Weekly Reading thread: June 25-July 1

I'm about halfway through Trevor Noah's Born A Crime and I am enthralled  

He is South African and was born to a black mother and white father during apartheid ... it was illegal and could lead to jail time ... luckily his parents did not face that ... 

The book is a real eye opener into the segregation between blacks, whites and coloreds in that country ... but really it is about his life which is heartwarming ... I totally recommend it   

I finished The Girl in the Woods by Gregg Olsen. I gave it 3 stars on GR. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher became available from my library, so I'm into and enjoying it.

I'm also reading The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes. Another enjoyable tale inspired by true events about a young Chinese girl of the late 1800's and a modern day woman whose lives become connected by an embroidered piece of fabric hidden in a house the woman inherited from her aunt.

Finished reading the Organize book by Tori Hammerly. Still reading her Cleaning book. At some points, I think the author was organizing just to organize. Overall, it was interesting and helpful. Not far enough into the Cleaning book.

Also reading Peter Walsh's Let It Go. It is not helpful for where I am with decluttering and organizing. It's geared toward those who are downsizing due to a move, downsizing a parent's home, etc...

Next up, The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.

Unfortunately, I can't find the math book I've been wanting to read. It's MIA somewhere in the house. *sigh*

Read a couple on vacation. The first was The Memory of Us by Camille Di Maio. This was about a young woman in prewar Liverpool. I think I had been attracted to this book because it was compared to Thorn Birds-that was definitely a weak comparison in my opinion. I did think it was a great story about that era, a complicated love story=just what I was looking for in a vacation read.

Then next book I read was The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel. I read another of her books last year and while it was completely different, I think this is an author that I can count on for a good read. I'm going to guess that this author probably gets reviewed in People magazine-nothing too heavy, but a good read. This takes place in modern day with the main character uncovering family history via her grandmother who has Alzheimers. This is yet another WWII story, so if that's your thing, I'd recommend this.

Currently I'm reading and really enjoying The Hate You Give. This book came up on another thread and I've got to say, it was pretty easy to get engrossed in the story so far.

I read What Is the Bible? by Rob Bell, who is a liberal pastor and writer. It's a very informally written book, which was fine, arguing against literal interpretation of the Bible and approaching the Bible as a collection of human stories written by humans. This lines up with my thinking just fine, so I enjoyed it. 

And I read Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King (talk about a switch of subject) which is a short-story collection from a few years ago. I really, really like King and especially his short stories. This was a good collection--of course I liked some more than others, and one or two had continuity errors that made me think no one edits King or even reads his stories before they go into print! But I would recommend it to fans for sure.

Right now I'm reading a sci-fi book called Redshirts by John Scalzi. I don't typically read sci-fi, but my husband likes Scalzi a lot and read this a couple weeks ago and gave it to me to read. Scalzi has written a few funny sci-fi stories, and this one is cute so far. If you're familiar with the effect on "Star Trek" where the crew members in red shirts are always the ones getting killed off by enemy aliens, while the main characters survive, then you'll get the gist of this book.

I'm reading Wonder for my little family book club. So far so good. I did see the trailer so I'm already picturing Julia Roberts as the mom lol.

I am finishing up Lab Girl and I absolutely love it!

Have you seen the Once Upon a Book Club subscription service? One of the members of the book club I belong to at the library was talking about this and I looked it up. I subscribed because I think it's such a cute idea.

Also, you can save on the first month by using these two codes: Bookables will save you 10% and 1YEAR will save you an additional 15%. You can use both codes.

If you'd be interested in signing up I'd so appreciate it if you used my referral link.
onceuponabookclub.cratejoy.com/refer/Rene-SBQHSKWK

I'm reading Before the Fall by Noah Hawley and really enjoying it. The story is about the investigation and media looking for a scoop after a private plane on it's way from Martha's Vineyard to NYC crashes leaving 2 survivors, one of which is the 4 year old son of a powerful media mogul.

I'm reading Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm- Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink . It's about what happened at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

I thought it was a great book, but a tough read. 

Yesterday I finished What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. I was lucky and picked it up at my local library's used book sale for 50 cents last week-they were having a 50% off sale. Paperbacks are usually a dollar. I really liked this book. It had a great story line and good characters except the ending left me feeling like it was rushed and not complete. Kind of like a deflated balloon. Like the last few pages were rushed for a deadline rather than being well thought out and written properly. Maybe it was just me-I've been fighting a killer migraine since last Monday. It goes away for a few hours and then comes back. I'm finished it during the "went away for a few hours". I'd give it a 3.5 as of now. Might change my mind if I went back and read the last 3 chapters another time. 

I've put several books on hold at my local library so whichever one comes in first I'll be reading next. My "To Read" list at goodreads.com grows and grows between this list and a couple of facebook reading groups I'm on. I've read more than one good review of Lab Girl on here so I think I'll add it to my goodreads list today. 

BTW, Bc2ca I also got a hardback copy of Before the Fall at my library sale to for $1.50-so happy to find that. I'd read it in the past and really liked it. 

I just finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I recommend it - especially if you liked A Man Called Ove.

I read:

Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan. 4.5/5 stars.  Great read about two sisters, Nora and Theresa, who immigrate from Ireland to Boston in the late 1950s. The first pages of the book set the stage - Nora's adult son dies in a car crash and she calls her estranged sister, a cloistered nun, to tell her her son has died. Then the book fills in the history and it's engaging. Good summer reading!

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore. 4/5 stars. I hear a great interview with the author when this first came out that piqued my interest and finally read the book. The book was more dry than the interview, which is why I knocked a star (felt a little stuffed with recitation of facts), but it's still very interesting material about women's suffrage, feminism, the birth control movement, alternate marriages, and how this all influenced the creation of Wonder Woman.

I'm currently reading Killers of the Flower. On deck I have The Book of Joan, Kintu, and The Animators.