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Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
It’s June! The countdown is on to the end of my school year at 13 teaching days. More time for books (and lots of other fun) coming soon! On a much different note, I did something on Saturday that I’ve been trying to accomplish for the last year. I FINALLY bought a new car. I don’t know why it’s such a painful process, but for me it is. I’ve literally gone and looked a dozen times, my son has gone with me a couple of those times, but I just never could decide. It got so my friends and family were fed up with my lack of action. This time, I told no one that I was going car shopping until I was home with the new car sitting in my garage. I got a pretty little red RAV4 with all the fun bells and whistles. Now I just need to learn how to use everything.
On the blog last week I shared my 2019 Summer Preview, a list of the 15 new releases I’m most looking forward to this summer. On to this week!
Last Week’s Reads
- It can be a great thing to read a book outside of your usual comfort zones and that’s exactly what Recursion by Blake Crouch was for me. I found myself completely engrossed in this sci-fi thriller and will be reviewing it on Thursday.
- If you stop by regularly, you already know that I’ve become a huge Peter Heller fan this year. I adored both The River (my review) and The Dog Stars (my review), so knew I needed to give The Painter a try. Of the three, I’d say The Painter was my least favorite, but I still really liked it. Heller is just an amazing story teller and I’ll be first in line for all future books. Mark Deakins’ narration has only added to my pleasure on all three audiobooks.
- After a couple DNF’s I wanted a light and easy read and that’s exactly what I got from One Night at the Lake by Bethany Chase. It was a little heavy on the romance for me, but fit the bill of a quick, breezy read. Review coming later this month.
Books I Could NOT Finish
- Sadly, I just couldn’t get into Places and Names by Elliot Ackerman. I was so looking forward to this memoir from the author of Waiting for Eden, one of my favorite books last year (my review), but I just never gained any traction with the sort of history lesson that it was.
- Then, Bunny by Mona Awad, the very first book on my 2019 Summer Preview, was just too weird for me. I tried really hard to care about it, giving it over 100 pages, but then I had to admit defeat!
Currently Reading
- While listening to Mary Laura Philpott and Sarah talk books on Sarah’s Book Shelves Live last week, I was pleased to hear that she and I had very similar reading tastes. That did it. It was time to listen to I Miss You When I Blink. I only have about 90 minutes left and have thoroughly enjoyed her essays.
- I’m almost halfway through One Night in Georgia by Celeste O. Norfleet and am liking it well enough. Taking place in 1968 and following 3 African American coeds as they travel by car from NYC to Spelman College in Atlanta, Norfleet does a good job of portraying the tensions and attitudes of the era.
Likely to Read Next
- I hadn’t really planned on reading City of Girls because theater in the 1940’s just didn’t speak to me, but then I started hearing more and more positive buzz about Elizabeth Gilbert’s new novel. I’ve also heard several comparisons to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (my review). Since I loved that one on audio, I’m going to make City of Girls my next audiobook.
- The premise of a separated man who ends up with his wife taking off and leaving him with full responsibility for their kids is a twist that I find appealing. After all, it happens to women all the time. Fleishman is in Trouble by debut author Taffy Brodesser-Akner, promises to explore the situation with humor firmly embedded in current culture.
I hope you have a great week in books!
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So glad you liked Miss You! And I checked my library holds yesterday and The River is supposedly “coming soon” for me! I’m first in line. Yay!
Fleischman books sounds super interesting…will give that one a shot if you end up liking it.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of The River. Hope it gets in soon. I ended up reading the first couple chapters of Mrs. Everything and am enjoying it, so I’m going to finish it before I start Fleishman.
Oh! I’m torn between whether I like The Painter or The River more. 🙂 Gulp on Bunny because I accept that as a freelance assignment. Hope it’s not a struggle for me.
“accepted that” –sigh.
I’ll be curious to hear what you think of Bunny. I really wanted to like it.
Hooray for a new car! I can understand the hesitation, buying a car is a big commitment!
Can’t wait for your upcoming reviews, you have a couple up there I’m really looking forward to!
Thanks, Angela. I hope my reviews deliver!
I love the sound of Fleishman is in Trouble! I struggled with Recursion and put it down around 30%, I might pick it up again when my mood changes, it just seemed to require too much thinking haha. Looking forward to your thoughts on it
With Recursion I didn’t really put much effort into making sure I got where every timeline fell. I just went with the general feel of the book which for me got better the further I got into it.
I like that you do the “Books I could not finish”, that’s a great idea.
Thanks, Valerie. I think it’s only fair since not finishing does say something about the book. (At least from my single position.)
Looking forward to seeing what you think of CITY OF GIRLS.
ONE NIGHT AT THE LAKE looks good.
ENJOY your week!!
Thanks, Elizabeth. Starting City of Girls tomorrow.
It took me forever to figure out how to use all the fun things in my new car. I’m sure there are still lots of features I haven’t even discovered yet 😀
The owners manual on mine is huge. I’ll have to go back when my plates come in and then I’ll try to get another lesson.
I hope you enjoy your new car. I’m still learning about the controls on mine and I’ve had it more than a year. Nice assortment of books too. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Thanks, Kathy.
All your books sound good. My week of reading and reviewing
I finished listening to I Miss You When I Blink this afternoon… very good!
Thanks for the word on the Recursion book …. I hope I will be able to follow it about the memory stuff etc. I thought Heller’s book The Painter was the weakest of his so far of the ones I read. Not sure I will read Celine.
I agree with you on The Painter. I liked The Dog Stars and The River more, but I still enjoyed The Painter. What I’ve read on Celine has me feeling similarly to you about reading it.
Oh!
Don’t Miss “Celine!”!
Heller drew heavily on his own Mother,,,,,,and I think it is in deep admiration that he obviously was able to “See” this Outstanding Woman……
The only thing I have to draw on for this conclusion, is her Obituary, I was able to read on Goggle.
It’s worth reading, if you are curious, as I Certainly was, after reading “Celine”.
I agree that “The Painter “, is his weakest book, but,brush in hand, I found that very relatable, also!
I think he’s a most exciting author!!
Ps! I also think Susie is a very comprehensive reviewer,And So Enjoyable!
And,,,,,,Concise!, I Do Appreciate You, Susie!!
When do you eat!???…….must be “Book in Hand”!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on Celine. I’ve been curious about it and heard some mixed reviews, but I love Heller so much, I must give it a shot. Very interesting that he drew from his mother.
Thank you so much for your kind words. Believe it or not, I do find a little time for things besides reading!