Rating:
3.5 Stars

In a nutshell:
Four women living outside D.C. in the 1960s find themselves at crossroads, motivated by reading ‘The Feminine Mystique.’

Best for:
Those who enjoy stories of women finding themselves. Those who need a reminder of where we’ve been given where we are headed.

Quote that made me think:
“Somebody has to have the babies, don’t they? If they can?”

Why I chose it:
I was looking for a book about women, written by a women, as I’ve been reading a few books where men are the authors and protagonists.

Review:
Margaret, Viv, Charlotte and Bitsie all live in an exurb of Washington D.C., and are all facing challenges in their lives. Margaret is the main focus of the book, and the one bringing together the others for a book club, which starts with reading “The Feminine Mystique.”

Margaret is raising three children and isn’t feeling fulfilled. Her husband can be a bit of an ass, so she seeks support from her friends and neighbors. Charlotte is new to town, a bit brash, seemingly a bit detached from her children and husband. Viv and her husband have a wonderful marriage, and six kids. Viv is about to go back to work as a nurse. Bitsie is young, without children, and married to a somewhat older man who is also a veterinarian.

The book focuses on the friendships these women build, but also about the challenges they face in a world that views women as second class citizens. Viv tries to get birth control but needs her husbands sign-off, and in between the appointments she ends up pregnant. Margaret tries to open up a bank account for her own paychecks and is told she needs her husband’s permission. All face men – sometimes their own relatives – who belittle them and treat their interests as inconsequential and irrelevant.

While the author does speak to what Friedan missed out on with “The Feminine Mystique” – basically ignoring women who aren’t white, suburban and middle class – this book does also suffer a bit of the same. There is talk of civil rights, and there is one tertiary Black character, but the four main women are white and suburban, and their challenges, while infuriating, are not quite what one would call universal. For example, there is a bit of a discussion of money, but in reality none of the women or their families are at risk of serious economic challenge, so discussions around income don’t have the same kind of urgency. Additionally, none of the women choose the path of not having children, which would have been truly revolutionary.

This book was published last year, but given the optimism in it, I would have thought it was released in like 2010 or something. So much of what is discussed seems both so far away and so threateningly near. The pace the US is going, especially with things like the SAVE act, and the overturning of Roe vs Wade, women are getting pushed further and further backwards. Will we be able to have our own bank accounts? Will we be able to vote without jumping through hoops that men don’t need to? Will we be forced to have children, or be economically punished if we don’t? It kind of seems likely, which reminds me we haven’t actually come that far if it’s so easy to get back to where we started.

Would I recommend it to its target audience:
Yes. Despite the issues mentioned above, I enjoyed the storytelling and the character development quite a lot.

Rating:
3 Stars

In a nutshell:
In two separate, unrelated mysteries, the victim isn’t entirely clear.

Best for:
Fans of this genre – Yokomizo is a famous author of Japanese mysteries.

Quote that made me think:
N/A

Why I chose it:
It was a gift from my partner for my birthday.

Review:
Both of these stories focus on the idea that we might not be entirely sure of who the victim is. In the first, a woman’s body is found in the back garden of a cafe, and the owners have sold the cafe and left town. Is the woman in the ground who we all think, or might it be someone else? And either way, who is responsible for her death?

In the second, the death involves someone who is almost a twin – so is the dead person really he said he was before he was killed, or is he the other brother who looks just like him.

Both books have different storytelling modes – the first is a fairly standard narrative, while the second is told solely through letters from a relative of the murdered individual. Both are vivid in their storytelling; I could picture the scenes quite easily.

That said, there was something about the style of the writing that didn’t quite connect for me. Maybe it was the short story nature that didn’t allow enough time to develop the characters. Or perhaps it was that it felt like there was a lot of exposition and not a lot of the story unfolding on its own.

I am happy I read the book, but I probably won’t be seeking out more from this author.

Would I recommend it to its target audience:
I think so, yeah.

Rating:

3.5 Stars

CN: Pet illness and loss.

In a nutshell:
Veterinarian Dr Attas started the first house call vet service in Manhattan and share stories of treating the pets of the ultra rich, the not rich, and the famous.

Best for:
Those who love animals, so long as one can handle some sad stories as well.

Quote that made me think:
N/A

Why I chose it:
In December we had to say goodbye to our cat of 14 years, Tigger. We knew we wanted to say goodbye at home, both to reduce the stress on him and give him a good experience, but also so his brother Jameson could know what had happened. Dr Kim works for a company that specializes in in-home euthanasia and took such amazing care of both Tigger and me and my partner. She was so kind, and so respectful. It made an absolutely horrible day bearable. When I saw a book about in-home vets, I knew I wanted to read it!

Review:
Dr Attas has always known she wanted to be a vet, and was able to make it happen. The book shares some of her early career and how she was able to volunteer with vets to confirm what she wanted to do. She talks about the first pets she adopted, including a blind pug, and she also shares some of her personal life, including how she met her husband. But most of the book is focused on the stories of the pets and the humans she encounters.

She definitely name drops, but it does make sense because these are the people who she interacts with – Joan Rivers helped her with her business when she started (after being fired by a disappointing former boss). Billy Joel, Cher, and even Paul McCartney eventually feature in the book. But the real stars are the precious animals Dr Attis treats. She shares stories of routine appointment, of devastating diagnosis, and everything in between. She talks of doting pet parents and jerks who abandon pets when something new and shiny (a baby, another new pet) comes into the home. She clearly cares about her clients.

The one thing that left me feeling kind of meh about the book and the author is how much she focuses on pure breeds. She definitely does not support puppy mills or anything like that, and she helps with rehoming and adoping pets, but I don’t recall any discussion of mutts in the book. She herself seems to have a preference for pugs, which are bred in such a way that they often have breathing problems. I would have loved to hear more about the harm created for these animals but there wasn’t much about that.

While this book is a fairly new release, most of the stories take place in the 90s, which I wasn’t expecting.

Would I recommend it to its target audience:
I think so, but again, only if one can handle some very sad stories as well.