December 2023 - Monthly Wrap-up

 

Hi, everyone!

 

What a typical December!! Lots of activities, visits, and family time. As expected, my reading was down. I always TRY to remember that it is not a contest or a chore, but personal reading is for joy and pleasure!

So as of today, I am closing out my reading blog for 2023. Also, I will be off social media from December 20, 2023, to January 2, 2024. I will be back on January 3, 2024, trying to remember to write 2024 not 2023 on my checks AND reading new books!!

 

INAUGURAL BEST BOOK OF 2023

THIRTEEN books were vying for booksbydorothea Best Book of 2023.

• The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende (May)
• Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See (June)
• How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair (July)
• A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power (August)
• The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman (August)
• Evergreen (Japantown Mystery #2) by Naomi Hirahara (August)
• The Women by Kristin Hannah (September)
• After Annie by Anna Quindlen (September)
• Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki (October)
• The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok (October)
• Making It So by Patrick Stewart (October) audiobook
• Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner (November)
• Being Henry by Henry Winkler (November) audiobook

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a Best Book of 2023 candidate in December. Hopefully, 2024 will be another fantastic book year!!

As you may have read previously in my blog, my booksbydorothea INAUGURAL Book of the Year 2023 is:

How To Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair REVIEW

 

Of these thirteen BEST books, only one made it to the Goodreads Choice Awards 2023. Congratulations to Henry Winkler, who was awarded Best Humor. It was a great audiobook and Henry is a great narrator!

Being Henry by Henry Winkler REVIEW

 

GOODREADS READING GOAL:

My Goodreads reading goal kept increasing in 2023! In May, it increased from 50 to 60 books; in September, it increased from 60 to 80 books; and in October, it increased from 80 to 100 books! T

The final number: 94 books out of 100 books GOAL. Only 6 shy of my yearly goal which I increased THREE times!! Yeah, ME!!

For 2024, my goal will be 100 from the very start!!!

 

DECEMBER STATISTICS:

4 total books

1 e-books; 3 audiobooks

0 books were an ARC (Advance Reader Copy)

3 books were library books (0 ebooks; 3 audiobooks)

0 books were purchased ebooks

1 book was an Amazon First Reads

0 books were a gifted physical book

Audio listening time in December: 25 hours, 35 minutes

Pages read in December: 31 pages

 

DECEMBER BOOK RATINGS with BOOK COVERS: 

5.0-star books (0)

4.5-star books (0)

4.0-star books (3)

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe audiobook REVIEW

Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis audiobook REVIEW

Two Women Walk Into A Bar by Cheryl Stayed ebook REVIEW

3.5-star book (0)

3.0-star books (1)

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry audiobook REVIEW

 

If you want to read my full review of any of these books, there are individual review posts for each e-book or audiobook below the picture of the book. You can click on the specific book link to get to that book review!! 

 

Happy holidays 🎅 and Happy reading 📚, 

Dorothea 💜

 

P.S. For more information about my book ratings, you can find out more HERE.

LAPL Best Books of 2023

I am thrilled that FIVE books I have read or listened to this year were selected for the LAPL (Los Angeles Public Library) Best Books of 2023. The LAPL is my personal, fabulous, and PUBLIC library!!

Congratulations to Marie Benedict, Lisa See, Luis Alberto Urrea, Naomi Hirahara, and Henry Winkler for making this amazing list of books! 

All five were ebooks except for Harry Winker's memoir which was an audiobook. Below is the LAPL write-up scan, my rating, and a link to my review! (NOTE: all of these books were rated 4.5 stars or 5.0 stars)!

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict (4.5 stars REVIEW)

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See (5.0 stars REVIEW)

Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea (4.5 star REVIEW)

Evergreen (Japantown Mystery #2) by Naomi Hirahara (4.5 stars REVIEW)

Being Henry by Henry Winkler (5.0 stars REVIEW)

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

P.S. I am not sure how many more books that I can get in before the end of the year - maybe one or two more. I am at 94 with a goal of 100!

 

UPDATED (1/2/2024) My next ebook is...

 The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang (ebook)

Updating this post to reflect that I am starting this book TODAY, the explanation is that I took a Holiday break and then another ARC became available with a shorter read time! 

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

My next audiobook is...

 Baggage by Alan Cumming

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

REVIEW - Dying of Politeness audiobook

 Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis

OVERVIEW

This was a great book by Geena Davis - well-written, well-narrated, and interesting! It definitely held my interest. 

Geena was fantastic at not being salacious or obnoxious about her intimate and Hollywood relationships. She also talked very little about her kids protecting their privacy. 

The biggest achievements that she has in her life are her three kids AND her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media Foundation. I love her hope for her future granddaughter someday comes true for my future granddaughter too.

OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars

Writing: 4.0 stars

It was beautifully written - Geena comes across as warm, kind, and real. She seems very authentic and a true New Englander, especially with politeness as a personal issue. 

Narration: 4.5 stars

Geena is a beautiful narrator. She was engaging, personal, and emotional when discussing her family. 

Character Arc: 4.0 stars

It was written in a fairly chronological order, but it did diverge at times. However, it was not difficult to follow. 

Memorable: 4.0 stars

I loved how Geena talked about the gender disparity in television and movies. Hopefully, her foundation will help end this type of disparity. 

Entertaining: 4.0 stars

Geena was very entertaining and fun. However, if you want a typical gossipy Hollywood tell-all, this is NOT it! 

Book cover: 3.0 stars

I thought it was a little too quirky.

Book title: 4.0 stars 

It was very appropriate. 

DEFINITE recommend

STATISTICS

Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis

7 hours, 36 minutes

Listened to as an audiobook from the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)

Release date of 10/11/2022

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Geena Davis

My Goodreads review

HarperCollins

Los Angeles Public Library

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

Goodreads - My Year in Books 2023

Hi, everyone!!

Well, My Year in Books 2023 from Goodreads is now available. Yeah!!

I have two weeks to increase my number of books read by SEVEN before the end of the year! If I increase "pages read" and "books read", I will definitely update this post!

There were a few interesting statistics:

• Pages read: 33,111 - REALLY???
• Books read: 93 - my MOST ever!
• Shortest book: 31 pages
• Longest book: 960 pages
• Average book length in 2023: 356 pages
• Average book rating in 2023: 4.1 stars

If you want to see My Year in Books 2023 data, you can check it out HERE.

I was shocked that I was in the top 25% of readers on Goodreads! So very cool! Note: This is based on the NUMBER of books.

So go check out YOUR My Year in Books 2023!! To find it:

• Go to your Goodreads app on your phone or to the website on your computer. 
• Log in, if necessary.
• Click on "My Books" towards the top-middle of your screen.
• Scroll down to "Your reading activity" on the left.
• Click on "Year in Books".
• Your 2023 information will populate the screen. 
• In the upper left under "Home", click on "Go to previous year" to compare and/or contrast to the previous years!!
• Enjoy!!

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

booksbydorothea INAUGURAL Book of the Year 2023

Hi, everyone!

This is booksbydorothea INAUGURAL Book of the Year! If you have been reading my blog since I restarted it in April 2023, you may have known which book would be my favorite. From the moment that I finished this book, I knew it would be my personal book of the year.

 How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair REVIEW

 

Of course, I do not want to re-review this book, the original review link is just above. But if you want to increase your worldview, this is a great start with a beautiful book journey and just a fascinating read. This memoir was written by an incredible Black woman (BIPOC) who was raised by a Rastafarian family in Jamaica. Safiya’s writing is poetic, beautiful, and consciousness-raising.

 

Full disclosure: I have never been to Jamaica, nor has it been on my radar as Hawaii is closer to the West Coast. Sadly, there are many similarities in the endemic issues in Jamaica and in Hawaii due to the former colonization of both islands (both are now colonized by tourists).  

 

Read this book – I cannot recommend it more!!!!

5.0/5.0 stars

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION

My December Monthly wrap-up AND my Annual Wrap-up will be posted at the end of the year (or maybe a little earlier as I am not reading much which was to be expected during the holidays)!!

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💚

P.S. Notice the green heart (instead of my purple heart) in honor of this beautiful book! 

REVIEW - How to Say Babylon

MOVING THIS REVIEW TO THE TOP OF THE BLOGl This is booksbydorothea INAUGURAL Book of the Year 2023

OVERVIEW

OH. MY. GOD!!! This book ARC was AMAZING!! 

There is so much to unpack that I wish that I could just think about it for weeks. But life doesn't, unfortunately, work that way so I will press on!

This was the memoir of Safiya Sinclair who is the eldest daughter of a Rastafarian family. There are so many intense, deep, and painful layers in this book. There is white colonialism, Caribbean and Jamaican dependence on tourism, lack of upward mobility, patriarchy, and Rastafarianism. But the biggest and most convicting important part to unpack is that the author is a Black female. 

Many readers, bloggers, and reviewers are going to compare this book to Educated by Tara Westover. Yes, both were poor women trapped in a patriarchal religious family. But, Tara Westover is white and Safiya Sinclair is Black. That is an enormous difference between the two authors. Being born Black made every aspect of her life so much more difficult for Safiya and then add in all of the other issues it is beyond incredible that she and her family have accomplished so very much. 

The saddest and most depressing part for me is that if Safiya was born in the United States, she would have STILL faced the same obstacles. Plus, Safiya may have had a worse life as the United States is not a leader in its treatment of BIPOC folks and women. 

This breaks my heart and scares me for the future of Black women and our country. As a personal aside, my bi-racial daughter's best friend (and my "niece") is Black so this book touches me deeply and personally.  

Please note that I will be careful as I don't want to give any spoilers! So some of this review will be a bit vague on purpose.

YES, this memoir is in the running for my book of the year for 2023.

REVIEW: 5.0 stars

Writing: 5.0 stars

How to Say Babylon was such a well-written memoir. It was painful and difficult to read at times because of the many incidents in the book that triggered me about my family of origin. No, I do NOT compare my life to Safiya's at all, but some of the horrific scenes made me flashback to my younger life. That to me, is the sign of a very good writer who reaches into your heart and soul and pulls HARD!

Safiya is a poet which I did not realize until about halfway through the book. However, while reading this book, her beautiful, descriptive, and lush writing reminded me of poetic writing. Then she adds in the Jamaican patois and her 3rd person accounts and the writing is masterful and perfect.

Beautifully written!  

Character development: 5.0 stars

The main characters were Safiya, her parents, and her three siblings. These six individuals were thoroughly developed with intense backstories for all of them. The memoir begins when her parents meet and ends with her poetry reading in Jamaica which was a significant amount of time. The amazing part is that Safiya was able to continue the detail of the characters throughout this long period of time.  

There were many secondary or supporting characters including Jamaica and a whole host of friends, family, and acquaintances. All of these characters were important to keep the story moving forward and none were throwaway characters. Of course, Jamaica was an integral secondary character in the storyline. 

Character development is the whole deal for me with ANY good book and the character development is STRONG in this memoir. 

Storyline: 5.0 stars

As this was a memoir, the storyline was based on people's lives which is an important detail to be aware of. The life that these characters lived are not just fictional characters but real-life people. It was painful to realize the difficulties that all of them went through physically, mentally, and emotionally were based on true stories. Horrific!

The core of the memoir is the life of a Black woman born in Jamaica to a poor Rastafarian family controlled by her patriarchal father. What a soup of hardship for the author to overcome, but she did it!

Book cover: 4.5 stars

The cover needed a bit of red in it to have all of the Rastafarian colors. But very good!

Book title: 5.0 stars 

Excellent! It becomes clear as you read the memoir!!

Gut feeling: 4.0 stars

I wasn't sure about this book, but I so wanted to learn more about Jamaica and Rastafarianism. I was wrong about it as I loved this memoir! 

Suggestions:

I would have liked a glossary for Jamaican patois and a map of Jamaica. 

Highly RECOMMEND

INFORMATION/LINKS

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair 

352 pages

6 days to read it (I stayed up until 2:00 am to finish it this morning)

Read it as an ARC ebook

Release date of 10/02/2023

https://www.safiyasinclair.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5699353464

https://www.simonandschuster.com/search/books/Imprint-37-Ink/_/N-1z0yfqy/Ne-ph4

https://www.netgalley.com/

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

My next audiobook is...

 Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

REVIEW Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing audiobook

OVERVIEW

This was a decent celebrity memoir by Matthew Perry. It was okay, but not really good.  

How Matthew succumbed to the "Big Terrible Thing" is heartbreaking. His parents come off as disinterested and absent in his formative years which creates a perfect storm for someone who is a future alcoholic and addict. However, they redeemed themselves in his adulthood. 

The hardest part for me was to listen to Matthew ache for love and a real relationship, but the sobriety/addiction cycle did not allow him to do so. Also, his pain while detoxing, binging, and after his surgeries was so, so sad. 

Now that Matthew has passed, this explains so much.

OVERALL REVIEW: 3.0 stars

Writing: 2.5 stars

It could have been written and edited to make it less repetitive. This memoir could have been so much more with a deeper dive into the friends, lovers, and big terrible things. 

Narration: 2.5 stars

Matthew had a horribly slurry voice which is probably due to all of his health problems. Also, his true self just doesn't come through at all. 

Character Arc: 2.5 stars

This character arc was a complete and total mess. It was all over the place and was horribly repetitive. 

If it had been edited to chronological order, it would have been so much stronger.  Matthew mentions 14 surgeries, 59 detoxes, and a multitude of rehabs - getting into these issues would have been so very powerful! 

Also, why was he allowed to be on television and movie sets hung over, high, and/or drunk? Why was he enabled by so many people?

Memorable: 3.0 stars

Kind of. It is a memoir that I would recommend for a HUGE Matthew Perry, but not a big FRIENDS fan as there is little about it in the memoir. I would recommend it to someone who is fighting addiction if they are open to reading it. 

Entertaining: 3.0 stars

Matthew was a funny and spontaneous person, but none of that came through in this memoir. He was also beloved by his friends, lovers, and family with none of that really explored at all.  

 

Book cover: 3.0 stars

Just okay.

Book title: 3.0 stars 

It was somewhat true and somewhat untrue. 

LUKEWARM recommend

STATISTICS

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

8 hours, 49 minutes

Listened to as an audiobook from the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)

Release date of 11/1/2022

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Matthew Perry

My Goodreads review

Macmillan Audio

Los Angeles Public Library

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

My next ebook and review is...

OVERVIEW

This was a VERY short novelette or even short story about the passing of her mother-in-law. It got into a lot of family dynamics that we all deal with with our in-laws. 

It was a sad, but easy read. I do really think that this could have made a short novel - there was so much more to be explored. As most people know, Cheryl wrote Wild which I have never read as hiking the Pacific Crest Trail or reading about it holds no appeal to me.  

I liked this novelette but didn't love it. 

OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars

Writing: 4.5 stars

Cheryl writes so well. It is not lyrical and poetic writing like my favorite authors, but frank and matter-of-fact. It was a perfect style for this type of story. 

Character development: 4.0 stars

There were three characters - Joan (the mother-in-law), Brian (Joan's son and Cheryl's husband), and Cheryl (daughter-in-law and wife).

The relationships could have been explored more if the book was longer. I feel like a lot was missing from the story including Cheryl's relationship with her deceased mother.

Storyline:  4.0 stars

This really is the story of the passing of Joan. From living in assisted living to hospice care in only a short time. The heartache is brutal for a family to go through this with a loved one.  

Joan and Cheryl had a tenuous relationship, but they seemed to have come to understand each other before Joan passed away. 

The main location was Portland, Oregon. 

Memorable/Informative:  4.0 stars

It was heartbreaking and made me realize what I do NOT want to do when my final journey begins. I want to make everything easy for my daughter. 

Book cover: 4.0 stars

Very obvious juxtaposition of the relationship between Cheryl and Joan.

Book title: 4.0 stars 

Very appropriate. 

DEFINITE recommend

BOOK INFORMATION

Amazon First Reads Kindle ebook

Two Women Walk Into A Bar by Cheryl Strayed

31 pages 

Amazon Original Stories

Release date of 01/24/2024

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Cheryl Strayed

My Goodreads review

Amazon Original Stories

Amazon First Reads - December 2023

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜