Caroline's Book Club: A New Season for Reading

New month, new books! As I was picking, I didn't realize that most of this month's book follow a theme. Can you figure it out?

#1: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
You guys!!!!! This. Book. Was. Fantastic. A big chunk of the story takes place in a courtroom and throughout the whole thing, I was so sure that I knew what was happening/what had happened. I ended up being completely wrong. The early chapters lead up to the court drama and the last two or three chapters all take place post court ruling. The very last page twisted everything on its head. My mouth literally fell open as I read those lines. And then it was over! It ended with this major twist but I'm not mad about it. In fact, the way that the author structured the book all the way to that last chapter was so fabulous. You will not regret reading Where the Crawdads Sing!

#2: Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
I'm on a Colleen Hoover binge at the moment. I have four of her books already and I plan on trying to read all of them by the end of the year. Reminders of Him is my favorite so far. I actually almost cried so I had to remind myself that it was just a book and the characters aren't real. The book follows the main character, Kenna, as she adjusts to life post-prison. She's trying to reunite with her daughter but it's a challenge because the grandparents blame Kenna for their son's death. It's a whole rollercoaster of emotions and you need to read it because the whole plot is a masterpiece!

#3: Elizabeth and Mary by Jane Dunn
I'm a history nerd, we know this. Recently, I wrapped up this biography about Queen Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots. I loved it! It was super detailed and so well told. Their story is intricate with so many layers that if you try to do your own research, it can get chaotic really fast. This book had all the information you could ever want to know and then some. There's even a few pages solely dedicated to full-color photos. I know you can look up all the things because this is a biography but it's a fantastic story that I feel is so much better in this form.

#4: The Tsarina’s Daughter by Ellen Alpstein
I also have a fascination with Russian royalty, Yes, Russia actually had a royal family for many centuries. From the 900s to 1613, Russia was ruled by many different people. Essentially, everyone just kept killing people and ending the ruling bloodline. The crown hopped around a lot. In 1613, Mikhail Romanov was crowned Tsar of all the Russians and this book takes place throughout the mid-1700s. Mikhail's great-granddaughter, Elizabeth is the second-born daughter of Tsar Peter the Great. In 1725, Peter the Great died and his wife, Catherine became the Tsarina. When Catherine died a decade later, the crown goes to Elizabeth's nephew Peter. Peter didn't last long and up next is Elizabeth's cousin, Anna. There's lots of drama and backstabbing, and love affairs and all kinds of things in between. Such a good story.

#5: The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
We're closing out the month with a good old murder mystery! The first few chapters were slow but the middle makes up for that very well. All the characters are enjoyable which is a blessing because sometimes characters can fall short. There are a few that are annoying but none are entirely unlikable. There's lots of historical New York landmarks used throughout the novel and the descriptions are really vivid and beautiful. I did my own research after reading and was surprised at how accurate it was. The overall mystery is fun (outside of the whole murder thing) and it gave me Clue vibes. When the killer was revealed, I was satisfied, especially because there was lots of easter eggs when I went back through at the end.

See you in June!