It's Monday, June 8th! What Are You Reading?

I am freaking all over the place! Sometimes I think it’s a good thing, and other times I don’t. Right now? Not so sure but this is what’s been going on in my reading world since last we spoke. Oh my! I just looked back and I haven’t shared books since May 11th! I am a very bad girl.

I finished:

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain. I did enjoy it. If you like light stories about booksellers, discovered journals, searching and looking for love, this may be for you. Again, it is a bit on the fluffy side.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. I have spent much time trying to find the proper words to describe how this book made me feel and how I felt about it. Heartwarming, happy, comfy family feelings. Insightful. Nostalgic. These are some of the words I found. It is an exceptional book of free-verse poems of the author's childhood, and growing up between two places she calls home. It's about lifelong friendship, too. I would read it if I were you.

Damage by Josephine Hart. Do you feel like squirming in your sit with discomfort, a book that darkly draws you into a man’s complete obsession and inappropriate relationships abound? If yes, do it! I don’t know what it says about me, but I really liked it. I discovered there was also a movie made with Jeremy Irons and Juliet Binoche. 

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff. You simply must start with 84, Charing Cross Road (which I talked about here before) then follow it up with this. “84” tells of a friendship between a book lover and a book seller through letters from New York City to London. “Duchess” lets us visit London with Helene as she finally meets here friends face-to-face. I did NOT want this to be over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am in the midst of reading:

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison (essays)

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg

Tell me what’s going on in your reading world! I always love reading recommendation!

It's Monday, May 11th! What Are You Reading? (Long Overdue)

Apparently I haven’t updated my reading list here since April 20th! Yikes! At that time, I was reading feverishly, but since then…well, life. (All photos courtesy of Amazon.com)

I have completed:

I LOVED this book! The writing is fantastic. The story is compelling and touching and will having you thinking about what it means to be human! Do NOT read reviews prior to delving in because there is a surprise element that, trust me, you will not want to know ahead of time!

My first collection of poetry. It broke my heart into a million tiny pieces (in a good way) and I will never be the same again. No other poetry collection will ever compare! That is until I find another of equal caliber. Simply stunning! A shout out to Rebecca at Book Riot for recommending this book!

This is what I said on Goodreads about this book:

"Translated perfectly from its native Italian; this novel is darkly stunning. The writing is gorgeous. It recounts a spiral; the depth of which I hope to never know though I could imagine it happening in a perfect storm of events. The souring of a marriage, betrayal, and its aftermath. Then mix in children. How would we pick up the pieces of our lives? It is at once stark and surprising, and touching and tender, but scary. It had me nervously awaiting what was coming next. A very visceral experience. My gut tells me to rate this 5-stars." 

Here’s what I AM reading:

As I pulled up the covers to snuggle in bed last night, I picked up...

And today, I will finish listening to...

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It has been an awesome week/weekend for reading mostly because of one little book. Of course, I will tell you why.

I was talking with a friend on Saturday morning, which happened to be a gloriously gorgeous day here in the city. Chicago, that is. Swimming pools and movie stars... Oh wait, that’s Beverly Hills! We both expressed interest in epistolary books. Books in the form of letters. (To this day my hands down favorites are the Griffin and Sabine series by Nick Bantock. Have you read them?) And I am not sure how I found this little tome, or why I had never read it before because it is so totally me. 

Any way, I decided to go for a very long walk, probably 6 miles, to take in the sunshine and some solitude, choosing to stroll through the neighborhoods instead of along the lakefront. Almost gave up once at the furthest distance from home and hailed a cab. But at precisely that decision point, I saw a bookstore. Ahhhhhh! It beckoned me through its door. (It is here I will admit that this particular place was probably on my radar the entire time.) 

And success!!!!!! It is an old title, and if it hadn’t been a perpetual “staff pick”, it wouldn’t have been on the shelf. Have you read…

Check it out on Goodreads. For me, it was simply stunning.

In other book news, I finally finished…

It is primarily about a single guy, a wannabe writer in NYC, and the many iterations of his relationships. Kind of a Mars/Venus perspective, in a way, accentuating the differences split along gender lines. It's just not that simplistic, though, is it?

I had this to say on Goodreads: “I am still digesting this book, and wondering why I liked it so much to easily give it 4-stars. I think because it made me feel. Something. Even though that "something" wasn't completely positive.” 

So I did like it. But not all the time. I did think it was very well written. There was some interesting insight into the psyche of a young, single man and relationships. Some of it felt awfully familiar. While I wasn't crazy about him either, his character felt real to me. Was it because he reminded me of someone specifically? I don't think so, but I have seen plenty of those characteristics/traits in a lot of men just not so much wrapped up all into one. I never like generalizations and this felt a bit like that. Not all guys are like this. Not all women are like that. Or whatever, if that makes sense at all. What rang true was the protagonist's desire to do just so much talking. My husband is like that. He doesn't want to dissect and re-hash every little (or big) thing. For that matter, neither do I. If you read it, let me know what you think!

I am digging back into a book of shorts stories…

And will probably pick back up Lila by Marilynne Robinson…again! But maybe I should just go ahead and read Gilead, instead. What do you think?

Listening to...

It’s Monday! What are you reading?