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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

    December 17, 2025
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    Looking for a feel good memoir that will make you hungry and make you cry at the same time? This fabulous book is for you. Here is my book review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner.

    Family, Food and Finding Peace

    I have wanted to read this book for months and I am so glad I finally got it on the top of my list. It’s a fabulous memoir of a mother daughter relationship. It’s also a love story, an education about Korean culture, and a mouthwatering look at Korean cuisine.

    Korea

    I’m lucky to have spent several weeks in Korea a decade ago. I find the country and the food fascinating. But I really don’t know many people who have traveled to Korea. You should. And maybe by reading this book you will understand the culture a bit more.

    Michelle Zauner was born to a Korean mother and American father in 1989. She was raised in Eugene Oregon, where she had few Asian Americans in her school. Her mother, very strict with high expectations was Michelle’s closest companion, since they lived many miles out of town. In her teens, Michelle rebelled against her mother and the strict Korean rules in the house, even while loving her mother and loving the annual trips to Korea to visit her grandmother. She was conflicted about her Korean heritage and identity.

    Identity

    Michelle flees to the East Coast for college, where her fledgling band has a few gigs, she works in a restaurant and meets Peter her future husband. Far from her mother Michelle is able to put her “Koreanness” at arms length, even though she craves the foods of her childhood.

    It’s not until her mother’s cancer diagnosis that Michelle reckons with her heritage and all she has learned from her mother.

    You’re Gonna Cry

    This reckoning and mother daughter relationship as Michelle’s mother is dying is a real tear jerker. Beautifully written throughout but particularly honest during this process, Zauner is a exceptional storyteller. Combining so many elements and anecdotes from her childhood, Crying in H Mart will make you go call your Mom, and crave some noodles.

    Book Review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

    *****Five stars for Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. You definitely should read this one. Thank you for reading my book review Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. See last week’s book review The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong here.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

    December 10, 2025
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    A sad but sometimes funny story of people trying to survive on the margins of life, in a broken down post industrial town in Connecticut. Here is my book review The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong.

    The Emperor of Gladness

    The title made me think this book was about a person…I imagined someone with a positive attitude living a positive life. Well, that is not what this book is. Very much the opposite. The Emperor of Gladness is not a person but more of a state of mind. Throughout the novel we follow a cast of characters who become the most unlikely friends. Each one dealing in their own way with the suffering of the world.

    Hai

    When we meet Hai, he is standing on a bridge in the dark about to end his life. Addiction has plagued him and he has lied so egregiously to his mother to make her happy he sees no way to come clean. But then he hears someone calling to him and he meets an old woman living in a dilapidated house on the edge of the bridge. Hai and Grazina, who suffers from dementia, will form an improbably bond as he becomes her caretaker.

    The HomeMarket

    Hai goes to the local HomeMarket, a kind of slow food grocery, to find his cousin Sony and try to get a job. Sony introduces Hai to BJ the manager and she hires him. Over the next month Hai will befriend the quirky collection of addicts, veterans, dreamers and a civil war history enthusiast to form a sort of family, as he continues to care for Grazina and lie to his mother.

    Suffering

    As Grazina’s dementia spirals, her son realizes Hai is not a trained nurse and calls the cops. At the same time BJ is forced by the corporate office to let Sony go and in his despair he runs away. Hai wants so much to save them both, save everyone, and elemenate all their suffering. The ragtag group of friends with Grazina in tow go on one last adventure, in an effort to help Sony.

    Witty and Moving

    This is not a happy story, but you feel such empathy for these odd characters. This book is a moving look at those in our midst living on the edge of sanity, those in our society on the margins who have so little and only want to be loved. The ending is ambiguous, apparently by design. What will happen to Hai? Can he find peace in this harsh world of suffering?

    Thank you for reading my book review The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong.

    ****Four stars for The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong. See last week’s book review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

    December 3, 2025
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    In a small Ohio town over five decades, Ryan creates a unique and engaging cast of characters in Buckeye. I listened to this on on Audible on our long road trip in October. Here is my book review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan.

    Small Town Life

    A small farming community in Ohio is the setting for Buckeye, a story that spans two world wars and a depression. This tight knit community is home to Cal, whose one leg too short keeps him from enlisting in the war. His beautiful wife Betsy has a gift. She can communicate with people who have passed on. Cal doesn’t believe this gift is true, and as Betsy pursues helping people in the community to communicate with the dead, their relationship becomes strained.

    Margaret has a past secret. She is not the woman she claims to be, hiding her abandonment and the fact she grew up in an orphanage. She marries Felix, who also carries his own secret. Felix knows he is gay, and has had a couple of sexual encounters in his youth. But it’s not until he is drafted in WWII that he meets the love of his life.

    While Felix is away, and Betsy is busy with her clients, Cal and Margaret will find each other.

    Post War

    Margaret has been told Felix is missing in action, and she is ashamed that she is somewhat relieved. Margaret does not want children, and she has fallen in love with Cal. But an unexpected twist will change everything, causing Margaret to abandon her entire life, while Cal and Betsy try to pick up the pieces of their marriage.

    Empathy

    I had a lot of empathy for these characters in this book, particularly for Felix and his struggle with being a homosexual during this era. The book explores several important topics including abandonment, infidelity, grief and regret. Mostly regret.

    Book Review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

    ****Four stars for Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. Thank you for reading my book review Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. See last week’s Book Review The Elements by John Boyne.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Elements by John Boyne

    November 26, 2025
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    John Boyne is the author of 2 dozen books. I have read two; The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas and All the Broken Places. Boyne has had his share of controversy as well (read about it here), but I thought his latest novel, though disturbing, an amazing book. Here is my book review The Elements by John Boyne.

    Four Connecting Stories

    Unlike many novels that run parallel stories to further the plot, Boyne creates four seemingly separate stories in The Elements. But as the book builds so does the connections between the protagonists in the four stories. Through each story runs a theme…not a pleasant one. Often disturbing the book will look at abuse in ways I have never seen in a novel before.

    The Abuser and The Abused

    Boyne explores pedophilia and those who look the other way. He tackles incest and suicide. We will see a brilliant athlete, violently abused as a child, get involved in a rape and cover up. And a twist on abuse will be a female abuser of young boys, who uses her own horrific childhood tragedy to justify her actions. These stories are presented separately, but a thread of abuse and characters will connect the stories. Finally we will meet a single father raising a son, protecting him fiercely all while keeping his own secrets of his youth.

    Happy Ending?

    I wouldn’t call this a happy ending, so much as a bit of redemption for all the lives affected over generations of abuse. There is some happy moments in the end, but only when communication is opened up and truths are revealed.

    Though difficult and disturbing these are topics often swept under the rug, a practice that only creates more sorrow for victims. I thought the book was really well done, interesting and engaging, even with the sexual abuse story line. Thank you for reading my book review The Elements by John Boyne.

    *****Five stars for The Elements by John Boyne

    See last week’s book review Babel by R.F. Kuang

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Babel by R.F. Kuang

    November 19, 2025
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    R.F. Kuang was only 19 years old when she published her first novel The Poppy Wars. I discovered her only recently. She has had several books since her debut. I have read two. Yellowface, which I listened to on Audible and found it to be annoying, and Babel which I am reviewing today and enjoyed a lot. Here is my Book Review Babel by R.F. Kuang.

    Speculative History

    I enjoy the genre of Speculative History, the re-imaging of historical events with a “what if” twist. Often these novels have a magical theme or fantasy theme. Kuang has written several novels that fall into the fantasy theme, including Babel.

    I will admit the first quarter or so of this book I couldn’t really grasp what was going on…but once I realized this wasn’t historical fiction, rather re-imagined, it began to make sense.

    Oxford 1830

    A young Chinese boy is taken to England from Canton to be raised and educated by a wealthy man. The boy takes the English name of Robin Swift. He lives a strange life of intense study often being paraded by his benefactor as Chinese student lucky to be in England. When Robin comes of age, and without any warning, he is enrolled into the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford.

    Silver

    Robin’s only friends at the Institute are three other’s who don’t fall into the white male category; a boy from India and two women. Their differences bind them together. But they begin to learn how silver has manipulated everything in British society and created vast wealth, power and colonialism. Through the secretive and magical power of silver, the students become tangled in a dangerous effort to usurp the hierarchy and take control.

    Book Review Babel by R.F. Kuang

    Some of this book I found fascinating and engaging, particularly as I began to unravel some of the hidden secrets in the story. The amount of research that must have been done to write such an epic novel is incredible. But there were parts I also found fault in, a lot of violence and coincidence. I wasn’t particularly fond in most of the characters.

    But if you like history, and fantasy, and a grand saga you might like Babel. Thank you for reading my book review Babel by R.F. Kuang.

    ****Four stars for Babel by R.F. Kuang.

    See last week’s book review The Circle of Days by Ken Follett.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Circle of Days by Ken Follett

    November 12, 2025
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    If I was asked what author I might sit down with and have a beer – I do think I would chose Ken Follett. He is an absolute master and I am a huge fan particularly of his historical fiction. He also is prolific, with over 35 books written since his debut novel The Big Needle in 1974. A hero in my book world – I adore the Kingsbridge series. And his latest work is just as brilliant. Here is my book review Circle of Days by Ken Follett.

    Stonehenge

    Have you been to Stonehenge (estimated to have begun in 3100 BC) I have been twice and it is the kind of place where you have to remind yourself its not fake. Not Disney. Like the Pyramids of Egypt (2700 BC) or Gobekli Tepe Turkiye built in 9500 BC, Stonehenge challenges our minds with the how? How could ancient peoples with no mechanical equipment have created this?

    In the Circle of Day, Ken Follett imagines it for us in an engaging and beautiful novel full of Follett’s signature intrigue and angst. True to form we encounter good and evil, love and religion and most of all, hope.

    Characters

    In an era where hard work and ingenuity is what it takes to survive, we meet Seft. Born to a flint miner family but talented and capable to be more. He is brilliant with the mind of an engineer. At the Midsummer’s Festival he falls in love with Neen from a herder family. Despite their different classes, they find a way to become a family.

    Neen’s sister Joia knows she is destined for something…something great. Her mother sees it too. And when the Midsummer Monument is set ablaze by warring factions, Joia knows her destiny. She will become a High Preistess and dedicate her life to creating giant stone monument.

    Factions and Fractures

    The work will take decades and as a drought ravages the land, the once peaceful region will be plagued with violence between the farmers, herders and woodlanders. It is a time of great sorrow, hunger and uncertainty. Can hard work, perseverance and love conquer all?

    Follett Formula

    Follett certainly has a formula, and although a bit predictable I was still on the edge of my seat as we rooted for the good guys and cursed the bad. A remarkable book and a must read for 2026. If you haven’t been to Stonehenge, you will certainly want to visit after reading Circle of Days by Ken Follett.

    Book Review Circle of Days by Ken Follett

    Thank you for reading my book review Circle of Days by Ken Follett. See last week’s book review The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnet.

    *****Five stars for Circle of Days by Ken Follett.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnet

    November 5, 2025
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    Hilarious and heart warming I fully expect a movie. It is so visual it will be a blockbuster I’m sure. Here is my book review The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnet

    An Unforgettable Road Trip

    Some road trips are planned, some just evolve. This one is a bit of both. But it’s the characters of this novel that really make it so wonderful. An eclectic group of unexpected people connected by circumstance and chance. And one orange tabby cat named Pancakes.

    Comedy of Errors

    What happens when you take one alcoholic sixty-three year old lottery winner and throw in two orphaned kids, an estranged daughter, his ex-wife who is marrying his best friend, a soap opera star and a multitude of other quirky characters along the way? Plus a cat who knows when people are going to die. Well this is The Road to Tender Hearts.

    PJ Halliday

    PJ is an unlikely protagonist of this story. He loves his family but ever since the death of his oldest daughter fifteen years ago nothing has gone right. His wife left him, he drinks too much, and his other daughter Sophie is fed up with him. But when a cat named Pancakes comes into his life he finds hope. PJ decides to drive from Massachusetts to Arizona to track down his high school sweetheart Michelle Cobb at the Tender Hearts Retirement Community.

    The adventure is busting with heartfelt and hilarious moments, as well as several dead people (which Hartnett somehow also makes hilarious), and several police officers. The dark humor makes it laugh out loud and I enjoyed this story tremendously. You will have to read it to find out if everyone lives happily ever after.

    Book Review The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnet

    I envision someone like Tommy Lee Jones or maybe Bryan Cranston in the role of PJ Halliday. I hope it is a movie…but you gotta read the book first.

    *****Five stars for The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnet. Thanks for reading my book review The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnet. See last week’s book review A Family Matter by Claire Lynch.

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