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The Not So Bored Hermanas, Baytown, TX (2026)

08/14/2025

The Queen of the Valley by Loren Hughes (Puri’s Travels #2)
Rating: ★★★ / 5
Genre: Historical Fiction

Book Themes:
- Missing cacao plantation owner
- 1925 Cali earthquake and cholera epidemic
- Fake nun and real nun in love with the same man
- Love triangles, affairs, and secrets

Summary:
A chocolate store owner travels to Cali to her supplier’s (and lover) cacao plantation. On her way, she learns about the local cholera epidemic and her lover’s disappearance. Although she is concerned about her business, she is more concerned about her lover’s disappearance because she is hiding a secret from him. Right before she arrives to the plantation, an earthquake happens. Her companion, a nun, dies during the accident, so she partially assumes her identity in order to enter the cacao plantation that is currently serving as a Catholic hospital.
During her stay, she meets several people who knew her lover: a friend doctor, the doctor’s sister (who is actually a nun), and his photographer best friend. As she helps treat patients, she also tries to find out what happened to her lover. His best friend soon helps her even though she is hiding her true identity from him. She eventually learns that the head nun became a nun after a brief entanglement with the plantation owner that impacted all of his friendships. This knowledge ends up being the key to solving the mystery behind the disappearance.

Opinion
This book was another one of my Dollar Tree finds. I bought it because I wanted to read a story about a nun who decided to be a nun after a broken heart. It was a good nun story, especially for someone who has briefly contemplated the idea of sisterhood as an escape. After reading this nun’s story, I feel ashamed about my immature approach to sisterhood. Although there were a lot secrets and connections within this book, it was a good story. When all of the secrets finally emerged, I was disappointed to learn that not everyone experienced a happy ending.
My only complaint is that I did not know that this book was a sequel. Theoretically, it can be approached as a stand alone novel, but a lot of its content would have made more sense if I had known about the first book. It would have helped me understand more about the protagonist’s life, especially her experiences before meeting the plantation owner. Regardless of that, it was a good historical novel.

08/05/2025

Midnight at the Wandering Vineyard by Jamie Raintree
Rating: ★★★★ / 5
Genre: Fiction

Book Themes:
- Small town girl returns from the big city
- Upcoming major work promotion
- Broken friendship over a man
- Return of the first love
- Vineyards and horse riding

Summary:
A young woman returns to her family home and vineyard in California from New York. She is nervous about returning because it means reuniting with the best friend she lost over her first love. What she does not know is that her first love has returned to the vineyard too. Although she wants to recuperate her former best friend, she still has feelings for her first love. Even worse, he has feelings for her too. As she tries to revive her friendship, she also tries to finally experience the love story she begun years ago. Unfortunately, her visit coincides with personal tragedies that threaten her future in New York and blooming relationships. As a result, she has to ask herself what she wants more: her long-awaited promotion or her personal happiness?

Opinion:
This book was a beautiful exploration of the most common issue that teenagers will experience: choosing a significant other over a best friend. Through Mallory, readers explore a universe where someone lives this scenario and copes by focusing on her career. Even though she has everything she wanted, she is missing something: the opportunity to remedy her past. When she is unexpected presented with the opportunity, she has to decide what she needs to be happy. Although she made several mistakes that were reminiscent of the past, she finally found the peace that she needed.
To be honest, there were many times where this book felt like the literary version of a Hallmark movie. All of the traditional clichés were there: small town girl returns from the big city, the first love returns, and horse riding always makes everything better. Unfortunately, the ending broke that spell.

08/04/2025

Laura's June 2025 Reading Summary

*** 12 Books ***
📖 What Might Have Been by Holly Miller (Romance)
📖 Lease on Love by Falon Ballard (Romance)
📖 Meant to be Mine by Hannah Orenstein (Romance)
📖 Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen (Thriller)
📖 Hold My Hand by M. J. Ford (Thriller)
📖 Perfect Timing by Owen Nicholls (Romance)
📖 Just Like That by Marsha Qualey (Young Adult Fiction)
📖 My Lies, Your Lies by Susan Lewis (Thriller)
📖 In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn (Fiction)
📖 The Education of Dixie Dupree by Donna Everhart (Fiction)
📖 Orphan Train by Christine Baker Kline (Historical Fiction)
📖 Their Monstrous Hearts by Yiğit Turhan (Horror Fiction)

My June reading list was an interesting one. I was able to read several books that had been on my bookshelves for months. Out of the twelve items, I only kept five of the books so that I can re-read them again someday. I also began checking out library books again, which is kind of ironic for someone trying to build a career in librarianship.

08/03/2025

Their Monstrous Heart by Yiğit Turhan
Rating: ★★★★ / 5
Genres: Thriller, Horror Fiction

Book Themes:
- Dual timeline
- Magical butterflies
- Mystery manuscript
- Struggling author
- Human greed
- Surprise inheritance

Summary:
A young writer struggling with writer’s block and lack of money receives a visit from a mysterious man with some ambivalent news. His estranged grandmother recently died, and she left him an inheritance that includes her villa and a unique butterfly collection. Although he did not have a good relationship with his grandmother, he accepts the opportunity to escape his problems. However, he soon realizes that the offer is too good to be true. Shortly after his arrival, he notices that his grandmother’s friends and staff are desperately looking for something valuable that disappeared after her death. The valuable item is his grandmother’s autobiographical manuscript, which the writer hides in his room until he finishes reading it. As he continues reading it, he learns more about his grandmother’s past and the truth about her extensive butterfly collection.

Opinion
I found this book while browsing a branch of the Harris County Public Library system. I was partially attracted to the book’s cover and sprayed edges because they oozed butterflies. However, the plot ultimately sealed my decision to borrow it from the library. I was curious about why butterflies were a major motif within this story, even if it meant destroying my image of them as beautiful. It was also interesting to see a quote from Dua Lipa applauding the book, so of course that made me want to read it ASAP.
The story was a good one. It was creepy and thrilling with some many unexpected happenings. Without too much spoiling, it was a book that made me wary about the true price of gifts and the real meaning of wealth. If I had been in that same situation and overheard the same things that the protagonist did, I would not have stayed. I would have ran out of that house with my laptop.

07/27/2025

📍 Dollar Tree (Baytown, Texas)

📚 Dollar Tree Book Haul! 📚

After dinner with my youngest sister, we went to check out a new Dollar Tree. It was definitely weird to see this new store where a Party City once stood. Although small, this book haul full of thriller books looks promising!

📖 Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi Demeester (Thriller)
📖 The Ingenue byRachel Kapelke-Dale (Thriller)
📖 Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen (Thriller)

07/26/2025

The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Rating: ★★★★ / 5
Genre: Historical Fiction

Book Themes:
- Historical Fiction (Irish migration, orphan trains, Great Depression, and World War II)
- Alternating timelines
- Dark side of foster care
- Cross-generational friendship
- Second chances

Summary:
This historical fiction novel presented two alternating timelines: the story of an old widowed woman and a troubled teenage girl. Although they are from two different generations, their struggles are very similar.
As a child, the woman and her family migrated to the United States from Ireland. However, shortly after their arrival, almost everyone died during an apartment fire. Therefore, she became a train orphan, hoping to find a new family. Unfortunately, it takes her years before she finds a good family. Her experience includes exploitive labor conditions, poverty, and abuse. When she finally finds a good family, she has to give up the remaining fragments of her previous identity. Although she finds the stability that she wanted, she continues to encounter reminders of her past as a train orphan. When she meets the teenage girl, she is an old woman haunted by secrets and repressed memories. Since the girl needs community service hours, she hires the girl to help her clean her attic. However, this task stirs up the need to make peace with her past and find the answers to some of her secrets. With the help of the girl, she will find these answers.
When the girl meets the old woman, she is simply waiting to age out of foster care. She lives with a family where the foster mother hates her but likes the extra income the girl brings. At the start of her community service project, her expectations are very low. However, as she helps the old woman and learns about her life, she begins to see think of this woman as a family. Their backgrounds often intersect, even though their experiences are very different. With the help of the old woman, she is finally able to find happy and loved.

Opinion:
Although I am a historian by training, I rarely read historical fiction. I recognize that it is a good way to promote history to a broader audience. However, it is also hard to balance historical accuracy and engagement. I liked this book because it introduced me to a niche topic in American history. Prior to this book, I was unfamiliar with the orphan train riders. The author did a good job of telling this story while reminding readers of the historical eras that the protagonist lived like the Great Depression and World War II. This story was a fictionalized account, yet it represented the experience of so many of the orphan train riders. The author recognized how obscure this topic is because she included more information and photographs. The other good thing that I want to highlight about this book is that there is a more condensed version of this book for young adult readers. Since it is for a younger audience, it probably does not include the bad moments nor discussion about the protagonist as an adult. I actually found the book while reshelving books during a volunteer shift.
There were a couple of things that slightly irritated me. One of the was the ending. For the most part, the book has a fast and mostly happy ending where the teenage girl was able to solve using the Internet. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to answer their questions about the past before they die. Many people leave without knowing if estranged relatives were still alive or if missing relatives were ever found.

07/18/2025

📚 Amazon Book Haul! 📚

Right before the Prime Day deals began, I found some more book deals. This haul was a combination of Prime Day deals and items less than $5.00!

📖 Little Boy Missing by Lizzie Fry (Thriller)
📖 The Chaperone by M. Hendrix (Fantasy Fiction)
📖 Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson (Romance)
📖 The Paper Palace by Miranda Crowley Heller (Romance)
📖 The Day He Never Came by Andrew DeYoung (Thriller)
📖 In the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell (Romance)
📖 Older by Jennifer Hartmann (Romance)
📖 The Good Killer by Harry Dolan (Thriller)

07/16/2025

F1: The Movie (2025)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Javier Bardem, and Kerry Condon
Rating: ★★★★ / 5

Summary:
Sonny, a nomadic racer-for-hire runs into a former teammate, Rubén, who is desperate to save his team. He agrees, even though it means traveling to the other side of the world. Upon his arrival, he realizes that there is a lot of internal conflict within the team. The biggest problem is the rookie main driver, Joshua. He is arrogant, stubborn, and close-minded. Rather than accepting Sonny's advise and old-school methodology, he feels threatened. As a result, their clashes further jeopardize the team's future. Eventually, Sonny's expertise wins over Joshua and the rest of the team, including the the technical director. Sonny's expertise also includes a tendency to challenge rules.
During an important race, Joshua decides to challenge Sonny's advice to try to prove he is better. Instead, he injures himself in a way that reminds Sonny of his own career-ending injuries decades before. Even after he recuperates, Joshua continues to challenge Sonny after his rankings improved during Joshua's absence. They finally clear things up before exterior challenges force Sonny to temporarily step away from the team, making Joshua the lead driver once more. However, during the final race of the season, Sonny returns and finally has a chance to redeem himself.

Opinion:
This is a movie that I would have never seen by myself. However, a friend who really wanted to see the movie invited me. It was a great experience even though I am not extremely familiar with the racing world. It was a good introduction, especially after learning that several real racers participated in the film. It was an engaging experience for me because there was a lot of action. There were a lot of crashes, as I expected. In fact, I was scared of blinking because it meant that I could possibly miss an important scene since the move was extremely high-paced.
As a hopeless romantic, I am glad that there was *some* romance. It was very obvious that Sonny and Kate had chemistry, but their work was more important to them. When they finally gave in to their feelings, it was beautiful. I was grateful that it was not an uncomfortable erotic scene, since the primary focus of the movie was racing. Their final interaction was disappointing, but it makes sense with Sonny's personality and relationship experience. Hopefully, if the rumors about a sequel are real, their story continues to develop.

07/14/2025

📍 Half-Price Books (Houston, Texas)

📚 Half-Price Books Book Haul! 📚

Late last month, I met with a friend to see the a specific 41st anniversary showing of “This is Spinal Tap” (1984). Before the movie, we met up at the nearby Half-Price Books. During our visit, he selected a couple of history books for me. I also found a couple of nice clearance titles.

📖 The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody (Young Adult Fiction)
📖 Sweet Water by Cara Reinard (Thriller)
📖 Lost Restaurants of Houston by Paul Galvani and Christiane Galvani (History)
📖 Young Men and Fire by Norman MacLean (History)

07/13/2025

The Education of Dixie Dupree by Donna Everhart
Rating: ★★★★★ / 5
Genre: Fiction

Book Themes:
- Coming-of-age story
- Journal writing
- 1960s Alabama
- Marital problems
- Abuse within family
- Lying as a coping mechanism

Summary
An eleven-year-old girl is growing up in Alabama during the 1960s in a turbulent household where lying, reading, and journaling are her coping mechanisms. Even though she is young, she knows that her parents no longer like each other and that money is tight. Regardless of the instability around her, she creates little moments with her brother and friends to enjoy her childhood. However, everything suddenly changes after a major fight between her parents. After her mother decides to leave, her father reacts by shooting himself. Since he was the family’s breadwinner, her mother now needs to find out how to maintain the family. Therefore, she asks her brother to come down and help them, and he agrees even though that meant leaving his family behind.
When he first arrived, the girl was excited to meet her uncle. He seemed fun and thoughtful. More importantly, he had the money that they needed to continue surviving. However, as she began spending time with him, she began to feel uncomfortable around him. He looked at her in a way that made her skin crawl, especially as he tried to find ways to be alone with her. Since no one believed her, she confided in her journal about his inappropriate behavior around her. Just when she thought that things would never get better, her mother decided to visit her home up north. The girl was excited because it means that her uncle would finally be near his family. However, this trip ultimately ended up being her worst nightmare.

⚠️ Trigger Warning: This book contains graphic descriptions about abuse and other harmful behavior. ⚠️

Opinion
I found this book at the Bits & Pieces Thrift Store in Bastrop, Texas. I first added this book to my TBR list after my previous library selected it as a book club title. However, it was not until I found this copy that I decided to finally read it. It was a good read, but it was an emotionally difficult book to read. I was so heartbroken to read about the traumatic childhood that Evie experienced. My heart hurts knowing that many children have experienced similar experiences.
I liked how this book demonstrated why journaling is important. Although Evie’s journal entries were brief, they were very powerful. In the aftermath, these journal entries were key evidence of her trauma. Evie learned how to journal from her mother, but her mother’s entries were not revealed. Those entries would have clarified some major secrets from her past.

07/09/2025

📍 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (Friendswood, Texas)

📚 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Book Haul! 📚

I had some free time before meeting up with a friend, so I went to check out the book section at Ollie’s Bargain Outlet. I found two books that I have always wanted, one that I already loved, and several other interesting ones!

📖 Such a Lovely Family by Aggie Blum Thompson (Thriller)
📖 The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey (Fiction)
📖 Blind Tiger by Sandra Brown (Romance)
📖 Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (thriller)
📖 My Heart Will Find You by Jude Deveraux (Fiction)
📖 The Unwedding by Ally Connie (Thriller)

07/08/2025

In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn
Rating: ★★★★★ / 5
Genre: Fiction

Book Themes:
- Survivor's guilt
- Limbo after death
- Survival
- Fatal accident
- Secrets
- Marital troubles

Summary
During a family trip, a sixteen-year-old girl dies. Even though she is dead, her spirit stays with her loved ones at the scene of the accident. As she witnesses how her family members and friends survive, she sees both their good and bad sides. She witnesses betrayal and pain. Even after authorities rescue the survivors, the girl continues to follow her friends and family to see how they cope with their trauma. Unfortunately, this also means that she learns their secrets and witnesses concerning behavior, but she is unable to help them. As she continues to invisibly accompany them, she needs to learn how to let go in order to finally rest in peace.

Opinion
I have always wanted to read this book, so I was really excited when I found it at the Austin Public Library Recycled Reads Bookstore. Honestly, when I first read the summary, it reminded me of The Lovely Bones. However, it was very different and more innocent. This was likely due to the instant death that the protagonist experienced. It was still heartbreaking to read how she was tried to be present for different events that her loved ones experienced since she would never have the opportunity. It was also heartbreaking to read about the secrets and betrayals that she witnessed after she died. Although she missed her loved ones, she also realized that no one is perfect.
Betrayal was a big theme in this book because it was the key to survival. Everyone in the trip did something that ashamed them in order to survive the thirst, hunger, and cold that they felt as they waited for help to arrive. The need to survive brought out everyone’s ugly and selfish side, especially when it meant choosing between themselves, their families, and kindness. There were characters that I hated from the moment the accident happened, and the quest for justice made this book hard to put down.

The Not So Bored Hermanas

08/14/2025

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