Hosted by The Book Date.
Before last week, I was confident Commonwealth had locked up my “big Fall fiction” top spot. Then this week, The Mothers hit me in the face, so I’m thrilled to have more than one Fall fiction standout! Since finishing The Mothers, I’ve had some distractions come up at home, so I switched gears to light nonfiction. Big lesson learned this year = pay close attention to my reading moods!
I finished reading…
The Mothers by Brit Bennett (October 11, 2016)
Just fantastic. Exactly my kind of writing style, which I’m trying to figure out how to coherently describe. Review to come.
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I’m currently reading…
Hungry Heart by Jennifer Weiner (October 11, 2016)
I started Weiner’s memoir-style essay collection last week, then put it down to read The Mothers when it came out. I’m back at it and about 20% through…and it’s the perfect book for my current mood.
I tried, but wasn’t feeling…
The Eastern Shore by Ward Just (October 18, 2016)
After not finding much evidence of the story in the publisher’s blurb (or why the book is called The Eastern Shore, which is what attracted me to it) by the 30% mark, I decided to put this one down.
Upcoming reading plans…
We’ll see what I’m in the mood for, but maybe this…
Children of the New World by Alexander Weinstein (September 13, 2016)
Catherine and Shannon both raved about this short story collection exploring the impact of technology on our lives in the near future.
How was your reading week?
The Mothers is on my list… even more excited to read it now!
It definitely lived up to the hype for me!
I’m glad to hear you liked The Mothers so much! I’ll be interested in hearing more about Hungry Heart. And, I’ve heard lots of good things about Children of the New World.
The books I’ve been reading lately have been fantastic – I just have to catch up on my reviews! Sigh.
Can’t wait to hear all about your winners!
I loved The Mother’s, too. Her writing was just amazing at times. That said, I’m also struggling with exactly how to write about this book. I’m thinking I need a break from fiction soon. Hillbilly Elegy? Any other recommendation?
I’m struggling with writing about The Mothers too….the things that appealed to me most were the style, which is a pretty intangible thing to articulate in a review.
Yes – definitely give Hillbilly Elegy a shot! It’s my favorite nonfiction of the year so far!
I considered The Mothers on audio but the narration of the sample didn’t grab me. I’ll have to look for the print copy.
It was 100% a style book for me, which generally doesn’t translate to audio (for me at least). I’d definitely try it in print.
All of the raving about The Mothers makes me think I need to get to it sooner rather than later.
Have a great week!
Sooner, sooner!
Looking forward to reading The Mothers! I’m reading Run the World for my blog book club and it’s really good.
I’ve heard that one’s great!
I hope to start Commonwealth next….and I got The Mothers this week. As for the new Jennifer Weiner book? Seeing it here reminded me that I must have it! Thanks for contributing to my book buying compulsion…lol.
Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Great – hope you love both! And I’m really enjoying the Weiner book…it’s making me really respect her.
I am also loving The Mothers, should finish it today. I have the Weiner book on my shelf for upcoming non-fiction November.
That seems to be the consensus opinion! Loving the Weiner too…perfect recovery book from The Mothers.
I need my library holds to start moving so I can get the Mothers on my list!
Move, move!!! You must read The Mothers asap.
Nice looking books. I should put The Mothers and Commonwealth on my wishlist because I’ve heard so many good things about both of them. They are way outside my usual genres though. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
They’re my top 2 Fall novels for this year…and among my favorites for the year as well.
I really need to make room for The MOthers. Commonwealth keeps staring at me.
YES to both! They’re among my faves of the year!
Love the sound of Children of the New World. And yes, The Mothers. So much hype – so glad that you enjoyed it.
We’ll see how it goes, not really in my wheelhouse, but I’ve heard so many good things.
My reading week’s been excellent, and a number of my electronic library holds have arrived in the past few days, so I anticipate a wonderful reading week this week as well. I started The Mothers and adooooore the writing, can’t wait to read more!
I hope your library e-books hit the spot! And isn’t the writing AMAZING?! That was the overwhelming thing about the book for me, which makes it hard to review.
So glad to hear you enjoyed The Mothers (it’s a great one!) and really hope you get to Children of the New World. It’s such a perfect, creepy collection.
Well…I was fully planning to pick up Children of the New World next, then a library hold came in so am going to read Miss Jane instead. Will def hit Children before the end of the year though.
I just started listening to The Mothers yesterday on my way home from work. I can already tell it’s going to be good! I’m also reading We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun & Susan Mullen!
I’ll be interested to hear what The Mothers is like on audio! And haven’t heard of Tornadoes…hope it works for you!
I have Children of the New World on my list of possibilities for this weekend’s readathon!
Sounds like a perfect Readathon pick based on what people have said so far – hope you enjoy it!
I’m glad to hear you loved “The Mothers” since I’ve been on the fence about it. Both “Children of the New World” and “Hungry Heart” are on my to-read list — hope you enjoy them!
I’m a little over halfway through “A Gentleman in Moscow,” which, if I remember right, you didn’t love? I was pleasantly surprised — I was in the mood for something a little lighter but I had to get to the library holds that I know I won’t be able to renew, and “Gentleman” isn’t anywhere near as serious or heavy as I expected. I adore the Count and the lovely, whimsical writing!
Definitely jump off that fence for The Mothers!
And it wasn’t that Gentleman was super serious or heavy, it’s more that the writing style felt formal and somewhat elaborate to me. I had trouble concentrating on it.