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Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
SPRING! It’s finally here! Where I live (Washington) spring can be gorgeous and it can be wet, wet, wet. Either way, I don’t care. I’m just glad we can officially say that the winter of 2017 is over. Now on to a fresh new season of flowers blooming and trees budding. Summer is still my favorite season (I’m a teacher…it’s to be expected), but spring is definitely the prettiest time of year around here. So, happy 1st day of spring.
Last Week’s Reads:
I started The Gargoyle Hunters by John Freeman Gill, but had to put it aside at about 30%. Having looked forward to the book so much, I was really disappointed that it just wasn’t grabbing me. I may try to come back to it later. Whenever I can’t finish a book I’m desperate to find one that I can connect with. So many people have raved about Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach that I knew it was the book to try, and it did not disappoint! It was a fun, modern take on sort of an old-fashioned mystery. I devoured it and will have a review very soon. I also finished listening to All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg this week. It’s another book I thoroughly enjoyed and the narration by Mia Barron was outstanding.
Currently Reading:
After never really being a huge fan, I’m really getting into the audiobooks this year. I’ve found that I like to listen to shorter books with great narrators and both apply to Exit West narrated by its author, Mohsin Hamid. His voice has just a little bit of a lilt to it and is so pleasant to listen to. Plus, the story itself is amazing! It’s about a young couple falling in love as the city around them is a battle ground between militants and the military. I’m about half way through and can hardly wait to hear the rest. I feel like Exit West could end up being a top ten book for me this year. I’m at the fourth life in The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti and am loving this one, too. It’s different than I expected, but in a good way. The book moves between the rough life teenage Loo and her father, Samuel, are living in small-town Olympus, Massachusetts and the past stories of how Samuel’s body became riddled with scars.
Likely To Read Next:
Next, I believe I’ll be reading Marlena by Julie Buntin. This blurb from the publisher sums up why I’m so looking forward to Marlena: “An electric debut novel about love, addiction, and loss; the story of two girls and the feral year that will cost one her life, and define the other’s for decades.” Sounds fantastic, right?
Have a great week of reading!
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Yay! So glad you loved Dead Letters AND All Grown Up. And glad to hear AGU translated well to audio.
I’ll be reading Samuel Hawley next, so thrilled to hear you’re liking it…and then have Marlena coming up too. Haha – still on the same reading track.
Dead Letters was perfect after having a couple of DNF books this month. So fun!
These are all new to me. They sound good. I’ve set aside a couple of YA fantasies recently because I just wasn’t connecting with them. Since they were both review books, I’m disappointed that they didn’t work for me. Come see my reading week here. Happy reading!
YA and fantasy are both not for me, so I get it!
Oooh, thanks so much for the new audiobook suggestion, Susie – woo hoo! I’ve definitely come to enjoy audiobooks more over the past year (a job change last year led to a commute); while I used to stick with nonfiction, I now find that I do enjoy fiction, as well. I’ll give Exit West a try, for sure! I’m also really enjoying The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley; I kind of want to go hang out with he and Loo. 🙂 Hope you have a great day!
I agree. I love Loo and Sam, though I think the story is getting ready to take a darker turn. Bring it on!
Wow, everyone is enjoying Dead Letters. I’ll keep an eye out for your review, but I’m already pretty sure it needs to be on my list.. Happy Spring!
Exit West sounds good. I’m adding it to my wishlist. I’m joining up in the fun again and I’m hoping you’ll stop by to my new domain.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
Thanks for dropping by. I’ll be sure to check it out.
I loved Dead Letters, too! I love the blurb for Marlena, but I’m just not sure about it. I’m kind of on the fence with it. I’d like to read Samuel Hawley, but I don’t think I’ll make it a priority, if at all. It’s just not screaming at me to put it first.
I am SO looking forward to summer break and counting down the days to get there.
Dead Letters was so fun and easy to read.
We start after Labor Day around here, so my summer doesn’t start until nearly the first real day of summer. Once we get in that last quarter, I’ll start counting!
I’m actually reading All Grown Up now and then Exit West to follow. Both I snagged from the library. I agree that audiobooks can be very enjoyable and I just got into them the past two years. Enjoy your week. ps. Summer is my favorite season too — hands down.