Welcome to Quick Lit: November 2024 Edition where I share books that I chose for my own reading enjoyment in a mini-review format. These are not books I received for review, but books that I’ve been wanting to read or that have caught my attention. Most of them have been talked about ad nauseam or have been on my to-read list for a long time so they don’t really need a full review. But, I’d still like to give them some space here on the blog, so instead, I’m offering mini-reviews of the books that won’t get full-page space here.
I’ll be linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy and her monthly Quick Lit link-up. Be sure to head over to see others share their Quick Lit posts.
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I recently reviewed several middle-grade books. Did you know I also regularly review children’s books? Check them out HERE.
I recently reviewed THE NIGHT WE LOST HIM and THE WALL OF LIFE. I’m currently reading WHAT TIME THE SEXTON’S SPADE DOTH RUST on my Kindle, THE SECOND LIFE OF MIRIELLE WEST for book club, and I’m listening to WHY WE READ.
I’m currently watching Call the Midwife, Great British Baking Show, Dancing with the Stars, and Survivor. I FINALLY watched The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society on Netflix. The book is one of my all-time favorites and the movie was just as wonderful. I can’t believe I waited so long to watch it but when it’s a favorite book you worry that the movie won’t live up to the standards. I also watched the movie, Brooklyn, after reading the book and I also recommend it.
This month’s list includes four audiobooks, two Bible Studies, a memoir, and some great fiction. Let me know if any of these books are on your reading list!
THE THIRD GILMORE GIRL
By: Kelly Bishop
Narrated by: Kelly Bishop
Published: September 17, 2024
Publisher: Gallery Books
Memoir
Format: Audiobook through Libby
I first became a fan of Kelly Bishop in Dirty Dancing. Then our daughter got me hooked on Gilmore Girls and I loved her as Emily Gilmore as well. Her memoir, (narrated by her as well) begins with her life before she entered show business. She devoted much of her time to dancing which eventually led her to Broadway. The first half of the book focuses on her dancing and Broadway career including her time in A Chorus Line. The last 40% includes stories from Dirty Dancing, Gilmore Girls, her longtime marriage to her husband, Lee, and her other TV and movie spots. I enjoyed the listening experience and learning her life story, but I wish there had been more time devoted to her years on Gilmore Girls.
AND SO I ROAR
By: Abí Dare
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
Published: August 6, 2024
Publisher: Dutton
Fiction
Format: Audiobook through Libby
The follow-up to Dare’s first book, THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE, picks up with Adunni about to start the school for which she earned the scholarship. Adunni is a Nigerian teen who has gone through much trauma and difficulty and has finally reached her dream of attending school. Unfortunately, it isn’t going to be that easy. The night before she starts her classes, the police come to Tia’s house to look for Adunni. What follows is a Nigerian sacrifice involving Adunni and several other young women facing charges.
Once Adunni is captured and awaiting her punishment, she comes up with ideas for her own Very Important Small Book of Life’s Little Wisdoms. Many chapters end with bits of wisdom from Adunni, like this one:
On Dying
We are all going to die one day.
To know this is a gift, a cross tied to the bullstring of a blessing.
No any number of education, science, prayer, money can change that. It is a fact of life.
So take every chance to live a fully full life.From the Very Important Small Book of Life’s Little Wisdoms by Adunni
I’m wondering if the author will come up with a separate book of Adunni’s Little Wisdoms. There weren’t enough included in this book to be enough, but I’m sure she could come up with more that would be fitting for Adunni’s spirit and wit.
I do recommend that you read THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE first to understand most of what is happening and why. Both books include a lot of Nigerian culture and traditions, especially ones that seem so foreign to us in America. There is a lot of sadness and difficult themes in this one, much like the first book. But, the ending is happy and hopeful which makes all the hard stuff easier to take. I hope to read more from Abí Dare.
GOD’S RELENTLESS LOVE
A Study of Hosea
By: Sharla Fritz
Published: January 1, 2021
Publisher: Concordia Pub House
Christian Non-Fiction
I joined several friends in a Bible study over the last couple of months. I have to admit, when I saw it was over the Book of Hosea, I was a bit nervous. It’s not a book of the Bible that comes to mind when you think of a Bible study. But, we dove in head first and it was hard at times, but I am glad I stuck with it.
The Book of Hosea chronicles God’s instructions to Israel over their betrayals. Israel is seeking other gods and other sources of help. They are committing sins and not repenting. The Book of Hosea is also about Hosea who marries Gomer and his devotion and relentless love towards her. Overall, I enjoyed this study, mostly because I met with some godly women whom I deeply respect and we had really great discussions. I learned a lot but this won’t be my favorite book of the Bible. If you’d like to read a fiction novel based on this book of the Bible, I recommend REDEEMING LOVE by Francine Rivers. My favorite verse from Hosea is from 6:3
Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.
Hosea 6:3 NIV
BROOKLYN
Eilis Lacey Book 1
By: Colm Tóibín
Narrated by: Saoirse Ronan
Published: May 5, 2009
Publisher: Scribner
Historical Fiction
Format: Audiobook through Libby
I love books set in the 1950s and when I read about Tóibín’s newest book LONG ISLAND and that it was a sequel to BROOKLYN, I knew I had to read both of them. Then I noticed that “Brooklyn” was a movie I’ve had on my watch list for a while which is based on this book. I watched it and was happy with how the movie told the story of Eilis.
Eilis Lacey comes of age in Ireland in the 1950s. When she receives an opportunity from a priest to go to Brooklyn, New York, to work, she takes it, with some anticipation mixed with fear. She’s told she will live in a neighborhood just like Ireland, with other Irish immigrants. She lives in a house with other female renters and works at a department store. But, she feels very alone and misses her sister and mom. The priest offers to find a sponsor for her to attend night school to be an account because if she is busy she will be less homesick.
I envied Eilis’s Friday night dances and summer trips to Coney Island. Eilis finds love in Brooklyn but she is still hesitant to commit because she wants to work, not be a housewife. When she receives word from Ireland about a tragedy, she returns for a brief visit that turns into more. Will she return to her love in Brooklyn or stay in Ireland? I wasn’t sure which choice she would make and the novel ends quite briefly once she has made the decision. I’m anxious to read his newest novel to find out what happens next.
The narration was excellent with lots of great voices and Irish and Brooklyn accents to go along with each character.
SIMON PETER
Flawed but Faithful Disciple
By: Adam Hamilton
Published: December 18, 2018
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Christian Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover
This was the book our women’s group at church has been reading through for the year. We previously read Hamilton’s book THE LORD’S PRAYER. Each month, we would read a chapter and then discuss it. If you are familiar with The Chosen series, the first few chapters of this book follow the same story in several of the first few episodes.
Simon Peter was a regular guy who had doubts just like we do but after witnessing one of Jesus’ miracles, he quickly became one of his disciples. Like Peter, we have all denied Jesus. We’ve denied his existence, faith in us, and desire to be with us in every moment. We have all lived times in our lives that were inconsistent with our faith. But we are human and we are not defined by our failures. Jesus doesn’t define us that way and we shouldn’t either.
Author Adam Hamilton shares his excitement about showing photos of his granddaughter to others. He loves her so much, that the excitement spills out of him. In this same way, he shares an example about Simon Peter.
That’s how Peter and the apostles felt about Jesus’ impact on their lives. It was so profound that Peter had to share it. He couldn’t stop talking about it. Has your faith impacted you in this way? Has your experience with the risen Christ been so life-giving that you had to share it? Have you been so filled by the Spirit that you just had to tell others about your faith in Christ?
I found some real-life examples and reminders in this book. Hamilton convicted me by reminding me to be sure that I live in such a way that people around me know that I am a Christian.
” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so those that speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. “
1 Peter 3:15-16 NIV
SANDWICH
By: Catherine Newman
Narrated by: Nan McNamara
Published: June 18, 2024
Publisher: Harper
Fiction
Format: Audiobook through Libby
Rocky is the mother of two adult children. She and her husband are empty-nesters and their family is heading to their annual vacation cottage in Cape Cod along with their son’s girlfriend and Rocky’s elderly parents. The book chronicles their week in Cape Cod with Rocky’s flashbacks to their early years of marriage.
This is how it is to love somebody. You tell them the truth. You lie a little. And sometimes, you don’t say anything at all.
This book does have a few trigger warnings including the loss of a baby, which is talked about frequently. Rocky is also grieving the loss of her children being young. She loves them as adults but misses the early years, even though it was a difficult time in their marriage.
What does loss look like in your body? Where is it? It feels like an air bubble stuck in your psyche. It feels like peering down into a deep hole, the vertigo of that, the potential for obliteration. It’s in your stomach, your spleen, or it’s just your heart losing its mind.
This short book was easy for me to identify with in many ways: the loss of a baby, missing your adult children, adjusting to being empty-nesters, the stages of menopause, and coming to terms with your aging and elderly parents not being here forever. But, in other ways, I didn’t identify with it. Rocky didn’t seem like a nice person. She was gruff with her husband and kept a big secret from her family that bothered me. This brief family story covers a week in their life while looking back on mistakes, memories made, and all they have to look forward to in the future. I don’t think it would be for everyone, but I mostly enjoyed it.
But, often, an empty nest, is two birds looking at each other, shell-shocked and nostalgic over the single worm they’re now splitting for dinner, discussing what to do with the worm leftovers.
I loved The Girl with the Louding Voice. Thanks for tip about And So I Roar. It wasn’t on my radar at all!