Happy Monday, friends! Near the start of the weekend, I was worried that I might not have any books to talk about this week – at least books I’ve finished. It was a really busy week and weekend and I only grabbed reading time in snippets, like right before bed or on my lunch hour at work. But I did end up finishing two books this week even in the midst of my crazy schedule. One was a romance (and I was more apt to pick it up this week because my anxiety was all over the place and I just needed something light-hearted) and the other was an audiobook that I listened to on my commute.
Books Finished
Title: Take the Lead
Author: Alexis Daria
Format: e-book
Published: 2017
Rating: ★★★★☆
I’ve been hearing a ton of buzz in romancelandia about this novel, and since I’m trying to read more diverse and queer romance this year, I decided to pick it up as my diverse romance for April. I was nervous because I have really high standards when it comes to romances and a lot of the books that are frequently recommended in this genre just don’t do it for me. Thankfully, Take the Lead totally delivered. The novel is basically inspired by Dancing with the Stars and involves the love story of trained dancer Gina, who has just been told that she has to make it to the finals in The Dance Off or else she’s out of a job, and Stone, a reality TV star. His family has been part of the popular wilderness show Living Wild for a number of years, so he’s a macho outdoorsman who lives off-the-grid in Alaska and doesn’t know much about LA or dancing or any of that. And, of course, these two opposites attract as Gina helps Stone open up, both with his feelings and with his dancing. I was thoroughly impressed with this debut and wanted to spend all my time in their little world. (Add to Goodreads.)
Title: Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
Author: Trevor Noah
Format: Audiobook
Published: 2016
Rating: ★★★★★
If you’ve never listened to an audiobook before and don’t understand the appeal, do yourself a favor and download Trevor Noah’s memoir. I promise you: it will be completely worth the listen! The audiobook isn’t too long (just under 9 hours) and he is a fantastic narrator. He uses voices perfectly and for me, he totally captured the spirit and heart of South Africa. I didn’t know much about Trevor Noah or his life before listening. All I really know about him is that I love him on the Daily Show and his recent comedy special was amazing. And I was blown away by this memoir. It only covered his life in South Africa (I was dying to know how he ended up in America and becoming the new host of the Daily Show, but alas, that wasn’t the reason for this book), but it was everything I expected: funny and sad and heartfelt and silly and maddening. All of the emotions! Trevor Noah truly endured a lot throughout his childhood and early adulthood, and it was astounding and heartbreaking. I highly, highly, highly recommend this book and I think it’s such an important read. (Add to Goodreads.)
What I’m Reading This Week
- Everybody’s Son by Thrity Umrigar – I didn’t really have much time for reading this week due to my busy schedule and when I did have some free time, I just wanted to read my light-hearted romance novel. Still, I managed to read 150 pages of this novel and I’m sure I’ll finish it early this week since I don’t have much going on. It’s interesting, for sure, but also makes me angry, which is why I’m less and less inclined to pick it up. (Angry in a good way…? Like, it’s bringing up emotions in me that I know the author wanted.)
- The Way Home by Cindy Gerard – My romance pick for this week! Cindy Gerard is my absolutely favorite when it comes to romantic suspense and I’m excited to dive in this week.
- Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil Degrasse Tyson – This is my nonfiction pick off my “immediate TBR” and I’m apprehensive about it. I’m just not sure it’s going to be accessible enough for me! My plan is to go slowwwww with it, maybe just a few pages a day, and really try to understand what he’s saying. That said, I’m also not averse to abandoning it if it’s not serving me. We’ll see!
What are you reading this week?
I visited some friends back in my college town this weekend and was planning to read on the bus ride there and back, but turned out to be way more tired than I anticipated and didn’t get much reading done – bleh. I’ve been reading ‘I Was Anastasia,’ which is okay so far, and ‘Bachelor Nation,’ a nonfiction insight into the production of ‘Bachelor’ shows. I work in entertainment writing and have to cover Bachelor stuff, so I’ve been so excited to read it!
My old roommate loves Trevor Noah and had his book on display in her room. I’ll have to check it out!
Those are two books that are on my TBR, so I’m interested to hear your thoughts! I’ve only watched a few seasons of The Bachelor/ette, but the show is so intriguing to me and I want all the behind-the-scenes info that I can get!
Honestly, I gave up on ‘I Was Anastasia’ less than halfway through. It was pretty confusing and vague, and jumped around in time so much that I quickly became lost – and I’m usually quite good at following time jumps and different timelines! ‘Bachelor Nation’ was definitely interesting, and it helps you look at the show with an even more analytical eye – I’d recommend it!
I am finally reading The Magpie Murders… and enjoying it, but feeling like I’ve already somehow read it. Maybe that’s a testament to the homages Horowitz is making to PD James and Agatha Christie but it also feels remarkably dreamlike, to be certain that you’ve read something but really you haven’t.
I’ve heard good things about Magpie Murders, and I love the way you describe the reading experience. Just added it to my TBR on Goodreads.
We read Born a Crime for book club and I loved it. I actually didn’t know who Trevor Noah
Whoops – pushed send again! I suck at commenting on my phone. Anyways I didn’t know who Trevor was before reading the book since I don’t watch late night tv and live under a rock. Ha. It was such a great book and I learned so much about apartheid.
I am reading ‘A Constellation of Vital Phenomena’. I got it off Libby. I have been going through my tbr sorted my rating and reading whatever I can borrow immediately as I haven’t felt like reading any of the books on my kindle.
Haha – oh, I definitely don’t watch late night TV! I just always see videos of his show shared on Facebook, so I’ve gotten to know him that way. Also – his show has a podcast called The Daily Show Ears Edition, which is fantastic. Super short, too!
We read A Constellation of Vital Phenomena for book club a few years ago, but I abandoned it because it wasn’t holding my attention. Interested to hear your thoughts on it!
Oh, I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson and I am pretty sure his book will be ‘accessible’, because I feel he does such a good job explaining complicated things to non-scientists! Have you seen his show “Cosmos”?
I watched the first two episodes of Cosmos and LOVED them, but then haven’t watched the rest of the series. Womp! I need to get back to it.
I’ve got Born a Crime on Audible but haven’t listened yet! I’m going to queue it up. 🙂
I hope you love it! It was so, so good on audio.