I read a few books that were really good this month and a few that were only so-so. I actually stopped two books halfway through because they didn’t keep my interest. Two of the books, which are in my top reads of the year, both health with time travel. Here are the books I read last month:
A Nefarious Carol is a short book about a woman who is approached by a stranger to change the world. However, the man is the devil and he wants her to have a child with him – the Antichrist. It wasn’t until shortly before reading this book that I found out some people believe the Antichrist will be the actual son of Satan and a human woman. I had never thought about that angle, so that part of the book caught me off guard. The story is about her struggle to decide to take the deal or go back to live with her parents after leaving an abusive relationship. I won’t give away the ending, but it was fairly predictable.
Was there a conspiracy to kill George Washington during the Revolutionary War? Meltzer explores the evidence supporting that theory in The First Conspiracy. Parts of the book were interesting with a fast-paced story, but other parts were slow and had gaps. There was a lot of build up to a conclusion that actually fell flat due to lack of evidence. The book presents theories and the evidence that exists but leaves the reader hanging on some important specifics of the possible plot to kill Washington.
Alice, a young WWII widow, has lost her father, but gained the old family estate in Georgia in The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare. She takes her 13-year-old daughter with her to see its condition and try to sell it, but the memories and history of Evertell have a pull on both mother and daughter. They find the famous common book that has been passed down from mother to daughter over the centuries – starting with Eleanor Dare who may have survived from the Lost Colony of Roanoke. I wanted to like this book, but the characters fell flat and there is too much going on between the book, the chapel’s bell, Alice’s mother’s mental breakdown, a new crush for Alice, the Dare Stone, and old lady who lives on the property, old grudges … it became hard to follow. Some things were explained too much and others not enough.
With all the distractions and divisions in today’s world, there should be at least one thing that can unite it – our humanity. In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes proposes that when humans look at what they have in common and view life through a spiritual lens, peace can be found.
The book starts out by showing how most humans can experience some sort of empathy for the suffering of other people and that is due to everyone have a spirit (or their true self). The author then looks at how you can look at your own life to find your true self. He says that anyone of any or no religion can find answers in his framework to being at peace with life.
Overall, he offers eleven very good suggestions for what people should do to live a fully, happy and peaceful life. From focusing on the present to embracing the discomfort that is inherent to life, the suggestions are a good reminder and are very practical. I was reminded to focusing on doing less, not more so that I can do those fewer things better.
While there are gems of good self-help suggestions and I really like that the author mentions the spiritual aspect of life, I could not agree with him on the point of there not being evil. He prefaced that any religion could work with his ideas, but it does not work with mine. I believe in good and evil being in this world and that struggle is the main one we deal with in life. To say there is no evil excludes many devout religious people from the author’s worldview. Due to the exclusion of this large group despite the author saying he wanted to include everyone is why I give the book three out of five stars.
While any reader would get some good takeaways from this book, I would really only recommend it to people who can agree that there is no evil in the world.
Sea of Tranquility is one of my 5-star reads this year. It is set throughout several different people’s lives in different time eras. There is something that ties them together – a glitch. Each person experiences a sensation for just a few moments of being in two places at the same time they hear a violin playing. In the future, where time travel is available to the government only for investigations, Gaspery is sent to look into the glitches. I can’t give much more away, but I highly recommend this book.
For anyone looking to improve their health, Stay Off My Operating Table is a good read. The heart surgeon lost 100 pounds and learned about metabolic health. He recommends checking five health factors, eating real food and cutting down on the carbs. It’s a quick read, but it’s a good place to start before listening to his podcast.
The Caretakers by Amanda Bestor-Siegel
What would make a young woman chose to be an au pair in France? The Caretakers explores how several women found themselves in France thinking it would solve their problems. Little did they know that they couldn’t change who they were just by changing their location. One family has secrets. Another leaves the au pair alone with babies all day. Another doesn’t sign the visa paperwork. The girls have to decide to become friends or stick it out on their own when tragedy strikes. It’s an interesting story about finding out who you really are when tough things happen.
If you’ve watched The Office, you would enjoy this memoir of the friendship between Jenna and Angela. Office BFFs focuses mainly on their time on the set of The Office. It has stories, pictures and lots of inside tidbits about the characters and the show. They also have a podcast, although I haven’t listened to it before.
Alice is turning 40 and while her life is okay, she wonders if it should be something more. She gets drunk and falls asleep in the guard house near her father’s home in New York City. She wakes up in her 16-year-old body. Learning how to time travel and what can and cannot be changed dominates her life until she finds a way to be happy. I really enjoyed This Time Tomorrow and found it interesting that now two of my top reads for 2022 involve time travel.
What did you read recently that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!
