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It’s official summer is here and school is out. Exciting right? And yet, I don’t feel all that excited. It might be that the last couple of weeks have been rather light with work so I already felt like I was on a partial break or, it might just be that this year is so weird! In any case I think it will feel more real as I head to Montana at the end of the week for some time with family there. I haven’t seen my two Montana grandkids since November! So, I’ll be taking next week completely off from the blog, but I have a couple of great posts coming up this week. Tomorrow I’m sharing My Favorite Books of 2020 (so far) and on Thursday I’m doing June Mini-Reviews which only includes three books, but they’re all ones I liked!
Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Last Week’s Reads
- I really liked Thin Girls by Diana Clark and plan on reviewing it the first full week in July. It’s about a set of twins who both have problems with food. I found it fascinating and very well written, but I definitely think it would NOT be a good book for anyone with a history of eating disorders. Lots of triggers in this story.
- I finished listening to Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram A Kendi. It was eye-opening and continues to make me aware of how little I know and how much has been swept under the rug. It definitely made me want to read Kendi’s full book Stamped from the Beginning sometime soon.
- I was SO looking forward to Mother Daughter Widow Wife by Robin Wasserman because I loved her edgy debut, Girls on Fire (my review). Sadly, I didn’t like it, at all. The main character was so unlikeable, so pathetic, that it ruined the book for me. This is a July release, so I’ll have a mini-review next month.
Currently Reading
- I’m slowly working my way through How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. I really like his writing style, but there is a lot to take in and I want to do that well, so I’m taking it slowly. I’m reading just a chapter or two a day and reading it almost like a textbook. It’s important and I want to read it as such.
- I’m currently listening to My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams, a memoir of being conned by a fake heiress. At about 20% in I’m finding it fascinating!
- I just started Saving Ruby King by debut author Catherine Adel West yesterday afternoon and can hardly wait to get back to it. It’s one of those books I’m both eager to finish and don’t want to finish. I’m loving the way her story of a Black community coming together around a young woman who has just lost her mother is told from multiple perspectives, all in first person.
Likely to Read Next
- Next up in print I’ll likely turn to The Party Upstairs by Lee Conell. I really like the idea of a single day story about a building super, his daughter, and some of the building’s tenants. Early reviews say Conell did a great job creating tension in her debut.
- It’s a nine hour drive to Montana, so I’ve reserved a bunch of books on Libby to keep me company. One of those is The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. The Nickel Boys (my review) was one of my Best Books of 2019, but I never read The Underground Railroad. Hopefully, it, some podcasts and a couple other audiobooks will fill the long drive.
- If I find any time while I’m there, I may get to Craigslist Confessional by Helena Dea Bala. It seems like this series of secrets revealed might be the perfect book to pick up and put down between play sessions with my grandkids!
That is so great that you will finally be getting to see your grandkids! Have a wonderful trip!
Enjoy your trip to Montana. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
I’ll be curious to hear what you think about The Party Upstairs… single day stories usually appeal to me. The Nickel Boys was a favorite of mine, too, but I still haven’t made time for The Underground Railroad yet. Enjoy your time in MT!
Just finished listening to The Underground Railroad. It was good, but I liked The Nickel Boys more.
Thin Girls is tempting, body issues are difficult – I have a sister who had anorexia and while she sort of recovered it affected her health evermore. I have just put Saving Ruby King on my TBR after visiting Sarah’s blog. Enjoy Montana.
Saving Ruby King was excellent. Enjoy!
I bet you are very excited to be going to Montana to visit with your grandkids. We were apart from them for several months, and, now that case totals are going up again around here, we will probably be apart from them for quite a while longer.
I can’t wait to see what you think about Craigslist Confessional. It looks interesting.
I’m waiting for Stamped and How to Be an Antiracist to come in for me at the library.
Enjoy your time away.
Have a great trip! I’m on a waitlist for Stamped, but it’s a massive list, so I won’t get to it for a while. I hope you have a good week!
That’s why I just ended up buying Stamped on audio. Sometimes I just can’t wait.
My daughter is loving all the Jason Reynolds books she’s read so far. I remember noticing My Friend Anna a while back, but still haven’t read it. May have to move it up the list 🙂 Thanks for sharing and enjoy your week!
I hadn’t even heard of Jason Reynolds before Stamped because I rarely do YA, but now I see his name everywhere!
Have a great trip! We live fairly close to Montana (3 hours?) and I have a brother in Bozeman so I go there every once in awhile. Beautiful country! You have me enticed by Saving Ruby King … this novel is new to me so I need to find out more. Enjoy your audios.
I recently read The Nickel Boys and am looking forward to The Underground Railroad.
I hope you’re having a good time with your grandkids. I’ll bet Montana is gorgeous right now. We won’t see our granddaughter this summer, which is disappointing, but she lives on the East coast and we’re on the West. Too far to travel… 🙁