The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

 

Note, there is Native American drama associated with this book (see below).

In short - I listened to the assigned book, The Cerulean Sea and went to the meeting. 

I did not enjoy this book.  I went through it as fast as I could, just to finish. My dislike has nothing to do with the drama (below). 

What was the problem? I found the book to be too long and the writing to be slightly immature. I do not mean YA. I often love YA. 

Had it been edited and shortened, from 12 hours down to 8 hours, perhaps I would have liked it. I think that would have improved the writing. Others in my group agreed with this point.

It suffered from the Jane Eyre syndrome. The first half of the book needed much condensing. The second half the book was much better. 

Of the six people at my book group meeting, three loved this book, but agreed it was too long. One had not read it. The fifth, like me, finished it simply because it was assigned, but did not like it.

I suspect I am not a fan of fantasy books. I have read very few. I am not motivated to read that genre. Except Watership Down, which I loved. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/entertainment/article/fantasy-books/

The above link is a list of the 30 best fantasy books. I am very tempted to read more fantasy to see if I have just been reading the wrong fantasy. Perhaps if I read the best fantasy, I would like it. 

The drama -

Right when I started this book, and did not like the writing level, I looked to see if this book was in the YA category.  At that beginning point, I realized there was online drama about this title. 

https://nusantaranaga.wordpress.com/2021/06/30/the-controversial-politics-of-fantastical-wish-fulfillment-a-review-of-t-j-klunes-the-house-in-the-cerulean-sea/

It is unfortunate Kline mentioned the The Sixties Scoop at all. He inadvertently opened a mess, that in my opinion, was not deserved.

I believe this book was slotted to become a movie, before the drama. 

It is interesting that after all that drama, a sequel was written. I am not reading the sequel. Of the three people in my group who said they loved The House on the Cerulean Sea, none had gone on to read the sequel, which I find odd.

https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/sixties_scoop/

I was familiar with native children being removed from their families and placed in schools. I had read a previous book, This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, about this topic from an earlier view point.

https://williamkentkrueger.com/standalone/this-tender-land/#about

https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/

I believe this author, TJ Klune, writes mostly YA in the SFF and queer pride category. 

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/t-j-klune/

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

First, an actual biography was written about Martha Ballard previously. 

This book, that I listened to for one of my groups, is historical fiction with an emphasis on fiction. 

I enjoyed the story of this novel. I did not need a character list. There are a lot of names, but it followed easily. I finished it in time for my book club meeting. I think everyone on my group liked this book. 

However, historical fiction, in general, is not for me. It is the fiction part that bothers me, when writing about real people and events. 

This did not bother me with Laura Ingals Wilder’s Little House series. I think because she wrote them herself. I had faith in what she chose to omit and change in her effort to convey the era to children. 

But a contemporary author fictionalizing real people is really irritating.  This book was 95%+ fiction, but based on a real rape and trial. 

I do not understand why she does not write straight fiction, all the characters fiction, inspired by real events, and stay away from real people.

The other thing actually bothered me was no effort was made to write from the time period of Ballard’s life. It was written with a thoroughly modern voice. 

I had originally considered Ariel Lawhon’s other works, but reading the assigned book and then a review of Flight of Dreams stopped me. It is about real people aboard the Hindenburg and their lives were totally fictionalized. No sticking to the facts of these real people’s lives. Again, I do not agree with using real people in a fiction book, at all. 

Barriers to Entry is on Audible only. It is under two hours. It appears to be the start of a series.

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/ariel-lawhon/

John Hart’s standalone books

I started with The Last Child by John Hart. This was a recommendation from youngest, her book group read it last year. It was very good. I rolled right into the sequel The Hush, which was also (different but) excellent.  I posted about both these books previously. I read them over the holidays. 

Finishing those two, I read a book for one of my groups, and then I had almost a week before I needed to start my next book group assignment. 

This was January 7-13. We had very cold temperatures, snow and ice. I stayed home. I stayed inside. I had absolutely nothing on my calendar. No book groups met,  I had no assigned books. I sewed and listened to books.

I listened in publication order. Most were from Libby, a couple were from Hoopla.

They are classified as thrillers. They are often very gritty. I think they are excellent. I enjoyed this author. I finished all the John Hart books very happily. 

Full list of John Hart’s books at the bottom of this post.

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/john-hart/

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Note - I am very thankful youngest persuaded me to use Goodreads. I like having my books listed by date and searchable. I like having the stats. I read 13 books in January 2025.

Based on the cover, I was not really looking toward to Furiously Happy (autobiography, nonfiction) by Jenny Lawson

Some of her stories, I did like, but the stream of conscious/standup format of other chapters was too much, especially in audio format. Sometimes having an author read helps, in this case, no.

I finished it and attended the meeting. 

As I suspected, most of the other group attendees liked this book, and thought it was very funny. 

They all thought I would have liked this book better reading it in hardback/written form. 

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/jenny-lawson/

Pinwheel Poppers

Several weeks ago, I signed up for the Pinwheel Poppers Sew Along which starts this coming week on 2/5/25. 

Check Southern Charm Quilts and/or Snuggle Bug Stitching for more information.  

https://snugglebugstitching.myflodesk.com/pinwheel-popper-qal-signup

What I like about this quilt -

It is a one block design.

It is simple, but looks great.

It is a very controlled scrap quilt. It has a scrappy appearance, but fabrics are reused. 

What’s a Quilt Along or Sew Along? 

Reading Nicole’s quilt blog, I am newly familiar with the concept of sew alongs. Nicole has a blog label for “sew along”. 

https://sisterschoice.typepad.com/sisters_choice_quilts/sew-along/

Nicole prefers sew alongs where the finished quilt is known from the start, fabric can be planned carefully, there is no mystery. I agree.

The internet explains - 

When I look at the example for this quilt along (below), frankly I think “muddy”. There is not quite enough definition in the colors for me. I am fine with the green in the pinwheels and the white. But the coral/peach is slightly too strong for me. 

I am confident lots of Pinwheel Popper photos with stellar color choices will post with this challenge. I am waiting to make mine, until I see those photos.

I found one other Pinwheels Popper example on the internet which is even muddier (to me). 

I don’t know what they were thinking in including that dark brick fabric. Movement in a quilt, with contrasting and blending colors, is very important. But that dark fabric just confuses the design, in my opinion. 

A trick in choosing quilt fabrics is to use a black and white photo to see the color values in a different way. 

The Last Child and The Hush both by Richard Hart

January, I had a week and a half pause between book groups. 

I listened to two books by Richard Hart. These are sequels, written ten years apart. 

The Last Child and then The Hush.

Very unexpectedly, I loved both of them. 

All I knew about The Last Child was youngest had read the book for her group in 2024 and recommended it. My husband had listened to it also. 

I flew through The Last Child in just a couple days. I thought it was very well written and compelling. The subject matter was tough, but not too graphic. I really liked it. 

Then I moved on to The Hush, which is the second/last  book in the series. It was just over 14 hours. I averaged 3 hours the first couple days, then sprinted to the end on the third day to finish it.

I loved The Hush. Super well written and really great. Never would I have guessed I would like it. Sometimes this book is classified as mystical. More often the genre is labeled a combination of horror, mystery, thriller. 

I kept thinking - I loved Dracula also. And that was such a surprise, long ago. 

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/john-hart/

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

NOTE - Happier in Hollywood did a special bonus episode on We Solve Murders. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happier-in-hollywood/id1236845161?i=1000679858379

I read the Thursday Murder Club series, by Richard Osman, over the holidays. 

If you are interested in this series, I recommend reading it exactly the way I did, one right after the other, in short order, while all the characters are fresh to mind. There are a lot of characters.

When I finished, youngest told me there was a fifth Osman book, that is the start of another series. 

Overall I enjoyed We Solve Murders. But I have a couple notes of caution.

I experienced the same slightly rocky start as the first book in the Thursday Murder Club series. I had to start over in the beginning. I listened to the first 4-5 chapters, was slightly lost, started the book from the beginning again, and then was fine. 

The chapters are usually short. The book changes characters frequently. I did not find this confusing, but if I got distracted, I had to rewind. 

The end was a little confusing. I had to rewind there too. It was as if there needed to be one more chapter.

I did find/use a character list, it helped at the beginning. I did not need it very long.

• Amy Wheeler: A private security officer who is quick-thinking and calm, but struggles with emotional connections. She works with Rosie D'Antonio, a bestselling author. 

• Adam: Amy's husband, who doesn't have an emotional relationship with his father, Steve. 

• Steve Wheeler: Amy's father-in-law and a retired cop who enjoys a peaceful life. He has a unique bond with Amy and often talks to his late wife, Debbie. 

• Tony Taylor: Steve's best mate in the New Forest.

• Rosie D'Antonio: A bestselling author with a youthful spirit and infectious energy. Her life becomes a target due to her controversial writing. 

• François Loubet: A cunning money smuggler who uses social media influencers for illicit activities. 

• Vasily Karpin: Wants to kill Rosie. 

• Jeff Nolan - Amy’s boss at Maximum Impact Solutions 

• Henk Van Veen / The Dutchman - Jeff’s former friend and business partner 

I liked We Solve Murders. It was a light read while I was sewing over the holidays. 

Osman churns these books out very quickly. He is an okay writer, but not a brilliant one. 

We Solve Murders probably will be made into a TV series also. 

I am not reading his non-fiction -

January StoryGraph stats

 

Note - I have done quite a bit of work on my StoryGraph account. I retroactively added month end summary posts to the last day of each month for 2025. This is quite fun! 

Two books I read in January 2025 did not have an audio edition listed. So the pie charts reflects an incorrect hard copy read. I listened to 100% of the books on Libby, Audible, or Hoopla.

The Gunkle by Steven Rowley

Note - I am very thankful youngest persuaded me to use Goodreads. I like having my books listed by date and searchable. I like having the stats. I read 13 books in January 2025.

Clearly this was a book group assignment. It is not a book I would have picked on my own. 

And that is part of the purpose of book groups, finding new authors, widening reading experience. 

Also, so great to read a book and then discuss it with other people for at least an hour. 

I tried to read The Guncle, but bailed after a couple hours. This rarely happens. Usually if it is an assigned book, I finish.

I still went to the group meeting. I shared that I did not like the book and did not finish it. It is important to give feedback. It helps the librarian in choosing future books.

Absolutely did not read the sequel, The Guncle Abroad, either.

But please note - the rest of my reading group liked this book. They thought it was funny. And several of them read The Guncle Abroad too, and liked it.

Lioness

There are two seasons on Paramount Plus/CBS streaming platform. 

Third season rumored to be available sometime in 2025.

I did not expect to like this show, but I did. 

Very well cast. Complex, unique story line.