It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? (3/21/16)

Hosted by The Book Date.

I kicked this week off by sampling a bunch of March books to help me settle on my next read. I tried As Close to Us As Breathing by Elizabeth Poliner and High Dive by Jonathan Lee before settling on my The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder. This is not to say that I won’t go back to the other two, though. 

I also started online defensive driving school last week (my punishment for a recent speeding ticket), which will be cutting into my reading time next week. It’s 6 hours of online course work and the DMV doesn’t realize how effective a deterrent having to do this during my free time (i.e. reading time) really is!

I finished reading…

The Never Open Desert Diner, The Throwback Special


The Never Open Desert Diner
 by James Anderson (March 22, 2016)
This one was sadly pretty forgettable…except for the ending, which I wish I could forget. Mini review to come.

The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder (March 14, 2016)
This short novel about a group of middle aged dudes who gather every year to reenact the famous 1985 NFL play where Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Theismann’s leg (and ended his career) has been such a fantastic surprise for me. Here’s a hint: it’s about much more than dudes weirdly reenacting an old football play. Mini review to come.

Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

I’m currently reading…

Girls and Sex, Peggy Orenstein 

Girls & Sex by Peggy Orenstein (March 29, 2016)
Still working my way through this one. And it’s got me thinking about how to talk to my kids about sex when the time comes (which, thankfully, is a long way off for me!).

Upcoming reading plans…

The Nest, Sunday's on the Phone to Monday


The Nest
 by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney (March 22, 2016)
This debut novel “about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance” (Goodreads) is getting a lot of buzz and hits my dysfunctional families hot button.

Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday by Christine Reilly (April 5, 2016)
This debut novel about an eccentric family dealing with tragedy in 1990’s New York hits some of my reading hot buttons.




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29 Comments

  1. Alice wrote:

    I love a family generational saga too! I find them so easily to get enveloped in.

    I’m reading The Door by Magda Szabo.

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
  2. I’ve heard good things about The Nest!

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
  3. The Nest looks so good… and you know I have a hard time resisting those multi-generational family sagas, too!

    I didn’t know you could do those defensive driving courses online (and hopefully won’t be needing one any time soon). That’s a drag, but definitely better than hanging out in the municipal building for an entire Saturday. Good luck.

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yep-I remember that! And I’m glad to not have to do it in person for sure!

      Posted 3.21.16 Reply
  4. Yikes on the defensive driving. I ended up with an icky speeding ticket last year and I almost would have picked driving school over the heavy ticket fee if I had been given the option!
    Here’s hoping we both like Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday!

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
  5. Kay wrote:

    I’m very interested in hearing about THE NEST. Don’t think I’ve read any reviews as yet. My husband had to do a defensive driving class online a few months ago. Yes, for ticket. He was majorly annoyed about it and said the worst part was that you couldn’t speed ahead in the course. You had to actually spend 6 hours doing it. LOL

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I haven’t seen any blogger reviews either, but Catherine at Gilmore Guide was reading it recently and had good things to say (I’m not sure if she’s finished it yet or not).

      And – YES to that little clock on each page!! I just do a section every couple of days since I have 30 days to get it done.

      Posted 3.21.16 Reply
  6. Ellen wrote:

    Sarah,
    I finally finished The Wife yesterday. I liked it a lot, but I was a bit let down by the ending. I was hoping Joan was going to expose Joe ….
    I hope y’all have a great spring break. It’s actually chilly in Texas, but the sun is shining and everyone is happy. See you guys next week!

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Glad you liked it and would love to talk more offline about the ending! Enjoy your trip!

      Posted 3.21.16 Reply
  7. I’ve also had the unfortunate experience of online driver safety school, and I agree with Kay. It was so frustrating to have to go at the pace of the program. Settle in for some boredom. You might be able to read a bit while doing it :). I’m definitely intrigued by your thoughts on The Throwback Special. I have to admit that the description doesn’t exactly have my clambering to pick it up, but your enthusiasm sure does!

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha – I’ve def been reading while waiting for that little clock to tick down! Throwback Special hit some of my reading hot buttons, but I can see it not having super broad appeal. But, it’s not really about football and the writing is fantastic.

      Posted 3.21.16 Reply
  8. Athira wrote:

    Ugh.. speeding ticket woes! We had to deal with one last year and it was a pain. Here’s sending Harry Potter spells to speed the course along.

    Looking forward to what you think of Throwback Special. I love the sound of it!

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha! Love the Harry Potter spells! Throwback Special was great…totally in my wheelhouse, but I suspect it has a niche audience. Review going up on Thursday.

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  9. Well, I don’t want to discourage you but I never went back to High Dive; I think maybe just the wrong time, for me? As in wrong time to read, due to the fact that it’s been tough to find anything to hold my attention, not wrong time period – ha! I don’t have a copy of The Nest, but it lands on my Kindle tomorrow morning – yay! Hope you’re doing well and enjoying that glorious driver’s ed!

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Don’t worry about discouraging me…I have a long list of books I want to try! I think it’s telling we haven’t really seen much about it around the blogs, right? I’ve kind of moved on, I think.

      Started The Nest today…think it will be a nice, light read that goes quickly. I always like to have some of those in my back pocket!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  10. I have Sunday’s On The Phone coming up for me, so I can’t wait to hear your thoughts! Sorry about the speeding ticket… they just get ‘cha sometimes…

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
  11. I really thought The Never Open Desert Diner would be better; I’ve seen a lot of it across the web, lately. As Close to Us as Breathing and Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday are two I’m really wanting to read, but so many are ahead of them.

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I did too 🙁 Oh well, at least it was short.

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  12. Michelle wrote:

    I’ve heard some amazing things about The Nest from a select few, but I am waiting for others to review it to see if the initial buzz is indeed genuine.

    I had to laugh about your defensive driving as a deterrent. I guess it is doing its job then!

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Just started it today…I’m not far in, but I think it will be a nice, light read that will go quickly. Not highbrow literature, but I’m interested so far!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  13. Catherine wrote:

    Both As Close to Us and The Nest are all right but not great. The Nest is in our wheelhouse- contemporary, money, hijinks but it just didn’t quite deliver for me. Sadly, I moved on to two other books that were even WORSE, which will remain nameless here.

    Sorry about driving school. At least you don’t have to be in an actual classroom where you might get in trouble for disagreeing with the teacher (not that I know anyone that happened to).

    Posted 3.21.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      HA!! I’m sensing you fought with your teacher?! I need to hear that story!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  14. Sarah R wrote:

    Is it me, or are the new releases this year just not living up to expectations? I’ve heard good things about The Nest, but since I haven’t read a review from someone I trust, I’m just going to get it from the library.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Ugh – I feel the exact same way. I definitely feel like there are less new releases that have me (and other bloggers) screaming from the rooftops so far this year. By this time last year, I’d already read 2 of the books that would end up in my overall top 3 of the year. And, my “must at least try before EOY” TBR list is woefully sparse this year 🙁

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  15. “except for the ending, which I wish I could forget.” made me lough out loud at work, THANKS. Really really hyped to see that mini review haha.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha – it was completely ridiculous!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  16. Judy wrote:

    On Monday I was reading Seven Days in May, the 1962 political thriller about an attempted military takeover of the Federal Government. I finished it and it was excellent! Now I am reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty. It took a bit to get into but now I am hooked!

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’ve been hearing lots about The Sellout through the Tournament of Books…it’s starting to intrigue me!

      Posted 3.24.16 Reply
  17. Wow – nice week.

    The Throwback Special looks good.

    Have a wonderful rest of the week.

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

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply

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