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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


33 / 30 bookish books. 110% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (9)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (2)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (2)
- Georgia (2)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (4)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (9)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (3)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (2)
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Argentina (1)
- Australia (3)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (3)
- China (2)
- England (22)
- France (1)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (1)
- Russia (1)
- Scotland (3)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


50 / 50 books. 100% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


50 / 52 books. 96% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


36 / 40 books. 90% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


18 / 40 books. 45% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


26 / 25 cozies. 104% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


23 / 26.2 miles (3rd lap). 88% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


42 / 100 books. 42% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


97 / 109 books. 89% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


136 / 165 books. 82% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


83 / 100 names. 83% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


19 / 80 skills. 24% done!
Thursday, October 01, 2020

"Perfect" Parenting Aside, She Gets That From Me Is a Buoyant, Upbeat Read

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Quinn Langston has always wanted a family of her own.  With no marriage prospects on the horizon, the 36-year-old interior designer is considering using a sperm donor to have a baby on her own—just like her best friend, Brooke Adams, did.  Then, Brooke dies suddenly and unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm.  Although Brooke's 3-year-old daughter, Lily, is technically under the guardianship of her 79-year-old grandmother, Quinn steps up to care for both the little girl and elderly Miss Margaret.  Aiding the two helps Quinn grieve while also fulfilling her desire for a family.  

Then, Miss Margaret throws Quinn a curveball.  She wants to find Lily's birth father, insisting that only family can raise family.  

When Zach Bradley donated his sperm back in college, he was thinking only about the money it would earn him, not about the children it could produce.  Although he's shocked by the reality of having a child, Zach's prepared to step up.  One problem:  his wife, who has struggled for years to have a baby, can't stand the thought of watching him play daddy to another woman's baby.  They're already in the middle of a move to faraway Seattle.  What does Zach really owe Lily and her family?

As the lives of Quinn, Zach, Margaret, and Zach's wife, Jessica, converge, all of them will learn important lessons about love, duty, sacrifice, and what it really means to be a family.

She Gets That From Me by Robin Wells is an engrossing novel with an intriguing and very contemporary conflict at its core.  It's peopled with a likable cast, each member of which I found sympathetic, even if I didn't agree with their particular choices and viewpoints.  While the plot is mostly predictable, the story still kept me engaged.  It's warm, upbeat, and heartfelt.  Quinn and Zach both struck me as a little too perfect—each needed some annoying flaws to make them more human.  I also chuckled at Quinn's almost seamless transition into single motherhood and her "struggles" with parenting.  True, a little whining and projectile vomit isn't fun, but it's hardly the pinnacle of problems when it comes to dealing with a young child, especially one whose world has been rocked by death and upheaval.  I get that She Gets That From Me strives to present single parenting by choice in a positive, respectful light, but I wish it had been a little more authentic.  I've been through four 3-year-olds and it wasn't easy, even with a loving partner to help me deal with them!  Quinn's experience just felt inauthentic, which made me roll my eyes instead of connect more strongly with her.  These complaints aside, I enjoyed She Gets That From Me.  Its premise is intriguing, its characters are relatable, its vibe is buoyant, and its lessons are valuable.  Despite its flaws, I found it an engaging and thought-provoking read.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  You?)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for language (1 F-bomb, plus a few milder expletives) and innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of She Gets That From Me from the generous folks at Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

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Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth



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