Hosted by The Book Date.
Last week was a bit scattered on the reading front. I finished The Futures and have already reviewed it, so won’t talk about it here. Then I spent a day or so reading samples to figure out how to kill time until Tuesday, when a couple books I was interested in were coming out. So, I’m now in the middle of two books and have a third audiobook (Adnan’s Story) going.
Side note: My mom is always asking me why I read such dark books. She’ll be especially irked by this week’s update…pretty much all dark.
I’m currently reading…
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett (May 3, 2016)
This story about the impact of depression on a family was long-listed for the 2016 National Book Award. After an uneven first half, I’m devouring the second half (and am almost done).
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Always Happy Hour by Mary Miller (January 10, 2017)
These short stories are not happy as the title suggests, but raw and gorgeously written. There is a bit of sameness to them, though, so I’m reading one every night instead of tackling this collection all at once. You’ll probably see this one here next week too.
Upcoming reading plans…
The Antiques by Kris D’Agostino (January 10, 2017)
Rebecca Schinsky recommended this book on last week’s All the Books podcast and I really can’t understand how I missed it when I reviewed the publisher catalogs awhile back. It’s got dark humor and family drama and has been compared to Jonathan Tropper (This Is Where I Leave You) and Meg Wolitzer: squarely in my wheelhouse. The success of this book will depend entirely on the writing, though, so we’ll see how it pans out.
How was your reading week?
I laughed about your mother’s comment – yes, I’ve been asked the same thing about why I read so many crime books. That cover of IMAGINE ME GONE is pretty striking.
The Antiques sounds like my kind of book, too, and this is the first I’ve heard of it. Can’t wait to hear what you think!
I lovvvved Mary Miller’s novel, so I’m excited to hear what your verdict is on her stories!
I like dark books too. I think that’s why I read all those thrillers!
I like it! More interesting stories when they’re dark.
All of those books are new to me and they all sound good!
I have The Antiques on my eReader. I’ve been curious about Imagine Me Gone too.
I’m about 11% into The Antiques now…not 100% thrilled with the writing. Haven’t fully decided to give up on it yet, but it’s likely.
Nothing wrong with dark! I tried to read Imagine Me Gone when it first came out, but just couldn’t get into the story. Guess I should have stuck with it for longer. The Antiques sounds very interesting…I’m off to check it out!
I definitely thought about putting Imagine down during the first half…some parts were painful to read…and not in an emotional way. But, glad I kept with it.
All new to me titles – happy reading!
The comparisons to This Is Where I Leave You and Meg Wolitzer’s work is enough for me to add The Antiques. Hope you enjoy it.
Imagine Me Gone is another I am checking out. Thanks for sharing…and enjoy.
Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Good ones, right?! But I haven’t been thrilled with the writing so far – deciding whether to continue 🙁
I love the cover of the short stories! You know that I shy away from short stories (although I read a collection over the weekend!) but I think they might be at least part of the answer to my reading restlessness. Maybe I will look out for this one and dip in and out like you suggest.
As for The Antiques – I’m clearly not the only one for whom comparisons to This Is Where I Leave You and Meg Woltizer is like catnip! Will look for your review of this!
Isn’t that cover awesome?!
So…I’m not thrilled with the writing so far – deciding whether to continue
These books are all new to me. I hope you enjoy them despite the “darkness.” You can see my week here. Happy reading!
Darkness is usually a good thing for me in books!
Oh, my gosh; I feel like all of my favorite books lately have included some kind of trauma, grief, loss or some other dark matter – ha! I can totally relate! You know I’m a sucker for a good short story collection; thank you for bringing this one to my attention. I’m going to look it up right now!
Haha! Now you need some good brain candy to balance that out!
I must admit the Adam Haslett novel on audio was a DNF for me. Not sure if I made it halfway, but I just couldn’t summon the enthusiasm for it. Maybe it would’ve gotten better.
I can absolutely see how Imagine Me Gone would be tough on audio. I could barely get through some of Michael’s early sections..but things smoothed out immensely in the second half.
Always Happy Hour looks good, but the sameness aspect is a bit of a turn-off for me. I’ll probably put it on my “maybe” list
It is causing none of the stories to stand out…but I like each one while I’m reading it.
Glad to hear the Miller short story collection is working out. I struggle SO HARD with ss collections, and put down the one I was recently reading. I’m not sure what it is…
I hear you – it’s rare that one works for me. But, I’ve had one short story winner each of the past 2 years, so keep trying them sporadically.