September 2022 Picks and Pans

No five-star reads this month, but The Happiest Man on Earth was definitely life-changing. I gave one novel a 2-star rating, which is rare for me. I read two books set in the Philippines, which is totally random. I’ll be curious to hear what you have to say. Circle back to Facebook and let me know!   The Happiest Man on Earth By Eddie Jaku “Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.” Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth. In this uplifting memoir in the vein of The Last Lecture and Man’s Search for Meaning, a Holocaust survivor pays tribute to those who […]

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Marrying the Ketchups Review

  “The thing about adult children is that they reach a point when they stop listening to their parents. They believe that they know best. They believe that they are the adults now and start to view their elderly parents as slightly ridiculous and maybe even a touch dangerous.” — Jennifer Close, Marrying the Ketchups. I’m really kicking myself for reading this book. When a publisher entrusts me with a review copy of a new release, though, I feel obligated to hang in there until the very last punctuation mark. Marrying the Ketchups is about a close-knit, albeit dysfunctional, Catholic family in Chicago. Within weeks, the beleaguered Chicago Cubs win […]

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