comparison between the characters in this book and another on the Women's Prize Long List this year: The Paper Palace. In both books, children are neglected and abused. But for the young children in this book, the consequences are much more dire. Again - we are not on an equal footing in the United States. Not by a long shot.

I'm a sucker for WWII stories set in France and this one did not disappoint. Nanée is a wealthy American living in Paris when it fell to the Nazis. She immediately begins working in an office trying to find legal ways to obtain American visas for people desperately seeking to escape. She quickly learns that her boss has a side operation using tactics that aren't so legal, which she's desperate to help with.

My favorite part: Nanée buys a giant house out in the country and invites her coworkers and friends to live with her. Many of her friends are artists and they play subversive parlor games each evening, which were good fun to read about. I wanted to live in that house with those people - the writer made it seem like such a cozy and inviting space.