Pretty excited to have a few Three Mug books this month to share with you, and a timely recap for the end of the month!

The Measure, by Nikki Erlick: Three Mugs

I really enjoyed this book. It had such a unique plot and explored some pretty big life questions that are great for all of us to consider, and a surprise, but happy-ish ending. The premise of the book is that out of nowhere, every person in the world over a certain age gets a box with a string inside of it, and they find out that the string tells them the length of their lives. I liked the exploration of discrimination (short stringers vs. long stringers): how one person with a large audience can take advantage of people’s fear, and the devastating effects that kind of power can have on society (sounds familiar, huh?). The larger premise of the book, however, is how do we measure our lives? Is it by the number of years we live, the lives we impact, the difference we make? The other big questions are what risks are we willing to take when we know the length of our lives? What do we give up? There were some definite heart-wrenching and gutting moments in this book, which I thought were expertly executed.

Favorite quote: You don’t need a long lifetime to make an impact on this world. You just need the will to do so.

The Spanish Daughter, by Lorena Hughes: Three Mugs

(Currently free on Kindle with Amazon Prime)

I love me a good historical fiction. This one takes place on a cacao plantation in Ecuador in the 1920s, which was extra special to me since we did a cacao tour in Guatemala with the boys during spring break. That experience made it easy to picture a lot of the descriptions in the book surrounding the cacao pods and the process. This book is also a mystery book, with the main character trying to solve who is trying to kill her. I thought the “everyone is a suspect” part was a little too much, but I don’t read very many mystery books and maybe that’s just par for the course. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, but could understand why it had to end the way it did.

Favorite quote: You never know what’s going to happen. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow your dreams for fear that something bad might happen. You did what was right. You followed your heart…

Becoming, by Michelle Obama: Three Mugs (on Audiobook)

This book was long, but I really enjoyed it. I listened to it on audiobook at 1.5 speed, and it still sounded pretty normal, ha! There were so many things I related to in this book, like the trade offs of being a working mom (letting go of my volunteer interests after kid #2), and stepping back from things you would have stepped forward to. I find myself constantly struggling between wanting to say yes to everything, and knowing what it will mean on the back end if I do.

I loved the determination of two people to make a difference: it’s inspirational and also makes me wonder: what have I done to change the world???

This book was also super emotional for me, for some reason. There’s a passage explaining how Michelle went to law school just to please others, and that really hit home for me. The parts that talked about her life as a mother and wife, and the difficulties of those roles while being the wife of a politician or the First Lady, were emotional for me. Again, no idea why, but my heart broke a little for what they all had to sacrifice of their personal lives during those years in the White House. She also had a poignant passage about reaching a point in parenting where you are no longer parenting so much, you’re watching their lives unfold, instead. Gaaaah!

Oh she also wrote about the night Trump won the presidential election, and what that felt like. And I was right there with her. I remember the exact place I was standing in at my in-laws house when the realization hit me that Trump would very likely be our next president. I remember it as clearly as I remember where I was when I heard Princess Diana died, or when I heard the Twin Towers had been hit by an airplane. Woof.

The Edge of Summer, by Viola Shipman: Two Mugs

I wanted to love this book, but I just liked it. I really enjoyed the Lake Michigan setting and small town life, but the COVID references were a bit much for me, as were the TYPOS!! Gah, I don’t understand how that many typos got to a printed version. There were also some SUPER cheesy lines, and lots of button references – some of them cool, others over the top. Generally, an easy Summer read, but not the best.

A couple tidbits from the book that I found interesting: buttons were on different sides for men and women because women often had help getting ready, and there was a mention that egg shells in the garden detract slugs. I did a quick perusal of the internet on this one and it doesn’t seem to be effective, so I guess I won’t be saving my eggs shells.

Quotable quote: In college, I worked two jobs while going to school full-time. I had such resentment toward the sorority girls who tanned in the quad between classes and partied every weekend in a new outfit while I scurried to dish out food at the commons and waitress at a local pizza joint.

This part was like reading my mind as I walked to my concessions job at UCSB, literally watching sorority and non-sorority girls sun bathing on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Or a Tuesday morning. Lots to unpack here when I start going to see a therapist, I know.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, by Mark Haddon: Two Mugs

This was a book club pick for The Literate Lushes (my local book club). I love books that put me in someone else’s shoes, and this book is told from the perspective of a teenage boy with autism. It was so insightful, and difficult and heart breaking. There is a scene where the mom just wants to hug her son, but he doesn’t like being touched. Ugh, my momma-heart broke in that moment.

Quote: OK, maybe I don’t tell the truth all the time. God knows, I try, Christopher, God knows I do, but…Life is difficult, you know. It’s bloody hard telling the truth all the time. Sometimes it’s impossible. And I want you to know that I’m trying, I really am.

Ain’t that the truth of a parent? The boys have called me a liar before, which I hate, but also…situations change and sometimes you can’t deliver on something you promised.

The Nightingale, by Kristin Hanna: Three Mugs

Sometimes I get a little burned out on so many historical fiction books being about WWII, but then I realize there are so many stories to tell, and it’s such an important part of history to keep alive. Even if it hurts. This book hurt. But I also couldn’t put it down. I was up until almost 1 a.m. this morning because I just had to know what happened to the Nightingale sisters. I’ve read a couple Kristin Hanna books before (The Four Winds, Winter Garden) and they are both great historical fiction books (the Great Depression and the fall of Leningrad, respectively), but this one got me even more than those. I hugged my boys a bit tighter when I got home today, and I’m so, so thankful to live when and where I do: I don’t think I would have had the strength to survive the atrocities of WWII if I had been born to that time and place. This book follows the stories of two sisters living in German-occupied France during WWII, and how they each found the courage to make a difference.

Didn’t finish

Buy Yourself the F*ucking Lilies, by Tara Schuster: One Mug.

I am a sucker for advertising, and I was drawn in by the title and the cover art. This book was more self-help than I bargained for, although probably pretty obvious from the description (again, I’m a sucker for advertising). I kind of skipped through the table of contents to parts I thought I’d be interested in, and skipped others. There was some humor, but some over the top stuff, like “Write that down, right now, I’m not kidding, I’ll wait while you do it.” Meh. And “I see you, and I love you.” Sure, some people probably need to hear that from strangers, and I guess this book is more for them than me, but…she doesn’t know me, how can she love me?!

BUT, there were some good pointers that I took and that were good to hear: spoil yourself, invest in you, spend time in the morning getting ready so you feel confident. I suck at all of those things. I can’t think of the last time I went and got a manicure or pedicure (I think it’s called…a… “mani-pedi”?), because I just don’t think I need to spend the money on it. But maybe every now and then I should.

What are you reading lately?

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