Monday Reading Update

 

Hi All! Hope you had a good weekend. We’re still waiting for warmer weather here in Ohio, so in the meantime I’ve been taking advantage of reading under my favorite cozy blanket. I had a SUPER productive reading week last week, finishing 3 books, 2 of which I really liked although none were 5 star reads…close but not quite.

RECENTLY READ…

The River   was way more literary than I expected. I don’t mean that in a bad way because the writing was excellent but I thought it would be more thriller like and it really wasn’t. I appreciated the author’s obvious knowledge of canoeing on a river and wilderness survival along with his ability to create extremely realistic scenes. I wanted to read this book because I love nature and stories about wilderness survival because I would never ever want to go camping or rafting on a river…ever. I felt like I was there while reading this story though. However, I thought there was something lacking. I’m not sure if it was the third person narration which made me feel less connected to either Wynn or Jack but I was left feeling underwhelmed when I should’ve felt several other emotions.

Before She Knew Him was one of my most anticipated winter reads and it definitely ended up being addictive reading. I love how Swanson writes characters who are wacky and completely in your face about it! BUT, I ended up having thoughts…many thoughts…I’ll have a review up soon.

The Last Act was a such a fast paced, action filled read. The blurb for this contained so many of my favorite buzz words (FBI, prison, undercover, ) I knew I would love it…and I did. Review up (hopefully) tomorrow for pub day

 

TRIED BUT WASN’T FEELING…

American Spy also had so many of my favorite buzz words in the publisher blurb…espionage, spy thriller, FBI, passionate romance and betrayal…yes please! After the opening scene, however, the plot quickly fizzled for me with WAY too much telling and a second person narrative structure I didn’t like.

 

CURRENTLY READING…

The Devil Aspect  came on my radar after I saw Katie’s review at Basicbsguide  on Instagram. This creepy story centering around the “criminally insane” sounds like something I’ll love. I’ve just started it but I can say it’s drawn me in from the first page. Let’s hope my luck with quality thriller reads continues!

POSSIBLE NEXT READS…

    OR  

I think I’m about ready for a thriller break before I start having nightmares about all the psychopaths I’ve been reading about! Both of these sound promising and would be much lighter reads.

Did you read anything great last week? Have anything that sounds amazing coming up? Let me know in the comments!

Have a Great Week!!

5 on Friday: 5 Things I’m Loving Lately

Welcome to 5 on Friday, a little list of things I’m enjoying lately.  I got this idea from Tim Ferris who sends out his 5 Bullet Friday posts to all his email subscribers and Laura Tremaine’s Secret Posts. If you’re interested you can check out Tim’s website at Tim.blog and Laura’s at 10thingstotellyou.com . I thought it would be fun to do a short and simple posts of things I’m enjoying lately. Every week you’ll find different content…could be books I’m reading, movies, tv, recipes, quotes, skincare, articles, household items etc….anything I’m enjoying to pass along in the hope that you might also find something you’d like.

Amazon Show I Recently Binged 
Red Oaks  If you love shows set in the late 1980s, this is for you. My husband and I binged all the seasons in 2 days and we were pretty disappointed to see it end. This is a comedy that brought back SO many memories. I was a teenager in **cough, cough** 1986 when this show is set and I loved everything about revisiting the hairstyles, leg warmers, music, corded phones, answering machines etc. So fun! The characters were great as well, I just highly recommend giving this show a try if you haven’t already.

Bachelor Recap I’m OBSESSED with Listening To This Week 
Friend of the Show  by The Popcast, available through their patreon page. You guys know, I love The Bachelor & Bachelorette shows, they are my ultimate guilty pleasure. I’m not sure why I wasn’t listening to this Bachelor Recap podcast before because it’s hysterical. Knox McCoy and Jamie Golden provide the best sarcastic, witty dish on all aspects of the show. This is the best $3 a month I’ve ever spent!!

Book I’ve Added To My Summer TBR (Friends, It’s never too soon to think about our summer reading😉)
We Came Here to Forget  by Andrea Dunlop, publishing July 2 from Atria Books. I love the sound of this one…a young Olympic skier who loses everything and escapes to Buenos Aires, where she reinvents herself, meets a colorful group of ex-pats, and is swept off her feet by a mysterious young man with dark secrets of his own.

My New Favorite Organic Fair Trade Dark Roast Coffee For Brewing At Home
Sweetwater’s Midnight Blend  . This coffee is from a local coffeehouse but they do sell online if you’re interested. I love dark roasted coffee and have tried many varieties but lately this is my very favorite! (I’m not an affiliate, just sharing the info)

Article About Cat Ownership I Enjoyed 
10 Scientific Benefits of Being a Cat Owner  I thought this article was really cute, I’ve had cats for the past 27 years and I couldn’t imagine not having one (or more) in my life.

Do you have thoughts on my favorites this week? Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Have a great weekend!!

 

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6 Popular Novels I Still Haven’t Read

Last week I posted my most anticipated fall reads but lingering in the background are still some popular novels I’ve been meaning to read. The following 6 novels are ones that SO many people have recommended to me over the years but for some reason I still haven’t read them. I DO want to read them but the question is, where to start? I’d love to hear if any of the following books are on YOUR favorites list.

Cutting for Stone
An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others set in 1960s & 1970s Ethiopia and 1980s America.
Buy on Amazon

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The Goldfinch
It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.
Buy on Amazon

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Pillars of the Earth
The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.
Buy on Amazon

**

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
As the daughter of a meth dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. Struggling to raise her little brother, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible “adult” around. She finds peace in the starry Midwestern night sky above the fields behind her house. One night everything changes when she witnesses one of her father’s thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle
Buy on Amazon

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The Poisonwood Bible
A story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it — from garden seeds to Scripture — is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.
Buy on Amazon

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Station Eleven
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
Buy on Amazon

Let me know if you’ve read and loved any of these! Right now I’m leaning toward starting with The Poisonwood Bible but that could change.