The Big Book Catchup

When we last talked about books, my Kindle was overflowing.  Here's how the new books panned out and what I've read since.

In order read:

Strong start but then it got boring:  The Unwedding by Ally Conde was described as "Agatha Christie meets White Lotus", and my summary is "The Wedding People with murder instead of suicide".  The protagonist is heading towards her 20th wedding anniversary and has a non refundable luxury resort trip booked, which is her husband's cue to leave the marriage and to start living the life he has always dreamed about.  Welp, someone's got to take that vacation, so she does.  She runs into a wedding party, and then there is a storm and bodies start piling up.  I liked the main character and the setup, but then I got bored when it turned into a whodunit and at that point I started turning the pages without focusing or caring.  From what I remember, the motive for the murders was highly uninteresting.

I didn't know if I was ready for it but it was a wow from the start: Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell is the book that I put off reading forever because I was so tensed up over the subject matter.  It's about a mother of young kids who leaves her emotionally abusive marriage (again) and deals with the fun issues of figuring out how to get a home and a job when you're starting from scratch (pro tip: be Irish, since it sounds like their social system is built up a lot better to handle it than ours is).

For the first 20% of the book I was gripping my Kindle nervously as the wife tried to navigate the minefield of her marriage and make her exit, and for the final 80% of the book I was applauding and cheering as she made her way.  This turned out to be a "sit down and read it in one day" kind of a book.  For something that I dreaded so much and wasn't sure if it was the book for me, it turned into an instant 😻😻😻

The hot It book that everyone loves that I just couldn't even: looking at you Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall.  I'm here to represent the unpopular opinion on this one.  When it first came out and started getting buzz, I sampled it on Libby and shrugged, but as the buzz went on I got FOMO and decided to try again.  I dunno, when a book starts with a dog being shot (for a legit reason, it attacked a sheep), I get "life sucks and what's the point" vibes, and that just doesn't motivate me to turn the pages.  I DNF'd fairly early and then indulged in the guilty pleasure of listening to the spoiler episode on Sarah's Bookshelves Live, and I feel like my initial assessment of "life sucks and what's the point" was spot on.

A fun/serious audiobook for the road: Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein.  Nicole and I got to chatting about books, and when she mentioned a memoir about a woman who not only knitted a sweater as a pandemic project but went right to the source and sheared the sheep, spun the wool, and dyed it, my gut reaction was "I need to read that".  Fast forward to me starting the audiobook and listening to the first sentence "Sheep don't look like they'd be slippery" and I was in for the ride.  My only callout is that wool harvesting and the clothing industry have some serious issues embedded in them, and the book doesn't shy away from the dark side, so it's not a light and fluffy listen.  This is kind of a spoiler, but her finished sweater is here.

A book about nothing that was about everything: Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny was another Nicole recommendation.  The best way that I can describe the book is that it was like eavesdropping on a very fascinating conversation.  It's about marriage and having a special needs kid and every other observation of the human condition out there.  I got to enjoy myself and Think Thoughts.

Cool bloggers hook cool bloggers up with good books: I'm Traveling Alone by Samuel Bjork was a Jenny recommendation.  The tittle tickled me a little, since I was traveling alone at the time, and starting with sentence one on page one through the last sentence on the last page I was hooked.  It's a police procedural and it's Norwegian, and that's about all you need to know.  Oh and it's book one of a series so I'll be back to read the rest.

A visit with an old friend: last year I was OBSESSED with the Linda Castillo Amish murder mystery series and didn't stop until I read all 16 books.  I did feel that book #16 was a weaker entry and was a little concerned that the author was running out of steam, but I needn't have worried.  Book #17 is Rage, and it delivered.  Bravo!!!

One for book club: The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali.  It's about a friendship that starts in 1950s Iran through present day.  My issue is that I was getting shades of My Brilliant Friend and wasn't buying the friendship or bonding with the main characters.  If it hadn't been for book club I think this would have been a DNF.  And then at the 70% mark it got Real Good and I was hooked.  I don't usually have this outcome when I stick with a book that isn't thrilling me, and welcomed the change.

Currently - having better luck with the latest hot It book of the summer: that would be The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett.  So far it's taken me a second to get into it every time that I put it down and come back to it, but I think this will be a winner.  I just can't wait for the road trip part to start.

Whew we are now caught up on books!  Have you read anything from this list?  Did anyone absolutely love or hate Broken Country?  Whatcha been reading lately???