Monday Reading Update

Anyone else spend the weekend in due to snow and ice? Here in Ohio, we got a heavy dose of ice and snow drifts which I don’t think will be melting anytime soon since we’re supposed to have below 0 temps this week:( I’m ready for winter to be over! What I was most looking forward to was lounging on the couch under my comfy blanket and getting lost in a good book. It didn’t happen . What did happen? I ended up DNFing another most anticipated winter read. I’ve been struggling with my winter reading these last 2 weeks that’s for sure. Is anyone else having this issue? I’m really hoping an outstanding 5 star read comes along SOON! If you’ve read something amazing be sure to let me know what it was in the comments!

RECENTLY READ…

As Long As We Both Shall Live  was a book I had seen pretty positive reviews for on Instagram and the prologue was especially intriguing. In fact, it had one of the best first sentences I’ve read in a long time so I thought it might be a psychological thriller I actually ended up loving. It wasn’t. You can read my mini review on Goodreads (here) but I found it to be predictable and in several ways trying to be a Gone Girl knockoff.

I was thrilled to get an early copy of Into The Jungle  since I loved her first book The River at Night  , so much so that I dropped everything and read it in one day. Unfortunately, I didn’t love this one. Although the level of detail in the writing of the remote location in the Amazon jungle was excellent (the author has clearly done her research), I was unprepared for the number of scenes involving animals being killed for food, hunting, sport etc. It was honestly too much for me and caused me to somewhat disconnect from the story. I’ll review closer to May pub date.

Maybe in Another Life  has been on my tbr for quite awhile and I had actually tried it in print long ago and couldn’t get into it. This time I listened to the audio book and really enjoyed it. Julia Whelan was the narrator and she made all the difference. The story wasn’t perfect by any means but still worth a listen if you’re in the mood for an easy romance.

 

TRIED BUT WASN’T FEELING….

Well this was surprising to me! Two of my most anticipated winter reads are DNF’s. I was really looking forward to Here and Now and Then for the time travel but the story and characters felt so bogged down in scientific details that I lost interest (DNF 31%). I fully expected to enjoy Sally Thorne’s new book after loving The Hating Game  but I didn’t like the main character Darcy at all. I know she was supposed to be edgy but I found her annoying. The writing seemed stilted, the banter off, it just wasn’t working for me (DNF 18%).

 

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO…

The End of Your Life Bookclub  is the true story of a mother and son who form their own 2 person book club during her chemo treatments. I’m early in the story but I’m enjoying the narrator and really loving the way this mother and son bond over their in depth book discussions. This feels like it will be emotional (I’m really liking mom) but also a very nice tribute to reading and books and how they impact our lives, even at the end.

 

CURRENTLY READING…

I just started The Nowhere Child , (Jan 22) (mystery/suspense) but so far I really like the writing. The set up… a 30 year old woman is approached by a man while on her lunch break at a school in Australia. He shows her a picture of a little 2 year old girl and tells her that girl vanished when she was 2 and he thinks SHE is that girl! I’m fascinated by missing people stories so I’m anticipating this will be a winner for me. Plus, it’s published by Minotaur Books which is one of my favorite publishers.

 

POSSIBLY READING NEXT…

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That’s all for now, how has your reading been going? Tell us all about your hits & misses in the comments! 

Don’t forget, you can connect with me on Instagram (itsbooktalk) , goodreads (itsbooktalk@gmail.com)  and Twitter (@itsbooktalk) where I typically post some different content and what I’m currently reading, listening to etc.

HAPPY READING! 

 

IT’S MONDAY WHAT ARE YOU READING?

 

Hi everyone! It’s been too long I know but I have to say I very much needed this blogging break. I’ve spent time reading whatever I’ve wanted these past few weeks and I’m officially OUT of my dreaded reading slump!! I suspect all the ARCS I tried to read but couldn’t get into in early Oct. led to my slump which has led me to rethink the books I’ll be requesting and accepting for review in the future. As all booklovers know, there’s nothing worse than not having a great read to look forward to at the end of the day…or the beginning or middle for that matter:)  I decided to scour my backlist on my kindle as well as the library and I found some AMAZING reads over the last few weeks. In fact, I have several 5 star reads of books that have been sitting on my tbr for far too long! That makes me SO happy. Where the Advanced Copies have fallen short, my backlist has come through for me. I continue to kick myself for not having read them sooner. Read on to find out what I’ve been reading and listening to!

 MY RECENT 5 STAR READS…. 

Inside the O’Briens was the book that jolted me out of my reading slump. I read this in a day and I just loved everything about the story and Lisa Genova’s writing. I liked this even better than Still Alice. I’ll be honest though, I was initially mad at the author over the ending but the more I thought about it and talked with friends who’d read it, I can see why she did what she did. Will review soon

The Life We Bury was one I’d picked up long ago, read a few pages and put it down never to pick up again. Until a couple weeks ago. I usually love books that have been Edgar nominated or won so I decided to give this another try and I was immediately pulled into the story. There’s family drama, intrigue, an engaging mystery and characters I really connected with. Loved it! Look for this on a TBT soon.

The Nightingale What can I say about this beautiful, unputdownable novel that hasn’t already been said? This had been sitting on my kindle since it came out and for some reason I kept telling myself it probably wasn’t as good as others were saying, I wasn’t in the mood for historical fiction etc. I resisted it. I’m so happy I took a leap and gave it a try because I was captivated by this story. I stayed up until 2:00am to finish it and oh the tiredness and tears were so worth it.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is another I’ve passed by since it’s publication in early summer and one I LOVED so much. There’s nothing I didn’t like about this book but what I especially loved was that it wasn’t the story I assumed it would be. And it made me cry which I didn’t expect. Will review soon!

RECENTLY LISTENED TO….

The Stranger in the Woods was a quirky, super interesting story about Chris Knight, a man who spent 27 years living in the woods of Maine. This was a perfect audiobook. The narrator was fantastic and I couldn’t wait to walk or drive and find out more about how he possibly lived for so long without companionship, comforts of home etc.

The Wisdom of Sundays was a rare book that I actually preordered in print and then bought on audible to listen to as well. I love listening to Oprah’s Super Soul podcast and I couldn’t wait for this book. The audiobook is actually very different than the print which made me happy I have both. Oprah narrates and picks 1 Super Soul person to share the topic she discusses. It’s the perfect book to listen to for inspiration, grounding, and enlightenment. I learned a lot, highly recommended!

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO….

Dirty John is an Apple podcast I just started listening to yesterday. This is true crime and it starts with a bang…or rather a murder! This seems to be one of those true stories that’s so unbelievable I keep forgetting it’s true. I can’t wait to keep listening!

UPCOMING READING POSSIBILITIES….

I really have no idea but I might dive into a 2018 read or continue with my backlist, so possibly…

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Have a Wonderful Reading Week!