In Which I Try To Get Organized

I’ve been obsessed with buying an old Volkswagon Bug lately – I think it’s a product of watching too much Bates Motel – which is why I chose this image for this post.  No other reason!  Although, I suppose I could argue that sharing that I want an old Bug is actually catching up.  :p

I’ve put off writing lately because this blog is a mess.  I have skipped around a lot and can’t really remember what I’ve read and what I haven’t.  So, to make me feel better, I am just going to do a really fast rundown of my 2016 reading so far.  Nothing fancy – if I have a goodreads review, I will link to it.  If I don’t, then I will put a few quick thoughts down.  And I promise that I will try my darndest to update this blog in a more organized way in the future.  I think that it will help once the summer is over.  I always feel more academic in the fall *snort*.

To preface my list, I am very pleased with the amount of reading that I’ve gotten done this year.  It’s definitely not as much as I used to accomplish before I started making babies, so that’s hard for me in some ways.  I haven’t shared on here that I was diagnosed with depression after the birth of my second son, which helped me understand my lack of motivation and inability to get anything done.  It took everything I had to get to 7:30pm each day, which is the time that I felt was reasonable to put my babies to bed, and then I’d promptly crawl into bed myself.  I’ve always been “bear-like,” which I used to laugh about, but I think that lifelong tendency to hibernate has been a symptom of depression for a long time.

I shared all of this to illustrate how happy I am with accomplishing anything lately, much less getting back to my very first passion: books.  And now I will stop my rambling and get on with the show.

In no particular order (because I have been that disorganized!!), here is my 2016 reads so far:

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen: My Goodreads review

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah: Goodreads Review

Still Life by Louise Penny: Review

The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon: review

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins: I haven’t gotten to write a review for this one, but I just have to say that this is the weirdest book I’ve ever read.  I thought that I was going to bail on it because it literally made me nauseous when I read it.  At the beginning, I could only read about 10 minutes at a time, but I stuck with it because it was getting rave reviews on Litsy.  I am so glad that I did.  It has some horrible child and animal abuse in it, but the premise of the story is so totally ludicrous that those things don’t really even feel real once you get into the meat of the story.  But what kept me reading was the description of the work that each “librarian” did.  Each person was assigned a special library (the main character’s was languages) in which they learn everything there is to know about their particular topic.  They live almost as monks and have their own person study quarters, or cloisters, which is a room surrounded by bookshelves.  There is a master library in the house, organized by topics which are signified by the color of the spines.  It’s sort of the life that I’d love to live, without the rest of the crazy crap that happens in this book. This was fabulously imaginative and I think really gets to the core of the bookworm life, except for, of course, all of the violence.

The Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia: I was inspired to read this after reading Laila’s review and I just adored this book.  I was a high school musician and could totally picture myself in this novel.  It’s the story of a group of high school students gathering for Regional band and choir concerts in a decrepit old hotel in upstate NY.  Little do the students and their chaperones know, they are gathering on the anniversary of a murder/suicide that happened in the 80s.  As the weekend begins, a musician is found in an apparent suicide just as a blizzard rolls through and cuts the hotel off from the rest of the world.  This was the story of people finding themselves, sharing their true selves, experiencing love, accepting others and loving them for who they are… oh my goodness, it was so much.  And it was fabulous!

Picture Miss Seeton by Heron Carvic: Goodreads Review

A Feast For Crows by George RR Martin: review

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: how have I not written a review for this?  I would say it is one of my favorite books.  Set in a liberal arts school in Vermont, a group of select classics students have a unique education.  Most of their classes are in the same classroom, with the same professor, and the same handful of students.  They read and study the dead languages, the philosphers, etc.  Exactly what my college education WASN’T like and I sort of wished it was!  Other than the fact that this is sort of a messed up group of people who find themselves getting caught up in dangerous rituals from which they have a difficult time untangling.  This is a great read for Fall, which is coming up soon!  This is the only Donna Tartt that I’ve read, which I need to change!  I’ve had Goldfinch waiting on my Kindle for at least a year now, but I still haven’t gotten to it!

Spark Joy by Marie Kondo: goodreads

All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda: goodreads

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: review

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny: review

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith: (JK Rowling pseudonym) I had to have a couple of chances with this one.  I got it at the library earlier this year and wasn’t able to finish it before it was due back.  Recently I downloaded it on Overdrive and devoured the audio version.  It is so different from the Harry Potter stories, yet there is a similar biting wit and references to ancient latin texts.  Cormoran Strike is a down on his luck detective who has recently broke up with his girlfriend and has had to move into his office, out of which he works as a private detective.  Robin has recently moved to London to be near her fiance and has been sent to Strike’s office as a temp.  After a series of unfortunate events, it  becomes clear that Robin is perfect in her position, but neither really want to admit it.  Meanwhile, Strike is hired to investigate the suicide of Lula Landry, a famous model who died by falling from her apartment window, much to the dismay of her family.  This investigation takes Strike into the world of models, fashion designers, makeup artists, and the people that intersect with the famous people – those that ache to become famous and those that are sickened by that lifestyle.  I definitely plan on continuing this series!

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And that is my list!  I am so sorry to bore you with all of this, but I just had to get caught up so that I could move forward.  Here’s to the last few weeks of summer and the approach of glorious autumn! 🙂