Hi, friends! Comin’ at ya on a Tuesday for my reading update—surprise! 🙂 After lamenting about my slow reading pace lately, I somehow finished four books this week. Well, it’s not all that shocking considering that one was a short audiobook (7 hours) and another was The Count of Monte Cristo, which I’ve been reading for 8 months. Hehe. Let’s dig into my reviews:
Foreplayer by Kate Meader (★★★★☆)
This was a really great hockey romance, especially considering both the male and female protagonists were hockey players. When the novel begins, Mia is training to earn a spot on Team USA’s women’s hockey team for the upcoming Olympics while Cal is gearing up for another season of the NHL. Mia’s brother (and Cal’s teammate) encourages her to reach out to Cal for extra training, which she does, and of course, sparks fly and they start to fall for each other. Unsure how Mia’s brother will react to the news, they keep things under wraps for the most part. While Mia could sometimes get on my nerves, I enjoyed the banter between the two characters and could definitely feel their chemistry. The ending was overly sappy, but I kinda loved it anyway.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (★★★★★)
Well, I have another contender for my favorite novel of the year! This book is not something I would typically gravitate to, considering fantasy isn’t a go-to genre for me, but everyone I know has raved about this book and I can definitely see why. Linus is a caseworker at DICOMY, the Department in Charge of Magical Youths, and spends his time investigating orphanages to make sure everything is on the up and up. Now, he has been put on a super-secret assignment to investigate the goings-on at the Marsyas Island Orphanage. At this orphanage, six magical youths have been classified as dangerous by DICOMY, including one child who is the literal son of Satan. Linus, a quiet man who leads a quiet life, isn’t sure he’s up to the task. What he’s not prepared for is discovering how enchanting these children—or how captivating their caretaker, Arthur Parnassus, is. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. It will make you laugh and cry and just want to do so much better for those who are deemed different or dangerous. I loved every minute I spent in this world and was so sad to say goodbye to these lovable characters.
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost (★★★★☆)
You may remember that last week I said I was going to start the audiobook of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Well, I started it and quickly stopped it when I realized the narrator was the same as an audiobook I just listened to, and her voice just grated on me. So instead I pivoted to this supremely funny memoir from the Weekend Update host on Saturday Night Live. Colin Jost isn’t someone I know very well (I only catch clips of SNL here and there, and rarely are they Weekend Update clips), but his memoir came highly recommended by a colleague and I finally decided to give it a listen this week. And I am so glad I did because it was funny and heartfelt and an all-around good time. Colin talks about his time on SNL, crazy traveling stories, and his experience of 9/11 as his mom was a first responder. There’s also a whole chapter on poop that I skipped because nahhh. I really enjoyed this memoir, though, and it is excellent on audio.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (★★★★★)
I finally finished this tome! It took me 8 months to read, but man, what an enjoyable 8 months it was. I am really going to miss spending every day with the Count and all the cast of characters. And what’s even crazier to me is that even though this book clocks in at nearly 1,300 pages, I can definitely see myself returning to this book and reading it over and over again. It was that good, and I am sure there is so much I missed during my first read-through. After Edmond Dantes is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit right as he’s about to marry the love of his life, he vows to get revenge on those who wronged him. It’s a story of betrayal, of love, of hope, of redemption. It’s perfection. The cast of characters is vast and the story arc is long and winding, but it all comes together so perfectly in the end. If you want to read this book but are intimidated by the length, please consider downloading the Serial Reader app. It sends you a short snippet of the book every day, breaking down this tome into 208 “issues” that make getting through the book so much easier. (And the app is free!)
What I’m Reading This Week
Yesterday, I started Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano, which is one of the buzziest books of 2021, I think! I am about 60 pages in and thoroughly enjoying it. I’m also dipping in and out of It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian, a queer historical romance, which has been really fun, too.
What are you reading?
I listed to A Very Punchable Face a few months ago and I loved it. I didn’t know anything about Colin going in and I don’t watch SNL, but I picked it up b/c so many people recommended it. The 9/11 chapter had me on edge because I wasn’t sure where he was going with it – I wasn’t sure if his mom had survived. At the time I was going through a really rough patch at work so let’s just say that the poop chapter was exactly what I needed to hear at the time;-)
I really want to read Count using the same approach you did. I think I will start in the new year as that seems like a good time to start a new project like that!
I’m currently reading “Malibu Rising” by TJR and am really enjoying it. It is really the perfect summer read, especially given the setting. And it’s making me laugh at and feel nostalgic for the 90s! I”m also reading The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister. I have loved 2 of her other books but I feel a little bit meh about this one so far so I”m considering abandoning it. It was a Reese Witherspoon pick, though, so I might give it a bit more time, but the beginning of the book had me so confused – I felt like I was dropped into a world w/ no background on explanation about what is going on. So the more I write about it in this comment, the more it makes me realize I need to just abandon it. I shouldn’t have to work so hard to get into a book!
Oh, YAY! I was hoping you would like the House in the Cerulean Sea. Whew. I have had my finger poised over the “Buy” button for weeks now and I was so worried it would not live up to the hype. I shall now invest with confidence. 😉
Also, I don’t typically listen to audiobooks, but that memoir sounds pretty hilarious (although I’d also skip the poop chapter… )