June: What I Read & Burgers 3 Ways

The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu A book that features a real person as a side character. What a cool premise for a book, I always like it when a book integrates real people from history throughout its pages, it reminded me of Addie LaRue. It begins in 1784 when Nella evades the grim reaper and makes a deal with Death. Death believes that humans cannot be redeemed and therefore they should all die. Nella’s challenge is to convince him otherwise. It is broken into many parts but begins in present time when Nella meets a historian who studies black journalists through history. They feel fated to meet and she opens up and tells him her story. Each part is broken up into different periods of time based on impactful relationships throughout her many lives spanning over 200 years. Her second life begins in New Orleans just over a decade after her meeting with death. I learned about creole laws like tignons and placage relationships. I loved reading about The Harlem Renaissance, New York in the 1920’s, and the 1955 Montgomery Boycott. My favourite relationship was the one she had with Death. I guess I agreed with Sebastian and expect more from her life(s) story although I appreciate the that art shows different aspects of the good in humanity throughout the centuries.

Cat’s People by Tanya Guerrero A book with a cat in it. I read a book from a dog’s perspective so I thought it was only right that I read a book from a cat’s! Actually, this is told from multiple POV‘s, five strangers that all live or work in a small Brooklyn neighbourhood and a stray cat that brings them together. Each chapter is told from a different person or the Cat’s, perspective, and they are short chapters which moves the story along quickly. This book discusses grief on so many different levels, so many different types of grief. It could be a really sad book but it’s not, it’s rather hopeful. This book has Clare Pooley vibes. Or maybe like Heaven & Earth Grocery Store but easier to read and with a more flowing storyline that made me think but also that made me smile. The sentiment of family and home really struck a chord for me. This was a sweet and easy read that centres around an eclectic cast of lonely strangers and a super cool little cat that notices things with such thoughtfulness and honesty. I liked it.

An Artful Dodge by Karen Odden Set in a Major City. You got to pick a pocket or two. I loved Oliver Twist both the movie/musical and the book so obviously the title alone made me want to read this book. What a cool book. A den of women thieves in Victorian London? Yes please! I loved Kit she is a smart, observant, and loyal thief. Kit has a great group of friends and I liked Sarah, her sister, James with his devotion to the sisters, and Maggie was an interesting character and another female force in this book. Maggie returns from an Australian penal colony after 20 years to reclaim her title as her mother’s heir to the thieving ring. Along with taking over the ring she wants revenge on those that wronged her. Kit didn’t know Maggie back then and is unsure if she is someone to trust or if she is on Maggie’s list. Throughout this cat and mouse tale, there is a super neat heist story that I really enjoyed. This was a super easy read, it was cozy and fun with a little love story, a little history and a little Oceans 11, I really liked the conclusion and although I was very satisfied with the ending, I just wish the issues that seem so important at the end, were fleshed out more throughout the story.

When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World by Suzanne Simard 🇨🇦 Your Next Escape I love trees. I love stories about the forest and nature. This is not a story and this is not happy, this is a book that is real and can be used as a learning tool. What I loved most about this book is how she ties the land to the stewards of the land, the Indigenous people. I live in the Okanagan on the unceded territory of the Syilx people. The fire in the first chapter felt scary and very real as I very much remember the Elephant Hill Fire which joined with multiple other fires to make up the Plateau Fire in 2017. It is the second largest fire in BC history, but after reading this book, I don’t think it will remain in that position long. Holy smokes I remember when Amanda Asay tragically died. I know her as our Canadian baseball champion and longest playing female baseball player! They neglected to tell us about her work, her life work. It’s interesting what the media chooses to emphasize and how our stories will be remembered. Her colleague Jean has multiple sclerosis, which is interesting to me personally as I too have MS. This is HEAVY on science and biology vocabulary. But don’t get bogged down in the weeds, no pun intended. Take it for what it is, knowledge. Simard describes her experiments in nature and the long and arduous process of setting them up and collecting of the research. It’s disturbing to know how many ways clearcutting the way they are is hurting our planet, and in turn, us. We are making more problems because of human greed. My heart broke every time they hit another wall or fire or flood. Resilience, absolutely! I found the connection between salmon, bear, and forest to be new to me and and fascinating. This book made me so mad! I wish it was fiction. I want to start writing letters to the government now. I actually felt sick to my stomach reading about the irreplaceable losses. I love this book like I love some of my favourite textbooks. The only thing that really bothered me was the timeline. I wish it was chronological or dates were posted more often. She would be talking about fieldwork during Covid but the pictures were from 2018 on the same page. I followed the Fairy Creek protest but it was very confusing. I’m super happy to have a better understanding of the urgency after reading this book. What a book of despair, anger, grief and ultimately, hope. If the forests can bounce back, so can we.

In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams A book where food plays a major role (could be a recipe/cookbook). I read the first book in this series because it had cherries on the cover lol. I wasn’t sure if I would continue the series but a few months later the 2nd book was there on the library shelf just calling my name, so I took it home. It was better. The 3rd book was EVEN better than the 2nd!! I’m so sad that this is the last book in the When in Rome series. This last book is Madison’s story and is told from her POV and her older brother, Noah’s best friend, James. James is 4 years older than Madison and his family helped raise her and her siblings. They have a combative relationship but when she calls him sad, he moves mountains to make her happy. In the last few books we have seen that James has feelings for Madison. He has his family farm and opens a restaurant to give her a reason to come home. We have got to know both Madison and James in the previous three books, but it’s nice to focus on them and learn their secrets and how they fit together. On the food/restaurant side of this book, I have helped open restaurants before and this timeline was absolutely ludicrous lol. I’m glad they focus so much on how these characters get their groove back but opening a restaurant is serious business not powdered donuts and market runs, but I forgive because I had a smile plastered on my face the the entire time I was reading. I will miss Rome, Kentucky and the Walker family.

That’s What Friends Are For by Wade Rouse Pride Month. Oh, this book made me laugh. This book is about 4 gay men between the ages of 60ish – 80ish that share a home together in Palm Springs. They all met and star in a local production of The Golden Girls, they call it, The Golden Gays. Each chapter is from a different GG’s POV. Act 1 introduces the reader to the “cast”. Barry was cast in the pilot of the ACTUAL Golden Girls show but due to issues, never appeared on TV. He has spent his whole life chasing the career and young hot men, he plays Blanche. I loved Rose so I’m not surprised Ron made me laugh, downtown by Petula Clark is MY song too lol. Sid, like Sophia, is the eldest of the group and his friendship with Esther made me cackle! Teddy is the Dorothy of the group, using humour as a shield he is fiercely loyal and overly cynical. Teddy has a medical issue and is scared about putting it on his friend’s shoulders. This book is about 4 very different gay men with different lifestyles, different experiences, and different problems than I’ve ever heard or read about before. It was interesting, funny, sad in some parts and hopeful in others. Act 2 we are introduced to Teddy’s sister, Trudy, and grand niece, Ava. Ava is hilarious and Trudy treated her brother very badly as a child and hasn’t spoken to him since he was kicked out of their family home as a teen. She has come out of tragedy and she has a secret too. In the 3rd Act, the secrets are revealed and they all find themselves, together. Because all these men are elderly, their origin stories are from a period of history and of a time that was so historic for gay rights. I learned a lot about systemic abuse at the same time as laughing and getting emotional while reading this novel. In the Finale and the Closing Credits, we see the difference between dreams and wishes. This was a sweet book that I really enjoyed.

Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand Book Becoming Movie/Show in 2026 & Ready for Summer. As this book is being turned into a new series with Jennifer Garner on the W Network beginning in July, I thought I would read it and see if it is worthy of the hype. I read The Winter Street Series by Hilderbrand last winter and I really enjoyed the series and was surprised by the realistic view on a family dynamic, those books were not soft fuzzy Nantucket romances like I assumed. This one isn’t either. In the prologue, we meet foodblogger turned viral lifestyle blogger during the pandemic, Hollis Shaw, born and raised in Nantucket but she now lives in Boston and is officially a Nantucket “summer person“. Hollis has just come home to Nantucket after her husband suddenly passes and in chapter 1 we begin at the accident. Yikes, Hilderbrand appeals to so many readers because you can relate to her characters. They have flaws just like us. To deal with her grief Hollis plans a weekend with 4 women from different aspects of her life, her teen Besty, her bff from her 20’s, her prime of her life runner up besty and her midlife friend, Gigi a fan of her blog that she has connected with since her husband’s death who happens to have a pretty big secret she’s hiding. She invites all the major friendships from her life, the friendships that formed her. She also invites her 20 year-old NYU attending daughter. Caroline is self involved, entitled and grieving her father while simultaneously punishing her mother. She asks, no she hires Caroline to film the weekend not knowing what to expect. All the women are going through major upheavals in their lives so when 6 completely different women come together, things come to the light and emotional chaos ensues. I loved Hollis and her friends, but I especially loved Brooke, she really lets us into what she’s thinking and is just so messy in such a perfect way. This is such a wonderful book for middle-aged women. We can see a little bit of ourselves in each of these characters. My favourite thing about Elin Hildebrand is how relatable and realistic her characters are. I liked the evolution of her relationship with her daughter. I also enjoyed how many great books and authors are named in this book. I thought this was going to be a fluff beach read and it totally wasn’t! I was surprised and I really enjoyed reading this book about friendship, grief, healing and middle age women finding themselves in the new chapters they each were starting.

Coded Justice by Stacey Abrams A legal or courtroom thriller & About Artificial Intelligence. Every once in a while, I find a thriller series that captures my attention. When I was younger, it was Dan Brown, over the past few years it’s been Daniel Silva and now there’s Stacey Abrams. I read the first book in this series because of who the author is, a powerful black woman in Georgia politics that is smart, smart, funny, and imaginative. I love Stacey Abrams! In the first two books of the series, we are introduced to Avery Keene. Avery is a former Supreme Court clerk who now works as an internal investigator. Big fan of Avery Keene! She is just like her author, smart, sassy, and strong. The topic of this book is AI, which is something I know nothing about and actually makes my head hurt trying to understand. However, it is not too techy and right away you know what is going on even if you don’t understand the science aspect of it. I love Avery and her team of investigators, a good friend and fellow lawyer Noah, her tech boyfriend Jared, and her best friend Ling who is a brilliant doctor. This was a compelling thriller that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. AI is so freaking scary. While it got a little bogged down in science sometimes, I really enjoyed this book and hope to read about Avery Keene, and her team again in the future.

Fire Sword and Sea by Vanessa Riley Black History Month. Wow this is a book about girl power! This book moves very fast and a lot happens in a short amount of pages. Jacquotte is 14 when she meets her love, a dashing filibuster, when he helps her release the female captive/slaves near her home in Tortuga, an early pirate colony. Her mom was an escaped slave from Guinea and her father is a successful white tavern keeper and she has a younger brother that cannot speak. Over the years of her childhood, she longs for adventure and equality and is resistant to the 2 realities that women in the late 1600’s have to endure, wench or wife. As Jacques, she is able to find a group of friends with just as many secrets as her and the manage to board a ship and become part of the crew. This book is about many things but slavery surrounds all them. After many years, many losses, and a lot of learning she is finally able to be her true self, a profitable buccaneer who also happens to be a mixed raced woman. I really enjoy learning about women Pirates, matelotages and queer piracy.