Hardly Ever Otherwise – the second book by Maria Mateos I read, and I liked it even more than Sweet Daruisha, which I read earlier. It is exceptionally well written, and I couldn’t put the book aside until I was done (to be fair, I put it aside right after I started for a while because I had something due back to the library, the book club reading, etc., but then I picked it up again and read non-stop). It’s not an easy reading, but nevertheless.
Small Great Things. The Goodreads reviews are mixed, from one to five stars. I gave it four and read several reviews, and I understand why the opinion differs drastically. There is one review that a reader rewrote several times, giving it five stars first and then gradually changing it to two. I think it’s very much worth reading, especially these days, to remind us about the dark sides of human nature, which are unleashed (again( by the current Administration’s actions).
The Trail of Mrs. Rhinelander. Not from the first page, but I got hooked pretty soon into reading this book and couldn’t put it down. Once again, I understand the mixed reviews, but I liked it. One of these stories in which you learn a lot of unexpected things about the very recent past and what were social norms in a very recent past (barely a hundred years ago).
2020: One City, Seven People. The stories of seven new-yorkers during the pandemic and after. OK, but judging by the book description, I expected more.
The Black Utopians – same as the previous book, I expected much more for the description. I wish the book would be better structured, more organized, and more engaging.
Hettie's Reflections 