It’s been forever since I’ve joined a Quicklit link up with The Modern Mrs. Darcy! If you’re looking for some inspiration, go check out today’s post and visit some of the bloggers linking up with her. I promise, your TBR will runneth over!
It’s hard to know where to start since I haven’t linked up since last year, so I’m just going to share what I’ve read since the middle of February, as though I’ve been linking up all along. In fact, let’s pretend that I have been, shall we? Check out my Goodreads challenge page to see everything that I’ve read for the year!
Read and Loved
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah – Finally got a recommendation for this one up on my blog yesterday! This was my second Kristin Hannah book and it was heart wrenching, much like the other one that I read. Very fast synopsis: A family moves to the Alaskan wilderness to homestead. The father was a POW in Vietnam and has classic PTSD symptoms. Watching the mother and child navigate this world with a dangerous man was harrowing. And in the blink of an eye, everyone’s life changes. Keep the tissues handy. (Library Book)
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny – this would be a great Inspector Gamache to read around Halloween. A member of the community dies of fright while being a part of a séance! This series gets better with practically every installment. Warning: you might find yourself craving a roast beef sandwich with melted goat cheese and horseradish. I know I did! (Kindle)
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny – my favorite Inspector Gamache so far! This one also takes place in Three Pines and features hermits, spas, horses, and antique furniture. How perfect is that?! The end was surprising for me, I’ll be honest. The murderer was not who I expected and I was shocked. (Library Audiobook)
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson – what a charming little find! The author is a woman between the ages of 80-100 with some wise and practical advice for people of all ages. She talks about what is necessary in a home and what is just going to become someone else’s burden once we die. It was a great reminder to be thoughtful about what you accept as gifts and the things that you buy and it was FUNNY. It was a great pairing with my theme for abundance this year. (Library Kindle Book)
Read and Said “Meh”
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny – this was a good mystery – I was kept guessing until the end – but I was a bit disappointed because it wasn’t set in Three Pines. It focuses on Gamache and his wife on their anniversary. Another family rents out the rest of the hotel in which they’re staying and someone gets murdered. Suspects are limited to the people staying there given the hotel’s isolation. It was fun spending more time with Gamache, but I definitely missed the rest of the characters from the village. (Kindle)
The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell – A boat washes ashore with two murdered men and Wallander is on the case. His investigation takes him to Latvia, which is just finding its way out of communism. I have to say, it was difficult to get through this one. I only stuck with it because it was the only audiobook that I had going and I didn’t feel like digging around Overdrive to find anything else. (Library Audiobook)
The Woman in the Window – Although billed as a thriller with lots of twists and turns, I found it a bit predictable. Anna Fox is a psychologist who had a traumatic experience as an adult and now never leaves her home. She enjoys spying on her neighbors and witnesses a murder. But when she can finally contact the police, there is no body and no evidence: everyone thinks she’s crazy. It sort of had a “The Net” vibe – that 90s movie starring Sandra Bullock who was a hacker. (Library Book)
Abandoned
Redbreast by Jo Nesbo – a Swedish murder mystery that I listened to on audio but could never figure out all of the characters! I was so lost and couldn’t keep up with timeline in this format. I have the book in paper so I might go back to it, but the chances are small. (Library Audiobook)
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg – looks at how habits are changed/developed at the individual, corporate, and social levels. The section on individual habits was interesting, but I didn’t find the other two sections compelling at all. And, to be honest, even the individual section didn’t have a lot of solid advice. There was some, but it felt repetitive and not easily relatable to real life. (Library Kindle book)
The White Lioness by Henning Mankell – yeah, I think I’m done with the Wallander series for now. It might just be because they feel so dated – both this one and the one before (The Dogs of Riga) were set in the early 90s. This one was Sweden and South Africa. I missed being in Sweden full time. I want a book that focuses on coffee and blizzards only. These just lack the atmosphere that I’m craving in a good Swedish mystery. (Library Audio book)
Currently Reading
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte – have only just begun this one thanks to the most recent Classic Spin. It’s my first Anne Bronte, although I’ve read both of her sisters. I’m only a few pages in, but I’m pleasantly surprised so far! (Kindle)
School for Psychics by KC Archer – I actually started this one in January and can’t bring myself to finish it. I feel compelled to because it’s a Netgalley advanced reader copy, but it’s just not keeping me interested. When the author mentioned the “Katy and Taylor feud,” I knew for sure it wasn’t for me. I’m assuming she meant Katy Perry and Taylor Swift – how well is that reference going to age? (Kindle)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – still plugging away with this one! If you’ve been following along with my blog, you might remember that I’m aiming to read one chapter a day, which means that it should take me most of 2018 to finish. I’ve bumped that up to two chapters a day because I don’t want to spend a whole year reading a book, even if it is War and Peace. I’m about 350ish pages in and I’m finally starting to get a grasp of the characters – but we’ll see how long that lasts. I’m failing to see how this Russian novel is going to teach me the meaning of life (as, apparently, all Russian novels do), but there’s a good 700 more pages left for that. (Book)
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If you’re visiting via the linkup, thanks for dropping by! And if you’re already a friend, thank you too! Leave a comment and let me know what you think about the books I’ve been reading over the last month. And should I keep going on School for Psychics or move it over to the abandoned pile??
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