YA romance at its absolute best, I can image that I would have loved this book even more if I was a foodie, too.  As it was, it was just a lovely, light read about two young gay guys in, the unlikeliest of romance novel settings, St. Louis.  An oenophile and a epicure from different backgrounds, questioning their life choices and their ties to family, while falling for each other.  For lack of a better term, the book is like the chef's kiss of summer beach reading.

Reading this on the heels of The True True Story of Raja The Gullible, I think I appreciated the sweetness of this book even more. The Iranian experience of Queerness in the 1960-80's in Iran as opposed to the Iranian-American experience of Queerness in the 2020's is jarring and reminded me just how much progress has been made and how much of it we have still been able to hold on to.

​Recommend.

It would be hard for this book to contain a more stereotypical gay uncle character who ends up the primary caregiver for children without significantly altering his lifestyle  It might have been over-the-top in places, but it was so celebratory of the Guncle's relationship with the children, the way he stepped in to care for them in his own unique, non-traditional way while they were all three grieving the loss of the children's mother that it feels ridiculous to criticize the use of the trope.  I found once I let myself let go of rolling my eyes at the things like wearing the kaftan, having cocktails in the afternoon, the throuple next door, and so on and let myself just enjoy the story of a quirky relative who steps in to care for children in need, I did in fact just enjoy it.  Set against the background of traumatic grief over the death of loved ones, it really is just a sweet story of an unusual family doing what needs to be done to meet the needs of kids. Despite the background, it is mostly funny and light.

​Recommend.

This is an incredibly well-crafted story with layers of interwoven themes that left me inspired and in love with this book.  The mom-daughter dynamics, in particular, didn't shy away from the hard stuff--not just love and loss and longing, but the difficulty connecting and re-connecting with family members after conflict or who just don't understand you.

It wasn't trite or, even worse, a story about forgiveness. It was so much stronger than that. Set against the backdrop of a burgeoning love story between two competing journalists, there is a mystery at the core of the story, unexpected and creatively crafted, it pulled me in as it unfolded. I loved that I never felt like the narrator was holding back from me, it felt like I was right there as things were unfolding.

The pacing was impeccable and I was obsessed with every minute of it. It had a bit of a feel like Taylor Jenkins Reid's books (like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, Carrie Soto is Back, or Malibu Raising) where the complexity of celebrity and extreme wealth is explored.  Heartbreaking and heartwarming and just so lovely.
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Highly recommend.

This is a really fun, light, engaging romance with likable characters. Bonus points for one of my newest favorite plotlines--pandemic lock down stories.  I thought the whole premise was clever.  Set in the writing room of late-night comedy show (a la SNL), it is funny and poignant. It is a fresh story. The foreshadowing is solid, but not obvious. It isn't a traditional romance, but it is a love story with some steamy moments. It is unusual to have this mix and it worked for me.  Double bonus points for a great character in recovery where that isn't the focus of the book, just a background feature.

Definitely recommend this one!

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This has been an eclectic year of recommendations, with more horror than I have ever read, but also more really sweet novels that are just heart warming, lovely, light reads.  This is one of the latter. Even the book cover reflect the soft care that I felt when reading it.

A group of intertwining stories set in Japan in which people unhappy with their lives find themselves at the library getting lists of books from the quirk, eccentric librarian, who also felts small knickknacks that she gives away.  The book lists always include a recommendation that seems unrelated to the inquiry, but ends up being part of the recipe people need to transform their lives. 

It is a fun and delightful concept book. I found it to be slightly longer than was necessary to make and develop the project, such that I finished the book a little bit bored in a way that I wasn't through most of it. Like binge watching a good show that has a simplistic formula, if I had read it more slowly, I might have found this to be an endearing and comforting quality.

Not not recommended.

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Louise Erdrich does not disappoint in this sweet novel about a book lover with complex relationships, searching for family, while being haunted by her past and the past of others. It is complex, but I was easily drawn into the layers of stories.

And what booklover does love a book that talks about books and drops the names of titles like they are celebrities? Set in a bookstore to a large extend, I particularly loved that this was perhaps the first novel to incorporate the pandemic into its storyline and it was done exquisitely, with such emotional detail. 
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I just really loved this story.

Highly recommend.

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​Following The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, I was not expecting to find myself in love with another sweet read.  A more traditional coming of age story about a teenager leaving home and finding his way in the world during the Great Depression, I found this story about a boy trying to survive anyway he can and to outrun his demons (and his criminal background) entrancing. 

I have been hating on these imagined historical fiction books lately (like The Frozen River, The Postmistress of Paris, The Pull of The Stars, Take My Hand), but this one feels different.  Perhaps because it is based on a little known historical event that I know absolutely nothing about… Perhaps because it was an historical event that wasn't filled with the weight of sexual assault, war, the Holocaust, or forced sterilization… Or perhaps because it was just better written… For whatever reason, I found it was easier for me to suspend disbelief here and to just really appreciate the story of man and a boy driving a pair of giraffes from a port in New Jersey to the San Diego Zoo in 1938. 

I appreciated how their backstories were unfolded over time, without it feeling like the author was holding back critical information and how there was no secret agenda to the tale.  It was just good storytelling, well written, about what turned out to be an interesting adventure.
Recommend.

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This is such an unusual and sweet book.  In many ways, it is a classic coming-of-age story, with self-discovery and coming to accept one's place in the world, but what makes this story so, so lovely is that the protagonist who is discovering himself and goes on a quest of sorts is 65 and facing mandatory retirement from the postal service where he worked since he was a teenager. 

The characters in the book are richly developed, even the peripheral ones. The plot is unusual, with just the right amount of foreshadowing and unexpected turns.  The writing itself has a clip to it that is charming. It sometimes feels like it is meandering, but then sort of wanders back to the point with just the right amount of description and prose.  I ended up just really loving this book.

Recommend.
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I didn't even know there was a genre of hockey romances and I certainly did not know that it was going to end up being a book genre that I would end up liking, but here we are.  This is, I think, the third book in the last few months that I am recommending in which there is a romance and there are hockey players.  And truly, who knew there was an entire genre of hockey romance in which consent and health reciprocal relationships was front and center?  This one also weaves in themes of the pull between traditional families with modern kids struggling to find a balance between the two, sexism in sports, and figuring out how to manage competing career tracks in relationships.  It was just a really unexpectedly fun, light romance.  Perfect bedtime or beach reading.

Recommend.
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Light romance with a heartwarming and feel good story, set against the backdrop of grief and family obligations, I liked it overall. The biggest issue with the writing was the dialogue--and I do love a writer who can write good dialogue.  I found the lack of flow in the dialogue a distraction from the rest of the writing, which, for what it was, was solid.  I think particularly in an audio book that if the dialogue doesn't feel genuine, then as a flaw it is really amplified.  Nevertheless, a fun little love story.

​Not not recommended.

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