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Welcome to May! I don’t exactly know why, but I’m so happy to see April behind us. Our stay-at-home order has been extended until the end of May, plus I’m teaching from home through the middle of June, so not much is changing. And yet, we’re moving forward and have more daylight everyday which I think really helps. Another thing that’s been helping my state of mind has been Hulu. I signed up a couple weeks ago mostly to watch Little Fires Everywhere (loved), and now I’m watching Mrs. America (also great), and Normal People. I’m loving Normal People, but have to take it in small doses because watching this story the intense relationship between Connell and Marianne is more painful to watch than it was to read. I mean that in the best possible way!
I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for a special post, Reading in the Midst of a Global Pandemic. It’s just a few thoughts on how reading has changed for many of us during this weird new time, but now let’s move on to this week’s books!
Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Last Week’s Reads
- I liked All Adults Here by Emma Straub, but I think it suffered a bit from my current state of mind. I enjoyed the first three quarters of this story about a mother and her three adult children finding new ways to connect, but then I grew a little tired of it. Honestly, I don’t at all think it was the book. It’s me and the world. I find this happening with a lot of books for me right now. All Adults Here is a current Book of the Month Club selection, so it clearly has a lot going for it. (Mini-review later this month.)
- Audiobooks have been my sweet spot lately. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight. In fact, I decided that I want to also listen to her new book, A Good Marriage, which is released tomorrow. It will be my next audiobook and perhaps I’ll do a double review once I finish that one.
- Shiner by Amy Jo Burns, I’m not even sure what to say about this one. I had sparks hope in the first half. I finished, but have little good to say about it. I’ve never been to the Appalachia area, but I’m aware of the history of life there and the many struggles people have had. Unfortunately, it seemed to me that this book focused on the worst extremes and turned them into caricatures. I skimmed the last half. (Mini-review later this month.)
Currently Reading
- I’m now listening to a mystery/thriller, The Guest List by Lucy Foley. About a wedding taking place on a small island off the Irish coast, a bloody body has just been found, and I’m in! This is exactly the sort of book that is working for me right now. Fun and easy rule my reading life.
- Only at the 10% mark on Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld, it’s too early for me to have any sort of real opinion about it. So far, I’ve enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more of Sittenfeld’s reimagined life for Hillary Rodham Clinton had she NOT married Bill.
- Let me be honest, what I’m going to read next changes moment by moment, so these are both just great big maybes! I am looking forward to reading Stephanie Danler’s memoir, Stray. Early readers have shared that it’s pretty raw and intense, but also very good. I’m a little curious how this one might be on audio. Either way, I’ll be getting to it soon.
- Of all the May books I have, Beach Read by Emily Henry seems to be billed as the lightest and most “beach read” like. Since I seem to need those books as sort of palette cleansers right now, this may be the perfect book to turn to after finishing the more serious Rodham.
I’m really looking forward to The Guest List; her previous book, The Hunting Party, was a really great mystery, so I have high hopes!
I’m over halfway now and it’s been good.
I so understand the not being sure what you will read next. I have a few arc commitments but, despite a huge TBR list, ended up doing some re-reads of ‘comfort’ books last week.
I wish I enjoyed audio books more, I’ve tried a few but they are mainly narrated by US actors and to my English ear they sound jarring in a way that reading them myself doesn’t. I end up so focused on the accent that I stop listening to the story!
I’m listening to The Guest List right now and it’s all British and Irish narrators, so you might try that. Another I loved on audio in the past is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
Comfort reading seems like a really good choice for these times.
I’m looking forward to both The Guest List and Rodham. I burned up an extra BOTM credit to get The Guest List and I’m thinking of biting the bullet and buying Rodham.
I just finished Rodham and really liked it.
Hulu is so tempting lately! I really want to watch Little Fires and Normal People, but have a hard time justify adding another service…
I can’t wait to read All Adults Here. My daughter ordered it from Straub’s store and it should arrive soon. She’ll read it right away, so I shouldn’t have too long to wait. Very curious about Rodham, too. Happy May!
On Hulu, you get the first 30 days for free, so if you’re good at binge watching you could get through both series in that time.
I think you’ll really enjoy All Adults Here and I just finished Rodham. I really enjoyed it and it easily held my interest which is a real plus these days. Enjoy the beach!
Our stay at home order has been moderated some now. Retail that can do curbside pickup is able to reopen this week, Manufacturing with no customer face was last week. I’m still content to stay at home. In fact, my brother told me that he thinks the governor will have to specifically tell me to leave the house before I actually do. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Our restrictions are easing up, too. I’ll not be doing much differently though. With teaching remotely, I’m pretty much stuck at home all the time anyway.
The Guest List is up soon for me, too! I think I’ll listen to it. I’m currently listening to Summer Darlings and I can’t tell if I’ll finish. It’s one of those I’ll keep on as I’m doing other stuff, if you know what I mean.
Hulu has been killing it! I’m also looking forward to the next season of Dead to Me (Netflix). You might like that one, too!
Oh, good! I watched the first season of Dead to Me and didn’t know there was a second one coming up. It’s a fun series.
I might have to sign up for Hulu in order to watch Mrs. America. Too bad about Shiner, argh – wasn’t it supposed to be great? guess I’ll likely skip. Rodham & The Guest List sound worth pursuing. thx for the tips!
I thought Shiner was supposed to be great. It’s a Riverhead book and I usually like theirs a lot, but Shiner just did nothing for me. I haven’t really seen anyone else talking about it, so have no idea if I’m just an outlier or what.