I have read a lot of books throughout my life. Like…a lot. I’ve only been blogging for about 4 months which means that there are MANY books that I read (and loved!) before I started writing detailed reviews of them.
Welcome to the first installment of a series I’m going to call “3 Older Books That I Recommend”. These are books that I KNOW I loved and would recommend…but don’t necessarily remember enough details to provide a full review or even have any kind of book discussion on them.
If you check books out of the library, you are probably well aware by now that older books are MUCH more likely to be sitting on the shelves than new releases are. A HUGE plus to reading older books from time to time! If there IS a wait list, chances are it’s such a small number compared to the gigantic wait lists of new releases.
Here are 3 older books that I loved and would recommend…but just can’t remember enough of the details to give you solid examples of why 🙂
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(I couldn’t tell you any details but I do remember thinking what a beautiful story this was).
Synopsis from Goodreads:
A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.
In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.
Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily’s good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.
I’ve actually been thinking recently that I need to read this again. I was 25 and single when I read it the first time and now that I’m older and married with 2 children, I’m sure I would be able to understand things about it that I probably did not when I read it for the first time.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Wanted: One young woman to take care of four-year-old boy. Must be cheerful, enthusiastic and selfless–bordering on masochistic. Must relish sixteen-hour shifts with a deliberately nap-deprived preschooler. Must love getting thrown up on, literally and figuratively, by everyone in his family. Must enjoy the delicious anticipation of ridiculously erratic pay. Mostly, must love being treated like fungus found growing out of employers Hermès bag. Those who take it personally need not apply. Who wouldn’t want this job? Struggling to graduate from NYU and afford her microscopic studio apartment, Nanny takes a position caring for the only son of the wealthy X family. She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved to ensure that a Park Avenue wife who doesn’t work, cook, clean, or raise her own child has a smooth day. When the X’s’ marriage begins to disintegrate, Nanny ends up involved way beyond the bounds of human decency or good taste. Her tenure with the X family becomes a nearly impossible mission to maintain the mental health of their four-year-old, her own integrity and, most importantly, her sense of humor. Over nine tense months, Mrs. X and Nanny perform the age-old dance of decorum and power as they test the limits of modern-day servitude. Written by two former nannies, The Nanny Diaries deftly punctures the glamour of Manhattan’s upper class.
What I do remember is finishing it the same day that I saw the movie and thinking that the movie was AMAZINGLY accurate to the book…something I rarely say. I loved both the book AND the movie…again, something I rarely say.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse Award for Most Popular Book.
An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of Riding Lessons.
When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.
Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.
Have you read any of these 3 books? What is a book that you loved, would recommend, but can’t remember specific details?
Sympathetic People Giveaway Winner
Congratulations Jaime! Please email me your mailing address to bookcoffeehappy@gmail.com and your autographed book will be shipped directly to you! For those of you who didn’t win, there will be another Donna Baier Stein Giveaway next week exclusively on my Instagram page…so make sure you are following me on there!
Xo,
Jenny
Book Coffee Happy 
I enjoyed all three books. I love Sarah Jio’s writing. My favorite of hers is GOODNIGHT JUNE. I cried more than I expected to.
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I remember loving her writing as well! I flew through this book, just can’t remember enough about it to tell you why I loved it! I do remember that it was two separate stories and I loved how they were connected to each other?
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Congrats to Jaime!! Also, I LOVED Water for Elephants! I also love that I’m not the only one who can say they loved a book, but do not exactly remember why because I read it so long ago!
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Yes exactly! There are so many books that I know that I loved it but I couldn’t tell you why I loved them because I read them so long ago?
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