Hosted by The Book Date.
I hit a bit of a mini-slump last week…a DNF and a book I had hopes for that didn’t pan out. Oh well, such is life. And, my reading is all out of sync because I couldn’t get ARCs for a number of February books I’m excited about, so I’m anxiously awaiting release dates! To pass the time, I’m getting ahead on some March ARCs.
I finished reading…
Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon (February 23, 2016)
This one was a heart-breaker…I didn’t love it nearly as much as I loved her debut, The Wife, The Maid, and The Mistress. Mini review to come.
I’m currently reading…
Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves (March 1, 2016)
I literally just stated this debut novel about “a prideful electrician in 1920s rural Alabama struggles to overcome past sins and find peace after being sent to prison for manslaughter” (Goodreads), but I like the writing style so far.
I DNF’d…
Liar by Rob Roberge (February 9, 2016)
Despite some well-written passages about what it’s like to live with mental illness, this memoir about addiction, mental illness, and a “memory-eroding disorder” (mentioned in the book as possibly being CTE) was sadly hard to read. The timeline was completely scattered and I got tired of reading about the ridiculous things Roberge did while drunk and/or high. DNF at 26%.
Upcoming reading plans…
Sweetgirl by Travis Mulhauser (February 2, 2016)
Rory at Fourth Street Review‘s Debut Novels to Look for in Early 2016 list has already delivered me one winner (Only Love Can Break Your Heart), so I’m going back to her well again with this debut novel about a sixteen year-old girl searching for her mother.
I’m just getting to know the characters in Flight of Dreams. I’m enjoying the novel so far. I hope your Feb. books come in. Have a great week Sarah.
Glad you’re enjoying it!
Sorry to hear it’s been a rough ride this week! I really want to like books like Flight of Dreams, but I’ve had such a bad track record with most historical fiction lately that I’ve stopped trying – I hope the next one works out better!
You know, I used to love historical fiction and “think” I still love it, but the last few H.F books I’ve read haven’t really worked for me. Maybe I’m picking the wrong books…or maybe my reading taste is changing.
The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress was a favorite the year I read it, so my expectations for Flight of Dreams are probably already too high. Will look forward to your mini review.
Ha – mine were definitely high for the same reason!
I’m attracted to Flight of Dreams just because of the beautiful cover. Well, and the story, obviously. Sorry your week wasn’t quite what you wanted, but there are some great books coming out this year. Or so it seems to me.
There are definitely lots of books coming up that I’m excited about!
I always wish I could get into historical fiction… but tend to inch away from it for some reason… I need a list of “Best Historical Fiction For People Who Think They Don’t Like Historical Fiction”… or something.
Sweet Girl sounds excellent!
Haha! Well, I might be the one to put together that list b/c I feel like I’m falling out of love with it lately. I used to love the genre, but my last couple reads haven’t worked for me.
I’ll be reading Flight of Dreams soon. I loved The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress so much. It reminded me to give historical fiction more of a chance. Not a genre I read a lot of but so long as I stick to the eras I know I find interesting, I tend to do ok with it.
I felt the same about W/M/M…but feel like so many H.F. books haven’t worked for me recently. May be joining your camp 🙂
DNFing is a bummer, but sometimes it just has to be done in order to keep on trucking. Good job!
Yep – agreed! I’m trying to be better about it 🙂
Sucks that you had a DNF so early in the year, but onwards and upwards 🙂
Haha – I wish that was my first DNF of the year! I think it’s my 3rd…definitely my 2nd, possibly 3rd.
I was curious about Liar when I heard about it, but it doesn’t sound quite as good as I thought it might be. Confused timelines drive me crazy! I hope you have a better reading week this time.
Yeah – there was no rhyme or reason to this one and it only included dates…not ages, so I kept having to calculate what age the author would be on X date…
Reading slumps almost come in cycles with me. I get in moods that no matter what I pick up, it just isn’t the right one. I hope these books work for you. Sweet Girl is one that I requested my library purchase…before their email stating that I had requested too many too often too soon. Yep.
Haha!! I can’t believe you got an email like that from your library! You should tell them the correct words would be “you are our most valuable customer”!
Oooh, “Work Like Any Other” sounds very good!
I’m about 65% through it now and I like it, but am not sure where it’s going to go from here. We’ll see.
I think I would feel the same way as you about Liar. It’s good to be honest, but sometimes there can just be too much information, especially if they’re trying to be funny about it.
I appreciated his honesty, it just got kind of tiresome to listen to and the stories started to run together.
I am reading Flight of Dreams too. I like Emilie and Max’s story. I also like the Cabin Boy.
You are correct…not as enticing as The Wife, The Maid, and The Mistress, but well researched and still good.
I hope you are having a good reading week.
Happy Wednesday!!
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My It’s Monday, What Are You Reading
I agree it was very well researched…and took lots of skill to weave the small facts she had into that story. The story just wasn’t interesting enough for me…sadly 🙁
It was history coming alive. 🙂
I liked how she wove the facts with the actual event.
Again…her other book was more to my liking.
I JUST finished the final volume of Joseph Campbell’s Masks of God quartet, which took me almost a month to read, so I’m really looking forward to my next book: Ahab’s Wife. I’ve heard really good things!