The Memory Bookshop

Life is full of difficult memories and some we visit often, but do we remember the memories accurately? Do we harbor regrets when we should focus on relationships and joys? The Memory Bookshop is such a story.  It is a story about the interconnectedness of human life and relationships.  

The Memory Bookshop is a story about a young woman who has been grieving the loss of her mother for a very long time. She  even considers suicide as she gets lost in the void of missing her mother and feeling guilty for the time she did not spend with her.                  Kim Jiwon-nim seeks help with a doctor to deal with her debilitating grief of her mother, seven years prior. The doctor's answer was to prescribe a medication. She leaves the clinic with her prescription and runs into a man yelling, "Help! Help!, Someone's dying!" The encounter upsets her and she feels her 5 minute encounter with the doctor and his prescription accompanied by the frantic man is a sign that she needs to throw away the medicine. She does, but she can't get the man out of her mind. She knows his existence must be important, he had acted as if he was in a dream...or a memory. 

Three weeks later she wonders whether she has made the right move with the medicine as her grief and insomnia continues. She goes out for a walk when she gets caught in a sudden rainstorm. She seeks shelter in a tattered building called the Giyeok Bookshop. Giyeok is the Korean word for memory. Everything begins to become clear as she peruses the store to find her favorite childhood books with well worn pages and other books with pristine pages that are catalogues of all  her memories throughout her entire lifespan. She meets Manager K, proprietor of the shop and finds that indeed the bookstore is filled completely  with books containing all of her life's memories. Manager K tells her that  she may revisit three moments of memories from her life.  If she makes a change then she will get to live with that new change, but each memory may shorten the time she has left on earth. And she may only travel further back each time, not forward in time.  She takes the opportunity and begins her journey back through some of her memories with her mother.  It is difficult, but she learns and grows, and each encounter does affect change.  

 Ki Jiwon-nim  finds healing for her grief, leaving the guilt and regrets behind and enjoying the positive memories and her future ahead of her.

The Memory Bookshop by Song Yu-jeong was first published in 2024 in Korea and will be released July 7, 2026 in its English translation by HarperCollins Publishers Inc.  I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. 

I wasn't certain exactly What to expect when I chose this book from NetGalley, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The story is a great reminder to revisit past memories but be careful to not dwell on the negative events and regrets for things that can not be changed.  Focus on the joy and love you remember from a lost loved one, and take that joy forth into your future.  

I give The Memory Bookshop four stars. 

#NetGalley #TheMemoryBookshop

Picky by Julie T. Kinn

 With a title like Picky, I didn't know what to expect the book to be about.  Julie Kinn  surprised and enchanted me with her characters in her book Picky being published July 1, 2026 from Kennedy Creek Press.  

Zillah, a twenty-three year old woman lives with her mother in Chicago.  Zillah feels trapped in her life.  She desparately wants to get out on her own, but her mother must approve her decision and declare her ready before she is "allowed" to move.  Zillah is picky.  She is a young woman who only eats 10 basic foods. Much like a young child.  She follows her mother's edicts and lives in an anxiety filled state. As the story progresses, the reader learns that it may not be Zillah who is truly the culprit to the life she is living. Her mother is troubled as well.  With spunk and bravery, Zillah faces her challenges to come out stronger and more independent in the end. 

Not wanting to include any spoilers to the book, I left out MUCH in the synopsis.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading Picky for many reasons. It is filled with humor.  Humor in how Zillah  struggles with mental illness and finds ways to live a fuller life. She is virtually betrayed and or abandoned by all the adults in her young life, which allows her world to be one of pleasing others by meeting their expectations in lieu of creating her own. 

Kinn's book gives a "real" picture of what living with generalized anxiety can look like.  Zillah lives it in a smaller dose, her mother lives it with all it's manifestations. I could relate to the story.  I have always lived with anxiety, from a small child onward. I could relate to the characters. Thankfully I connected more with Zillah than her mother.  It is a heavy burden to bear, and can rule your life if it is allowed to take hold.  Finding healthy coping mechanisms are important. It is very easy to create unhealthy habits to deal with the illness.  The story includes some therapy techniques that are presented through a friend also battling mental illness. I an thankful that those are woven into the text.  I have sought help and I could recognize the interventions and appreciate how helpful they are.  

After reading Picky, and looking up Kinn's biography, I found out that she is a licensed therapist with a P.H.D, specializing in multiple disorders such as OCD, GAD, panic disorder and many others.  Here is her website.  https://www.juliekinn.com/

I did not know what to expect when I requested an advanced reader's copy of the novel Picky, by Julie T. Kinn from NetGalley.com in return for an honest review.  I liked the cover and it sounded intriguing.  Having read the book, I am so thankful I did.  Through Kinn's engaging sense of humor I took a peek at my own anxiety as I read and learned about her character Zillow's.  I related to her overcoming some of her fears and learning to live with her other ones.  I grew up with a parent who also struggled with anxiety, and multiple other family members do as well.  I am hopeful that others might read the book and find help and encouragement through doing so.  

Look for Picky to be available July 1st, 2026, from Kennedy Creek Press!

#NetGalley. #Picky

Everything to the Sea

 Loss is a concept that every human can understand.  It essentially is the essence of being human.  The mortality of man and living with that eventuality.  Everything to the Sea, by Alicia Upano is a new novel centered around the lives of many Hawaiian Islanders following the wake of a large tsunami. In the course of mere minutes, the people on the island of Hilo lose everything to the sea and must learn to live with the ultimate loss of family and home. Though the story is fiction, the fact that the island of Hilo Hawaii did suffer tsunamis in 1946 and 1960 makes the story real for the reader .

Two main characters, Jane and Kenji are young adults, enjoying a summer fling and staying on Oahu  when a tsunami caught their home island of Hilo unawares, killing their families and destroying much of their island.  Each deals with the tragedy and their grief in completely different ways. Kenji returns to face the devastation and rebuild, while Jane runs away to save her sanity and her remorse over not answering her mother's final phone call. The novel follows their lives as they weave together new worlds both together and apart and find forgiveness and love in the process. 

I was first drawn to Upano's novel by the setting and situation.  I have always harbored a fascination with earth processes and have found tsunamis compelling.  The extreme force of nature and the water is unfathomable to a land-locked Kansas girl.  The oceans and beaches along with the Hawaiian culture provides a rich basis for Upano's story telling and she does an outstanding job of making the story come to life for the reader.  I personally could connect to the book because I have recently faced loss of family members and feel the sting of the separation from them.  I have also been fortunate to visit Hawaii and experience some of the culture, so the story felt very authentic and real to me.  

Due to Upano's strong character development and her voice in her writing, I was drawn into the world she created from the first page and I rushed through the  story to learn what would happen to the characters, simply not able to put the story down until I had finished it. 

I strongly suggest reading Everything to the Sea, Alicia Upano's debut novel being published July 14th through William Morrow Publishers.  

  I want to thank NetGalley for the advance reader's copy of Everything to the Sea, in exchange for an honest review. 

#EverythingtotheSea #NetGalley

Dangerland by Erin Singer.

 I generally like most books that I read. In fact there must be considerable reasons for me to not give a positive review,  and even then I can't persuade myself to give lower that three stars even on books I do not enjoy because I hold the opinion that even though it doesn't fit my tastes , others may have different feelings.  That is the rationalization for my three star rating for Dangerland, a novel by Erin Singer.  I received the advanced reader's copy of Dangerland through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest opinion, which is the reason for the following review.

I tried desperately to  "get into" the book, Dangerland, but it never captured my attention, even though I slogged through it.  Although it was advertised as a funny rom-com like "When Harry Met Sally,"  I do not agree.  I found the book disjointed and confusing.  The chapters did not flow with each other.  I understand when jumping between past and present scenes, the reader can feel in a tug of war of storylines, but Dangerland never seemed to connect from one scenerio to the next.  

Overall, the book features two star-crossed individuals who are attracted to each other, yet fate never allows them to form more than an awkward friendship. The main characters live in Las Vegas and meet in adolescences then remain interconnected throughout their lives. (That's the only similarity I found to "When Harry Met Sally"). Various other characters are included throughout the story.  The inclusion of the additional characters felt like cameos in the overall story.  I was looking forward to a light-hearted read with quirky chuckles along the way.  The stories and characters just made me feel sad for their circumstances.  I didn't find a time when I was invested in the overall outcome of the story.  

I did read some positive reviews, yet I didn't have the same experience these other reviewers had.  I hope there are others who do enjoy Dangerland as I wish Singer the best of luck. The novel just wasn't what I had hoped for when requesting it. 

#NetGalley #Dangerland