Happy Monday, friends! I’m off work today (the day after the Super Bowl is a holiday, in my opinion) and planning a fun ladies’ day with my mom. We’re going to paint pottery, get massages, and get pedicures. Definitely a great way to spend a Monday, for sure. 🙂
I didn’t put up a What I’m Reading post last week, but I’m back in action this week with three books to review. I loved two of them and was rather “meh” on the third one.
Books Finished
The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas (★★★★☆) – The third book in the Lady Sherlock series (a gender-bending mystery series that imagines Sherlock Holmes as a woman), this novel follows the mysterious death of Charlotte Holmes’ dear friend, Lord Ingram’s, wife. He’s obviously the one being suspected of killing her and it’s up to Charlotte to clear his name. I loved this book from start to finish and couldn’t have guessed the whodunnit for the life of me. Another great mystery!
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (★★☆☆☆) – This romance novel has been getting a lot of buzz so I excitedly picked it for Book of the Month a few months ago. And… it was just okay. While I enjoyed the romance between the two main characters and thought the portrayal of chronic illness to be really powerful, the story arc was a bit disjointed and there were many times I was just… bored… with the story. I think this is more of a case of “good for you, not for me” – the story just didn’t meet my expectations for a good romance, but definitely pick it up if you want to add more diverse romance into your reading life!
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow (★★★★☆) – What a fascinating read! Catch and Kill is the story of how Ronan Farrow was able to get his investigative journalism piece revealing Harvey Weinstein’s serial sexual abuse (which includes rape allegations and sexual harassment). At first, Farrow wanted to publish the piece on TV as a special for NBC News, but his reporting quickly got squashed by the higher-ups when they learned what he was doing. He eventually took his reporting over to The New Yorker where it was published. This book is a horrifying, insidious look into a corrupt organization and the tactics powerful men will take to keep an even more powerful man happy. It sometimes veers into silly spy novel territory (this is why I dropped my rating from 5 to 4 stars), but is still an incredible read and I am so grateful for journalists like Farrow who seek the truth no matter the stakes and for the women who spoke up, laid out their trauma, and helped bring to light Weinstein’s despicable behavior.
What I’m Reading Now
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message so Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller – I’m reading this for work and it’s about as exciting as you can imagine. 😉
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – I’m reading this on an app called Serial Reader, which I heard about on a podcast. This app helps people read classic novels by delivering them in bite-sized, magazine-style issues. Each issue only takes about 10 minutes to read so it’s a great way to read that classic novel that’s been on your TBR forever. I’m really enjoying the experience of taking such a big book and breaking it into these tiny passages. I feel like it’s helping me sink into the novel and understand it better than if I was trying to read it all at once. My plan is to provide a monthly update on my progress, so stay tuned. 🙂
Headliners by Lucy Parker – New Lucy Parker! New Lucy Parker! I pre-ordered the e-book for her latest release the minute I knew about it and was so delighted when it downloaded to my Kindle a week ago. It’s so much fun—exactly what I expect from a Lucy Parker romance!
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone – My current audiobook, about a 16-year-old girl struggling with OCD. It’ll be a quick listen (it’s 8 hours) so I should breeze through it this week.
Up Next
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight – Lisa recently read and raved about this book so I thought I’d give it a try myself since I’m really into narrative nonfiction lately. I’ll start it sometime this week.
What are you reading?
OMG, Shoe Dog is one of my all time fave reads. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it.
You and another friend were reading Catch and Kill at the same time and I wondered what it was about! That sounds like a necessary book, but a hard read!
Do you read many mysteries?
That Serial Reader app sounds interesting. Is it the full book? Does it offer other insights to the writing?
I am reading the sci fi novel, Anyone, and really enjoying it!
Eeks, I hope you like Shoe Dog. I always get nervous when I highly praise something and someone else reads it! I mean, that is the point of giving something a rave review! But I feel bad if my recommendation is disappointing to others. That book is very well written and entertaining and was quite the page turner!
I’ve heard good things about Catch and Kill but haven’t felt compelled to read it… But maybe I should since multiple people have praised that book!
I’m almost done with “When All is Said” which is a book about an older Irish gentleman. In this book, he toasts to 5 important people in his life and tells his life story in the process. Canada Amber recommended it to me and it is a really fast read. I’ll finish it tonight. Then I am going to read “The Ten Thousand Doors of January.” A couple of people have raved about it so hopefully I like it, too!
I loved the writing & story & characters in “Get a Life, Chloe Brown,” but as we’ve determined by now, romance novels are not for me. It made me soooo uncomfortable!