Beach Read

December 28, 2022November 26, 2022 ~ Alexandra M. ~ Leave a comment

Beach Read by Emily Henry is cuuuuuuuute. I like that it was set in Michigan – the town felt like many of the cute northern touristy towns we have downstate. I didn’t really need the dad issues in it, but it was still adorable and I think I’m officially an Emily Henry fan.

Also, this is like the 38th post I’ve written in 5 days, so I just don’t have it in me to write much more. BUT, I’m all caught up on posts!

Firekeeper’s Daughter

October 11, 2021October 11, 2021 ~ Alexandra M. ~ Leave a comment

I purchased Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley from one of my favorite independent book stores about one month after my book group was supposed to read it (oops). It was on my TBR and on the shelf, so that’s close enough to fate for me :).

I just really enjoy reading books set in the Upper Peninsula. I’ve called the UP home since 2005, so when I come across a book set here, I enjoy it. While I’m a huge fiction reader, having those points set in reality is a different and fun experience. I most appreciated Boulley centering the story around hockey culture, which is huge here.

Firekeeper’s Daughter is about high school senior Daunis Fountaine. Her family life is lovely and complicated and tragic all at once. Daunis lives in between her white family and her Ojibwe family, honoring both cultures and ways of life. When an awful situation occurs in her community Daunis realizes there is something deeper going on. She goes undercover to help solve the crime plaguing her community.

I usually figure out the twists in a book, but in this one I found it all out right along side Daunis. I loved the setting in the UP and appreciated an inside look into the Ojibwe culture. Plus, I could stare at that cover all day long.

The Mason House

October 26, 2020October 25, 2020 ~ Alexandra M. ~ Leave a comment

I was contacted on my bookstagram by T. Marie Bertineau asking if I would be interested in receiving an ARC of The Mason House. This memoir takes place around where I live, so I jumped at the opportunity. I got this book late in the summer, when I was preparing to open 2,200 residence hall beds, short one staff member, in a global pandemic, so it took me some time to get to it.

This memoir is about Theresa’s unstable childhood. Her young life is shrouded in grief, but she finds safety and stability with her grandmother at a house in Mason.

This book is set throughout the Keweenaw peninsula, a beautiful place in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Keweenaw used to be a booming mining community, but once the mining slowed, so did the economy. This area is also on Ojibwe lands, and you get to see Theresa explore her Ojibwe roots.

This memoir can be hard at times, but it feels so real, too. Family is complicated, and this family is no exception. I enjoyed seeing everyone change through the story – the glimpses we get into the entire family are satisfying.