Happy Monday, friends. I feel like I barely had time to read last week, although my reading picked up on the weekend and I was able to finish the two books I started. Who knew that trying to write 50,000 words in a month will affect how much free time you have! 😉 However, like I always say, you make time for the things you love, and I still find plenty of time to read.
I’ve changed up my format a bit so now I have three sections: books finished, books currently in progress, and what I’m going to read next. 🙂
Books Finished
1) Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (★★★★★) – Oh, friends. If you have not read this novel yet, please do yourselves a favor and read it. It is potentially the best book I’ve ever read, and I don’t say that lightly at all. It’s a multigenerational story about two sisters: one is sold into slavery and shipped off to the US, and the other marries a rich Englishman in Ghana. The book follows the family line, starting with these two sisters in the 1700s and continuing through to the early 2000s. It shows the impact of slavery and all the ways a family can grow and change and evolve through the centuries. The best word I have for it is: astonishing. Astonishing in the level of detail of each chapter, astonishing in the writing style, astonishing that the author was 26 when the book was published. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
2) The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare (★★★★★) – It’s rare for me to give a romance five stars, but I couldn’t give this book anything less than that! It was total and complete perfection with two characters I rooted for from the start to the end. After the Duke of Ashbury’s face and upper body are scarred due to the war, his fiance breaks off their engagement and he has to find a new wife quickly. Enter Emma, a seamstress who comes to his home one night, seeking payment for the wedding dress she sewed – the wedding dress Ashbury’s betrothed was supposed to wear. I loved the sweetness between Ash and Emma (at one point, Ash said to Emma, “You do not like being cold. Therefore, I despise you being cold.” And I melted into a puddle.) and the way their love story naturally evolved. I’m excited to read more from Dare – I’ve heard great things about her romances and I concur!
What I’m Reading Now
1) The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (36%) – I started this novel with very low expectations, worried it was going to be slow and boring and inaccessible. However, it is not any of those things! I was hooked immediately and really looking forward to where this story is going.
2) The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary (40%) – I tried listening to this novel on audio, but the male narration wasn’t working for me. He had a thick Irish accent and the way his chapters are written (very choppy, not complete sentences, etc.), it works much better reading vs. listening. Loving it so far!
Up Next…
1) The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – Our book club pick for November, I’m excited to dive into this modern classic soon. I was going to listen to the audiobook via my library but they only offer an abridged version (which is crazy to me, as the book is under 300 pages! Why would you need an abridged version?!) Alas, I requested the print copy from my library and will dive in whenever I finish The Testaments.
2) Vox by Christina Dalcher – I downloaded the audiobook version of this novel, and I’ll start listening to it on my commutes this week. It’ll be interesting reading this alongside The Testaments – they both have a similar theme of a dystopian society where women’s rights are stripped. Hopefully, I don’t get them mixed up in my head!
What are you reading right now?
I’m glad that you loved Homegoing. That book is a book that has stayed with me. I loved it so much and am just blown away by the fact that the writer was in her 20s. Unreal. I can’t wait to see what she writes next (but oh – the pressure after a freshman novel like that!).
I finished Daisy Jones and the 6 over the weekend which was, in a word, delightful. I needed a book like that with all the stessy stuff going on between buying and selling a home. Then I started “Fleishman is in Trouble” which I have heard about on a book podcast lately. It’s about a marriage that dissolves and then the wife just disappears. She was supposed to come pick up their kids at the end of the weekend and she just doesn’t come and is unreachable. It’s definitely a bit of a dark book but overall I like it. I had a hard time putting it down last night when it was time to go to bed so I’m hoping to find time to finish it tonight.
SO glad you’re giving The Flatshare another chance — it is seriously SO worth it, I swear! I can see how Leon’s perspective might be weird via audiobook, too, especially if the narrator has a thick accent. Seriously, this was one of the most surprising books of the year for me. I hope you love it!
I’m currently reading The Bromance Book Club. As in, I started it last night. Another book I have seen a bit of buzz about so I wanted to check it out. On Kindle,I have been picking away at I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown. Picked it up on a sale a couple weeks ago and it’s been pretty eye opening.
(also, totally feel you re: the balance of writing and reading. I, too, am experiencing a bit of this, especially since I don’t have an audiobook on the go right now!)
I added Homegoing to my Kindle (via library) after your rave review! I hope I have time to read it before I return it. My reading time has seriously been cut, too!
I am glad you are liking Testaments! I am super curious about what you think of Vox. I read it last year.
I am still reading The Nightingale! I’m at 30%. I will commute via train tomorrow and get more reading time in. I hope I can finish it before it’s due!