This was recommended to me from a dear friend and she couldn’t have been more spot on! It was funny, original, and gave a glimpse into a culture that I don’t often read about. The premise is this: Indian women in London take an English class at a community center and things aren’t at all what you would expect. There’s a mystery, a diverse group of characters, and some *spicy* storytelling.

It isn’t often that I finish a book that I really don’t like, but that was the case here. The premise of this sounded so. good. but it was terribly executed. A minor league baseball player in Nashville finds his marriage falling apart and his teammates try to help him save it by bringing him into their book club. Sounds cute, right? The writing was not good, the dialogue was silly, and I wasn’t even rooting for this marriage to work out. So disappointing!

I absolutely loved The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and was highly anticipating her second novel. It was worth the wait! She is so good at creating magical places. Her writing makes you feel like there really IS an underground library just beneath our feet. The story sucked me in. It was a little hard to follow in places because there are so many ‘books’ within the book. But it all came together and I think it would make a great reread.

This was the perfect book to prepare for Thanksgiving with relatives who have different political views. I have learned so much from the podcast that birthed this book called Pantsuit Politics, mainly talking about differing political opinions is critical to our country and community! There were so many useful tools and conversation starters here, that I plan on pulling it out over and over in the coming months (and years!).

Most reviews I read of Sarah Bessey’s newest said some version of ‘I sobbed the entirety of reading this’. Let me add to that. I also cried throughout this short memoir-ish book for two main reasons. First, her writing is just emotionally evocative. She makes you think and consider deep things in ways that go deep into your heart. Second, there is a lot in the world that is just sad right now, and Sarah’s story gives you permission to be sad about it.