Hosted by The Book Date.
I actually got a ton of reading done last week! It’s amazing what cutting my workout time in half (to rest for this weekend’s Sprint Triathlon) allows me to get done. Alas, it’s not going to become a habit as the reduced workouts left me feeling totally off balance physically. Back to normal this week…
I finished reading…
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (May 31, 2016)
Solid thriller, though the ending fizzled a bit for me. Mini review to come.
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Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter (June 7, 2016)
Despite misgivings (i.e. the words “part poetry” in the book’s description, which does not get me excited), some rave reviews convinced me to pick up this debut novel/novella about a crow visiting a grieving father and his sons to help them heal following their wife’s/mother’s death. But, I’m sad to say it just didn’t work for me. There were some beautiful passages about grief, but the sections narrated by the crow literally made no sense to me. Still counting myself squarely in the “no poetry” camp…
I’m currently reading…
Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe (May 24, 2016)
I’m almost halfway through this novel about a seventeen year-old girl named Vera…whom I ADORE so far.
Upcoming reading plans…
Listen to Me by Hannah Pittard (July 5, 2016)
This “modern gothic about a marriage and road trip gone hauntingly awry” (Goodreads) is by the author of Reunion, one of my favorite books of 2014. I’m hoping she tackles marriage with the same irreverence she applied to death and family in Reunion!
Stamford KIC IT Sprint Triathlon Race Recap
I was really nervous about this race because the forecast called for 20-30 mph winds…not ideal, especially for biking! But, I was glad to be racing with a buddy who has done a bunch of triathlons. It made the day so much more relaxing and fun!
The day was gorgeous and surprisingly calm at the start of the race. I felt great during my swim (1/2 mile, [11:46]) and bike (13.9 miles, [48:31]). The wind picked up considerably during the last few miles of the bike and I was glad to be getting off the course.
And then came the run. As usual for me, I felt horrible the first 1.8 miles…it’s not so much my legs, more that I feel like I’m going to throw up. This has happened to me every time I go a triathlon…WHY?! I also went out a little faster than planned even though I felt like I was dragging ([8:45]). Mile 2 had a huge hill and a slow split ([9:25]), then a downhill final 1.5 miles with heavy winds at my back rejuvenated me a bit ([8:56], [8:32] pace for last 1/2 mile). Here’s the kicker: the run is supposed to be a 5K (3.1 miles), but my Garmin said 3.56 miles (time of [32:08])…just cruel! But, all in all a great day and I ended up winning the Females 35-39 division with a time literally almost equaling my personal best ([1:34].49 vs. my PR of [1:34].46).
Good luck with your triathlon. I have Before The Fall, but haven’t started it yet. Glad it’s a solid thriller – sorry it fizzled out a little at the end.
The ending just wasn’t what I was hoping for, but upon further thought…it kind of makes sense with some elements of the story.
Congratulations on your AG win!! That’s great!! My daughter did not compete in Stamford this year (she did QUASSY in Middlebury the previous weekend instead), but she won her AG there last year. When is your next tri?
That’s awesome your daughter won her AG last year! How’s she do in Middlebury? Im not sure when my next race will be…I tend to take it one race at a time. I’m considering West Point in Aug (for the 2nd yr in a row) and/or the Westchester Super Sprint in Sept.
Dear Fang needs to happen for me! I actually went out and purchased this book (along with a few others… ooops), which I haven’t done in FOREVER. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t flounder on my shelves… I’ve so been looking forward to it! Good luck with your triathlon! I need to figure out some kind of work out routine… and time to do it now that I’ve been given the go ahead.
No floundering!! I’m now about 75% through…will be interested to see where it goes for the ending. And good luck getting back into shape post baby…it’s hard and takes time, but it is so rewarding when you finally feel great working out again!
Congratulations on your win, Sarah!
I’m looking forward to your review of Listen to Me.
Thank you 🙂
Bummer about Grief Is the Thing With Feathers, but glad that Dear Fang seems to be doing the trick. That was another one that I loved!
Yeah – I’m glad I gave it a shot…out of my comfort zone and I’m glad I got to read some of those beautiful passages about grief. Will be finishing up Dear Fang most likely tomorrow!
Woo hoo! Congratulations on winning the race! I read another book by Rufi Thorpe and really liked it.
Thank you! This is my first time reading Thorpe – love her writing style, so I’ll have to check out her backlist.
All new titles to me. Hope this week’s reading is better! Congrats on the triathlon win! At my age I can’t even wrap my head around such an endeavor! Good for you!!
ps: I am unable to add my website below. It gives me an error message. Just FYI
Thank you 🙂 Sorry about the error message.
I also loved Reunion so I’m looking forward Pittard’s new novel. Congrats on the race win! you’re bad ass!
Thank you 🙂 And I’ll probably start Pittard’s new one tomorrow – fingers crossed!
Once again, BIG, BIG CONGRATS on your race yesterday!! Those are still really great mile times, considering all the effort you put in BEFORE you ever started running – whew! Well, I guess this pretty much takes Grief off of my list (I need fewer, anyway – ha!) and I’ll now continue considering Dear Fang; I think it would be a great read, from what I’ve heard. Hope you have a great start to the week, Sarah!
Thanks again! I so wish running came more easily for me – I have to work so hard at it and I still have trouble with it! After a year of focusing more on triathlons, I’ve also been running a lot less. I think I’m going to try to build my running base back up this summer. Maybe an early fall 10K will do the trick 🙂
And I hope you get to Dear Fang – I’m about 75% done now and will let you know my final verdict!
Congrats on your win with such a great time!!
Why do you feel like throwing up every time you do a triathlon? Because you’re doing a triathlon! 🙂
Dear Fang is on my list. And, I’m hoping Listen To Me will be good (marriage and road trips!).
Thanks! And – haha!! I did some internet research last night and that was one of the big takeaways…that triathletes are the most likely of bikers/runners/triathletes to experience mid-race nausea…grrr. I did get a few pointers that I’ll try out next time around though.
Yep – I like the sound of marriage and road trips too!
Ha! I was just being silly. 🙂
I hope the tips help – nausea us the worst!
Congrats about your win and your great race time. I can’t imagine how difficult a triathlon is to finish! Just one leg, biking, etc. would be hard enough. Keep up the good work and performances!
I have After the Fall but am not sure if I want to read it or not right now. When a title is mega-hyped it makes me contrary and not particularly excited to read it. I waited on reading Girl on the Train, for example. Perhaps later this month…
Listen to Me sounds intriguing. I wonder how the story will unfold with that premise. Enjoy it!
Thank you! And while I enjoyed, Before the Fall, I’m not sure it lived up to the extreme mega-hype. Your way is probably smart!
Congratulations! Before the Fall is on my list and I have an ARC so I’ll be reading it soon. Good picks. Enjoy!
Thank you and hope Before the Fall works for you!
Who cares about your reading- YOU WON!!! The is so awesome. I cannot even imagine attempting such a thing. A triathlon for me would be watching TV, reading, and sprinting to the fridge.
Glad Dear Fang is working for you. Vera is quite the bit of light, isn’t she?
Haha! And, did you forget that you’re a swimmer?!! Give yourself some credit!
And Vera is wonderful! Hoping to finish in the next day or so.
Congrats on your win…too bad your body suffers as a result.
Your books look good. Before the Fall has been on my radar…and now I’m eyeing Listen to Me.
Enjoy your week…and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Thank you – and it’s ok, the suffering was temporary, which is all that matters.
Hope you get to Before the Fall and/or Listen to me!
Congrats, that’s so awesome! I’ve thought about doing a sprint triathlon before but a 5K alone leaves me tired enough that the idea of adding two legs on is not promising. Maybe someday!
I’ve found that whatever race distance you do leaves you thinking you couldn’t do more..because you push yourself to accommodate that distance and no more on that day. But you’d do it differently for a different race! Hope you try it at some point!
Congratulations on the tri! You’re a rockstar! I have Dear Fang coming from the library and I cannot wait! You have me thinking twice on Grief is the Thing – or at least knowing I can wait a bit on it. Poetry is really not my thing either.
Thank you! Hope you get to Fang soon! And-maybe sample Feathers and read the crow’s first section? If you aren’t into crow initially, that likely won’t change. It is super short, though, and so many others have loved it.
Bummer that Grief didn’t work out—like you, I’ve been seeing nothing but raving! I often find poetry hard to get into, so I may skip this one unless I end up especially inspired in the library.
Sorry to hear about the bumps in your triathlon, but it seems like it all worked out well in the end! I hear you on feeling off-kilter when you aren’t exercising… I don’t do any hardcore training like you, but I do like to get in 20-30 minutes on the elliptical per day. When I don’t, I feel antsy both physically and mentally.
Dear Fang has been recommended to me so much, and I hope to read it this year. My copy of Before the Fall came today, so I’m excited to dig into it maybe next week.
That’s too bad about the problems in your triathlon. I’m impressed with the whole thing and wish I had the determination to run again as I did years ago. It’s such a release. Instead, I find my release in books, which makes my fanny game one for all to see. Ugh.
Congrats on the awesome tri! I am so impressed!!!
Oh you did so well with the triathalon, interesting you got more reading done when you cut down on training before the race to prepare. I guess we only have so much time. I had heard Noah Hawley’s book was good, interesting about what you thought of the ending.
The cover of Dear Fang, With Love is gorgeous! It definitely looks like something I would pick up just based on that beautiful cover.
Dear Fang, With Love looks like great fun!
You’re making me miss the tri-stat area 🙂 Congrats on your AG win!!!
Thank you!
Yay!! Congratulations on the win! I cannot wait to start Before the Fall. Hopefully, that’s my next read. So much has been written about it.
I’ll look forward to your thoughts!
Congratulations on the triathlon! What an accomplishment! I’m squarely with you in the “no poetry” camp. I love a well-written story and I’m a huge stickler for good writing, but sometimes the meaning can get lost in all that flowery language or it comes off as pretentious. If a blurb says something like “award-winning poet So-and-So’s debut novel” I’m usually like, “Welp, nevermind on that one!”
Totally agree about the tendency to sound pretentious and the flowery language!