Weekly Reading Thread: August 18-24

I was on vacation, and got a bunch read!

During the 1000 mile round trip drive I listened to “That Night” by Chevy Stevens. Loved it. I’ve actually read the book a couple years ago, so I wanted to listen to a story I could follow easy while driving. I love Chevy Stevens books.

I read “the Gifted School” by Bruce Holsinger. I’d give it a 3/5. Nothing wrong with it, but I thought it was a little slow.

“The Best of Me” by Nicholas Sparks. 5/5. Nice quick read, typical ups and downs that he’s good at. It’s been on my shelf for a while, so I grabbed it for vacay knowing it would be easy.

“Turn of the Key” by Ruth Ware. 4.9/5. I wished there was an answer at the end about one thing. But otherwise it was suspenseful and kept me going.

Now I’ve started “Ghosted” by Rosie Walsh. I think I just hit the point where I’m hooked and the rest will go quicker. Maybe about 70 pages in?

I'm reading The most fun we've ever hadby Clare Lombardo. It's long and I'm almost finished. I'm loving it. It's a very character driven novel and the writing is great in a way that you can relate to so much. I'll be sad when it's over.

I finished Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel. Mantel wrote Wolf Hall and Bringing Up the Bodies. Giving Up the Ghost is a beautifully written memoir, about her post war upbringing in England w/ a demanding and sometimes cruel stepfather, and her later struggles w/ serious medical issues and infertility. I slogged through the first few chapters, but really became engrossed in the story about 1/4 of the way into the book.

I am now reading Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman. It's a good, easy to read mystery. I'm about 1/2 way through the book and I think I've got it figured out, but we'll see.

I have not posted for a long while - busy summer. Here are a few highlights from the last few months.

Recursion by Blake Crouch - Back and forth in time and trying to prevent world collapse. A great engaging read!

Summer of 69 by Elin Hillerbrand - Great story that melds the real life events of the summer of 69 with the story of one family.

Keeping Lucy by T Greenwood - A woman is forced by her husband and father in law to give up her Down's Syndrom baby in the late 60's and how she tried to correct that mistake.

Past Perfect Life by Elizabeth Eulberg - A high school girl's world is shattered when everything the believes about her life is proven to be a lie.

I finished Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. This book was poignant, uplifting, sad, and an extraordinary coming-of-age read. I teared up as I read the epilogue. 5/5 stars

Now I'm reading Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle. I'm only a few chapters in but it has me hooked.

I finished Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Anker and gave it 3 stars which I apparently liked less than many of the Goodread reviews. It's about a mid-forties couple's divorce and mid life crisis. I found there to be some interesting commentary on marriage and I found the parts that dealt with inequality of the sexes to be too preachy. Ultimately I found the characters way to narcissistic to feel any empathy for their situation.

Just started First Sandra Day O'Connor for book club, it's the first biography I've read in years. Thinking I'll break it into chunks and read some fiction in between.

I finished The Perfect Nanny (based on the nanny murder of two NYC children) it was OK and now I am still reading We Were The Lucky Ones. 

I'm also reading a linguistic history of food and menus haha.

I’m reading a book for work called Clarity First: How Smart Leaders and Organizations Achieve Outstanding Performance by Karen Martin

I’m only a few chapters in, but so far it is really resonating. I know that sounds like cheesy business lingo, but I’m really into it so far. It might be because the topic is quite timely in my professional life/world right now.

I recently read The Final Girls by Riley Sager. A mystery thriller about 3 girls who were the final ones left in each of their own attacks. It was good and he/she is a good writer.

Now I’m reading A Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman. I love her work and haven’t read one by her in a long time. This book is a bit different since there are two main characters and a bunch of different points of views from people they are in contact with. It’s a mystery and only about a third in but so far so good!

I read a couple of books, but nothing worth mentioning. I have a bunch of good books on the wait list for Kindle, but I may just have to read a "real" book.