Hi, friends. How is everyone doing today? The weeks feel weird and meandering right now. But at least we have books, right? I’ve had to adjust my upcoming TBR list (I keep a running list of the next 10 books I want to read in my reading spreadsheet) since my library has closed so books I would normally place on hold to pick up, I either have to try to borrow through Libby or get through Amazon. And if there are too many e-book holds or the Kindle price is too much (I try not to spend more than $6 on Kindle books) for the book I want to read next, I have to go to the next book on my list. I’m trying to be proactive by placing lots more e-books on hold through Libby. I’m also not sure what’s going to happen with my account with Hillsborough County Public Library, as my card is due to expire at the end of the month! (This is the account that I pay for since I don’t live in Hillsborough County.) I am assuming libraries aren’t enforcing renewals right now, so we’ll see what happens. Fingers crossed I can still check out books—the selection through Hillsborough’s system is 1000x better than my home county’s system.
Books Finished
Shacking Up by Helena Hunting (★★★★☆) – I really enjoyed this contemporary romance, although it definitely needed a stronger edit. A 450+ page romance novel is too damn long! In the novel, we follow Ruby, an aspiring theater actress who has fallen on tough times and is about to be evicted from her apartment. Ruby’s best friend introduces her to Bancroft who is leaving the country for five weeks and needs someone to stay in his penthouse apartment to take care of his pet ferret and tarantula (shudder). This gives Ruby some time to find a job and an apartment without being homeless. I loved everything about this novel: the setup, the dialogue between Ruby and Bane, and the way they fell in love. Also, I really want a pet ferret but I don’t think the girls would go for it, alas.
Every Wild Heart by Meg Donohue (★★★☆☆) – Ever read a book and thought, “That was fine, but I’m not going to remember reading this book in a few weeks?” That was this book for me. It was… fine. Just fine. It follows Gail, a single mother, and her daughter, Nic, who is fourteen. Nic falls off her horse one afternoon and hits her head. When she wakes up from a coma a few hours later, she’s a new person. Her ever-present stutter is gone and she’s replaced her shy, scared personality with one that is confident and brave. The chapters alternate between Gail’s and Nic’s perspectives as Nic becomes someone Gail barely recognizes, but it’s hard to deny that her daughter’s new personality is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s one of those easy reads that could be a good palate cleanser if you’ve read a ton of dark, heavy reads in a row—just don’t expect it to be life-changing in any way.
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton (★★★★★) – What a powerful, powerful book. Anthony Ray Hinton was found guilty of murder in 1987 and spent almost 30 years on death row before being fully exonerated. There was zero evidence linking him to the murders—his only crime was being poor and black. Throughout this book, Hinton talks about life on death row, humanizes his fellow inmates, and shows the resilience of the human spirit. It’s a hard, harrowing book but I’m grateful to Hinton for sharing his experience.
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (★★★★☆) – On the day that Evvie was planning on leaving her husband, he is killed in a car accident. And so begins a year of trying to be a proper grieving widow while at the same time feeling very little sadness for his death. As the story begins, Evvie is trying to figure out life after widowhood and her best friend Andy asks if one of his friends could rent out the apartment at Evvie’s place. This friend turns out to be the star pitcher of the New York Yankees, Dean, who is taking time off from sports after losing his ability to pitch. As it turns out, these two housemates need each other more than they realize. Dean helps Evvie come to terms with her marriage while she helps him come to terms with his self-professed failures. It’s a lovely novel with such witty dialogue that I couldn’t help laughing out loud in places. It’s the perfect quarantine read!
What I’m Reading Now
I’m currently reading Castle of Water by Dane Hucklebridge, which is one of those stranded-on-an-island-after-a-plane-crash novels. The writing is stunning! The story itself is just okay—I’m waiting for it to really pick up—but man, the prose is so beautiful that I don’t even care, haha.
I’m also reading Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai, a contemporary romance novel. I’m dipping in and out of this one as I read Castle of Water. I’ve only read 15% and I already want to drop all of my responsibilities to curl up in bed and read it.
What are you reading?
That stinks Every Wild Heart was such a dud because it sounds like an interesting premise! The Sun Does Shine sounds like a must read! I had heard good reviews of Evvie Drake Starts Over!
I hope the other library extends your card renewal date! Our library extended my due dates, and I am really hoping they keep those hard copies there for me that I had waited so long on and all came in the day they are always closed (Friday GRRR) and then they closed temporarily that Saturday.
Did your Libby extend the amount of holds and books you can have out? Ours did! But the ones I want are still hella long waits of course, which is why I had requested the hard copy.
I just tried to buy a book on Amazon for a friend and it was not going to come for a month. I wonder if that’s all books or just that one. I had to get it on Target instead, but then it was a fiasco to find anything else they’d ship me to go with my order. 🙁
I am putting so many holds on ebooks through my library. It’s overly ambitious because I am a slow reader, but also some of them say the hold period is at least 8 weeks, so… that’s a long time to wait!