The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

My Rating: 3.4

1n 1946, Cyril buys an extravagant mansion and presents it to his wife Elna. Elna hates it and eventually runs away to serve the poor, leaving behind her children Maeve and Danny. Five years later, Cyril remarries to Andrea who, eventually puts Maeve and Danny out on the streets penniless.

This is told in flashbacks through Danny. It is sad how Danny and Maeve can never seem to let go of the past and move on. Although I adore Patchett's writing, I wasn't enthralled with the characters or the story-line.

Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

My Rating: 3.2


This starts with Rowan writing to a lawyer from prison, trying to explain the events that led up to her incarceration in a please for him to take her case. She flashes back to her taking a job in a remote house in Scotland as a nanny with how it all led up to her being convicted of murdering one of the children.

Like all these "thriller" books you have to suspend logic and just go with it. The fact that she is writing to her lawyer and it is a whole book - ummm, no. You are inside the main characters mind and it is a very scary place to be....filled with self doubt, suspicion and paranoia <insert spooky music>. This does get tiresome but, if you can just "go with it" this is a typical thriller. Nothing that will ever win a Nobel Prize but, it passes the time

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

My Rating: 3.7


When their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, her sister Edith struggles to make a living. So she can't help wondering what her life would have been like with even a portion of the farm money her sister kept for herself. While Helen builds a successful craft brewery, Helen struggles with baking pies and taking a variety of jobs.

This is a heartwarming, Midwestern story of the lives of the two sisters as well as brewing beer. The humor was cute and at the heart of it all, was the message of family. The accents on the audio were well done but got a bit old after a while.

Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat

My Rating: 3.0

Short stories with the tie being Haiti. They are all set in Port Au Prince, other Caribbean countries or Miami with the people being from Haiti.

Don't let my rating put you off of this book. It is extremely well written and each story captures so much. I am just not a fan of short stories and wanted each one to continue on. If you like short stories, you should enjoy this.

Next Year In Havana by Chanel Cleeton

My Rating: 3.5

After the death of her beloved grandmother, Marisol travels to Cuba where she unearths her family's identity. This flashes back and forth in time between Marisol in modern day Cuba and her grandmother Elisa back in the 1950's.

While the history of Cuba was interesting, at times it felt like being in school and being bombarded with too many dry facts.There was also a lot of fluffy romance and not a lot of character development. 

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

My Rating: 5.0

This starts with a young boy at his cousins quincenara. He is the bathroom going pee when a bullet whips by his head. He barely has time to register what has happened when his mother comes in and pushes him down to the ground covering him with her body. When the shooting stops and the voices of the three men they heard are gone, all 16 of their family members are dead. They know they will be next and have to leave immediately. This is the beginning of their fleeing and this entrancing book.

I have just read my first "Best Of" book for 2020. The sad news is, it is going to be the bar I measure all other books against and it will be tough to beat. Wow. Jeanine Cummins captures so much in her phrasing - not only of the characters but of the landscape, the emotions and the journey. This was a gripping read that I didn't want to end. I will definitely be reading others by this author. Tip: start this book when you can be up way late, as you won't be able to put this down.