Hi friends! Happy Monday. I have some fun plans this week so things are looking up over here. 🙂
Last week was a so-so reading week for me. I am very upset to report that I abandoned A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles after 150 pages. You guys, I thought I would love this book and it is so disappointing to have abandoned it. But I was just so damn bored by it. I thought the writing was overwrought and the Count not nearly as charming as I imagined. I am a firm believer that what works for one reader doesn’t work for another, which is why I freely abandon books that aren’t working for me. This one wasn’t doing it for me.
I ended up finishing two books last week and I liked both of them:
The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson (★★★★☆)
The second book in the Truly Devious series was just as wonderful as the first! I am really loving this series, although I feel very weird about the love story accompanying the overarching plot. Am I supposed to be rooting for these two? I hope not. I won’t get into the details of the plot, as they can be a little spoiler-y if you haven’t read the first book in the series. Suffice it to say that I loved being back at the boarding school with these characters and truly enjoyed the mystery and the way it was solved. The ending was a little confusing (I was washing dishes while I finished up the last few minutes of this audiobook and was like, “Wait, what?” when it was over. I had to rewind to listen to the last few lines again to make sure I didn’t miss something.) I’m excited to dive into book 3 soon!
A Beastly Kind of Earl by Mia Vincy (★★★☆☆)
This historical romance had a fascinating premise: Thea has to pretend to be her sister for a few days so that Helen and her beau can elope (his father doesn’t approve of the union and won’t let them get married). As she’s pretending to be Helen, Thea has a chance encounter with Rafe, an earl who knows that Thea is pretending to be her sister. Rafe needs to get married soon so he can come into a tidy sum of money, and he’s thought of the perfect plan: if he marries Thea, their marriage will be invalid. Once his money is in hand, he can unmask her, pretend to be upset, and send her away. Thea, for her part, will come into her own sum of money if she gets married so it truly is a win/win situation. The perfect plan, right? Of course not—this is a romance novel! After Thea and Rafe marry, they begin to realize their true feelings for one another and, like any romance novel, fall for one another. There was a lot to love about this novel but there were times when Thea veered into manic pixie dream girl territory and times when the language in the story didn’t match the time period (the phrase “win some, lose some” kept being uttered but by my very light research, I don’t think this was a very popular phrase in the early 1800s). I also felt like the ending was a little all over the place and quite silly. All in all, a romance novel that I enjoyed but not as much as I enjoyed the other Mia Vincy book I read (A Wicked Kind of Husband, which was a 5-star read).
What I’m Reading This Week
- How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love by Logan Ury (print) – I am finishing up this book, which has been so much more helpful than I imagined it would! I may have a blog post brewing about the lessons I’m taking away from this book.
- Yours to Keep by Lauren Layne (e-book) – I’m looking forward to picking up this contemporary romance from one of my faves.
- Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala (e-book) – I’ve had this book on my Goodreads list for quite a while and decided to pick it up when I realized I’ve been reading a lot of books by white authors lately. There was no wait for the e-book through Libby, so I’m hoping this is a good read.
What are you reading?
I also gave up on A Gentleman in Moscow. Totally boring. However, I didn’t give up on The Maid, made it through and decided it was “Ok”. Also made it through Funny You Should Ask. Maybe I’m just in a mood, but I haven’t loved any of my recent book choices.
I’m sorry you didn’t love The Maid! That might be one of my favorites of the year, but you may have to be in a specific mood for it.
Reading funks are no fun! I hope yours gets better soon. <3
I’ve only read “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles and I remember slogging my way through it and swearing not to ever read Towles again. All this excitement over “A Gentleman in Moscow” made me want to reevaluate my anti-Towles stand, but I haven’t read a persuasive argument to read it yet, so I’ll be over here not reading it.
I listened to Rules of Civility and really liked it. Maybe listening to A Gentleman in Moscow would have been a better decision, but it’s an 18-hour audiobook and I don’t have the patience for that! My thoughts: You don’t need to read AGiM. It’s not worth it!
I am not surprised you abandoned that book and there is nothing wrong with that! When you mentioned you were reading it I was like “will Stephany like this…?” LOL.
I need to reread my review of The Vanishing Stair to remember the story!
I am so glad How to Not Die Alone has been helpful!
I am reading That Summer.
Ugh, DID NOT LIKE. I had such high hopes for it, too, so it’s a very disappointing DNF for me!
I need to know: Are we supposed to be rooting for the love story in the Truly Devious series? Because I do not like the guy at all!!
I haven’t read A Gentleman in Moscow, but I am also fully in favor of abandoning a book that isn’t doing it for you. There are too many books in the world to waste time on books you don’t like!
Very glad to hear that things are picking up for you. Hoping you have a great week.
It’s always a little thrilling to abandon a book I knew I was going to be stuck behind for 10 days or longer! Haha. It feels like my reading world opens up again!
I’m also not surprised you abandoned Gentleman. When you said you were reading it, my thought was that it was probably not going to be a hit for you. I liked it but I didn’t LOVE it but I haven’t LOVED any of his works. I’ve liked some better than others, though. My MIL got us his latest book but since it’s a physical book, I don’t feel drawn to read it and I’m not especially drawn to read another book of his!
I finished “The Charm Offensive” this week and was going to recommend it to you and then I saw you already read and loved it. It was such a great book! Now I am reading “100 Years of Lenni and Margot” – a coworker recommended it to me. It’s a sweet story about a 17yo and 83yo that meet at a hospital. The 17yo is terminally ill so while there is levity and humor in the book, in the background the story is heavy/sad.
Man, I had such high hopes for Gentleman! Especially when Meredith raved about it on Currently Reading. But it was just not the right book for me, at least at this moment in time.
The Charm Offensive is one of my favorites of the year. What a cute story!