Books Read in March 2022

I am ridiculously late with this post and I apologize for that. It is nearly time for April books, but here we are. There were some good ones this month! My rating system is as follows:

5 stars: I loved it, and recommend it to everyone
4 stars: I really enjoyed it, and I bet you might too
3 stars: it was ok, more good than not, I don't regret reading it
2 stars: Meh. I really didn't care for this one, but it could be for others
1 star: No. I did not like this book one single bit

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay was a delightful book. I have recommended it to several friends already and they loved it too. It is an epistolary novel in which the story is told through the correspondence between two women in the early 1960s. One is a 60-ish food writer living in the Pacific Northwest (think Seattle), the other a much younger woman in her 20s living in the Los Angeles area. This book proves that food and friendship really do bind us all together. What was a total kick to me was the memories it brought back from the 60s: molded salads, the fact you couldn't find garlic in the stores, how rarely we ate curry or enchiladas or Chinese stir fry. Our tastes were so bland, unethnic, and unadventurous. Things sure have changed! Anyway, the book is simply lovely and I think everyone should read it. This book is short, heartwarming, and so soothing in these uncertain times. Seriously, read it. 5 stars

The Club by Ellery Lloyd. The author(s) are a husband and wife team. This book was a Reese's Book Club pick, and I'd describe it as a quick, suspenseful, popcorn thriller. The book is set in an extremely exclusive resort for celebrities who can afford the high price tag and value their privacy. Not a likable character in the book, and when people start dying off, you have to work at it to even care. In its favor, it was a page-turner that I got through in a day or so. I was definitely not bored and held my breath waiting to see who would get bumped off next. 3.5 stars

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu. Set in China in 1938 and beyond, this book tells the tale of a Chinese family who is forced to change their circumstances and location due to WWII and political changes in China. The story covers three generations of family from Meilin, the mother, who stays in China, through her son Renshu, who immigrates to America on a scholarship and never returns. Renshu becomes "Henry Dau", and refuses to speak of his earlier life in China. If you liked the book Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, I bet you would enjoy this one as well. There were lots of interesting bits about Chinese history and culture. It was just ok for me. 3 stars

The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh was the Good Morning America Book Club pick for March. The jacket description pretty much sums it up: "Emma loves her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby: she’d do anything for them. But almost everything she's told them about herself is a lie". Leo is an obituary writer and his beloved marine biologist wife Emma has a cancer scare. Because of his occupation, Leo is used to researching people's lives. Macabre as it seems, he begins researching his wife's life in anticipation of writing her obit. Turns out nothing she told him about her childhood, college, employment etc. has been the truth. We get to turn the pages anxiously as he unravels one lie after another. This was a well-written domestic thriller. I enjoyed it. 4 stars

 Girl In Ice by Erica Ferencik was pretty far-fetched to tell you the truth. I read one of this author's previous books "Into the Jungle" and loved it, but this one fell a little short of that for me. Val Chesterfield is a linguist who travels to the Arctic Circle to decipher the language of a young girl who has been thawed out of the ice alive, after being buried for hundreds of years. Yeah, right. Ok then. Val's brother had also been a part of this Arctic research team but died unexpectedly and supposedly of suicide. Val isn't buying it and is determined to get to the bottom of her brother's death while bonding with the thawed-out girl and her ancient language. I know the plot sounds ridiculous, but I truly did not hate this book. 3 stars 

The Paris Apartment by Kelly Bowen is not to be confused with the new release "The Paris Apartment" by Lucy Foley. In this book, Aurelia Leclaire inherits an opulent Parisian apartment from her grandmother. No one in the family knew about this secret apartment, which hasn't been opened for 75 years and is full of precious works of art. Was Aurelia's grandmother a Nazi collaborator hiding stolen art? We go back in time to Paris during WWII, and learn all the whys and wherefores about the hidden stash and the life of Aurelia's grandmother Estelle Allard. This was a really good work of historical fiction. If you enjoy books set in France during WWII, this could totally be your cup of tea. 3.5 stars

Mrs. England by Stacey Halls. This author also wrote "The Familiars", which was excellent. If you love a Gothic-style novel that will give you chills and goosebumps, look no further. Set in 1904 in Yorkshire, Ruby May takes a job as a nanny for the wealthy England family. Ruby quickly determines that nothing is the way she expected it to be. First of all, all her domestic dealings go through Mr. England. His wife is barely to be seen and when Ruby does cross her path, the misses seems distracted and not at all interested in the welfare of the children. One weird event after another makes Ruby question what in the world is going on in the household. Very atmospheric and full of building menace, this book certainly held my attention. This book is a slow burn, with most of the action happening right at the end of the book. Also, in the last paragraph, the author drops a bombshell that made me question everything I thought I had understood about the story. If any of you read this, I'd love your take on it.  4 stars 

If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher is a lighthearted romantic comedy. It was just what I needed to cleanse my reading palette after the past couple of more intense books I had read. Violet Covington is a newspaper advice columnist and has the answer to every problem her readers throw at her. Until she discovers her husband is cheating on her and she has no clue how to proceed with her own life. For starters, she kicks him out, piles up all his belongings in the driveway, and sets fire to them. When the fire department shows up she meets Dez, a smoking-hot firefighter (aren't they all?) who is quite taken with her despite her tendency towards arson. This was a fun book if you are in the mood for a rom com. 3 stars

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle was a recent Book of the Month selection. Katy's mother Carol was not just her mother but her best friend as well. Katy and Carol had planned a trip to Positano, Italy, but unfortunately, Carol became ill and passed away before they could go. Katy is deeply grief-stricken and unsure of all the decisions she has made in her life, including her marriage. Katy decides to go on the trip all on her own, leaving her confused husband at home. Once she arrives on the Amalfi Coast, she explores all the area has to offer. One day while she is out and about, she runs into….her mother. Somehow Katy has been transported back in time to a bygone era when her mother had been in Italy at the age Katy is now. Katy befriends Carol and gets to know her as the young woman she was, and not as her mother. This book is full of glorious descriptions of Italy, and its food (omg, the food will have you making pasta and drinking red wine). However, the relationship Katy had with her mother seemed a bit suffocating to me. It just isn't normal to depend on your mom like that, no matter how amazing she may be. She repeatedly calls her mother her "soulmate" and "the love of my life". It was a bit weird. I also felt she treated her husband very badly. 
2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 for the food and locale descriptions

As always, if you have read any of these books, I'd love for you to weigh in with your thoughts!