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As I write this I’m very nearly giddy knowing that there are only two and a half days of school left for the year. Every teacher out there looks forward to summer and I’m no exception. I love summer for so many reasons starting with freedom! School gets out at noon on Wednesday and later that afternoon, I’ll be hopping on a plane to go visit my Montana grandkids for several days. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen them, so am very excited. The plane trip is short, but I’ll still enjoy some uninterrupted time for books.
Last Week’s Reads
- I finished Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner very early in the week and reviewed it last Thursday. I really liked Weiner’s take on the lives of two sisters spanning more than 60 years. You can see my full review here.
- The audiobook for City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert was definitely on the long side for me, but it was well done and I especially enjoyed the middle third of her book. I’ll be sharing a full review tomorrow.
- How Could She by Lauren Mechling followed three friends navigating slowly dying careers in the tough world of print media. That side of the book was only so-so for me, but the much larger story of shifting friendships was where this book’s real strength lived. I’m going to be sharing my full thoughts on Thursday.
Book I Could NOT Finish
- For me the title was very apt in Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Ackner. This tale of a recently separated father and his recent adventures in dating was a bore. Sadly, it was one of those books I just couldn’t care about. I quit at about 15%.
Currently Reading
- I’ve only read about 15% of After The End by Clare Mackintosh, but so far really like this book. It tells the story of Pip and Max who are dealing with the devastation of their not yet 3-year old son having a cancerous brain tumor. The prologue made it clear the two end up in court, with opposing viewpoints on treatment, and I’m anxious to see how it gets there.
- A couple weeks ago on Sarah’s Bookshelves Live, I heard Sarah and Mary Laura Philpott both raving about Out East, John Glynn’s memoir of the summer he realized he was gay. I immediately added it to my audiobook TBR list. I’ve only listened to the first 30 minutes, so that’s a little early for any thoughts of my own.
Likely to Read Next
- The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo is a very long book at 540 pages, but I’m not letting that scare me off. This book spans more than a half century in the lives of a devoted Chicago couple and their four struggling daughters. It sounds like exactly the sort of story that often speaks to me.
I hope you have a great week in books!
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I love that just hours after school lets out, you’re getting on a plane and getting out of there! Have fun with your grandkids!
Thank you, Angela. I will!
Have a great trip! Several of these are on my TBR as well.
Have a great trip and visit with the grandkids! And yay! School’s out!
I really need to get to Out East.
I’ve listened to about 3 hours now and really like Out East.
Enjoy your vacation with your grandkids.
I’m curious about Out East, I think After the End would be heartbreaking.
Have a great reading week
After the End is sad, but really well done. I’m at about 75% now and love it.
I wonder if Elizabeth Gilbert is one of those people who writes better nonfiction than fiction. It might just be me, of course, but I haven’t enjoyed, fully enjoyed, any of her novels.
I like the sound of Most Fun We Ever Had. Chicago is one of my favorite settings for books. I’ll be interested in hearing more.
Have a good week!
Thanks, Deb. I’m not sure about Elizabeth Gilbert. Check back tomorrow when I’ll share what I thought of City of Girls.
Congrats on surviving another school year! Have fun on your trip. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Have a great time with your grandkids!
End of school… Yay! Enjoy your vacation! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts once you finish after the end. She’s such an awesome thriller writer that it’s hard to imagine her writing anything else but she’s so talented that I’m quite sure she will easily pull it off!
I had no idea Mackintosh was a thriller writer. This is the first book by her that I’ve ever read and it’s definitely not a thriller. It’s excellent, however!
Summer came to the Bay Area last week with record breaking temps! But thankfully the fog is back. Wishing you a super summer!
I wanted to like Out East but just had to quit at 2/3s. And wish I had done it sooner. Somehow I don’t think personal epiphanies and drinking one’s guts out go hand-in-hand. Nor did the author make the connection himself and Matt in a way that spoke to me (or that was even particularly convincing). It was way more about the OTT partying of extremely privileged white people than it was about “finding oneself.”
Thanks for the good wishes, Madeline.
I agree that Out East is a little over the top and heavy on the drinking and partying. However, privileged white people also have serious problems and things they struggle to work out. I’m a little sensitive about it right now because a week ago one of my son’s best friends killed himself because he wasn’t able to work through his issues and he’d definitely fall into the category of a privileged white young adult. Everybody’s path is different and some people have a harder time navigating their way through it. So far, to me, it feels like John Glynn struggled a lot, despite his advantages in life and I’m finding his awakening very interesting.
I agree, Susie. I feel for anyone that has to go through that internal struggle with their identity. A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine from high school passed away under unclear circumstances. He was gay and came out either in college or after. I had thought he’d finally been able to be who he truly was and was happy, but he was clearly still struggling. He would also be categorized as a “white privileged male.”
On the drinking/partying side, I’ve done numerous share houses in the Hamptons and he captured it perfectly. There is a lot of drinking and partying (and if he’d left that out the book would’ve been totally inaccurate), but there are also deeper experiences of intense bonding, friendship, and a feeling of escaping from the loneliness of NYC that he captured perfectly.
As a friend of mine who is originally from NY said “all those people who go out to the ass end of Long Island don’t interest me.”
I have a friend who (in 1974) came out in college, managed it and continues to thrive. Now, I’d bet a lot of money that coming out in a small private school in 1974 as a 20 year old would be a lot different than a 27 year old in Manhattan.
If Glynn had taken the $2000 he spent for the house share (while his parents continue to support him) and got a shrink I might have been more interested. But then he might not have been able to write a book about it.