Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.
Currently reading: I got to a weird spot in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I finished the story, but there’s a TON of bonus material because I have an anniversary printing. I’m enjoying it all so I’m going to consider this one still ‘active’ until I finish everything. I started Prima Facie by Ruth Downie yesterday. I’m sure I’ll fly through this one since it’s so short. It will be sad to finally be completely done with Medicus! I grabbed a copy of Yellowface by R.F. Kuang and I’m trying to move through it fast. So far, I’m enjoying the story but I have to say I’m glad I have some knowledge and interest in publishing or this might fall completely flat for me.
Recently finished: I wrapped up Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver yesterday. I never fell in love with this one, it always seemed like it was going nowhere fast. I wanted more of a plot, something Demon was chasing after, but it never felt that way. I’m giving it Three out of Five Stars. I also finished The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. No surprise I went through this one fast! Unfortunately I never fell in love with this, either, and I was able to guess most of the twists before they happened so I wasn’t shocked by anything. I’m going for Two out of Five Stars here. I’m behind on reviews and I might consolidate some into mini-reviews, but this one I’m hoping to give a full write up.
I was also able to get one review written which feels like a massive accomplishment. You can read my thoughts on The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis which posted Monday. I gave it Three out of Five Stars.
Reading next: I was ambitious with my book holds and I have another library book coming my way, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel. I’m hoping I can start it soon! I hate having library books waiting on me. My Reading Buddy and I are also hoping to kick off again soon. We’re going to read Yesteryear by Carlo Claire Burke. I’m looking forward to seeing what the hype is about! I’ll need another audiobook soon, too. I’m picking up The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner next. I love having a strong list of books coming up!
Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
I’m getting super close to finishing my 2026 When Are You Reading? Challenge and needed a book in this time period. I like that push forward sometimes and this was a new author for me.
A split timeline mystery that sucks you into the past.
Summary from Amazon:
It’s 1913, and on the surface, Laura Lyons couldn’t ask for more out of life—her husband is the superintendent of the New York Public Library, allowing their family to live in an apartment within the grand building, and they are blessed with two children. But headstrong, passionate Laura wants more, and when she takes a leap of faith and applies to the Columbia Journalism School, her world is cracked wide open. As her studies take her all over the city, she is drawn to Greenwich Village’s new bohemia, where she discovers the Heterodoxy Club—a radical, all-female group in which women are encouraged to loudly share their opinions on suffrage, birth control, and women’s rights. Soon, Laura finds herself questioning her traditional role as wife and mother. And when valuable books are stolen back at the library, threatening the home and institution she loves, she’s forced to confront her shifting priorities head on . . . and may just lose everything in the process.
Eighty years later, in 1993, Sadie Donovan struggles with the legacy of her grandmother, the famous essayist Laura Lyons, especially after she’s wrangled her dream job as a curator at the New York Public Library. But the job quickly becomes a nightmare when rare manuscripts, notes, and books for the exhibit Sadie’s running begin disappearing from the library’s famous Berg Collection. Determined to save both the exhibit and her career, the typically risk-averse Sadie teams up with a private security expert to uncover the culprit. However, things unexpectedly become personal when the investigation leads Sadie to some unwelcome truths about her own family heritage—truths that shed new light on the biggest tragedy in the library’s history.
This one fell a little flat to me. I really enjoyed Laura’s story, but I couldn’t wait to get through Sadie’s sections. I wasn’t interested and I felt like she was bringing a lot of her problems on herself. It’s always hard when a book has multiple timelines or points of view because you often develop favorites and skim over certain parts. Jumping back and forth was hard for me as a reader because my interest ebbed and flowed.
Laura was easy to like and root for. She was both liberal and conservative and represented the middle ground of someone finding herself and what she wanted but not being sure how to pivot to go after it. I adored her commitment to her family and could understand the struggle to find time for herself while being present for her family. I thought Davis did a good job of balancing the obligations she had because of the time period she lived in in a way that felt realistic. I couldn’t bring myself to like Sadie. I felt like her story was less about her and more about the library so I didn’t try as hard to become engaged with her. She felt flat and her eventual romance felt forced and unnatural. I think it was a good story as a whole, but Laura carried it.
The split plot did make for some interesting parallels. I was very stumped about the thefts in the 90s plotline and I almost wondered if it was Sadie who was responsible. It could have been an unreliable narrator situation and I would have believed it! There were times the book felt it was leaning toward one plotline more than the other but it seemed to even out in the end. I didn’t foresee the twist at the end which made for a fun ending that I honestly enjoyed. David did a good job of not letting the plot lag in the middle and using the dual plotline to have one soaring high if another had to dip.
Fiona Davis. Image via the author’s Facebook page
The 1910s and 1990s periods were well built out and I appreciated the attention to detail in both. It can be hard to think of the 1990s as a historical period, but it was 30 years ago! The time before cell phones and pervasive internet takes some thinking to portray well and Davis did. I adored the 1910s period and that was the main reason I read this book. It was fun to hear about the ways women were fighting back against their gender roles at that time. The extreme cases and the more daily pushes were both well documented. I appreciated the way Davis shared Laura’s reactions to things and used that to set the cultural norms at the time.
This audiobook had dual narrators of Erin Bennett and Lisa Flanagan. I’m torn on if I think having two narrators was necessary in this audiobook. I think they could have gotten away with one since the voices weren’t very distinctive. I think multiple narrators can be necessary if the two speakers have drastically different accents, gender identities, or if the plot is hiding something that a single narrator might reveal (in a mystery or thriller for example). However, I think this could have been done with one reader. Bennett and Flanagan both did a fine job reading but I think either one could have done the whole book.
Sadie is focused on the past while Laura is looking to the future. Both lead to major impacts on the other person’s life. I liked the message that we can still learn more about the past and that we can continue to impact the future. Laura became an influential writer, not what she set out to do with her life. I appreciate how Sadie was able to continue learning about her even decades after her death. What she learned helped her see her life in a different light so Laura continued to impact the future of her family. It tied together nicely.
Writer’s Takeaway: Dual plotlines can be tricky since readers may attach themselves more to one. This was a case where the dual plotlines only seemed to cross at the very end of the story so it felt like I could pay less attention to one voice since the timelines were so disparate. When there are two voices on a single timeline, this is less of an issue since both move at the same pace. I think it’s a risk in the structure Davis chose and the only way I can see around it is giving more clues about the outcome along the way in both timelines.
Overall this fell a little flat to me and I struggled to get invested. Three out of Five Stars.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.
Currently reading: I think I’ve found a good time to commit to reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I usually have a few minutes I’m waiting for the bus to arrive when my kid comes home from school and that seems to be the perfect time to read a page or two. I’ll see if I can keep it going, but so far, so good! I’m not loving Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver just yet. I like the voice she’s created with Demon and his story is sure interesting, but I don’t see much of a plot. I’m half way in, so maybe there isn’t much of one, but I wish there was a bit more of an arc for me to follow. My library has a delivery option so I had them bring me my copy of The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. It’s a fast read so far but I’m still early on. I have no idea what’s coming but I can already see the dark, twisted pieces coming into place. We’ll see how this goes.
Recently finished: I’m at a time of year where I do a lot of driving but have no time for reviews. So I’m glad to say I finished London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe fairly quickly. It was OK, but I liked Keefe’s earlier book more. I’m giving it Three out of Five Stars. I wanted more resolution from the book, but there just wasn’t any. I also finished up Long Island by Colm Tóibín. I was a little torn on this one. Initially, I didn’t love the ending because I thought it left a lot unfinished. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was only one way things were going to wrap up and I didn’t need Tóibín to spell it out for me. I’ve ended up giving this one Four out of Five Stars. I have no idea when I’ll have time to review either of these but I’ll do my best. I’m five behind now which isn’t the worst I’ve had, but it’s pretty close.
Reading next: There is one last novella in the Medicus series by Ruth Downie that I’ve been hoping to read soon. I’ll probably grab the audiobook for Prima Facie. It’s a quick listen, just over three hours. While it will only put me further behind on reviews quickly. I’m really looking forward to it.
Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.
Currently reading: My progress through The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie has been pretty good. I’ve made an effort to pull it out when I have a down moment and I’m about half way through. I think this was a good pick for an ebook because of the shorter chapters. I’ve found that’s key for me getting throuch an ebook. I already put Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver on hold because of other audiobooks but I’ll be back soon enough! My copy of London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe finally came in! This is fascinating and I’m loving the pace and mystery of this one already. I’ve started recommending Keefe to others because he’s got a great way of building tension. I grabbed a book off my shelf because my library was closed all weekend for the holiday. I have a hold to pick up soon but I’m hoping to finish Long Island by Colm Tóibín first. I’m already 1/3 of the way done and this is a shorter book but I’m enjoying it a lot!
Recently finished: I finished A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and I feel like I owe every reader an answer to what I thought of it. It was OK. It was a lot of exposition but the last 100 pages were hard to put down. I’ll keep going to Book 2, but I have other things I want to read first so I’m not rushing it.
I managed to get one review posted which I’m really happy with given how busy I am at work this time of year. My review for Jenny Lawson’s How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay posted yesterday. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. I love Lawson and was looking for more memoir and this was something different. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I’ll stay a devoted fan and keep reading everything she writes.
Reading next: My library hold is for The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. I know almost nothing about this except that it’s a thriller so I’m excited to dive in with no idea what’s coming.
Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
I’ve been a big fan of Lawson for many years now. My book club read her first book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, and I was hooked! I’ve read most of her releases since then and I enjoy her blending of humor and memoir with a candid conversation about mental health. I didn’t realize this book was different and that affected how I felt about it. I was ready for more memoir, not for so much practical advice. That was my own fault but still my downfall.
Practical and useful advice, but without the humor I’ve come to expect from this author.
Summary from Amazon:
Jenny Lawson is full of contradictions. She’s a celebrated author but battles self-doubt, paralysis, and anxiety. She’s an award-winning humorist but struggles with treatment-resistant depression. The questions people most often ask her are, “How do you do it? How do you keep going even when it feels impossible? How do you keep creating?” This book is her answer.
In How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay, Jenny shares more than one hundred humorous, heartfelt, and genuine tools and tricks that she relies on to keep her going even when her brain isn’t working properly due to depression, anxiety, and ADHD. She also offers tips to stay passionate and focused on creative endeavors, especially when everything around you is saying to give up.
With chapters like “Wash Your Brain More Than You Wash Your Bra” (sleep, you beautiful human), “Working on Easy Mode Is Still Working” (asking for accommodations is okay!), “Celebrate Good Times, Come On!” (make it a habit to celebrate the good things), and many more, How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay is a balm and companion, reminding us all that we are not alone. It’s for anyone who struggles with self-doubt, guilt, motivation, and mental blocks and wants to rekindle their passion for creating. Funny, simple, empathetic, and full of hope, it will encourage you not to just survive but to find and curate joy in the face of difficult times.
Here is a time that not reading summaries or other reviews before diving into a book came back to bite me. I wasn’t ready for the subject of this book and found myself disappointed it wasn’t the same brand of humor I’ve enjoyed from Lawson before. She has great advice, don’t get me wrong, but I was ready for more stories mixed into it and more about Victor and Hailey. It wasn’t that this was a bad or poorly written book (not by a long shot), it just wasn’t what I enjoy from this author. She’s very qualified to write this book and has great experience to draw on to share her advice. That just wasn’t what I wanted from it.
Unlike past books where her family and friends feature prominently, this book was very focused on Lawson. She talks about the ways she’s used the advice she’s sharing and what works for her and when. Without anyone else featuring regularly, she’s really the only character. I’ve always appreciated how Lawson is so honest about her struggles and her foibles and how it shapes how she sees the world around her. I think that’s the major reason for the success she’s had in her writing. People who felt they were ‘too weird’ or ‘the only one who feels this way’ found a kindred spirit. There became another person who did the things you did or thought the way you did. Lawson is so open that it’s refreshing, even as someone who doesn’t share all of her struggles. Sharing one of them, I still relate to her and I can empathize with what she’s going through and understand that others around me might be going through what she’s enduring.
Jenny Lawson Image via NPR
This book takes you through different situations and presents different ways one can deal with that present feeling or state. Lawson groups her advice into sections with titles such as “Let’s Party!” to discuss how you can celebrate small successes. I liked how she organized things but I felt this lacked the humor I was used to from Lawson. She’s able to laugh at herself fairly well, but when giving advice, that humor disappears since she doesn’t want to appear to be laughing at her readers. It’s a helpful and useful book, but not like what Lawson has published in the past.
While therapy sessions can be helpful and provide good tips, hearing from someone who lives with the advice and has had to apply it herself hits differently. Lawson admits that not everything works for everybody and these are the things that work for her, but hearing that these things can work at all, even some of the time, is very validating. The whole book feels like a reassuring hug from a friend saying, “I’ve been there. Give this a try because it helped me when I needed help.”
Writer’s Takeaway: Lawson is well qualified to write this book and has a strong background to probably write multiple books like this one. However, she’s set a reputation for herself as a humorist and this was a deviation. It will work for large parts of her audience, to be sure, but it wasn’t for me. Others who blindly assume that this will be a new comic memoir from Lawson may be disappointed. I’m not advocating for authors staying in their ‘lane’ but it’s a possible issue for readers who will follow an author with an expectation only to be jolted by a difference.
This book wasn’t for me but I still see its incredible value. Unfortunately. Two out of Five Stars.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.
Currently reading: I’ve had mild success at pushing myself to read my ebook every day. So my progress in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie has been slow, but it’s been moving which I’m still happy with. I think a YA book in this format is my best option. The short chapters make it more doable. I had some big moves this week! I stared a new audiobook because my hold still hasn’t come in. I’m reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver with the full realization that I will put this aside as soon as my hold comes in and finish it later. It’s a long one, but I figured that was better than starting something, finishing it, and my hold still not being here. I swung by the library and grabbed a copy of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I’m enjoying it enough so far, but I’m not sucked in yet. We’ll see what happens because I know some folks are absolutely obsessed with these books.
Recently finished: I wrapped up Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I liked it, but not as much as A.J. I recommended it to my husband, I think he’d enjoy the game development aspect. I’ll get around to a review eventually, but I’m just not as moved by this one as I wanted to be which was a disappointment even though I gave it Four Stars. I finished The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis which was also a bit flat. I wanted something more than I got but it was still fine. I guess? Nothing special. Three Stars.
I got through some reviews which I’m so proud of. I reviewed Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid on Monday. I liked it well enough, though I think the audiobook performance elevated it for me. I’m giving it Four out of Five Stars. I also reviewed The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. Another enjoyable audiobook and I liked the way Quinn gave us a lot about what was happening at Bletchley without her characters having a full picture. I need to watch The Imitation Game now, haha. Four out of Five Stars as well.
Reading next: Come on, London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe! I’m ready to jump in as soon as this is available. I’m worried I’m building it up too much in my mind as I wait for the hold to come in.
Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
I had a moratorium on WWII books for a while. I think there’s a flood of them in the market right now and I needed a break, especially from ones based in Europe. There’s only so much my heart can handle. I’ve relented a bit in the past few months and this was one I made an exception for. I’ll probably need another rest after how hard this hit, though.
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn Publication Date: March 2021 Length: 16 hours and 2 minutes on audio
A mystery wrapped up in war, loss, and friendships.
Summary from Amazon:
1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of east-end London poverty, works the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart in this unforgettable story of women in WWII.
1947. In a riveting dual timeline, as the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter―the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger―and their true enemy―closer…
The whole time I was listening to this, I was thinking of Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game. I had an idea of what happened at Bletchley but Quinn presented a whole new side to it that I really enjoyed. My husband and I visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago several years ago and one of the highlights is they have a captured U-boat in the basement and an Enigma Machine that was recovered off of it. I felt a lot closer to this subject matter than I probably have a right to. The dual timeline sucked me in quickly and it was off to the races.
Osla, Mab, and Beth make a great leading cast of characters. They were all really well drawn so the reader felt the differences in their personalities and motivations. I liked all of them for different reasons and they played off each other in great ways. I’m often quick to dismiss ‘society girls’ like Osla. Quinn gave her a lot of cunning and gumption that made her very compelling and I was impressed with how fond I’d grown of her by the end of the book.
Kate Quinn Author image via Goodreads
The dual timelines was fun but I found that some of the ‘big reveals’ were often easy to guess from some obvious clues. (A small spoiler coming up so skip if you want to be completely free) Since Osla introduces us to the later timeline, the reader is left guessing if Beth or Mab is in the asylum and it becomes obvious before it’s revealed which of the two it is. I felt some of the tension of the 1940s plot was lessened because of the 1947 plot, but I still enjoyed both. The way Quinn had them come crashing together before the ending was fun and made it obvious how much these women had been through. Because of the different jobs each girl had, we’re able to see a lot of what went on at Bletchley even if their experiences were more siloed. The scale of the operation there was incredible and admirable.
The tension, terror, and depravity of life in WWII was well on display in this book. I thought the most moving piece for me was how Harry was treated for not being a solider. That was an element of life I wouldn’t have considered. I’d think he’d be glad to be serving his country and be able to stay home and take care of his son, but I can see how the external perception would be very different. I only wish this had been brought up with other men in the book, especially Giles. He seemed keen on what other people thought of him so you think he would have mentioned it.
The audiobook was ready by Saskia Maarleveld which makes for my second book this summer that she’s read to me. It took me a bit to hear her voice and not think of Alchemised, but I got over it quickly as I sank deeply into the world she narrated. Maarleveld did an amazing job giving the main three characters very different voices. Osla’s accent and flippancy, Mab’s gritty grumbling, and Beth’s nervous tittering were all so distinct I never had any question who was talking. I think the narration here was top notch.
Despite the mystery aspect to this book, at it’s core it’s a survival story. Mab, Beth, and Osla go through a lot of loss and live in fear but they survive. There’s a lot of people around them who don’t. And there are aspects of their lives that are completely gone and lost to them that they have to endure. It’s not easy. They lose parts of themselves and they lose futures they’d dreamed of to just keep going.
Writer’s Takeaway: The two timelines seem completely separate until very late into the story and I think that ended up being a positive for me. I was able to almost ignore the later timeline until the last act of the book. Once it picked up, what we’d learned about the characters at the front informed a lot of what happened which made it seem very smooth in how they fit together. A sudden jump in time would have felt unnatural, but having the flashes forward spread throughout made it a lot eaiser to make that jump as a reader.
This was a fun read and a different take on WWII. Now I need to watch The Imitataion Game. Four out of Five Stars.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
I’ve enjoyed the few TJR books I’ve read. But I was scared to read this one. Honestly, my mom didn’t like it and we have very similar tastes so I held back. But with my TBR moving faster than I expected (thanks, commutes), I decided to give the audio a go.
A rocking story about love, addiction, inspiration, and music. The audiobook is a natural format for the oral-history storytelling.
Summary from Amazon:
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
I didn’t love this, but I didn’t hate it by any means. It had good details about Billy and the other things the band wanted to do beyond music which I appreciated. It helped to see them as whole people and to understand the journey they went through to get to where it all ended. I didn’t think the ‘surprise twist’ at the end was that big of a reveal, honestly. I felt like I was supposed to be shocked, but was only mildly surprised and it didn’t change how I felt about the rest of the book. That was a bit of a disappointment because TJR is usually really good at endings so I had sky-high expectations that were crushed a bit.
Billy was the most developed character in my reading. He went through some massive highs and lows and is very open and honest through the whole thing. He has a stronger arc than Daisy who I never found likeable. Billy grows up a lot in the time period of the book and I found his strength and dedication to Camilla very admirable. I felt like Daisy was paper thin and I struggled to have any empathy for her until the very final scenes. I wanted good things for her in the end, but the path she took to get there was infuriating, especially when paralleled by Billy’s journey.
I enjoyed the ‘oral history’ approach and the development we get from the band. The journey from ‘a bunch of friends who started a band’ to international fame seems somewhat antiquated with today’s focus on music streaming and the accessibility of that platform. I appreciated the slow buildup of that journey and how each person in the band approached it differently. Jenkins Reid took us in a lot of different directions between Billy’s addition and family obligations, Eddie’s jealousy, Karen’s relationship, and Simon’s friendship with Daisy. It felt like a very wholistic picture of the people that impacted the band.
Taylor Jenkins Read at the Rackham Auditorium on June 6, 2025
A lot of this book reminded me of watching Almost Famous. Jenkins Reid was able to give a really good visual with how she described the clothing people would wear. It helped me picture them in the time period and I could really easily see the 1970s setting just from that. Billy and Daisy in particular were easy to picture and I think the cover image greatly influenced how I pictured Daisy in my head. Funny enough, I could picture a lot of these same conversations and situations happening today so in a way, it seemed kind of timeless even though it was firmly set in the 70s.
The full cast audio was a great way to enjoy this book. I think the casting director got a lot of distinct voices that helped me keep the characters separate. I got a little confused between Graham and Warren at first, but after Graham started to develop his own character more, the context clues made it easier to know who was speaking. Given the oral history format, it makes the most sense for there to be a full cast here. I’m not sure it would have been any good as an audiobook if there was a single narrator.
A lot of this book came down to the women, even though they were the minority. Daisy was a powerhouse, a force to be recokned with. She did what she wanted and brought everyone along for the ride. Camilla was her opposite in some ways, but the two women shared a lot in common. She was steadfast in the toughest storms and pushed for what she wanted even when it was hard to do. I had so much respect for Camilla and she was probably my favorite character in the book. Karen deserves a massive call out here, too. She was independent in a way not many women of that time were brave enough to be. She was very self-determined and her consistency and confidence paid off for her. Her subplot was one of my favorites of the book and I’m so glad Jenkins Reid included it. Rock and Roll has always seemed like a man’s world, but this book highlighted just how influential a few women can be in key positions.
Writer’s Takeaway: Jenkins Reid was bold in her formatting for this book and I think it paid off. She was able to add the surprise at the end which was an jarring twist, even if I didn’t find it as surprising as I’ve found her other endings. I didn’t find her plot wholly original but finding a new way to tell it was refreshing. I wonder if I would have enjoyed this as much in print because the audiobook brought it to life in a great way and made the characters shine. I think some books are better in audio and this title sits firmly in that arena.
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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
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Currently reading: I’m really enjoying Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I’ll have this finished next week to be sure. I’m not sure if I like it as much as her first book, but it’s still a great read. It’s got me staying up past my bedtime more than I’d like to admit. I started the audio for The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis. I’m getting through a lot during my commute, but I’m not loving this one. It feels a bit slow. I’m going to drag it out a bit hoping my next audiobook hold comes in because it’s due soon! I’m going to give a YA ebook a try and see how that works for me. I dove into The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and so far, It’s been a good pace for my sporadic ebook reading.
Recently finished: I surprised myself by finishing How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay by Jenny Lawson while my husband was out on a shopping trip with my oldest. I didn’t like this one as much as Lawson’s other books, but I think she was trying something new and I can appreciate that. Review forthcoming. I also wrapped up The Rose Code by Kate Quinn on audio. I liked the ending of this one, it felt deserved after the frantic pace the book had. I’m looking forward to digging into it with a review.
I took a day off last week and finished two reviews with the down time! I posted my thoughts on The Girl I Was by Jeneva Rose first. This book wasn’t for me. I was really frustrated at the characters and the ending. I’m giving it Two out of Five Stars. I went a little out of order with my second review and posted about Likeable Badass by Alison Fragale, PhD. I’ve since passed the book to a coworker who was also at Fragale’s keynote. I thought this was full of some good advice and I look forward to her thoughts. I gave it Four out of Five Stars.
Reading next: I’m really hoping I can start London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe as soon as the hold comes in. I’ve been looking forward to it for a while and I think moving away from fiction for a minute will be a nice break.
Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
My company hosted Fragale for the International Women’s Day event we had this past year. Half of the attendees, myself included, got a copy of her book. The other half got the book of the second keynote speaker. A coworker and I agreed to read and then switch and since we both have young kids, this is the first either of has thought of these books since that event in the Spring. So I’m happy to punt this one over the fence to her and will wait as long as she needs to get the other book to read and review. I love an understanding parent.
Likeable Badass by Alison Fragale, PhD Publication Date: September 2024 Length: 209
Cover Image via Amazon
Practical tips for a working professional woman. A good mix of research, personal experience, and advice.
Summary from Amazon:
Over decades of research, speaking engagements, and mentorship, psychologist and professor Alison Fragale encountered recurring questions from high powered and early career women alike: How do women thread the needle of kindness and competence in the workplace? How can women earn credit for their accomplishments, negotiate better, and navigate complex office politics without losing the goodwill of their peers?
Fragale investigated and determined that many women’s workplace issues boil down to what psychologists call status: the perception of them by others. No amount of power– no degree, title, or paycheck– will raise a woman’s workplace stature unless it also affects how others see her. Acknowledging this roadblock, Fragale pulls back the curtain on how we can change how others see us by developing our standing as a “likeable badass.” By cultivating perceptions of warmth and assertiveness, women can achieve the kind of reputation that leads to a seat at the table and a fulfilling career path.
Likeable Badass is equal parts behavioral science and life hacks, weaving together rigorous research with actionable advice and impactful stories from a diverse array of women. This is a warm, heartening book written for women, their allies, and anyone who struggles to rise, and wants evidence-based, practical strategies for success, served with a side of inspiration and humor.
I don’t read a lot of business or ‘self help’ books so I was skeptical going into this one. I found that the tone was very conversational and light, which made for a quick read. Fragale is an academic, but one with professional work experience before entering academia which she was able to pull from when writing. She uses a lot of personal anecdotes mixed with research to highlight her points and advice which was a fun read. I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would and read it quickly.
Alison Fragale. Image via the author’s Instagram
Fragale’s main argument is that someone’s perception falls on two continuum: assertive to submissive and cold to warm. Those who are assertive and warm are the titular Likeable Badasses. The book outlines how one can project ‘Warm Strength’ through relationship building, interactions, and communication. The advice is very tangible for women at any stage in their career. She addresses and counters the ideas that women have to be stern to be taken seriously and how to promote yourself without seeming boastful. One thing I appreciated was how she acknowledged that some of the advice would seem unauthentic to some readers and encouraged you to only take on what still felt like it fit your personal brand.
With all the progress that’s been made toward equality in the workplace, it’s a reality that there are still stigmas and perceptions of women that need to actively be countered. I’ve always been inclined to be a ‘warm’ professional and I’d honestly wondered how I might be perceived by peers. It was reassuring to know that warmth doesn’t equate to unprofessionalism and that the key is to be sure I’m assertive alongside it to fall into this ‘ideal state.’
Writer’s Takeaway: While it’s like Fragale wrote this book to accompany her work as a keynote speaker, it’s also a great way for someone with an academic background to share their knowledge to a non-academic audience. I’m unlikely to read research articles in an academic publication, but I am likely to read a book. It was also a great way to add on to her income from her keynote! I’m following Fragale on LinkedIn now and I appreciate her continued advice when I see my feed. Writing the book helps her ‘warmth’ perception in measurable ways.
This was a surprising hit for me considering it’s not my usual read. Four out of Five Stars.
Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.
