I decided I really needed to get myself much more caught up, so I’ve decided not to FULLY review some of my more recent reads from January through March of this year. One or two of them I will because I have so much to say about them, but the vast majority I’ll gloss over. I am doing very short reviews on goodreads, so if you want to know my overall thoughts and whether or not I’d recommend something, here’s a quick overview:

Glory Over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I realized after cracking open this book it had been too long since I’d read The Kitchen House. However, it didn’t really seem to matter. There was mention of characters from the prior book, but for the most part it’s an independent story about the descendant of the characters to which we were previously introduced. The main character is Jamie, the light-skinned son of a slave woman and her master who has fled the plantation for the North after the tragic events that occurred in the prequel. He is now a powerful and wealthy man who is living as white and is heir to the successful business of his adoptive father. When a young boy who is very important to him goes missing, taken by slavers to the South to be sold, Jamie embarks on a journey back to the place from which he fled to save the boy. But the journey brings much danger, as Jamie is still wanted as a fugitive.

I really enjoyed this book. Sometimes Jamie really frustrated me, but I understood the fact that he had to grow and change over the course of the novel, becoming a better person. I think Grissom did an excellent job of exploring his story as well as the sometimes heartbreaking stories of other characters. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I toyed with the idea of giving this book my full attention with a detailed review but decided not to despite the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed this unique historical fiction work about a bunch of badass women. It’s an important piece of history surrounding a group of people many don’t know existed. It takes place on Hawaii during and after the events of Pearl Harbor in which the military set up a base for the protection of the island and the Country that would allow the United States to have warning of further attacks as well as to communicate with and direct American pilots during their dangerous missions. Many island women were trained in radar technology and staffed this unit. This book is their story, and it’s a lovely one. The novel is a fantastic tribute to the often overlooked heroes of WWII, and it’s also about the strength women find once they are finally told they are worth something.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I decided not to review this particular book on my blog. For one thing, I kind of went into my thoughts of the similarities between The Hunting Party and The Guest List in my review for the latter, and I said I prefer The Guest List. I found the characters more compelling and less annoying. For the love of God, don’t listen to this book on audio, because you’ll want to punch Miranda in the face. I found her sniveling snooty voice to be so vomit-inducing it was impossible to like her even a little bit. I don’t think I would have felt that way if I’d read it off the page, but maybe. Overall, it’s a good story and it’s well done. The conclusion is satisfying and a little bit surprising. I would recommend it (though, as I said, not the audio 🙂 )

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book seriously tugs at your heart strings. It’s a fabulous audio. I loved the narrators for both Lenni and Margot. Lenni is a teenager with a terminal illness who lives at a hospital. She knows she doesn’t have much time left and is grappling with the overwhelming feeling of loneliness and confusion over her predicament. Margot is an elderly woman who is also a resident at the hospital with not a whole lot of time left. Though an unlikely pair, when Lenni and Margot meet they discover something incredible. Between the two of them, their ages add up to a full 100 years. Together, they have lived a full life. In celebration of that life, they will do a series of paintings together consisting of 100 paintings, one that represents each year in their lives. As they complete these paintings, we get the stories that accompany them. It’s a beautiful concept to a completely captivating and heartwarming story of friendship and growth. The cast of characters is lovable and quirky. Buy a couple extra boxes of kleenex and give this book a try. It’s worth it.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is another one I feel deserves it’s own fully thought out, detailed review but I’m opting not to. There’s so much packed into this book about love, life, loyalty, prejudice, and free will. It was much more political in nature than I thought it would be, doing a deep dive into the repercussions that public knowledge of a person’s lifespan can have on civil liberties and potential for violence and reckless behavior. Erlick did a fantastic job exploring the mental and emotional aspects of this concept in which some people find out they don’t have long to live and others find out they are immune from death for years to come. What I thought could be a simple heartfelt tearjerker wound up being a brilliant and fascinating exploration of human nature. All in all, this one was a pleasant surprise.