It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? (6/19/17)

And the June weather nonsense continues where I live…we got a few nice days last week, but now it’s back to chilly rain and should continue that way through the middle of next week. Where is summer?!

I’d been doing well with rehabbing my back injury, but I swam last week thinking it would be great for my back (people say swimming is great for back injuries) and how wrong I was. It absolutely killed and I’ve also been fighting some hip pain, so I’m going to an actual doctor next week to figure out what’s wrong. 

Thank you to everyone who participated in my Personalized Book Recommendation free trial, which is now officially over. I fulfilled 74 recommendation requests…whew…and I hope you enjoyed the book recommendations you got! I’m still in the process of sending out feedback surveys, but once those are complete, I’ll do a summary post sharing what I learned (which was a lot)!

Hosted by The Book Date.

This post contains affiliate links.

I finished reading…

One True Thing by Anna Quindlen


One True Thing
 by Anna Quindlen (August 30, 1994)
Anna Quindlen served the purpose I’d hoped she would (pulling me out of an epic June reading slump)! Though I didn’t love One True Thing quite as much as Every Last One (my review), it was still a solid 4 star read and I reveled in Quindlen’s “yes, that’s exactly how it is” writing about life. Mini review to come.

I’m currently reading…

Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane


Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane
 (May 9, 2017)
I’m almost finished with this psychological thriller and it’s the first one I’ve really enjoyed in a long time (maybe because it reads more like literary fiction, especially in the first half, than like a thriller)! It will definitely be going on my 2017 Summer Reading Guide!

Upcoming reading plans…

Outer Cape by Patrick Dacey


The Outer Cape
 by Patrick Dacey
 (June 27, 2017)
The Outer Cape is Dacey’s follow-up novel to his short story collection, We’ve Already Gone This Far, and is set in the same fictional town. It’s a story of family and small town life and sounds generally up my alley.

I was reading…

One Year Ago: I was reading a book that ended up on my Best Books of 2016 (So Far) list and did my first Sprint Triathlon of last year.

Two Years Ago: I’d just finished a totally demented book that ended up on my Best Books of 2015 list!

How was your reading week?

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27 Comments

  1. May I suggest that you see a sports medicine doctor? You’ll get really helpful suggestions. So many general med doctors will just tell you to rest.

    I’m currently reading The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee. She defected from North Korea to (eventually) South Korea and her story is fascinating. Disturbing, too, because she gives a lot of insight into the brainwashing that goes on in North Korea. I can’t imagine living that way. It was a Kindle Daily Deal and I’m so glad I took the plunge.

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Haha – yes you may and I am seeing one on Thursday! Wish I had earlier, but my PT guy kept saying it was muscular and I didn’t need to. Grr.

      Posted 6.20.17 Reply
  2. Ugh, sorry to hear swimming made your back worse. I hope the doctor can help you.

    Glad to hear your free trial was such a success!

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
  3. I’m so sorry your back is still bothering you. Seeing a doc sounds like the right call at this point. It’s very frustrating. My hip is still bothering me, and no exercise is driving me crazy. (The doc said I could swim, but really? I’m not going to join a gym or head to the high school at 6:00 AM to do that.)

    Glad the slump is over! I’m looking forward to hearing how the free recs went.

    Hope summer visits you soon.

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Yeah – swimming isn’t my favorite either…and I was a swimmer growing up so I can only imagine how unappealing getting up early and diving into a cold pool is for someone who didn’t swim growing up!

      Just need the peace and quiet to sit down with the free recs data and think through it/write something up. Not something I have much of right now…

      Posted 6.20.17 Reply
  4. Finished and reviewed A FEVER OF THE BLOOD. Now working on all my eclipse books. http://mwgerard.com/its-monday-june-19/

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
  5. Kathy Martin wrote:

    I hope your back issues are soon resolved. Nice variety of books listed too. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
  6. Oh, I wouldn’t have imagined such pain from swimming! Hope you find a solution…soon.

    I love Quindlen’s books, and I’m glad you enjoyed One True Thing.

    I’m eyeing the Lehane book.

    Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Yes – me neither. Ugh.

      Isn’t Quindlen fantastic?! She just gets it.

      Posted 6.20.17 Reply
  7. I hope you feel better soon. It sucks that swimming didn’t help, but hopefully you’ll find something that does.

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Fingers crossed.

      Posted 6.20.17 Reply
  8. Lindsey wrote:

    I would take the rain right about now! We are wading through a disgustingly humid week.

    I love the idea of writing short stories and a novel set in the same place with some of the same characters. I hope you enjoy The Outer Cape!

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Haha – we’ve got the humidity and rain now too!

      I didn’t make it too far into Outer Cape 🙁

      Posted 6.20.17 Reply
  9. Sorry to hear about your back. Summer vacation has begun and so has the extreme heat. Come see what I’m reading.

    Posted 6.19.17 Reply
  10. renee wrote:

    I love Dennis Lehane and thought Since We Fell was a great change of pace for him. That’s been the only psych thriller I’ve remotely liked in many months. Looking forward to your review

    Posted 6.20.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      I loved Since We Fell, but haven’t read any of his other stuff. Curious since this one seems to be a change of pace…wonder if I’d like his other books.

      Posted 6.20.17 Reply
      • Steven Reads wrote:

        Lehane’s first series of novels are police procedural/thrillers/dramas that feature Angie Gennaro and Patrick (?) as two detectives (and romantic partners) who have a habit of doing things their own way. “A Drink Before The War” and “Sacred” stand out in my mind (read them all). I recommend them all, start chronologically. Lehane shows his talent as a writer early on. His later novels are unrelated to the series and focus more on crime/the police force in Boston, set in the 20th century. In the middle of these works and also highly recommended – and I think his best works – are “Shutter Island” and “Mystic River”.

        Posted 6.20.17 Reply
        • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

          I’ve heard of Shutter Island and Mystic River…will check those out! Police procedurals aren’t my thing as much.

          Posted 6.21.17 Reply
  11. Anne Brasfield wrote:

    Can’t wait to read Dennis Lehane’s newest book. Am currently reading The Riders by Tim Winton. Elin Hildebrand said this is her favorite book of all time! And, yes, it’s good – strange but good!

    Posted 6.20.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      It was great – I’m finished now and definitely recommend it!

      Enjoy The Riders!

      PS – once my life settles down a bit (I’m sure Mom has filled you in), I’d love to talk to you about the personalized recs trial you did (and thank you so much for participating in that!).

      Posted 6.20.17 Reply
  12. I hope you feel better soon Sarah. What a bummer.

    Our weather sounds just about the same as yours. No summer yet.

    The other day I finished Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor, and now I’m reading “It” by Stephen King. At over 1,000 pages, I’m just a little bit intimidated. 🙂

    Posted 6.20.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      Good for you digging into those long books! I used to read lots of them, but now don’t have the time/patience for them anymore. I’m hoping that changes when my kids get a little older.

      Posted 6.21.17 Reply
  13. Ooooo, Since We Fell. I liked that one a lot! I’m sorry to hear about your back, I hope you get some answers soon.

    Posted 6.20.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      A different sort of thriller, right?! Hopefully answers will come tomorrow!

      Posted 6.21.17 Reply
  14. Beth F wrote:

    I need to read that Lahane — I know I’ll LOVE it. Wow! 74 recommendations. That’s awesome.

    Posted 6.21.17 Reply
    • Sarah Dickinson wrote:

      It’s really good – especially if you’ve been finding the recent crop of psych thrillers somewhat frustrating.

      Posted 6.21.17 Reply
  15. Catherine wrote:

    Woo hoo- you’re reading The Outer Cape! I was all set to start it but will now wait for you to vet it. Thank you!

    Sorry about your back! It must be making you nuts with everything you need to do right now. I hope it feels better soon.

    Posted 6.21.17 Reply

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