LINK UP | IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

 

So it’s been a while since I finished any books to include in a Monday post. Three weeks, to be precise. But this week I somehow managed to dive headfirst back into reading, and finally have something to report! Possibly enough to make up for the gap.

Just shelved:

               I already knew I would enjoy Born A Crime because I’ve watched Trevor Noah in a few different contexts and always find him interesting, funny and informative. This book is exactly those things. For those who don’t know, it’s Noah’s memoir of his childhood in South Africa. He was born to a Black mother and White father during Apartheid when relationships across racial lines were illegal – hence the title. There are so many shocking things revealed in this book, and yet Noah refuses to be pitied or othered. He makes these things feel  – not normal, exactly – but believable. Mostly. He also manages to make horrible things humorous in a way not many could. The book moves at an easy pace, and is impossible to put down (or pause, as I listened to the audiobook read by Noah himself – I highly recommend it).

I love the TV show Call the Midwife. I’ve watched every episode at least twice. But for some reason I’ve never read the books. I’ve started Call the Midwife a few times. But never stuck with it. Until this week, when I consumed all three books one after the other. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. They’re very similar to the show (some of the stories will be familiar, if slightly different in their outcomes or details) but longer. Rather than one story per chapter as I expected, some stories will last a third of a book. Many of the stories in the show aren’t in the books. But they could be, and the stories here have a similar tone and walk the same landscape. I really love these books. They’re dark and hard going at times, but worth it. I listened to all three on audiobook, which I found an easy way to absorb them. If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll probably like the books as well.

Currently reading:

    I just started Alone Together. It’s a great compilation of writers’ thoughts on Covid. Some are about their fears, some juxtapose pre-Covid worries with the worries we now live with. They talk about what is missed and what life looks like now. They’re varied, but also so similar, and put voice to what we’re all experiencing. It’s a great record of these times and what they have meant to the individual and collective consciousnesses.

I started South and West last week and am slowly picking my way through it at bedtime. I have found some underline-worthy passages so far, but have yet to form an overall opinion.

Up next:

          I’m partway through the first two and have temporarily set them aside – but I plan to come back to them and finish them soon. Given the current context (mass graves found at multiple former residential schools in Canada) I’ve been wanting to continue reading about First Nations/Indigenous issues and experiences, and I think this is the next book I want to pick up.

So that’s it for me this week! What about you guys? What did you read this week? Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think?

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A weekly post that encourages bloggers to share what they have read in the past week, what they’re currently reading and books they’ve recently added to their TBRs. Originally started by Sheila at Book Journey, it is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.