It’s time for my first half of December book review post! I am sharing what I read in December so far, although I am skipping my 5 star reads to share later in the month. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: Framed
Author: John Grisham & Jim McCloskey
Genre: Non Fiction
Publisher: Doubleday, 10/15/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (Rounded down to 3)
I thought this would be an excellent read for non fiction November, but it took me so long to read that I didn’t finish it until December. This book’s subtitle is Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions and it does share 10 true stories of innocent people who were found guilty after sometimes not even being in the vicinity of the crime, poor police work, false informants, etc. However after the first few stories, it seemed to get repetitive and slow.
“John Grisham is known worldwide for his bestselling novels, but it’s his real-life passion for justice that led to his work with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongly convicted. Together they offer an inside look at the many injustices in our criminal justice system. A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty, there is very little room to prove doubt. These ten true stories shed light on Americans who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and corruption in the court system that can make them so hard to reverse.”
I would have liked to see a bigger variety in the type of stories shared. I also thought that the inclusion of Jim McCloskey’s personal work seemed a bit self congratulatory. This book definitely raised questions about the state of the courts and prisons system overall. It contains some graphic descriptions of murders, etc.
Title: Widowish
Author: Melissa Gould
Genre: Non Fiction Memoir
Publisher: Little A, 2/1/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
Widowish by Melissa Gould was another remnant from Non Fiction November that I didn’t get to on time. Plus, it was waiting on my shelf and I’d added it to my post about the oldest 10 books on my TBR! This is a book about grief, which has seemed to be a theme in my December reading so far. It is about Melissa’s loss of her young husband Joel, who had MS and developed a virus which ended his life. As the remaining parent to their young daughter, Melissa’s story is about how she was able to move on.
“When Melissa Gould’s husband, Joel, was unexpectedly hospitalized, she could not imagine how her life was about to change. Overwhelmed with uncertainty as Joel’s condition tragically worsened, she offered him the only thing she could: her love and devotion. Her dedication didn’t end with his death. Left to resume life without her beloved husband and raise their young daughter on her own, Melissa soon realized that her and Joel’s love lived on. Melissa found she didn’t fit the typical mold of widowhood or meet the expectations of mourning. She didn’t look like a widow or act like a widow, but she felt like one. Melissa was widowish. Melissa’s personal journey through grief and beyond includes unlikely inspiration from an evangelical preacher, the calming presence of some Real Housewives, and the unexpected attention of a charming musician.”
This was a short and quick read, but I imagine it would be difficult if one was going through something similar. Melissa isn’t the most likeable narrator, but I did mostly appreciate reading her story.
Title: Searching For Sylvie Lee
Author: Jean Kwok
Genre: Literary Mystery
Publisher: HarperAudio, 6/4/19
Source: Publisher (print), Library Audio
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
Searching For Sylvie Lee is another book from my oldest on my TBR list, which I listened to this month. It is about Sylvie, who was brought up by her grandma in the Netherlands and later returns to her family in the U.S. Sylvie’s family are Chinese immigrants. As an adult, Sylvie returns to the Netherlands when her grandma becomes ill, and her sister Amy finds out she has disappeared. Amy then flies to the Netherlands herself to uncover what happened to her sister.
“It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes. Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love. But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it’s Amy’s turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister’s movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy’s complicated family—and herself—than she ever could have imagined.”
The story is told from the viewpoints of Amy, Sylvie, and their mom. This book is full of family secrets, that are revealed as Amy finds out about her sister’s early childhood and in Sylvie’s chapters. I was a little uncomfortable with Sylvie’s close relationship with her cousin Filip, who she was raised with. In her present time, they are involved in a love square with another male and female friend. Some of the story was too hard for me in a literary sense and I think I was supposed to learn more about the immigrant experience than I did. I am glad we found out what happened to Sylvie. Overall this book was a family saga that seemed full of tragedy.
And that’s it – the rest of the books I’ve read so far this month have been 5 Star reads! This post includes 3 of the books I read this month. 2 were print books and 1 was on audio. All of them were adult books. Genres included non fiction and mystery.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?
