On My Nightstand June 18, 2023

Last week we had a dance recital, two parties at our house, a ton of packing for camp, and a evening talk and reception for a group I belong to. This week there’s nothing. You know what that means! Time to read!

Have a great week everyone.

Quote of the week

“A dog lives for you. A cat just lives with you.”

— The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

What I’m Reading This Week

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough - Still working on this - the epitome of summer reading.

Exiles by Jane Harper - I started this during the week, but quickly realized I would need to put it off until the weekend so I could read it all in one sitting.

End of Watch by Stephen King - Re-reading all of the Holly books before the new one comes out in the fall. She’s on of my favorite fictional characters.

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This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

On My Nightstand June 11, 2023

It’s been a stressful week here near DC. It started with a mysterious sonic boom, and ended with dangerous levels of air pollution from the Canadian wildfires. The picture above was from my metro trip into DC for work on Thursday. I have no experience with wildfires, and if I had known how much my breathing and sinuses would have been impacted I would have never gone. My thoughts go out to the people of Canada who have had to evacuate. This is just horrible.

We are in the last days of school finally, and are busy prepping for trips and camps. It’s a weird thing to do when it feels like the world is ending outside, but we gotta just keep swimming right?

In good news I have a giant stack of promising summer reading to get to, so I’m looking forward to that!

Have a great week everyone.

Quote of the week

“Fiction is the great lie that tells the truth about how the world lives!”

— The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

What I’m Reading This Week

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson - I’m not loving this one. Has anyone read it and loved it? Maybe it’s just a slow start?

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough - This is a re-read for me. It’s a chunkster, but I’m flying through. This book is perfect summer reading in my opinion.

Untangled by Lisa Damour - All of my mom friends have been reading this, and I have it cued up next in Libby.

Note: links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

Show Us Your Books December 2020

My TBR Shelf

November was a really weird reading month for me. It started with the election (no ability to concentrate whatsoever) and ended with a Covid exposure (complete cocooning with Thanksgiving food for ten people that of course we couldn’t see and tons of reading.) It was really about three months in one. So now it’s December, my house is a complete mess, but at least I have stopped scouring Twitter all night for election news and my reading mojo is back.

Three Great Books

Normally I just pick one favorite book per month, but I liked all three of these in such different ways I couldn’t choose.

Above Us Only Sky by Michele Young-Stone - This book was magical, mystical, and musical. I read it over Thanksgiving and the story of a girl being born with wings tracing the roots of her family with her cranky grandfather was perfect for that holiday.

She Come By It Natural by Sarah Smarsh - Dolly is everywhere these days! This short book about Dolly as a nontraditional feminist and business woman really made me like her even more. They tried to turn her into a boob joke, but the joke is on them.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - This Jane Austen classic is really underrated. It’s funny and Catherine is a heroine you can relate to and root for. If you’re doing a classics challenge in 2021 you can’t go wrong with Northanger!

More Good Reads

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes - This historical novel about a horseback lending library in rural Kentucky had me on the edge of my seat worrying for the ladies in the book. I really liked it, but thought the ending was rushed.

American Royals by Katherine McGee - I surprised myself by how much I liked this alternate history of George Washington’s royal descendants. I didn’t even mind when my dishwasher broke on Thanksgiving and I had to spend hours hand washing because it meant more hours with this on audio. If you read it be ready to turn to part two right away! My copy just came in from Libby and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Savage Summit by Jennifer Jordan - A non-fiction book about the first five women to climb K2. You find out in the first few pages that none survived very long after summiting, and I was left with the question of how someone can be so driven they’re willing to throw their life away to climb a mountain.

That’s it for November reads, but SUYB Best of 2020 is coming on Dec. 29! It’s been such a weird year, I’m not really sure how I can do a wrap up, but I’ll give it my best!

Linked to: Show Us Your Books and Quick Lit

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