#10 [2025/CBR17] Roomies by Christina Lauren

I now feel like I'm wasting time if I'm not listening to an audiobook while I'm in my car, so I'm always on the lookout for a book that will hopefully work well for listening. I've read a couple of books by Christina Lauren (two writing-partner friends who smash their first names together to make one author's name), so when I saw Roomies (2017) available at the library, I figured I would enjoy listening to it. Unfortunately, this one was not my favorite. There were some good parts, but it just didn't draw me in as some of her others have.

Holland Bakker has a crush on a musician who plays guitar at her subway station. She actively changes her routine and goes out of her way to be able to hear him. Then one day, late at night, she is pushed onto the tracks by a crazy guy. The sexy guitar player (Calvin McLoughlin) sees what happens and calls for help. But he disappears as soon as help gets on the scene.

Holland is a nepo baby because her Uncle is a famous musician and Broadway's hottest musical director, and he got her a job at his theater. When her Uncle's show needs another musician, she recommends her sexy guitar player friend. After Calvin plays for Holland's uncle, he is offered the job. Unfortunately, he can't take it because he had an education Visa from Ireland, but he's overstayed for years. He cannot legally work in the United States.

Holland's direct boss is a bit of a dick, and he proposes that Holland marry Calvin, so that Calvin can get his Green Card. Everyone shoots down this ridiculous idea, but it sticks with Holland. She proposes the idea to Calvin, and before they know it, the two are married.

Suddenly, Calvin has moved in with Holland, and the two are learning as much about each other as possible as they prep for government interviews. They find that they really get along and are quite attracted to each other as well.

Calvin and Holland are likable people, and I wanted to see them be together and do well. I liked a lot of their interactions, and the writing was often good and fun.

On the other hand, I had some problems with some aspects of this story, and even some aspects of the romance.

-Holland is pushed onto the subway tracks by a crazy man, and Calvin just calls for help and disappears? He doesn't help her get out from a potentially lethal spot on the tracks? Did I miss something while I was listening? I was expecting a lot more from a romance hero.

-Holland and Calvin make a big deal of texting fake, sexy text messages to each other in order to "prove" their relationship to the powers that be. I don't see how less than a week of text messages would show that they'd been seriously dating for six months before getting married. If anything, it would highlight the opposite--that they'd only started communicating. Maybe they could both say that they just got new phones and lost their text messages??? Anyway, there were a number of problems with the believable marriage part of the storyline that made the story distracting.

-Finally, the first time Holland and Calvin have sex, they wake up in bed together, both too drunk and hungover to even remember what had happened the night before. Eventually, we kind of find out what happened during flashbacks, but I don't find black-out-drunk sex very sexy.

So, this wasn't a bad book, but I came in with high expectations, and they weren't quite met. Maybe I like Christina Lauren books that are more fanciful because then I'm not distracted by the parts of the plot that feel too unrealistic.

#9 [2025/CBR17] The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş

I read The Anthropologists (2024) by Ayşegül Savaş solely because Barack Obama put it on his Favorite Books List. Although Obama and I don't have exactly the same taste in books, I appreciate that his choices are always well written and thought provoking. 

The Anthropologists is a short, quiet novel that centers around a young couple in New York City. The two are looking to buy their first home together. Asya first came to the United States to go to college, where she met her husband, Manu. Manu was also a foreign student, but they are from different countries (the book never explicitly states which countries). Asya is a film documentarian who has just received a grant to work on something new. She's decided to focus on her neighborhood park and the people who go there. She spends many hours talking with people and filming at the park.

This book is not plot-driven but instead focuses on its characters and how each creates community for themselves. Asya often feels like she lacks community and doesn't really belong in New York City. She thinks she should be more involved and have more friends. When she looks at other people, she imagines that they have everything figured out in a way that she does not. 

Asya has the culture and community that she grew up with, but all of that is so far away. She talks to her mother and grandmother on the phone often, but she feels distinct from their lives. She's afraid that her family will see that the United States has changed her. She can't even speak her native language with her husband because they have to communicate in their shared language, Enlgish. Asya only has a couple of friends, which feels insufficient to her. 

Every prospective home they visit invites Asya and Manu to imagine a different kind of life they could live. Initially, they are not sure what direction they want to go, or what one would fit them the best. 

Perhaps because everything happens so quietly and slowly, Asya and Manu do not even realize that they are creating their own community around themselves. First, they have each other. They have a great relationship and are not wandering around that giant city by themselves. Second, they befriend people who pop up in their lives. This includes their elderly upstairs neighbor. In addition, some of their friends are dating and finding their own lives, and their circle is constantly expanding.

This book is very quiet and contemplative, but it was well written and easy to read. I could understand how Asya and Manu feel torn between their new home and their family in their home countries. On the whole, this is an optimistic book as Asya and Manu find their places.

#8 [2025/CBR17] Mr. Nice Spy by Tiana Smith

I downloaded the audiobook of Mr. Nice Spy (2024) by Tiana Smith because it looked like a fun book to listen to on my commute. I'm a big fan of adventurous romances with hunky, protective men, and I figured a book with a CIA agent as its hero would be right up my alley. Mr. Nice Spy started out well. Adam Chan, before we even know he's a CIA agent, saves our heroine (Andee Paxton) from a hulking man who is after her. He's immediately interested in Andee, and manages to clearly convey that to her without being overbearing or creepy.

After a very compelling first scene, the story gets kind of crazy. It's still entertaining, but you definitely just have to go with the flow. Andee is a young, single woman who works as a fireworks designer (cool job). Andee's mother had always told her that her father was a famous actor. After seeing her presumed actor father on TV talking about DNA testing, Andee decides to get tested herself to know the truth once and for all.

Suddenly Andee's been picked up by the CIA after a (very illegal) search of her apartment. They inform her that her father is actually the very dangerous, recently escaped prisoner, and international arms dealer named Holt. They want Andy to work with the CIA. Their plan is that they use her like a pawn in order to draw Holt out, so they can nab him again. Adam Chan is one of the CIA agents, and for what it's worth, he advises her against working with the CIA because its too dangerous and he's interested in dating her.

Before Andee can even make up her mind, both Andee and Chan are kidnapped by Holt and brought to a secret lair in the catacombs of Paris. Holt knew he had a long, lost daughter, and he's been looking for her for years. He had the DNA results even before the CIA, and he acted too quickly for them. He wants Andee (who he calls Karma) to join him in his diabolical scheme to wreak havoc all over the world. Andee and Chan pretend to be a couple, so the gangster won't find out that Chan is CIA. Luckily, they are given a little room dug out of the caves with a rustic ensuite. 

The longer the book went on, the more bonkers the plot got. I liked some of the scenes with Andee and Chan getting to know each other and becoming closer, but the pacing sometimes felt off. I even got a little frustrated at the end when Andee is dragged back into it all over again. In the end, I did like the characters, but this wasn't a favorite for me.

#7 [2025/CBR17] The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Women (2024) is now the third book I've read by Kristin Hannah. I started with The Great Alone, which I loved. Then I moved on to The Nightingale, which I'd seen on countless 'best of' lists. There were some good things about The Nightingale, but on the whole, I was disappointed with it. So, it was with just a little bit of trepidation that I started The Women. Fortunately, I thought The Women was a very good book. I would put it behind The Great Alone, but significantly ahead of The Nightingale.

The Women follows Frances "Frankie" McGrath as she becomes an army nurse in Vietnam. Frankie grew up in a very privileged home on Coronado Island in San Diego. After her beloved brother graduates from the Naval Academy and goes to Vietnam, Frankie decides that she wants to go there as well. Unfortunately, shortly after her decision, her family is informed that Frankie's brother was killed in action. Frankie's parents do not want her going to Vietnam, and she is struggling with grief over her brother's death, but it's too late.

The first half of the book is all about Frankie's experiences in Vietnam. Her culture shock when she arrives, and the noise, bombardment, and violent injuries she sees all deeply affect her. This book really dives into the violence that Frankie sees and the dangers she faces, as well as how everyone there dealt with the stress. Frankie goes from a FNG ("fucking new guy") with no practical skills to a dedicated and talented surgical nurse. She eventually becomes best friends with her roommates, Ethel and Barb. Frankie also falls for a couple men while she's out there: Jamie and Rye. After two tours, and after Ethel and Barb have already been home for some time, Frankie finally goes home herself.

The second half of the book is Frankie's life after Vietnam. Coming home after two years of unending violence and destruction is as much of a culture shock as first arriving in Vietnam was. I think Hannah did a very good job describing how hard these transitions were. When she comes home, the war is already very unpopular, and that is often taken out on those who were over there. Even at the airport, she is verbally attacked and refused taxi rides. But when she arrives home, the reaction from her parents is even worse. As Frankie tries to digest everything she's been through, her parents want to pretend it never happened. In fact, her father had told everyone that Frankie had been studying abroad in Florence this whole time.

Suddenly, Frankie is struggling with nightmares, flashbacks, and inexplicable anger. Time and again, Ethel and Barb come to Frankie's aid--helping her find some semblance of a normal life. Twice, in desperation, Frankie goes to the VA hospital seeking some kind of help, but she and her problems are abruptly dismissed. She is told "there are no women in Vietnam" and that she wasn't in combat, so she needs to solve her own problems. This was so frustrating to read because it was so obvious that Frankie desperately needed help.

Eventually things come to a head, and Frankie is able to go to an in-patient clinic for addiction. There she is finally treated for PTSD, and she is able to make some progress.

Like I said above, I did enjoy this book. Frankie was a complex, often troubled character, and I wanted the best for her. The book was easy to read and very much a page turner. I read the entire last third of the book one morning when I had plenty of other things to do. I also really appreciate that Hannah focused on the women in the Vietnam war, as they are often overlooked. I thought Hannah did a very good job with Frankie's struggles as she joined the war and then tried to get away from it.

Like The Nightingale, there were a lot of coincidences and somewhat unbelievable aspects to this story. It's something I probably paid more attention to after reading The Nightingale. These coincidences/storylines made the story dramatic, but were often just on the edge of being too much--maybe even spilling over to make the story less believable. For instance, Frankie learns of her brother's death the moment that she is telling her mother that she has enlisted. In addition, many people die in Frankie's arms, and they all seem to survive the exact amount of time it takes for Hannah to describe them. Finally, Frankie just happens to run into a man in three different places across the country because he might just be the next love interest. There are some others that would get into some bigger spoilers, so I will leave it at that. However, even though I noticed some of these unlikely coincidences, this book was still moving and informative. Recommended.

#6 [2025/CBR17] Vanishing Treasures by Katherine Rundell

I found Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures (2024) by Katherine Rundell because it was available as an audiobook from my library. Environmentalism and animals are two themes that are right up my alley, so it was no surprise that I downloaded it as soon as it was available.

Vanishing Treasures is a short collection of essays on endangered animals (or animals that have a subspecies that is endangered). The animals vary widely from the very common raccoon and bear to the rarely seen or studied Greenland Shark. Rundell also discusses incredible animals such as the American Tree Frog, whose heart simply stops beating in the winter when the frog is frozen solid. But the heart starts again, on its own, once it warms up--humans have no idea how this works.

The essays often begins with some discussion of the uniqueness of each animal. The Swift is a bird that flies thousands of miles, eating and sleeping in the air. Rundell also often ties in quotes or stories of how humans have viewed these animals throughout the years. For example, the Greenland Shark can live over 400 years. There are sharks swimming around in the ocean that have been alive for so much of our human history. In addition, people's history with bears is rather sad. Bear baiting was popular from the 12th through the 19th centuries, and people kept bears for this purpose. Time after time the poor bear would be put in a pit and attacked by dogs for the entertainment.

Other animals included in this book are the sea horse, wombat, lemur, narwhal, and many others. The pangolin is another animal that is endangered. The world will certainly be less interesting if this scaly anteater were to disappear.

The stories of these unique and interesting animals all end in the same way. Their numbers are declining, and they are endangered--all of them by human action or inaction. Climate change, habitat destruction, and the black market for rare animals or parts of animals are the primary culprits. Unfortunately, the demand for the animal increases as it becomes more rare.

On the whole, I liked this book. It has a purpose, and it educates us on some of the fascinating animals that are at risk--even though it can feel far away from our normal lives. I sometimes wished for a little more information on the animals instead of what just felt like the highlights. I also think this book would have been better reading in paperback rather than audiobook. There are beautiful illustrations throughout the book that I missed out on while listening to it. 

#5 [2025/CBR17] Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

We chose Mastering the Art of French Murder (2023) by Colleen Cambridge for our next book club book. A young American woman who lives in Paris after World War II solves a murder with the help of her friend, Julia Child. I had never heard of this mystery novel before and wasn't too sure what to expect from it. I enjoy the occasional mysteries, and I like The Great British Baking Show, but I'm not much into cooking. I wasn't sure how I felt about reading about cooking--and/or how the mystery and cooking elements would mesh. But in the end, it was a fun, interesting book. The characters were likeable, and the story was often suspenseful. Apparently, this novel was the beginning of a trilogy, and I think I'll be reading the second book on my upcoming vacation.

Tabitha Knight moved to Paris to live with her grandfather after World War II. She grew up in Detroit, and during the war she'd fixed airplanes. However, since the war, Tabitha had been pushed out of her job by the returning servicemen, and she'd become disenchanted with her options. So she traveled to Paris, where she helps take care of her grandfather and his companion, whom she calls Oncle Rafe. Because of her French mother and grandmother, Tabitha speaks French fluently and sometimes tutors other Americans in Paris.

Tabitha first met Julia Child at the market, and they've become good friends. I only know Meryl Streep's version of Julia Child from Julie and Julia, and the book describes her in a very similar fashion. She seems delightful. Anyway, Julia, her husband Paul, and Julia's sister Dorothy all live together across the way from Tabitha's grandfather. One day, after a late theater party with Dorothy's friends at the Child flat, the body of a young woman who had been at the party, is discovered in the basement. She'd been stabbed to death with one of Julia Child's cooking knives. And Tabitha's name and number is discovered in her coat.

Tabitha's father was a detective, and her natural curiosity gets the better of her as she begins to nose around the case. The French inspector, M. Merveille does not appreciate her intrusions, and the two have an interesting dynamic throughout the book. Tabitha often finds herself in danger as she discovers clue after clue. There are a series of very lucky coincidences that allow Tabitha to solve the case, but the book acknowledges these with throwbacks to all the mystery novels Tabitha loved to read as a child.

In the end, the conclusion of the mystery was a little bit of a let down. But because the book itself was fun and sometimes suspenseful, it was easy to overlook the details of the murders. Recommended.

#4 [2025/CBR17] Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

I've read and enjoyed two books by Christina Lauren*: The True Love Experiment and The Soulmate Equation. So, I decided to go looking for more by them, and that's when I found Something Wilder (2022). I was excited to read this one because Christina Lauren had already proven themselves to me, and because this book takes place in Canyonlands National Park. I love Utah, and I also love a good romantic adventure, so I had high expectations when I began listening to this audiobook. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one as much as the other two books I've read by Christina Lauren.

Something Wilder is a second chance romance between Lily Wilder and Leo Grady. They met each other back in Wyoming when Lily was only eighteen or nineteen years old, and Leo came from New York City to help on her father's ranch for the summer. But circumstances and misunderstandings intervened, and the two haven't talked or seen each other in ten years.

Lily wants nothing more than to be back at that ranch in Wyoming, but her father sold it shortly after Leo's departure. Now she lives and works with her best friend Nicole, as the leader of trips into the red canyons near Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Lily's father, Duke, was a semi-famous treasure hunter, and she uses his fame to go on fake treasure hunts in the wild with her groups.

Then one day, Leo and a small group of his friends show up for one of Lily's tours. Both Lily and Leo are shocked to run into each other. Leo's friend, Brad, was in charge of trip planning that year, and Leo had no idea where they were planning to go until they arrived. Leo also assumed that Lily was still in Wyoming at her beloved ranch.

This part of the book was fine for me. I was excited for Lily and Leo to get over their misunderstandings and get to know each other again. I thought the backdrop of Canyonlands could make for some interesting adventures. But all of a sudden, it felt like the plot went off the rails--or at the very least, the book took off in a direction I was least expecting. Suddenly, there were guns, murder, and very unbelievable treasure hunts.

Instead of enjoying the quiet romance I was expecting, I was suddenly scoffing at the unbelievability of it all. It felt very far fetched, and I think it took away from the romance. I do realize that I'm reading a romance novel, where realism and believability are not the most necessary parts of the genre. However, if ridiculous things are happening in the book, and I'm not distracted by how good the romance is, it will ruin the book for me. Also, because I've spent a fair bit of time hiking, backpacking, and rafting in the area, I've had considerable personal experience in this book's setting. So, the storyline became frustrating and felt silly, which made me lose interest. Perhaps this escapist literature is best when it really has no connection to your real life. I am sure I will try Christina Lauren again, but I definitely preferred the first two books I read by them.

*Christina and Lauren are best friends and a writing team. They use their first names as the author of their books.