Talk Healthy

I just finished The Girl on the Train this morning (on the elliptical). It was gripping.

Next up is Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson.

I finished "Grace" a week or so ago. It was decent, but something about the writing just seemed "off" to me. Not as good as "Bodies of Water," that's for sure.

And now I'm about halfway through Judy Blume's "Wifey." I'd read it as a teenager, and wow...I knew it was largely about sex but forgot just how much that was true! It's super good reading though, like so many of her books, and I'm really enjoying it (though it makes me sad too...and I guess grateful to be living in an era of more relaxed social conventions/expectations).

You can read on the elliptical, Blush? Man, I'd be a much happier exerciser if I could do that.

The Girl on the Train is the newest member of the "hypes I don't get" club. I hate when that happens.

I'm reading Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend. It was cute at first, but I'm starting to get annoyed. I really should stop trusting hypes and start trusting my gut feeling.

I finished The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. It was pretty good. The ending wasn't great but the overall story was good.

Now I'm reading The Witches by Stacy Schiff. I was excited for this book but I'm about 3 chapters in and BORED. I'll give it another 2-3 chapters and decided whether to bail.

I finished Somewhere in France. I t was a novel by Jennifer Robson about WWI. I will look for more by her. Amazing how many pages you can blast through in a day when you don't have the internet distracting you.

Now I have a Cathy Kelly book called The House on Willow Street.

Finished Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend. Meh. So not my thing. The idea was interesting, to have the story told from the point of view of an autistic boy's imaginary friend. But it got old after a while. And it was SO sugary. And LONG. I did not need 458 pages of that. It might have worked as a 60-page novella, though.

Now I'm torn between One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf and After You by Jojo Moyes. I think I'll read Ms. Gudenkauf. Her 2 other books I've read were very gripping, this book has been on my TBR shelf forever, plus I wanna save After You for later.

Finished "Wifey" and liked it. Her books are such easy reads. And then I started "Full Catastrophe Living" by Jon Kabat-Zinn. It's about mindfulness and was recommended by my therapist. I just barely started it last night, but it's good so far.

I sort of skimmed the rest of Witches. So dry.

Read Slade House by David Mitchell - it was excellent

Read Tour of Bones by Denise Inge - it's about this woman and her family that ended up living in a charnel house and then she ends up researching other houses and the background. It was pretty interesting.

Now I'm reading After Alice by Gregory Maguire. It's pretty good so far - wishing I hadn't read the Goodreads reviews because they are pretty bad. I usually love his books.

I finished The House on Willow street by Cathy Kelly. It was a good, gentle, Irish novel. Nothing earth shattering.

Now I have The Horrors by Charles Demers. It's an A to Z of humorous essays on awful topics. I'm halfway through, and it's good.

I finished The Horrors. Very good. Now I have a book of short stories about infidelity. They all take place in Paris, which is why I picked it up, but so far no references to any places I know, just random apartments.

Blush, Paris France or Paris Ontario?

I just finished "Should we Eat Meat" which let me tell you is EXTREMELY dry and boring. The upshot is, yes, we should eat it, but not very much, and we should only eat humanely raised meat. 25 kg per capita per year is the amount he thinks is sustainable. Now I saved you the effort of reading it.

Started "Child 44" last night.

Paris, France. R's sister and husband live in Paris, Ontario. Maybe I should ask them if infidelity is rampant there. Apparently it is here, or at least among people R knows at work.

I finished A Paris Affair. I thought it was unpleasant subject matter, but well written.

Next: When will there be good news? By Kate Atkinson.

Finished The New Neighbor last night. I really enjoyed this and recommend it highly. I think what really grabbed me was that one of the main characters was a 90 year old woman. She had quite a history!

I also read Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes. Obviously an easy quick read but I enjoyed it.

I just finished When will there be good news by Kate Atkinson. I didn't realize it was third in a series hut I will have to go back and read the second. According to Goodreads I have already read the first one, called Case Histories, in 2009. Go figure. I liked this one better than Life After Life or the follow up.

Next is The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore.

Blush, so can you read When Will There be Good News? without having read the prequels? I downloaded the sample the other day, but the previous ones are not on kindle.

I read One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf. It was good enough, 3 stars. Less gripping than the previous 2 I'd read by her. Plus she seems to follow a formula that always involves children in danger. The first one I read, The Weight of Silence, had me on the edge of my seat for several pages. The second one, Little Mercies, a little less so, and this one even less. That's the problem with formulas. You know what to expect.

Then I read After You by Jojo Moyes. I really liked it. 4 stars. Didn't love it as much as Me Before You, but I never expected to. I thought it was a terrible idea to write a sequel to that book, but having loved it so much I couldn't NOT read it. I was fully expecting to hate it, so it's a nice surprise that I didn't. But be warned: there are a LOT of pissed off Me Before You fans on goodreads.

Not sure what's next.

Blush, so can you read When Will There be Good News? without having read the

Yes, I didn't realize it wasn't a stand alone book until I went to put it on Goodreads! And I don't remember reading the first book at all, the description did not jog any memories.

Ok, thanks! And let me tell you, if I had a "don't remember a single thing about it" shelf on goodreads, it'd be the largest!

Finished Pretty Baby by Mary kubica. Loved it!!! Highly recommend. Need to find her other book.

Not sure what's next.

I finished The Admissions. Really good.

Next up: The Past by Tessa Hadley.

And I just renewed all my library books. Whee!