I totally forgot to do a post last week – I only noticed when I went looking for my post to see what I’d finished since then! So this week will be a two-fer as I’ll be covering both. Let’s get started!
Shelved Last Week
I’ve been meaning to read The Light Between Oceans for ages now, and finally got the audio out from my library and gave it a shot. It was not an easy story, but it had me immersed, I zoomed through it, and it was beautifully written. I also enjoyed the audiobook as it was read by Noah Taylor, and his voice is one I enjoy listening to. Borders is a very short, very simple graphic novel about a Blackfoot family who live on two sides of the Canada/USA border, but both within their traditional territory. It’s simple, it’s quick, but it manages to capture one of the important issues surrounding how First Nations communities were affected by the way the lines were drawn on our current maps, and it’s excellent. It took me ages to finish The Appeal. It’s one that really needed to be read in print, so I got the print version – but I never have much time to sit and read, so I had to read it in small bits here and there. And this is a complicated plot presented entirely as messages sent back and forth between characters, so if you’re forever picking it up and putting it down you’re bound to end up forgetting bits and missing connections. I think if I’d been able to sit and read the whole book in a few sessions it would have been more enjoyable, but as it is I found the format an interesting idea, but didn’t really feel that drawn into the story itself. Long Way Down is the graphic novel based on the YA book of the same name. This is the second Jason Reynolds I’ve read, and I really like his storytelling. Again, this is a simple story and a quick read, but it manages to capture some essential truths that are often misunderstood or overlooked when it comes to the cycle of gun violence. Definitely worth a read.
Just Shelved
The Woman in the Window is another book that’s been on my radar for years. I read this with a friend, and we both had similar reactions. It was fine, the twists were good…. but it felt like it took forever, had way too much description and the main character made me feel really, really irritated but then also feel bad about my irritation. I’m glad I finally read it, but I won’t be rushing to pick up other books by this author. A Man Called Ove, on the other hand, ended up being a lovely book. The character of Ove is fascinating, and the relationships he unwillingly enters into are just great. Sincere, loving and worth sticking around for. Definitely a highlight of these two weeks of reading. The Night Fire is the third Renée Ballard/Harry Bosch book, and it fits right in with the previous two. Good characters, a dark and twisty mystery, some moments of intrigue and suspense, and a satisfying conclusion. Excellent if you like police procedurals. And finally, I tried my first Emily Henry. I feel like I keep seeing her books popping up all over the place, and I got curious. It’s basically a romance about two friends who have been very close but are trying to deal with some friction in their relationship. It was also okay, it didn’t annoy me as much as some romance books I’ve read, but it also didn’t really stand out much to me. The best part of it was that they travel to places I know, so that was kind of cool.
Currently Reading
I’m about halfway through It’s All Completely Fine, and it is definitely one I can relate to a lot of. It’s a collection of drawings by Ruby Elliot – better known as Rubyetc online – that deal with mental illness and other complications in life. It’s honest, open, uncensored and definitely made me feel like some of the hard parts of how my brain works were being seen. I don’t have the same mental illness as her, but there’s enough overlap that I felt a strong connection. Lonely Castle in the Mirror I’m reading for the Patreon book club I just joined from AllisonPaiges’ YouTube channel. It’s my first book club book, but also her favourite book, so no pressure or anything. And I’m practicing annotating with What White People Can Do Next, so it’s going really slowly despite being a tiny book. Which basically means there are so many important and insightful passages that I’m annotating more than I’m reading!
Up Next
As always, who knows, but I’ve been saving Heartstopper 3 (and 4) for this week as my kid is going back to school and I’m feeling very stressed and a bit sad. So it’ll be good to have something easy and feel goodish to dive into. I’m curious about Year of the Tiger, as I’ve heard some great things about it. It’s a memoir by Alice Wong who is an activist who works for the rights of disabled people. I have another of her books on my shelf as well, but I feel like this might be a better place to start for me. I’ve been on a graphic novel kick lately, so I did some looking around and found Sheets, which looks like it could be a lot of fun! And finally Night of the Living Rez I’ve heard talked about (mostly by Greg at Supposedly Fun), and it piqued my interest. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle it this week, but I’m going to give it a try!
Okay, that’s it for me this week! Have you guys read any of these? If so, what did you think (without any spoilers, please!)? What did you read in the past couple of weeks, and what are you reading now?
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.
Same here with Woman in the Window! Did not think it was anything special. (Plus, found it very annoying that the male author uses only his initials to piggyback on this subgenre of suspense that female authors have made so popular.) The Light Between Oceans was popular with my book club, but I didn’t love it. I liked A Man Called Ove on audio, and have listened to a few of the author’s other books. I listen to all of Michael Connelly’s books on audio and have liked them all. I’ve been reading Emily Henry and enjoying her books, but think I may be aging out of them! 😉
I hadn’t even thought of that with the initials! But now I can’t unsee it, and it will irritate me forever. Yeah, I’m glad I gave it a try as it was talked about so much I like having read it so I know what’s going on in those conversations. But yeah, I was pretty bored and irritated for a lot of it, though the idea was fine and the twists were good. Oh well, on to the next! I thought The Light Between Oceans was really well written, and I liked the audio, but it was a bit of a tough read. The hits just keep coming! I loved A Man Called Ove, but the only other experience I’ve had with the author is the radio play of Britt Marie Was Here (which is excellent – it got me through a painful hospital stay!). I need to explore further! I agree on Emily Henry. This was my first of hers, and it was better than a lot of romance I’ve read as it didn’t make me cringe as often, had decent character development and was well paced. I didn’t buy a lot of the characters’ choices and I found them pretty annoying though, so yeah, definitely think I’m too old to be able to really get into them.
Nice assortment of books. All of them are new to me. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Thank you!
I’ve read very good things about A Man Called Ove. Looks like it really lives up to its promise of hope and unexpected kindness. I’d also found the blurb & cover for The Appeal very, er, “appealing” but I can totally understand why reading it in bits can spoil the experience.
I really enjoyed Ove – I’d tried it before and had trouble getting into it, but the audio was much easier. Once I got into it, I didn’t want to stop listening. Yeah, it was a really interesting book – I’ve never read something in a format like this before. I liked the idea. Some of it really just didn’t ring true to me – like it never explains who the people reading and commenting on the messages are, and I was confused about that the whole way through. Also some of their commentary is so obvious that it really didn’t need to be said, and it’s like if these people are in some kind of professional capacity, they shouldn’t be commenting in this gossipy tone saying things that really aren’t that insightful. So that bothered me, but otherwise I’d say it’s worth a try if you’re interested in it, because it definitely does do something new!