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Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
I hope everyone had a beautiful Mother’s Day! Mine was quiet with a lot of reading time spent on the front porch. I was hit hard by a very tenacious flu last week which kept me out of school the entire week. The weekend was all about building up strength and really relaxing before finally heading back to work tomorrow. The saddest part of the whole flu bug has been that my 8-month old grandson caught it from me, and we’re all just crossing out fingers that his parents and 2-year old sister don’t get it. You’d think being home for a week, I’d have accomplished a lot of reading, but most of the time I found it hard to stay focused.
Last Week’s Reads
Reading of any sort was difficult the first few days last week, but once I started feeling just a bit better I found great distraction in listening to Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman. Make no mistake about it Other People’s Houses is pure chic lit, but it’s also loads of fun. Narration by Saskia Maarleveld was excellent. Little Disasters by Randall Klein is a book I could take or leave. This story of two NYC couples who go into labor on the same day was just okay for me, perhaps requiring a little too much suspension of disbelief for my flu addled brain.
Currently Reading
Somehow in my delirium last week I still managed to notice that Amazon had a $1.99 Kindle deal going on The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. After loving Circe so much (my review), I was nervous about this one, but am happy to report I needn’t have been. I’m over halfway through and plan on planting myself outside in the shade and finishing the book today!
Likely to Read Next
I’m still waiting on several library holds to come in, but in the meantime, I’ll probably start on some June releases. Everyone seems to be eagerly anticipation Lauren Groff’s short story collection, Florida. I’m a neophyte with short stories, so really hope her collection helps to make me a fan. In the Distance With You by Carla Guelfenbein is one of a couple books in translation that I have coming up. In the publisher’s words, “This Chilean literary thriller tells the story of three lives intertwined with that of an enigmatic author, whose character is inspired by the groundbreaking Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector.” They had me at “literary thriller!”
I hope you have a great week in books!
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I’m jealous of your Mother’s Day full of reading! And so sorry to hear about the flu…it’s like dominoes. Happened in my house earlier this year.
I’m planning to read Florida too. Maybe soon…depending on library holds!
I’ve read th first 2 stories in Florida and so far I’m not a fan!
Great Mother’s Day! I spent the weekend with my mom, and we had fun. Glad you’re on the mend.
Florida is on my list … maybe next week.
I wish my mom lived closer. Glad you got to spend Mother’s Day with yours.
I loved Other People’s Houses, and afterwards I had to download The Garden of Small Beginnings by this author…which I’m also loving.
Enjoy your week! Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
I’m going to keep Waxman’s other book in mind for the summer. Thanks for pointing it out to me.
I’m so glad that you are feeling better. Fingers crossed that your family escapes. I missed that special for The Song of Achilles but not much else last week. My TBR pile grew and grew. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Song is still $1.99 on Kindle. I just checked. Well worth the small cost!
So sorry to hear you’ve been sick! My parents are both getting over the flu… it really hit them hard, too. Hope your grandson recover quickly without sharing it with the rest of his family. Other People’s Houses keeps catching my eye and I’m also looking forward to Florida. Have a good week, Susie!
Thanks, JoAnn. It’s been a rough flu. A couple other teachers at work have had it too and people have all been out for a long time! My grandson seemed to recover more quickly…ah, youth!
Sorry you were ill. It’s been a bad year for flu. My weekly update
Hope you are recovering well from that awful flu.
All the best getting through the week’s reading!
Thanks, Nina. Have a great week!
Glad you’re feeling better, but sorry your grandson got it! Hope he’s better soon and no one else gets it–it’s so hard dealing with sickness in a house with little ones (whether it’s the kids or parents!). Other People’s Houses sounds like a fun, light read.
I’ll be interested to hear what you think about Florida. Groff’s Fates and Furies got lots of raves, but I didn’t love it.
Which Kindle do you have? I sort of like the bigger screens. Hmm. I’m not big into short stories either but Curtis Sittenfeld also has a collection out that I hope to get to. Lauren Groff’s should be interesting. Hmm
I use the Kindle Oasis. It’s very expensive, but I like the option of using page turn buttons and I read so much on it, that it was worth the price. Here’s a review I did a couple years ago: https://novelvisits.com/kindle-oasis-musings/
I need to add Other People’s Houses to my summer reading list.
I’m reading Tin Man right now and it is so tender. The writing is exquisite. Thank you so much for giving me this book!
I’m so happy Tin Man is working for you. I’m reviewing it tomorrow.