I had a great month of reading! I know some of you read way more than I do, but seven books for the month was good for me. I really enjoyed MOST of the books I read. I already talked about Yesteryear (I did it AGAIN! Typed “yesterday” and had to change it- how many times am I going to do that???) It will be one of my top books of the year.
I also enjoyed this one that SHU recommended:
It wasn’t a page-turner like Yesteryear- rather, a quiet, gentle, really good book. Various people are grappling with life issues and find themselves at a library, where the librarian mysteriously is able to guide them to a book that helps them turn their lives around. One thing I really liked was, after the people described their problems, she would make a little encouraging comment about what they were already doing well. “You managed to find employment, you go to work every day and you can feed yourself. That’s a fine achievement.”
I’ve decided I want to be like that librarian! Whenever possible, I try to point things out to my clients like that. “Well, the good thing is you’re walking every day!” or “You took the first step and went to the doctor- that can be hard.” We’re always so focused on what we need to do better, but life is hard enough. Sometimes it’s nice to hear about something we’re actually doing right.
Here’s a book that didn’t work as well for me:
It’s frustrating, because I can’t exactly explain WHY. It’a about a midwife in the late 1700s. I liked the setting (Maine, when the US was a brand-new country), and it’s a mystery. I should have loved it, but I just didn’t. There was something about the writing style… it was based on the diaries of a real woman, Martha Ballard. Maybe I wanted it to be more historically accurate? Or less? Somehow it fell in the middle for me, with a plot that stuttered along. I did like what happened to Joseph North at the end though (HA!)
For June, I have a few reading goals. One is to read Big Time:
I own this book and love Laura Vanderkam, but somehow have not started it. Every time I start to pick it up, I decided I want fiction (which is almost always the case with me). I’m sure this book is fun and easy to read, and I’ll get a lot out of it once I finally start.
I also took this quiz, Which classic should you read this summer? I got Mansfield Park, and I’m up for a reread! It’s been a long time, and I love Jane Austen.
Lastly, I’m finally going to read James after seeing Stephany’s review. Everyone seems to love that book, and they have it at my library. But first I have to finish this, another classic I keep hearing about but have never read:
That’s it! I went way off topic for this week’s Tuesday Topics, oops. Next week’s topic: How do you find balance during summer chaos?
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Have you read any of these books?
24 Responses
I haven’t read any of these! I am glad to hear that you liked Yesteryear. Off to read your review!
Wendy, you MUST read Yesteryear!!!!! And then I want to know what you think.
I want to read What You Are Looking for is In the Library – for some reason I thought it had cat deaths in it and didn’t want to read it, but I’ve been assured it doesn’t! I have enjoyed the author’s second novel, too! I hope you have an equally good June of reading!
NO! No cat deaths, I promise! I didn’t know the author has another book- I’ll have to look for that one.
I think you have the wrong link.
I did enjoy Frozen River. I plan to add Yesteryear to my long list.
I read a little everyday. My only goal. No idea how many or which. lol
YEP! I had the wrong link. I fixed it now, after everyone already tried to link up and ended up totally confused.
I hope you read Yesteryear, and then I want to know what you thought about it!
I did the quiz – Mansfield Park recommended. Maybe its the standard recommendation for tired moms who just want quiet reading time?
Ha. Well, I definitely want quiet reading time. Maybe we need to do a buddy read.
I’ve been seeing pictures of Yesteryear all over Instagram recently so after you mentioned it I hopped over to Amazon to read the review. Annnd I ordered it! 😉 I’ll have to let you know what I think.
YES! It was actually so much better than I thought it was going to be- definitely lots of interesting twists and turns that I didn’t anticipate.
I keep seeing recs for Yesteryear. Time to see if I can read an excerpt and make a decision.
I took the quiz and also got Mansfield Park! I read it for college a hundred years ago in a Victorian Novels class. Austen is not my favourite (I’m more of a George Eliot girl), but maybe I’ll reread it and see how I like it as an older lady.
Yes, read an excerpt- you’ll get a good idea if the book is for you. I thought the premise sounded dumb and predictable, but then I read an excerpt and knew I would like it.
Maybe we need a Mansfield Park summer book club!
I liked but did not love The Frozen River. It really dragged for me. We read it for book club a few years ago and most really liked it. I do like that it was based on a true story, though.
I have Big Time, too, and need to start it. I need to get back to reading a physical book while the boys watch their pre-bedtime show.
Reading 7 books in a month is A LOT!
Yes, I can’t really say why I didn’t like it- I felt like I SHOULD have liked it. It was interesting. But yes, it somehow dragged. I would find myself reluctant to pick it up and read again, and considered DNFing. I’m glad I finished it, but I just didn’t love it.
I read Stephany’s post and I’m now looking forward to reading James too. Right now I’m reading Everything I need is in the library- or whatever it’s called. It is a sweet book. I picked it based on Birchie’s recommendation.
I just got James from the library! I’ll definitely read it this month.
I really enjoyed Stephany’s review of James. I read it last year, and went to an author reading (our county library system selected it as a book club for the county). I loved it, so good. I think you will too.
I also love We Have Always Lived in the Castle. So strange and kind of stilted, not current fiction at all, but really good.
I took the quiz to see if I also would get Mansfield Park (since everyone else was), but no, I got The Enchanted April. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll read it, I never have.
I was starting to get suspicious that the only answer to the quiz was Mansfield Park, but my husband got Great Gatsby. I’ve never read Enchanted April but it’s supposed to be good! You should read it and report back.
Well, this is handy! I took the summer classics reading quiz even though I haven’t read a classic in a long time and am not really interested, and it picked The Enchanted April. That was a book that I LOVED in college and recently surfaced in the blogosphere. Point taken!
Frozen River is a book that I’ve heard of but never got around to, and I feel like it’s going to stay on the never got around to list. Yesteryear and Library tho…two very different books that HIT. Yesteryear was (IMO) very clever and the experience of reading Library was like getting a massage.
Ha, that’s a good description of Library. So you loved Enchanted April? Maybe I should read it! After Mansfield Park of course.
I really don’t enjoy nonfiction. I want to lose myself in a story.
We Have Always Lived In The Castle was a pretty popular movie, too. I think I would like to read that one!
It was good! Kind of an odd book, but interesting, and short. I also always want to read fiction- I want a story!
I took the quiz and got Mrs. Dalloway! Maybe I will try it. I’ve never read anything by Virginia Woolf.
I’m glad my review of James made you want to pick up the book. I hope it works as well for you as it did for me!
I also didn’t love Frozen River- I was really excited for the midwife point of view, but I felt like that wasn’t even really part of the plot? I don’t know why I didn’t like it, either. But I also didn’t like Yesteryear, so there is that.