It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? (5/29/17)

Happy Memorial Day, ya’ll! And my thanks to everyone who gave their lives for our country, is serving our country, or has served in the past.

I discovered that, after plowing through lots of ARCs and lighter books to potentially include in my 2017 Summer Reading Guide, I needed a break from both. For once, library holds cooperated with my timing and three came in last week. I read about 10 pages of Into the Water (Paula Hawkins’s follow-up to The Girl on the Train) before abandoning it and lasted just a tad longer with Patricia Lockwood’s memoir Priestdaddy.

After all that book-hopping, I finally landed on one of my favorite books of the year so far!

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I finished reading…

Beartown by Fredrick Backman 

Beartown by Fredrick Backman (April 25, 2017)
I absolutely adored (5 star adored) this story about a small hockey town, despite DNF’ing Backman’s earlier hit, A Man Called Ove. Beartown has a Friday Night Lights vibe (which you know gets me every time!) and was completely engrossing. I’ll be adding it to my 2017 Summer Reading Guide.

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I’m currently reading…

Brain Defense by Kevin Davis


The Brain Defense
 by Kevin Davis (February 28, 2017)
I needed something very different after finishing Beartown, so I’m attempting this nonfiction about the use of neuroscience as a defense in criminal trials. I’m only 11% through so far, but am fascinated by the particular case Davis chose to use to illustrate this phenomenon.

I tried, but wasn’t feeling…

Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Grinder


The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck (March 28, 2017)

Given my burnout from WWII novels, I’m not surprised that I got bored with this one fairly quickly and sent it back to the library.

The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Grinder (June 6, 2017)
I read 18% of this light read and it was fine, but wasn’t really holding my interest. I realized I needed a bit of a break from reading so many light books for my Summer Reading Guide…plus library holds started coming in…so I put it aside. I may go back to it, though.

Upcoming reading plans…

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker (January 31, 2017)
I actually started this novel about female friendship right before my library hold of Beartown came in, so I’m planning to go back to it. Susie at Novel Visits recommended it months ago and I’ve been meaning to get to it ever since.

I was reading…

One Year Ago: I was reading a so-so book about demented high school students.

Two Years Ago: I was re-reading To Kill A Mockingbird, which was the only good thing to come out of the publication of Go Set A Watchman.

How was your reading week?

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34 Comments

  1. I guess I’m going to need to consider reading Beartown. I liked A Man Called Ove, but then DNF’d his next book, so was reluctant to try this one. Everything I’ve heard about Beartown is great.

    I’m glad you’re going to read The Animators. It has that same gritty vibe as White Fur, but with a completely different writing style.

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
  2. Donna wrote:

    I loved the Women in the Castle. It was different enough from the other WWII books I’ve read that it felt fresh and new. See what I’ve read, am reading and will read

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
  3. I’m glad I’m not the only one who gave up on Into the Water. I had high hopes for Priestdaddy, though, so I’m disappointed that didn’t work for you.

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Sounds like a lot of people have been disappointed with it. Me too on Priestdaddy! There were some great sentences, but the didn’t seem to string together into full great paragraphs…at least in the little bit of it that I read.

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  4. Beartown is on my TBR list. I hope I like it as much as you did.

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
  5. I like what I’m hearing about Beartown…and even though I’ve only read one of the author’s books so far (Ove), I have another one on Pippa (the grandmother one).

    Thanks for sharing…sorry the rest of your books were underwhelming.

    Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I’m now more interested in trying some of his other stuff after Beartown!

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  6. Kathy Martin wrote:

    I’ve never read anything by Backman but Beartown does sound good. I have been so distracted lately that it took a week to just read two books. They were fine but I couldn’t concentrate on them. Hopefully, I’ll be less distracted soon. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I’ve been there – so frustrating. Hope this week goes better for you!

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  7. Yep, Into the Water was a turd. I can’t believe I finished it. It was a whole bunch of annoying people and nothing happens.

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Haha! So glad some others had read it before me, so I knew not to try too hard with it.

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  8. I DNF’d A Man Called Ove, too, and have avoided the author ever since. Sounds like I should give Beartown a try though!

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Me too! But so glad I broke my rule for this one…the Friday Night Lights comparison got me 🙂

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  9. Beth F wrote:

    I had a DNF last week too. But better to give up early, I think.,

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Sorry – frustrating! Agree about giving up early…time you can never get back.

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  10. Gabby wrote:

    Friday Night Lights, you say? Off to acquire Beartown!

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Haha – yup yup. It does that to me too 🙂

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  11. That’s interesting about the Ove book and I can see how it ended up being a DNF, I found it slow. I was going to pass over Bear Town but now rethinking that.

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Beartown is definitely not slow…especially the second half!

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  12. I’ve read mixed reviews for the wedding book. People either love it or hate it. I suspect from the description I’d be among the haters.

    I’m getting ready for Armchair BEA this week. Come see what I’m reading.

    Posted 5.29.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I felt like it might be that kind of book. I keep thinking I’ll go back to it but I haven’t really felt the urge yet.

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  13. Michelle wrote:

    Loved, loved, loved Beartown. I had to read it slowly if only because it kept breaking my heart. So many great sentences about parenting and life. Good to know I need to temper my expectations should I do go back and read his backlist.

    Good to know about the new Paula Hawkins. I was not a fan of her first novel and have managed to stay away from this one. However, the marketing campaign has been so fierce that it is fostering some FOMO in me. I will stay strong though!

    Have a good week!

    Posted 5.30.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I know, right?! It’s about to much more than sports…so many life insights. I was highlighting like crazy.

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  14. Sarah R wrote:

    I did finish Into the Water but really only because I got it for free for renewing my membership to BOTM. It was hard to get into with all the different POVs and it took me a while to figure out who was what. Although I finished it, I was underwhelmed.

    I just started Preistdaddy (my other BOTM) and this has been so-so. We’ll see!

    Posted 5.30.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Sorry your BOTM picks aren’t living up! I wasn’t super thrilled about last month’s selections. Hopefully this month will be better.

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  15. Marilyn Rausch wrote:

    Hey Sarah… Try My Grandmother Said To Tell You She is Sorry by Backman. Absolutely loved it. Cannot wait to read Bear Town.

    Posted 5.30.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I’ll check it out! Now that I know I can love a Backman book (I shied away from him after DNFing A Man Called Ove).

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  16. Rochelle wrote:

    I absolutely loved Beartown. Chapter One had me completely hooked. I’m the opposite of you-haha. I read A Man Called Ove and adored it, and also loved Britt-Marie was Here. When I heard that Backman wrote a book that wasn’t about (ahem) older people, I was hesitant. The Brain Defense sounds interesting-will add it to my TBR.

    Posted 5.30.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I’m not sure about Brain Defense…some parts are super interesting (the cases) and some are dry (the history). I keep reading it a bit, then jumping to something else, then trying to go back…

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  17. Madeline wrote:

    I loved A Man Called Ove but My Grandmother Asked Me to Say I’m Sorry was too YA for my taste.

    I just finished Into the Water. It’s no Girl on the Train and following such a large cast of characters got confusing but I did finish and, when all was said and done, enjoyed it. It’s very different from her previous (hugely popular) book.

    The description of PriestDaddy did nothing for me.

    My recent DNF was The Idiot. Which was the perfect description of me trying to plow my way through such drivel. Waste of 100 pages of reading time.

    I’ve some hits this month: Passing Strange (especially if you’re a San Franciscan), Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and Shotgun Lovesongs.

    Posted 5.30.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I’m not a huge YA fan, so won’t bother with Grandmother.

      I heard some buzz about The Idiot before it came out, but I’ve heard nothing since publication…which usually means a bomb.

      And – I LOVED Shotgun Lovesongs! And liked Lillian Boxfish a lot too.

      Posted 5.30.17 Reply
  18. All of these books, except The Animators, are actually on my physical to-read list and I’ve been meaning to get to them for awhile! They all sound get, but I’m feeling a bit slumpy lately.

    Posted 6.9.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I hear you on the slump…me too 🙁 June has been pretty wretched so far.

      Posted 6.11.17 Reply
      • Hopefully things will pick up for both of us the rest of the month 🙂

        Posted 6.11.17 Reply

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