February 2025
- Katie Peterson
- Feb 1, 2025
- 7 min read
Something old, something new, something steamy, something true-ish
(Hint: If you click on the image of a book below, it will take you directly to the section about that book!)
Something old: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Something new: The Favorites by Layne Fargo
Something steamy: P.S. I Hate You by Lauren Connolly
Something true-ish: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Book club pick: Wild Love by Elsie Silver
The Ratings:
Like plain, black coffee. Strong dislike.
A little cream, a little sugar. Not bad. Not great.
Add some flavor or syrup, it's getting good.
I liked this a latte!
Love! Refill please!
The Steam:
No peppers: Love/romance not a major part of this story
One pepper: Mild! Some love scenes; nothing risque on the page; fade to black
Two peppers: Moderate! Slightly descriptive romantic scenes may occur on page; some implied innuendos
Three peppers: Hot! Blushing while reading may occur; lots of spice
The Nickel Boys
Colson Whitehead
Elwood Curtis is a young man who has to overcome the throes of the challenging high school years, all while also trying to survive as a Black boy in the segregated south. Elwood doesn't have a television, but he does have a record player, and is able to listen to the most famous speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. over and over, so much that the record begins to scratch in places. At the time, Elwood believes the words are leading him to join the fight for freedom, for fairness, for equality. But after an innocent mistake leads to his arrest, and subsequent sentencing to a juvenile reformative center called Nickel Academy, Elwood finds the words actually propel him to survive.
Nickel Academy boasts itself as a leading reforming school for troubled boys in Florida. But in reality, it's a deranged house of horrors, with sadistic staff, corrupt practices, and a dedicated outhouse for horrific beatings. A graveyard is present on the grounds for the occasional death, suicide or accident...but a hidden cemetery hides the grotesque truth of many disappearances. Elwood only needs to live long enough to be released on his 18th birthday...but no one lasts long at Nickel Academy, and he's fighting against more than time.
Wow. This book is powerful and fitting.
My rating:
The Favorites
Layne Fargo
I am firmly on team 'Judge a book by it's cover', and this cover is *it*. The gold, the glitter, the sensuality. Sigh. And that's all before you even get to the first page. Ice dancing is a world of glittery costumes, intricate choreography, and competitions all over the world. But before you get the chance to compete on the world stage, you have to prove you belong there. Performances are full of perfect smiles, confidence, and poise. Backstage is full of cutthroat rivalries, coercion, and backstabbing. Ice dancing can only be done in pairs, and it's not unheard of to have your partner stolen right out from under your skates.
Katarina grew up idolizing ice dance sensation Sheila Lin and knows she's destined to be an Olympic champion just like her. Unfortunately for Kat, ice skating requires many things she doesn't have: money, training facilities, and a coach. When she meets Heath, a child lost in the foster care system, they both provide something the other needs. She gives him a home, he gives her a skating partner. As they transition into a formidable pair, they catch the eye of Bella Lin, Sheila's daughter and skating prodigy. Being invited to the Lin training academy is a dream come true for Kat and Heath...or is it? Kat has long known that she'll do anything to reach her goals and she's met her match in Bella. Friends and fierce competitors, these young women set out on a tumultuous path towards Olympic gold...with broken hearts, ended friendships, and forgotten families left in their wake.
As the ten-year anniversary of Kat & Heath's final skate is nearing, an air-all documentary claims to reveal what 'really happened' all those years ago in the shocking Olympic scandal that rocked the ice dancing world. Back and forth viewpoints between the commentators on the special, along with Kat, who is determined to set the record straight...with the truth.
This one had Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan vibes, alongside a roller-coaster childhood sweethearts turned bitter rivals storyline. In other words, yes please.
My rating:
Steam rating:
(Spice is alluded to...nothing detailed on page)
P.S. I Hate You
Lauren Connolly
The famous love you-then hate you-then love you again trope (wait-is that a famous trope?) in an emotional book about letting go...of the past, of misconceptions, and sometimes, of loved ones.
Maddie and Dom shared a perfect, passionate night together long ago. Soon after that, Dom broke Maddie's heart and they've kept their distance since. They're brought together when Josh, Maddie's brother and Dom's best friend, dies of cancer. At the funeral, friends and family are given envelopes with words that Josh prepared for them as a last good-bye. Maddie is anguished to discover that she doesn't get her own final farewell, but instead has to share an envelope with Dom. The two of them are tasked with spreading Josh's ashes in the eight states he hadn't yet visited as a travel photographer. With nothing to go on but coordinates and individual letters for each stop, they begin their journey of leaving the last pieces of the person they loved the most at the places he most wanted to see.
To add to the emotional turmoil, each destination comes with a unique request from Josh. Surprises await Maddie and Dom and they meet people who loved and miss their friend as much as them. As they complete the journey, Maddie finds her walls crumbling and her heart aching to let Dom back in. Her entire life she's never felt like enough...Josh was the only person who truly loved her exactly as she is. Will she allow herself to trust Dom enough to get close to him again? Or has she closed off that portion of her heart forever? And when the final ashes have been released, will there be anything left holding them together?
This one has all the emotions: intense grief, longing, regret, and love. It has humor, sadness, sarcasm, second chances, and plenty of angsty spice.
My rating:
Steam rating:
Check this out! If you like this book, I am also recommending you check out the book Someone Else's Bucket List by Amy T. Matthews: similar storyline, less spice.
Before We Were Yours
Lisa Wingate
I had heard that this book was both excellent and heartbreaking prior to reading...and it delivered on both counts.
Rill and her siblings are living a life filled with adventure and love aboard their river shanty (homemade houseboat) tied up along the Mississippi River. But on the night her newest siblings are born, instead of completing the family, it tears them apart. Her mother and father are forced to leave the children alone in order to get to a hospital when the delivery goes awry. When men in suits show up demanding the children go with them to see their parents, they have no choice but to abide. Unbeknownst to them, their family will never be all together again. The kids become wards of the Tennessee Children's Home Society, living in an orphanage until they are adopted...or worse. Some are chosen together, some by themselves...and some disappear forever.
Avery is a well-to-do politician's daughter, who is extremely involved in his campaign and political work. One item on the political docket is the care of elders in nursing homes. While her own grandmother was recently admitted to a memory care unit, few people can afford centers like hers. To find out more, Avery is determined to visit some of the nursing homes in their area. Once there, an old woman mistakes Avery for someone else. Although she thinks little of it at the time, her interest in the woman is peaked and she visits again. This time, she notices some strange coincidences...like a photo of her grandmother on the woman's bedside table...and a matching butterfly bracelet to the one she's always worn. She races against the winding clock of her grandmother's memory to find out once and for all: what is this woman's connection to her family and why has it been kept secret all these years?
Dual points of view and back and forth timelines weave together an intricate tale of heartbreak and determination to reunite a family torn apart by greed and lies. Have the tissues ready-you'll need them.
My rating:
Good to know before reading: Based on the horrific true events of the Tennessee Children's Home Society-look it up to learn more.
-Back and forth time line, dual points of view, & character names change throughout the story due to circumstance. Can be hard to follow at times.
Wild Love
Elsie Silver
It wasn't my month to pick our book club book, but it was fate because doesn't 'Wild Love' just scream February?!?
After experiencing harassment at the hands of a coworker, Rosie flees her hustle & bustle city life and finds herself back in her hometown, Rose Hill...with no job, no references, and in a stagnant, unsupportive relationship. Needing time to think and reevaluate what she wants out of life, she finds the wide open spaces surrounded by wilderness good for her soul. What she wasn't expecting was running straight into a blast from her past: her older brother's best friend, Ford. Recently named "World's Hottest Billionaire" by Forbes, Rosie thought that Ford would be busy leading his rich-bachelor life. In the throes of opening a new business studio in Rose Hill, Ford is able to offer Rosie something she desperately needs: a job. Neither anticipated the platonic, professional relationship turning into more. But their messy dynamic, verbal sparring, and late-night talks on the dock have both of them feeling butterflies.
Complicating things, Rosie isn't the only female showing up on his doorstop. Ford finds himself face-to-face with a girl claiming that he's her dad. A questionable decision years earlier leads to Ford jumping straight into the role of parenthood. Cora is sullen and sarcastic and hard to connect with. But as the three of them spend more time together, Ford, Rosie and Cora all find themselves surrounded by something none of them could have imagined: the most perfect, imperfect, wild love.
This is book 1 in the Rose Hill series. If you find yourself falling in love with the beautiful setting and characters, you'll want to check out #2!
My rating:
(Remember--3 cups means I still liked the book--I just didn't love it for one reason or another. I would still recommend reading--especially if it's a genre you enjoy.).
Steam rating:
This was a slow burn with no real steam happening until the last 1/4 of the book.
Read along with me in March
Something old | March by Geraldine Brooks |
Something new | The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian |
Something steamy | The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren |
Something true-ish | The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee |
Book club pick | Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi |
As always, send any book recommendations, comments or questions my way: sosnssst@gmail.com.
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