Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.
Last week’s reading was…odd. I managed to pick the right book to recover from Did You Ever Have A Family (check out my new feature on book hangovers and recovery books: Alcohol & Advil), but then fell into a book hangover after the successful recovery book! I DNF’d a book most people have loved and kind of DNF’d a second one (see below for a more coherent explanation of this) before finally finding my groove.
On the TV front, my husband and I tried Breaking Bad and fell in love. It’s hard to watch at times, but unexpectedly funny and I’m completely into it. And, Season 2 of Showtime’s The Affair premiered and I’m just as intrigued as I was during Season 1.
I finished reading…
Missoula by Jon Krakauer (April 21, 2015)
This book was on my list for Nonfiction November, but got bumped up because of two unexpected DNF’s. And…I’m so glad it did! It’s got me doing all kinds of thinking…and a part of me wants to write a think piece on rape and the justice system instead of a book review.
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
I tried, but wasn’t feeling…
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart (September 1, 2015)
I’m not sure what I was missing with this one, as it’s gotten really good reviews and other bloggers I trust have enjoyed it. I DNF’d at 44% after having trouble concentrating and getting frustrated with the level of (quite boring!) domesticity in a book that’s supposedly about one of the first female deputy sheriffs in the country.
I’m currently reading…
Speed Kings by Andy Bull (October 20, 2015)
Well, this was originally one of last week’s two DNF’s. I put it down at 14% because it read like the society pages of 1920’s St. Moritz rather than an Olympics/sports book. But, after some prodding (which is a whole other story), I skipped ahead to the 35% mark and got interested in the background on the Lake Placid Olympics, so I’m basically killing time with it until City on Fire comes out tomorrow.
Next up are…
City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg (October 13, 2015)
This is the 1970’s New York City epic that got a $2 million advance from Knopf. I read the Prologue and really loved the writing, but have now heard from another blogger I trust that I should possibly lower my expectations. We’ll see if it ends up being worth that $2M and its 944 pages.
The Three-Year Swim Club by Julie Checkoway (October 27, 2015)
This book couldn’t be more perfect for me! Nonfiction about a school teacher who trained three underprivileged children to swim (I was a swimmer growing up) in the 1940 Olympics (I’m obsessed with the Summer Olympics) for fans of Laura Hillenbrand (love!) and The Boys in the Boat (love!). Now, let’s just hope it lives up to all those expectations!
Missoula sounds very thought provoking. I know it would make me angry but I think I need to look for it. I tried The Three-Year Swim Club but the arc I had was so riddled with errors it drove me to distraction. The author tweeted me to wait for the “second pass” arc but I never got one so I haven’t gotten back to the book. I’ll be curious to see what you think of it.
Oh no! So disappointing about Swim Club! I hope the story has potential beyond all the errors. I don’t have an ARC, so will be trying the finished book.
Sarah, I’m trying to piece together thoughts on Missoula, as well; there are just so many disturbing issues that he brings to light, so it’s tough to choose – very unfortunate. I think he did such a great job with this one; so glad I read (well listened to!) it. I’ll be interested to hear the backstory on your return to Speed Kings – ha! No doubt a good one! I’m excited that you’ve discovered The Three-Year Swim Club; that sounds so great!I’m about 65% through City on Fire; I’m going to hold all comments. 🙂
I’m still processing Missoula as well…really trying to think through how to approach this as I could go in a number of ways. Regardless, it was a fantastic book…glad you loved it too!
Backstory on Speed Kings…will DM you…so odd.
I started City on Fire today…the hard copy, but will switch to the e-book tomorrow once I can buy it. I’m only 10 pages in, but am intrigued. And, you have my very curious about your thoughts now 🙂
Yay! I have season one of Breaking Bad en route to me at the library. I am glad I’m not the only person that hasn’t watched it yet. I’m also now feeling guilty I haven’t read the Boys in the Boat yet.
Yay – I totally thought I was the last person! And – you definitely need to read Boys in the Boat. It’s fantastic and is proving to be the Gone Girl of the sports book world….i.e. “for fans of Boys in the Boat” or “the next Boys in the Boat”. I feel like every historical Olympic sports book is now marketed using Boys in the Boat. For better or worse 🙂
Whatever post you end up doing for Missoula I’m going to read it, so be as creative as you want. I’m seeing City on Fire popping up everywhere nowadays. I just hope it’s a good one. But darn! Nine hundred plus pages…!
Missoula sounds like a great read… I’m debating though, have a feeling it will make me very angry!
City on Fire looks great.
I definitely has the potential to make people angry. Some parts definitely made me angry. But the overall feeling I was left with was that there really is no fullproof solution for the issues he lays out.
I love Krakauer even though I’m not a big non-fiction gal. Can you do both- a piece on rape and a review? Please? Although, you’ve already said enough that I think I need to read it.
I’m just catty enough to want to know the other book you DNFed- mostly because I was on a streak myself. Thankfully, I just finished The Library at Mount Char and what a wild ride that was. Loved it but have no idea how to review it without sounding like I was on meth when I read it.
You should definitely read it…it’s really readable, more narrative nonfiction! I landed on a discussion post, which will go up most likely next week. We’ll see how it goes.
Haha – the 2 books I DNF’d were Girl Waits With Gun and Speed Kings. I briefly revisited Speed Kings (which was why it was listed under Currently Reading on Monday) but then DNF’d it a second time…ha!
I’ve heard great things about Mount Char! It seems so out there that I haven’t given it a shot b/c I was worried it would be too weird, but I should possibly rethink that. I’m watching Breaking Bad right now, so totally cool with a meth-high review – ha!
I’m curious about City on Fire. I read about the huge advance and I will be interested to see what you think!