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Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
I bet many of you are like me and are feeling happy to see this month wrapping up. January has never been my favorite month, but this one has been particularly hard with the government shutdown and the massive snow storms across the country. I’ll be happy to welcome February on Friday. But, before we get there, on Thursday, I’ll be turning my occasional “Clearing the Shelves” mini-review posts into a new monthly feature. At the end of each month, I’m going to take all the books I didn’t get around to writing a full review for and cover each in one mini-review post. Some months that may only be a couple of books, but for January I’ll have four, including one I’m spotlighting, another I liked, and two I didn’t. Please stop by and take a look.
Last Week’s Read
Sadly, I ended up making Sugar Run by Mesha Maren my first DNF of the year. While her writing was lovely, after about 40 pages, I just didn’t care about anything in the story. Then, I turned to yet another mystery/thriller, The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict, and I really, really liked it. This genre, one I typically don’t read a whole lot of, has been just great to me in January. Benedict’s layered, twisty story of a woman who comes home and finds a “renter” living in her home will be getting a full review next month.
Currently Reading
- Somehow I had gotten it completely wrong with a book I mentioned last week, Learning to See by Elise Hooper. For some reason I thought it was nonfiction, but after listening to only a few minutes, I realized I was wrong. I was in the mood to listen to nonfiction, plus had just finished one historical fiction and was about to start another, so put Learning to See aside. I didn’t listen to enough to even call it a DNF. It was simply bad timing.
- Instead, I downloaded Maid by Stephanie Land and at about the half way point, I’m really enjoying this audiobook. Land does a great job in narrating her own story of a single-mother trying to pick herself up out of poverty. Plus, she’s from Western Washington, so it’s easy for me to visualize all the places she’s talking about.
- On the reading side, I’m in the midst of The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff. (This is another mix up for me! I had the book marked as being released in early February, but then noticed somewhere else that it’s actually released tomorrow.) At first I wasn’t sure about the story, but the further in I get, the more I’m enjoying Jenoff’s latest. I like that it features three different women during, and after WWII.
Likely to Read Next
My February ARC list is slim, though there are many books I want to read. I’ll be relying on the library and/or my own wallet for more books than usual next month. One ARC that I do have is The Winter Sister by Megan Collins. Another thriller, The Winter Sister features a woman whose sister was murdered as a child. She’s returning home to care for the mother she’d been estranged from and (of course) stumbles upon new information. Normally, I might not go for this sort of book, but I’ve read good things about it and thrillers have been great for me so far this year.
I hope you have a great week in books!
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I’m so ready for Jan to be over! The polar vortex is hitting us this week and on top of the snow and ice we’ve had I’m just done with winter all around. I had The Lost Girls of Paris down for a Feb 5 release date, thanks for the heads up that the pub date was earlier although I’m swamped with new releases at the moment so who knows when I’ll get to it:) I’ve seen some mixed reviews for The Winter Sister so I’ll be interested in comparing our thoughts! Have a great week Susie!
On no! I hope the Winter Sister holds up. I’ve had such a good string of suspense novels lately.
Try to stay warm this week!
Wow – look at all those thrillers for you! I might listen to Maid on audio…I got sort of interested in it when it was a Jan BOTM pick, but not interested enough to make it my selection and read it in hard copy. But, that’s right up my audiobook alley!
I think Maid is only about 8 hours, too and I always appreciate ones on the shorter side.
Looking forward to your Clearing the Shelves post! Both The Winter Sister and The Stranger Inside are on my TBR.
Thanks, RK. Hope you enjoy The Stranger Inside and I hope we both like The Winter Sister.
After reading a lot about “Sugar Run” I choose not to put in on my list. Looks like that was a good decision. I’ve got “The Stranger Inside” on hold but “The Winter Sister” is new to me. Will check it out!
I’m reading “The Dakota Winters” and it’s very entertaining. I don’t do audio books, but this one might be a good one for that media.
We had some great rain here in NorCal and the last week or so has been lovely. Creeks and waterfalls are going great guns up on Mt. Tam so it’s great hiking season here!
Good call on Sugar Run, Madeline. Thanks for the tip on Dakota Winters. I’m always on the hunt for good audiobooks.
I miss Northern California!
I won’t miss January either. We haven’t had much snow but it has been so cold this month. Of course that meant lots of reading time. I am beginning by March review copies. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Wow! I’m impressed that you’re already on to March books. Try to stay warm!
The Stranger Inside sounds good…and I’ve got Maid on my list. I loved The Winter Sister. Enjoy your week, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
So nice to hear you liked The Winter Sister. It’s one I haven’t been 100% sure about.
I’ve been considering Maid. I’ll wait and see what you think when you finish. I like the snow and cold … up to a point. By mid-February, I’m ready for spring.
Winter snow and a govt shutdown together is hard, especially those who were shut out of work. Hope that it all rights itself says someone from off shore! Clearing the Shelves sounds like a good way to wrap up books when you don’t have a full review for them.
Honestly, it sort of feels like nothing has much of a chance of righting itself here until 2020!
I’ve been curious about Maid, so am glad it’s off to a strong start. Hope the rest is just as good!
Check back next week for the update!
I’m ready for January to be over. It’s so cold! And I spent my afternoon shoveling. Good luck with your new feature. I’m so behind on reviews that I should probably do something similar. Have a great week!
Try to stay warm this week. Hope you don’t get buried again.
Not every book is for every reader. DNFs happen. I’m glad you enjoyed your next book. My weekly updates
So, true. I’m working on getting better about DNFing books.
I’m ready for January to be over, too. We’ve missed a few days of school already. Snow days are great now- but in June when the school year seems to never end, there not so delightful to have tacked on.
I started the Pam Jenoff book today -another day we are snowed in. I love historical fiction and WWII is a time period I especially like, so I have high hopes for this one.
I’m a teacher and we don’t often get a lot of snow here in Washington, but every three or four years we’ll get a big storm. I absolutely hate making the days up in June. One year we didn’t get out of school until June 29th!
I only have about 25% left in the Jenoff book and have really liked it.
I’ve been hearing good things about The Lost Girls of Paris!
I can’t believe January is just about over already, for me it went so fast!
January felt kind of long for me, especially considering I had the first week off. Hope your reading is going well.
Susie, I have The Lost Girls of Paris on my NG shelf, happy to hear you are enjoying it. I’m a bit behind due to a big (and complicated) move but I figure as long as I get it read within 30 days of publication I’m good.
I’ve been seeing mixed reviews of Winter Sister so I’m interested in your thoughts.
I’m putting The Stranger Inside on my radar. I’m in the mood for a fun page turner. Maid sounds like the perfect audiobook for me so I didn’t choose it as a BOTM.
I’m a weirdo who loves winter but this polar vortex is taking it to ridiculous levels…and I traveled north this week instead of south….haha.
I have about 20 minutes left in Maid and have really liked it. It’s a book that’s made me think a lot about people that do work for us and about the struggles of raising yourself out of poverty. I just don’t think often enough about how so many people are just one mishap away from being homeless. She does a good job sharing her experiences.
Hope the move has gone well and that you’re not too terribly cold!
Sorry to hear about Sugar Run (darn) but glad to hear that The Stranger Inside is good. I still might keep Learning to See in mind. Historical fiction interested me last year …. who knows what will grip me this year.
I’m sure Learning to See will be good. I just didn’t want to be reading so much historical fiction all at once and The Lost Girls of Paris was an ARC, so it took priority. Let me know what you think if you read Learning to See.
I’m happy to see January go. The shutdown really made the month long and stressful. I was looking forward to Sugar Run, but you are not the only person I’ve seen abandon it, so it may take me awhile to pick it up, if I do.
I love the Clearing the Shelves idea! I have partially written reviews from years ago and ought to just throw them in a post to get them off my mind.
I have The Stranger Inside on hold at library so am anxious to see your review! The book sounds kind of like one I read in 2018 that was not done well, but had the same premise. I cannot remember the title!