Backlist Book Reviews

{Reading #backlist from my shelves!}

This past week thanks to some help from #audiobooks on the Libby App, I knocked two more unread books from my personal shelves.

I would describe both of these books as quiet hidden gems if you are a fan of literary fiction.

▪️Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner - This book was published last fall and was put on my radar thanks to the TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL.  I stumbled into a tent that the author was speaking at and I was so intrigued by this story. (Can’t wait to go back to the festival this year!)

It’s a bittersweet story that tackles:

▪️Complexities of Sisterhood + Family Dynamics

▪️Birth order and your place in the family

▪️The effects of mental illness on a family

▪️Both love and loss

🗣️ “No one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister.”

It’s a story you will think about long after you are finished reading.

▪️The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas - Don’t skip the author’s note!

While at times this one is slightly repetitive and requires you to pay attention to what year of Rose’s life you are reading about, I found this to be an excellent examination of couples who are childless by choice.  It tackles both the relationships of being a mother and having a mother so well.  

Rose, a successful professor and academic, and her husband Luke, a professional photographer, both never wanted to have children.  Then Luke changes his mind.  Next comes several different versions of Rose’s life—one child free, one having a child, one divorcing, one with infidelity, and so on.

I found this to be thought provoking and with characters who felt incredibly venerable and real.  Ones to root for and think about.  A book you’re eager to get back to while you are reading it!

I hope you have enjoyed these reviews and I have inspired you to pick up an older neglected book off your shelf!