Fresh Paint: Discover Your Unique Creative Style Through 100 Small Mixed-Media Paintings by Flora Bowley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fresh Paint is a wonderfully inspiring book by Flora Bowley & Lynzee Lynx based on a workshop the two have created online. The book is a journey to discovering your own style through creating 100 small art pieces. As you embark on the journey they give you different perspectives and ways of approaching the journey.

There’s a short section on supplies but unlike many other books, the encouragement is to use your own stash and even experiment with unusual ways to make marks like vegetables, etc. There’s a lot of encouragement in this book to spend time exploring your world, your roots, your own natural way of being and adding joy to the process of creating. They take both an outside in and an inside out perspective to discovery and research.

The two authors have differing styles and so do many of the students whose work they share in each chapter to give you a wide range of examples and possibilities. I am confident that if you worked with this book’s kind, generous and joyful guidance and spent time creating the 100 pieces of art that you would be well on your way to finding your own unique creative style.

with gratitude to edelweiss and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Listening Still by Anne Griffin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved and adored Anne Griffin’s previous novel: When All Is Said. It was absolutely magnificent. So I couldn’t wait to read this one. This is the story of Jeanie Masterson who, with her family, runs an undertaking business. But they are no ordinary undertakers. Jeanie and her dad can hear the dead. They can speak to the dead briefly after they pass. And they’ve been doing so forever.

Jeanie’s life looks lovely on the surface: she is married to a kind man and they both work for the family business and live with her parents and brother. But as the story unravels, the reader gets to see the choices she made along the way and the ways in which everyone in the story feels trapped in their own life in small and big ways.

This is a story about how we give up pieces of our lives and dreams when we feel like we have obligations to the world or to our family. Or when we’re too scared to take big, bold steps in our lives. And how living with regret can be so much harder, so much more damaging and harmful.

It’s about owning up to the choices we made and taking ownership of the life we choose to design for ourselves. It’s a quiet story that can feel whiny or slow at parts but I think that’s also reflective of how hard and arduous the path back to oneself can be at times.

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a slow burn for me, it took me a while to get used to each of the characters and by the end I cared deeply about each of them. Each of them is flawed and imperfect and yet they show up in the best way they can and slowly find their way through the hurdles. It’s really lovely.

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Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It is impossible not to love this book. I dare you to try.

This is the story of Wallace, a lawyer who dies from a heart attack and is brought to Hugo who lives in a “tea shop” where Wallace will cross over with Hugo’s help. Wallace wasn’t the very best person when alive, let’s just say. But now as he lives in the tea shop with Mei (his reaper) , Nelson (hugo’s grandfather), Hugo, and Apollo (hugo’s dog) he learns more about life and how to live than he ever did while he was alive.

As with TJ Klune’s other novels, these characters wind their way into your heart and never let go. The story is deep, joyful, meaningful and deeply heartfelt. If you let yourself feel it, there’s no way this story will not warm your heart and make you feel deeply grateful.

I loved every minute I spent with it.

with gratitude to netgalley and Tor Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought this mystery novel was okay. I didn’t guess the twist but I also have to say I just didn’t get attached to any of the characters enough to care. It was somewhat interesting and I really enjoyed the literary and mythological references but this one wasn’t a huge hit for me.

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The Layover by Lacie Waldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sweet, fun story that is perfect for when you want something light and fun. I enjoyed the time I spent with it.

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