My February Reads. What did You Read Last Month?

Books! I Love Reading…

February is a short month but I still only got a couple of books read. No real excuses except that I was busy with edits.

The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell. 2009 and 2021

This is a novel about a young girl who at age nine experiences a house fire and afterwards can’t remember anything of her life before the fire. The thing is, that Melody Browne experienced a whole other world before the fire.

I purchased this book mainly because I love the style of Lisa Jewell’s work.

I found out later that this was a re-release and the book was actually first out in 2009. Ugh. I wish they’d just tell you that. I did listen to this on audible so it was listed as 2021, but so is the new pocket book.

Somehow it makes me feel cheated in a way….I know, I know… it’s just me. Not a big deal.

The story of Melody Browne goes between the little girl and a young woman trying to reconnect with her past after her brain is jolted by a hypnotist…yes, you read that right. Interesting take on getting your brain going, eh?

The story is twisted and at times disturbing. It’s an easy read. I prefer Jewell’s later style of writing in The House I Grew Up In, but The Truth About Melody Browne was good too.

As far as the story went, it was good. It kept me moving forward though a bit repetitive at times–actually sometimes a lot repetitive–it felt like the author was summarizing in case the reader forgot what happened.

Overall, good book, not spectacular.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson 2022.

I loved this book. The writing was melodic without being too too… and the story itself felt like an invitation into the Bennett family home.

This is a story that takes the reader through the Caribbean, the UK, and finally the US. The weaving of the story starts when, the now, Mrs. Bennett was just a young girl who loved to swim and challenge the power of the ocean.

The story takes the reader on a journey through history without pounding it over your head and winds up in the Bennett home where Eleanor Bennett, that young girl, knows she dying so with some help from a friend, she records her story (and many secrets) for her grown children to listen to after her death.

The premise is brilliant and the potential was not lost on the author. Little tidbits got squeezed in amongst the huge truths that shocked her estranged son and daughter. Issues of sexuality, domestic abuse, and racism in America were also touched on in realistic ways to illustrate–not preach.

The “black cake” was the one thing that bound Eleanor to her roots. It was a tradition learned as a child and was continued with her family. It’s a reminder of the simpler things in life that not only draw us together, but also offer that invisible tether to our homeland and ancestors.

I would recommend this book and will definitely read this author again.

Only Two Books…

Well, yes. There was one that I didn’t finish and another that I’m half way through. Reading is such a complicated business, isn’t it? What are you reading right now?

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Keep reading. I know I will.

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