Happy Labor Day, friends! I have had a great, low-key weekend, which extends to today! My plans for this Labor Day are to stay at home, get some stuff done around the apartment, and maybe watch too many episodes of Schitt’s Creek. 🙂 It doesn’t look like Hurricane Dorian is going to affect us here in the Tampa area (thank goodness!) and it might even miss Florida’s coastline completely. Fingers crossed! Dorian has already wreaked immense havoc in the Bahamas as it landed as a Cat 5 hurricane yesterday afternoon, which just breaks my heart.
It’s hard to transition from something as tragic as a natural disaster to book reviews, and yet I am going to. Let’s dive into my reading recap for this past week. I finished two books and abandoned one (Peace Like a River – I’m hoping this was a case of reading a book at the wrong time and maybe I’ll try to read it again at another time. It just wasn’t holding my attention so I gave up after 75 pages.) Here are the reviews for the book I did finish:
I Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott (★★★☆☆)
This essay collection fell a bit flat for me. I don’t know if it was because so many of her essays centered around parenting and perfectionism, two topics that I can’t relate to, but I found myself half-listening to the audiobook while I drove. I think this collection would appeal mostly to mothers but for me, it was kinda forgettable.
At Last by Jill Shalvis (★★★☆☆)
I enjoyed this romance, but the writing felt overly cheesy at times. It followed the story of Amy, a waitress at a diner who had a fairly traumatic childhood and ended up in Lucky Harbor after reading a journal of her grandma’s, who spent a summer in the town. And it followed the story of Matt, a forest ranger who came to Lucky Harbor after his marriage fell apart. The internal motivations of both characters felt a little contrived, and I am tired of romance authors who think the way for a person to heal their trauma is to fall in love. Amy needs therapy, not a boyfriend. I expect better from this author, so this one was a bit disappointing.
What I’m reading this week…
> Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. I’m halfway through this incredible nonfiction account of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, written by the journalist who uncovered the scam, and it’s so hard to put down!
> The Hooker and the Hermit by Penny Reid & L.H. Cosgrove. I’m a few chapters into this novel, and the male MC is creeping me out, honestly. I really love the female MC, though, so I’m sticking it out for her.
> Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin, on audio. I am stoked to listen to this novel, which is a Pride and Prejudice retelling with Muslim characters. I hope it lives up to my expectations!
What are you reading?
“Bad Blood” is easily one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read. It’s fascinating!
I can see how “I Miss You When I Blink” fell a bit flat for you. It’s definitely very parenting focused. I liked it but I”m a type-A perfectionist mom! I also read and loved Bad Blood. That will go down as one of my fave books of 2019!
I finished “Waiting for Tom Hanks” over the weekend which was ‘just ok.’ It was pretty predictable, which I get is a trend for romance, but it was a little meh. It did make me want to watch You’ve Got Mail, though! Now I am reading “Hum if You Don’t Know the Words” which is a fiction book set in South Africa during Apartheid. Definitely a heavy subject so I will need something light after this!
Hi, Found your blog through Kim Has the Runs. I am currently reading “The Boston Girl” by Anita Diamant, the author of “The Red Tent”. I am thoroughly enjoying it.