February!

[Rowan]

I finished The It Girl by Ruth Ware and it was good.

Not sure what's next. I just got Fiona Davis' new release by egalley from the publisher today. Definitely made my day and frankly week!!

[Blush]

I finished Ms. Demeanor by Elinor Lipman and it was cute.

Now I have The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

[kayley]

so far this month I have read In Every Mirror She's Black which is a novel written by a friend of mine, which was pretty good and also disturbing. It's about three black women who all end up moving to Sweden and whose lives interact but don't intermingle. It's a pretty scathing look at what it's like to be black in Sweden. Swedish publishing companies wanted to have it translated but also to change the story and my friend said no. She's Nigerian-American and has been living in Sweden for maybe about 15 years.

I have also read Bound Like Grass, which is part of my memoir-reading project. It was ok, but more like a series of essays than a cohesive story. i am reading these memoirs to try to get a better fix on how mine needs to be structured.

I might read another fiction book before I go back into memoir. I am thinking of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.

If anyone wants the list of all the memoirs I've read I can write them down, but so far the two I've find the most impactful have been Untamed by Glennon Doyle and All of This by Rebecca Woolf.

[Rowan]

Blush - can't wait to hear what you think of Evelyn. I loved it!

I finished a non-fiction book called Soundtracks by Jon Acuff about the things you tell yourself and how to change your inner dialogue/soundtrack. It was decent. I always feel if I take one or two things away from a book it was worth reading.

[Sílvia]

Yay, Kayley is here!

Blush, I quite enjoyed Evelyn as well! Have fun!

I finished the sequel to The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. It was ok too, not phenomenal. The first one was slightly better.

Then I tried Daisy Jones again. Nope. I just don't care about those people. I guess I'm just not into band stories, not even real ones. Plus the interview format wasn't working for me. I read about 15-18%?

Now I'm almost done with A Familiar Stranger by A. R. Torre. I'm thouroughly enjoying it, but will have forgotten about it by next week. She writes easy, fast-paced mysteries.

[Blush]

I finished Evelyn; loved it. I did figure out what was coming well before the end but it was still great.

Now I have The Heart of The Deal by Lindsay MacMillan.

[kayley]

Next up is Half a Life by Devin Strauss (memoir), and I'm going to pick one of the fiction books I have lying around to read after that, but not sure which.

also yes, I'm here. Finally, 2023 has me reading!

[Sílvia]

Blush, glad you enjoyed Evelyn!

Kayley, so good to have you here! Enjoy your reading!

I finished A Familar Stranger and now I have another fast-paced mystery that I downloaded from kindle unlimited, The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry, I think. I found out goodreads has several lists of the best books available on kindle unlimited and I'm starting to think I might go on with the subscription after the trial month. It's 4 dollars a month and it actually has a lot of treasures buried under the garbage. More in English, from what I've seen so far. In Portuguese there's more crap.

[Rowan]

Glad you liked Evelyn!

I've been in a reading rut of late. My dental hygienist (who is a big reader AND i've had forever) pointed out that my rut is likely due to stress. Lots of work stress lately so I am turning to mindless tv instead.

[Sílvia]

Sorry about your rut, Ro. I hope it's short-lived.

I finished The Best of Friends. Liked it a lot.

Now I'm reading Never Lie by Freida McFadden. I was annoyed at the shallowness and stupidity of the main character at first, but it quickly became clear that it was on purpose. Now I'm totally hooked. 100 pages in.

[Spudd]

So I finally finished The Stand! I liked it, but I felt like it was way too long. I did read the long version so I only have myself to blame, really.

Now I'm reading Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's only OK so far, but it does have the advantage of having VERY short chapters, so it's easy to manage finishing a chapter before the light goes out. I have a sunset alarm clock I read to every night, and sometimes it's a struggle to get to a good stopping point before it's too dark. Not with this book!

[Blush]

I finished The Heart of the Deal and it was ok. I liked the premise but it all seemed very surface level. The first couple chapters were bad, then it got better, but not that great.

Now I have Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. I know that will make me feel something.

[Rowan]

Blush - I couldn't get into Turtles although I've liked some of his others. Curious what you think.

I'm reading This is not a Book about Benedict Cumberbatch which is really interesting - about how women can like something/someone/etc and it be viewed as "silly". I'm not doing it justice....

In This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch, Carvan explores what happens to women's desires after we leave adolescence…and why the space in our lives for pure, unadulterated joy is squeezed ever smaller as we age.

[Sílvia]

I've just finished Never Lie. It was a bit insane but I really liked it! It was a total page-turner.

[Blush]

Rowan that book sounds intriguing. I've often thought that if the roles were reversed (in general) and sports were "for women" they'd be seen as frivolous and silly.

[Sílvia]

Don't get me started on adult men spending time and money on video games.

[Blush]

Don't get me started on adult men spending time and money on video games.

Right?!

[Sílvia]

Totally!

[Rowan]

This book talked about her colleague having all this stuff up in his cube about a football/soccer team and that was no big deal vs her's with Benedict pictures.

Granted, I wouldn't put a celebrity or anyone/anything at my cube other than my boy of course but it definitely was very contradictory. I liked it, it was a good thought provoking read.

Not sure what is next....

[Sílvia]

I read The Stepchild by Nicole Trope. Another family drama/thriller that starts with a missing child. Loved it. I mean, it was fast-paced and very entertaining. Not that I'll remember much of it next week.