What I’ve Read Lately

I will admit that I am reading slower than I want to be, however I also think that I knew I gave myself a buffer by overreading in February and March that I don’t get mad at myself for skipping weeks where I do not read a new book. I am trying to get back into it, and I think I have a little bit more lately, but I still need to pick up my pace. This does mean that I do not have as many new books to update you on.

I am going to start with two books I read for my work: Enredos de amor en Miami and Carmen and Grace. Both were very good, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading them.

Besides “work” reads, I read You 2.0, Song for Olivia, and Happy Place.

If I had to rate the books I read, I’d say the 5-star ratings belong to Song for Olivia and Happy Place.

• Song for Olivia
  • This was written by a dear family friend, and it was truly an impactful and riveting story. Song for Olivia is a wonderfully written novel on the hardships faced by Cuban exiles who left their home country and all they knew behind with it. The book paints a vivid picture of Miami in the early 60’s, which is where the family finds themselves after leaving Cuba and a life of abundance behind. Mari tells the story of her immediate family until the story pivots to the relationship that forms between Olivia and Tony. Mari is proxy for author Maruchi Mendez, Olivia is based on her sister, Olga, and Tony is inspired by Manuel “Chi Chi” del Valle, Mendez’s brother-in-law, who spent 17 years in a Cuban prison after being accused of spreading anti-Castro beliefs in Cuba on several CIA-sponsored missions. Song for Olivia is a beautiful and heartfelt story about the lives of an exiled Cuban family in the United States. Maruchi Mendez does a spectacular job mixing real and fictional events retelling the struggles, joys, and sorrows experienced by her family.
• Happy Place
  • This is hands down Emily Henry’s best book. The book is about a group of friends, particularly focusing on Harriet and her college sweetheart Wyn. Five months after they broke up, without telling their closest family and friends, they find themselves at their Happy Place, their friend groups yearly getaway in Maine. What they don’t know until they arrive is that Wyn has joined the trip and Sabrina’s father is planning to sell the cottage they have come to love so much. With the cottage for sale, this is is most likely the last trip for the group and may very well be the last time they are all together. At the same time, the distance between Wyn and Harriet has not dulled the ache and they walk a thin line between pretending everything is OK and telling their friends the truth potentially ruining the last trip they take. Will keeping up appearances mean that they have to continue to lie, not only to their friends but also with each other.

The four-star ratings belong to Enredos de amor en Miami and Carmen and Grace.

• Enredos de amor en Miami
  • This story is about Vanessa, a fun and impulsive young Mexican woman, who until now has grown up with all the comforts of a spoiled child, arrives in Miami with the hope of living the American dream, but like anyone else, starting from scratch in another country, it’s not that easy. Inflation is about to leave her homeless, without therapy and without hers so in need of her Xanax. When everything seems to fall apart, she gets a job as an event’s organizer in a bar, without imagining that Daniel, her boss, would be a tyrant, controlling and possessive, with whom she had also spent a troubled night of passion, and to top it all off he had an unrepentant girlfriend. very sane. Tired of the mistreatment, she quits the bar and gets a job at a bank, where she falls in love with André, a charming young man, and the complete opposite of Daniel, with whom she begins an idyllic relationship that only makes her ex-boss more jealous, who decides to everything to complicate her life and her relationship with André. In the midst of romantic entanglements and hilarious situations, Vanessa will have to face the consequences of her actions, take responsibility for her decisions, and find within herself the strength to take charge of her life, always accompanied by her crazy and undocumented co-workers who soon they will become your second family. It is a romantic comedy that shows us Latina life in Miami from the eyes of a woman in her late twenties, who like many still has nothing figured out, but every day faces the difficulties of trying to find her way.
• Carmen and Grace
  • Carmen and Grace have been inseparable since they were little girls—more like sisters than cousins. They are survivors of a childhood marked by neglect and addiction and a system that overlooked them. For far too long, all they had was each other – that is until Doña Durka swept into their lives and changed everything. She took Grace into her home, providing stability and support, while also playing a large role in Carmen’s upbringing as well. Durka is more than a generous force in their Bronx neighborhood, though. She’s also the leader of an underground drug empire and someone who understands the importance of taking whatever power she can in a world ruled by men. When Durka dies, suddenly and under mysterious circumstances, Carmen and Grace’s lives are thrown into chaos. Durka has taught Grace all she needs to take over and has grand plans to expand the business, all while Carmen is ready to move on—from the shadow of Durka, her high expectations and, most of all, from always having to look over her shoulder in fear. She also has a big secret: she’s pregnant and starting to show. She wants to build a new life outside the chaos before the baby arrives, but how can Carmen leave the only family she’s ever known?

Finally, You 2.0 gets about a 2-star rating for me. I think I expected more from it, but luckily, I did listen to this, so I didn’t drag to finish it.