Happy Monday, friends! Three more Mondays until Ireland! (My excitement level is through the roof!) My weekend was a great one, although I definitely didn’t get the amount of naps I require, ha. But I went to my library’s book sale and came away with a glorious stack of books for just $10, went out for fondue with friends to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of my girl M (<– yes, my writing partner!), and then got to take photographs of her low-key wedding ceremony yesterday. It was a beautiful weekend!
I finished one book last week and it was a great one! Don’t be surprised if you see this book pop up again at the end of the year on my “top 10 books of 2019” list!
Something Like Happy by Eva Woods (★★★★★)
When Annie meets Polly, she’s not having a good day. Her mom’s in the hospital, she’s living in a crappy flat with a stranger, and her life has basically fallen apart in all the ways it can. So, she doesn’t have time for this positive, cheerful person strolling through the hospital. Little does she know, Polly’s life has also fallen apart but she’s determined to make the best of it. Polly befriends Annie nearly immediately, and challenges her to complete a “100 happy days” project in the hopes of showing Annie how beautiful life is, even when it’s not going the way you expected it to. What I loved most about this novel was the humanity of it. It so beautifully depicted what a life is: the grief and the pain, the joy and the grace, the life and the living. It broke my heart in places, made me laugh in others, and changed me for the better. It tackled heavy subject matters in a light-hearted tone that made the book feel like easy reading. Trigger warnings abound for this book, but it’s one I want to recommend to everyone I know.
I’m currently reading…
> What Happened by Hillary Clinton, on audio. I’m 11 hours into this audiobook and I feel like I am flying through it because Hillary Clinton is an incredible narrator. (Unpopular opinion: I don’t believe that authors always make the best narrators for their memoirs/nonfiction because some of them just don’t know how to truly perform their writing.) It’s made me cry multiple times and feel sad that she’s not our president. She would have been a great one.
> The Darkest Link by Scarlett Cole. I was a bit apprehensive about this romance as it’s a tome at 450 pages, but I’m more than halfway through and loving it so much. I don’t want it to end! The author packs in a lot of plot into the pages, but it doesn’t feel like she’s trying to do too much.
> On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. While I wished I could have listened to this book on audio (especially for the rap scenes), I am just loving this novel. Angie Thomas understands how to write young adult characters better than most.
What are you reading?
I agree about some authors not being the right narrator for their memoirs. Some are better than others and it takes a performance artist to pull off a great audio book!
I finished “Less” over the weekend and felt pretty meh about it. It was a pulitzer winner in 2018 which is usually the kiss of death for me. But I was assured it was very readable and not high brow. It wasn’t high brow but it just didn’t wow me. But I wanted to see how it ended so I stuck with it. Now I’m reading the 13th Gamache book and am thoroughly enjoying it! It’s way different than other Gamache books as the narration goes back and forth between the lead up to the murder/what happened and the trial for the murder. But we don’t know who is on trial for the murder and there are other subplots happening. It makes for quite the page turner! I’ve really blown through the Gamache novels this year. I started the year with the 7th book, I think, and now I’m on the 13th book! They really do get better and better! After this I am going to read “The Masterpiece” which is Fiona Davis’s 3rd novel. I got turned onto this author by a WSIRN episode and am really loving her books!
I keep forgetting to put On the Come Up on my “To Read” list! The Hate U Give was so good, I’m really looking forward to starting this one too.
I just finished “The Home for Unwanted Girls” last night, an I’m also about 3/4 through “American War.” They’re both kind of heavy, so I need something a bit more upbeat for my next read.
Something Like Happy sounds really intriguing! I will have to add it to my want to read list.
It sounds like Hillary’s book is one that has to be listened to!
I am reading Meb Keflezighi’s newest book about the 26 professional marathons he ran and am liking the format and that it’s a quick easy read!