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Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
It’s good to be home! I’ve had a couple of wonderful trips since the end of the school year, but it’s nice to be home for a few weeks. Every year I make a “Summer To Do” list. It includes lots of boring, tedious things that I just don’t have time to do during the school year. This last week I’ve managed to knock off several of those and I’ve also been doing some binge watching, catching up on this season of Big Little Lies and starting the Sarah Jessica Parker series, Divorce. And, of course, the week has also included plenty of reading time. I hope yours did, too!
In case you missed it, last week on the blog I reviewed The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo and The Need by Helen Phillips. Both were winners for me.
Last Week’s Reads
- I thoroughly enjoyed listening to We Came Here to Forget by Andrea Dunlop. It was a great dual timeline story about an Olympic skier struck by family tragedy. As expected, the narration by Julia Whelan was superb. I’ll have a review coming very soon.
- I liked We Are All Good People Here by Susan Rebecca White, but it didn’t blow me away. This story of college roommates began in the 60’s and followed the two from the political turmoil of their youth through middle age with college daughters of their own. Review coming in August.
- I next turned to Three Women by Lisa Taddeo because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It almost read like fiction and was a super fast and easy read, that I was always interested in, but I’m still trying to gather my thoughts. I hope to have a review up this week.
Book I Could NOT Finish
- I tried, but just wasn’t feeling Cygnet by Season Butler. I gave it about 50 pages, and then started skimming which is never a good sign for me. Others have really liked it, but I needed a faster paced story at the time.
Currently Reading
- Wow! Just Wow! I picked up A Prayer for Travelers by debut author Ruchika Tomar yesterday and could NOT put it down. I read almost three quarters of this stunning story and would have read the whole thing if I could have stayed awake. Right now I’m forcing myself to finish this post, so I can get back to Tomar’s book! I can already say with confidence that you WILL want to read A Prayer for Travelers.
Likely to Read Next
- I have one July ARC left, Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler, and will turn to it next. I’m not sure I’m in the right mood for historical fiction, but I’m hoping this dual timeline story (about just what the title says) pulls me in.
- I’ve been listening to podcasts this week, but want to start a new audiobook. I’m just not sure which one to listen to though. One idea is A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson and the other is The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger. Both were Book of the Month selections, so obviously have had some good buzz. I can’t decide! Please let me know if you’ve read either of these and your thoughts on them.
I hope you have a great week in books!
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Happy Monday Susie! I also had to process my thoughts about Three Women, it wasn’t what I expected. I listened to part of The Gifted School on audio and the narration was excellent and I’m now listening to A Nearly Normal Family which I love, I’m obsessed with British narrators. Depending on you’re mood I don’t think you can go wrong with either
I decided to go with A Nearly Normal Family. I’m curious about The Gifted School, but often get frustrated by books about schools. (Too close to the topic, I guess.)
Wonderful looking assortment of books. I hope you enjoy whichever audiobook you choose for this week. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
The premise of A Prayer for Travelers does sound good, another to add to my wishlist 🙂
Have a great reading week
I finished it and truly A Prayer for Travelers is SO good!
I’m sorry Cygnet didn’t work for you. I guess I’m the outlier because I haven’t heard anyone else mention it at all.
I think I’m going to hold off on Erring Girls. I’m not sure I’d enjoy it right now either. I’m still curious about Good People, though- unless it was the writing that bothered you.
Wow thanks for the word on Tomar’s book. I have a copy of it, so I should dive into it.
I think you’re in for a treat and being from CA (right?) you probably know a lot about what Nevada is like. That really added to the story for me.
Ooh I just finished The Gifted School a few days ago and really loved it! It’s similar to Big Little Lies, but to me was a little bit more about WHY parents get so caught up in their kids’ education/lives, rather than the drama between them (though that is there, too!) And, for an almost 500-page books, I flew through it.
The biggest draw back for me with The Gifted School is that I’m a teacher and I tend to not like books having to do with school. They’re often just too easy for me to find fault with. I went with A Nearly Normal Family, but may get to The Gifted School later this summer.