It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? (11/23/15)

Hosted by The Book Date.

After a break from Nonfiction November for some fiction, I jumped back into nonfiction last week, which totally turned around what was proving to be a disappointing reading week. I’m thrilled to have finished Nonfiction November on such a high note.

This week will entail lots of relaxing with family and friends, eating, a 5K Turkey Trot, and hopefully a good amount of reading. On Friday, I’m posting a Holiday Gift Guide for Book Nerds created by the insanely creative Anne Tollett of Hanover Avenue (see here, here, and here for our past collaborations). This guide will feature literary gifts that aren’t actual books…many in the home decor category. AND, a week from today, I’ll be sharing my annual Holiday Gift Guide, which includes the actual books!

I finished reading…

Concussion, Jeanne Marie Laskas

Concussion by Jeanne Marie Laskas (November 24, 2015)
Oh my gosh, ya’ll, this book was such a fantastic surprise for me! It’s my favorite nonfiction of 2015 and I’m posting a full review tomorrow.
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

I’m currently reading…

Nightingale, Kristin Hannah


The Nightingale
 by Kristin Hannah (February 3, 2015)
This was the hands-down winner of my very informal poll from last week’s post about what book I should read next from my “must at least try before the end of the year” list. I’ve only read the first 70 pages, so don’t have a solid opinion yet.

I DNF’d…

The Fishermen, Chigozie Obioma


The Fishermen
 by Chigozie Obioma (April 14, 2015)
I DNF’d this one at 70%…I know, kind of ridiculous. I definitely appreciated some things about this book, but I kept zoning out and couldn’t muster much emotion for the characters or the story.

Upcoming reading plans…

Something else from my “must at least try before the end of the year” list. These are 2015 books I missed out on earlier in the year, but that I got excited about after reading other bloggers’ reviews. I’m thinking The Improbability of Love might be next, but it will all depend on which sample grabs me!

Avenue of Mysteries, Mothers Tell Your Daughters, Sweetland, Improbability of Love


Avenue of Mysteries
 by John Irving (November 3, 2015)
The premise of this one doesn’t really grab me, but Irving is one of my auto-buy authors and has a way of making me love a book despite not loving the premise.

Mothers, Tell Your Daughters by Bonnie Jo Campbell (October 1, 2015)
Gritty, “rural noir” short stories, which are totally in my wheelhouse. But, I haven’t seen much of this one around the blogs.

Sweetland by Michael Crummey (December 29, 2014)
The folks at Book Riot and Shannon at River City Reading really loved this one.

The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild (November 3, 2015)
Catherine at Gilmore Guide to Books (who is proving to be my reading twin) called this London-based story involving a chef and art dealers “intellectual entertainment”. I like the sound of that…

So, tell me, have you read any of the books on my “must try before EOY” list? What other books have you loved this year?

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27 Comments

  1. Sounds like Concussion is one to grab! And I just saw the trailer for the movie the other day – looks really good 🙂

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I haven’t seen a movie in so many years, but might have to watch this one!

      Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  2. Kathy Martin wrote:

    Concussion does look interesting. I hope you enjoy whatever you pick from your must-read stack. I’ve not read any of them. This is what I read last week. Happy reading!

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  3. Kym wrote:

    Concussion looks very interesting! I haven’t read any from your must-read stack, but a couple of them sound promising. I’ll be interested to see what you decide on! Here’s my current list: http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/what-im-reading-november-23-2015.html

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  4. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz wrote:

    Now you’ve got me curious about Concussion!

    http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2015/11/nonfiction-november.html

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  5. Carmen wrote:

    Concussion was a great read. Very eye-opening!
    The Improbability…, and Avenue… are getting lots of buzz. I think they are among the best fiction of the year, as well as your much-talked-about Bull Mountain, which I still want to read, and A Little Life.

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I think Improbability might be my next pick. I liked the sample and, Catherine from Gilmore Guide (who is my reading twin) loved it. Read and loved A Little Life – it’s in the running for my best book of the year!

      Yay for Bull Mountain!!

      Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  6. Andi wrote:

    Sweeetland! I picked that one up recently when it was discounted on Kindle. Cheers to some good reading on the horizon!

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Awesome – I’ve gotten a couple votes for Sweetland…I think I’ll be giving it a go after Improbability of Love!

      Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  7. Sarah, I was really sad about coming to work today because it meant that I had to pause in my progress on Concussion; I’m about 60% of the way in and you’re right…so good! Thank you for the recommendation; I’m so glad you told me about it! Mothers, Tell Your Daughters looks really interesting; I’ve had great luck with short stories this year, so I may have to try this one. CAN’T WAIT for your next collab with Anne!!

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha!! I definitely wanted to only read while I was reading Concussion! I’m posting my review tomorrow! And – I read the first 2 stories of Mothers and I’m not sold on it. Will put it on the back burner for now, but may revisit if I make good progress on my other options.

      Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  8. I’m anxious to read your review on Concussion.

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Coming up tomorrow!

      Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  9. Kathryn wrote:

    The Friday post sounds a load of fun, had a peek at a previous one and looked fantastic. Hope The Nightingale goes well for you, hard reading in places but so good.

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  10. I’m looking forward to your review of Concussion, too… so nice when a book surprises you like that! Will also be curious to hear what you think of The Nightingale when you get into it a little more. I have the audio, but haven’t gotten to it yet.

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Concussion review coming tomorrow! And I’m getting more into Nightingale…I’m about 40% through now.

      Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  11. I’ll have to check the library for concussion. The Nightingale was on my summer must read list, but I never got around to it. Everyone I know who’s read it has raved about it, so I plan (operative word there) to read it before the end of the year.

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Ha – yep – know the feeling of “plan” being the operative word!

      Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  12. Athira wrote:

    Concussion definitely sounds like a must-read! I remember reading about one of those incidents on the field – so tragic really. It happened once at the school I was studying in – two kids had simply bumped their head and within a few hours, one of those kids was dead.

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Oh my gosh – that’s horrible and scary. I’m sorry you had to experience that.

      Posted 11.25.15 Reply
  13. RAnn wrote:

    Always tough to decide between good books!

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
  14. Naomi wrote:

    I’m a little nervous to hear about Concussion. My son plays football and loves it (and I love watching him), but concussion is a scary word.
    Sweetland was one of my best books last year. I hope you love it!

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Oooh – I can imagine how scary that is. My mom was always terrified on game day and relieved when it was over. Glad to hear it about Sweetland…I’ve been hearing great things!

      Posted 11.25.15 Reply
  15. Michelle wrote:

    Concussion is your favorite nonfiction book of the year? Oh, man. I am going to have to read your review now!

    Posted 11.23.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yep 🙂 Review went up yesterday!

      Posted 11.25.15 Reply
  16. Very nice week.

    Good books.

    Sweetland looks good. I still need to read Nightingale.

    Elizabeth
    Silver’s Reviews
    My It’s Monday, What Are You Reading

    Posted 11.24.15 Reply
  17. You have me intrigued with Concussion! I can’t wait until you post your review!

    Posted 11.24.15 Reply

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