Hi, friends! I wasn’t able to complete quite as many books as I did in January, but I thought I’d hop on here to talk about what I was able to read. I’m slowly making it through my personal library that has far too many books that I’ve had for ages, sitting unread.
The first book that I (re)read was Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty. I’ve written about this book before, but I could read it over and over again. Moriarty is one of my favorite authors and she knocks it out of the park with this one. I won’t go into too much detail in this blog post, but I’ve linked my review of it from 2021. This book is a 5/5 every single time. My husband and I also just rewatched the show, which is also amazing. (And they’re apparently working on season three and Moriarty is working on another a sequel!!!! I cannot wait!!!)
The next novel that I read was The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse. This was a book that I bought years ago, but never got around to reading until recently. I was greatly disappointed. This story follows Elin Warner and her boyfriend as they vacation to Le Sommet, a sanatorium recently converted into a hotel, to celebrate the engagement of her estranged brother. As a former detective, she is immediately on edge. When her brother’s fiancé is found to be missing, she must put the pieces together to figure out the dark forces at work. Despite the building being fully renovated, it seemingly cannot escape its sordid past. This book held such promise, but I’m sad to say that it was a let down. I gave it 2.5/5 stars. Without giving anything away, I’ll say that one of my biggest gripes is that there wasn’t more about the building when it was a sanatorium. Though I didn’t love The Lost Village, I appreciated that they had flashbacks to the era where things originally happened. I think that doing this would have greatly fleshed out the story and made everything feel much more tangible and immersive. The second thing that I struggled with is that the plot felt so convoluted by the end of it, I was checked out completely. When I was googling to see what other people thought about the book, I found that Elin has her own series now where she solves other cases. I will not be reading, but for anybody who enjoyed this story, they are out there! I will be donating this book.
The next book that I read was Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle. I was gifted this book about a decade (YIKES!!!) ago and only got around to reading it now. It follows the life of Glennon Doyle and the lifelong struggles that she’s had with self-worth, alcohol addiction, and an all-consuming eating disorder. I am not generally the intended audience when it comes to self-help books, but I think because this was memoir mixed with self-help, I was actually able to find some enjoyment in it. There were parts that I found inspirational, though I can’t recollect any of what they were as I write this, which is to say that I did not find this book life-changing whatsoever. I really don’t have much to say one way or another, but I gave it a 3/5. Will be donating, as I don’t think I’ll reach for it again.
I was gifted the follow-up to Love Warrior, Untamed, about five years ago. I had tried to read this one before, but stalled out about forty pages in. I severely struggled with this one. I gave it a 1/5. I saw somebody online say that this book felt like it was made up of Instagram captions and I couldn’t agree more. It didn’t feel like a memoir — it felt shallow and disingenuous to me. It’s entirely made up of Doyle sharing anecdotes from her own life and the lives of those close to her. None felt all that ground-breaking to me. I think it suffered for having been read back to back with its predecessor. It must be a difficult feat to write several memoir/self help books in the manner that Doyle does, because one must essentially disavow any life lessons they had previously learned in favor for brand new findings. I don’t mean to sound judgmental or cynical, or that I feel as though as humans we’re not allowed to grow or evolve, but that manner of writing feels off to me. It’s a cycle that I fall into myself, if I do this then my life will be perfect and then it’s not, so I find a new hobby or imagined career path, and repeat. It’s a normal thing, but I’m not writing books about how I’ve unlocked the key to living a real and genuine life. THAT BEING SAID… I appreciate that these books mean so much to countless people. When reading the ratings on the pair, it certainly seems as though I’m in the minority. Live and let live, I say. I will be donating this one as well.
XOXO,
Mattie Mae
Midwest Mattie 