Books in Progress: What I’m Reading Right Now – September 2019

Hello, my friends, and welcome to the September addition of “Jordan Overestimates How Many Books She Can Realistically Finish in a Given Period of Time”.

It’s a serious problem. I’m often far too optimistic about how much time I will have to read over the week or two in front of me and invariably end up borrowing too many library books and committing to too many reviews all at once. I do think I’ve gotten better at managing my reading expectations over the years, but I still have some work to do in this area.

The problem really boils down to the simple fact that when it comes to books, I have a very difficult time telling myself no. This makes me wonder, do other people have ‘reading rules’ in place to help them make better bookish decisions? I have a loose rule that I won’t read more than three separate books at a time, but since I’m currently smack in the middle of five it would seem that rules are made to be broken.

So what can I do? Give me all the suggestions for how to control my readerly impulses and channel my bookish energy effectively.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I might make some extra coffee money at no extra expense to you if you buy something through one of my links. Read more about that here.

Just Finished:

The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships

Is this a good book? Yes. Did it spark an identity crisis for me? Also yes. I thought I knew what my enneagram number was after reading The Road Back to You but now I’m back to the drawing board. I am debating between three different numbers and their various wings. If you happen to spot me wandering aimlessly, it’s because I’m trying find myself. Which number has the most trouble deciding? That’s probably what I am.

The Killing Tide

This book was all over bookstagram in the #christianfiction realm, so I had to keep up with the in-crowd and give it a try. I liked the plucky characters and the witty dialogue, and I definitely didn’t guess who the bad guy was in the end. It’s the first book I’ve ever read by Dani Pettrey and I would read her again – in fact I went ahead and saved a few from her backlist on my Overdrive wish list to read soon.

Sleeping Giants

As far as audiobooks go, this one is amazing. The story itself is intriguing, since it follows a team of scientists researching a huge metal hand and other body parts that are popping up all over the globe. That’s the intensely simplified version. There’s a ton going on in the story and the format is unique in that it’s told through a series of interviews, journal entries, and official reports. What makes it so great on audio is that there are a ton of different characters all narrated by voice actors who do an amazing job of acting out the parts. It definitely doesn’t sound like your typical fiction audiobook, or at least not like the ones I’ve heard.

The Silent Songbird

Melanie Dickerson has been my go-to for clean fairy tale romances ever since I read The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest in 2016. I think her books are technically classified as YA, so they are typically easy to read and I usually fly through them pretty quickly. This one is about a ward of the king who chooses to flee and become a servant rather than marry the lecherous old man chosen for her. Since she is known for her beautiful singing voice, she pretends to be mute to aid in her disguise. But of course she falls in love, and not just with another peasant. Will she tell the truth and risk everything for the chance to marry the lord’s son?

In Progress:

Arsenic and Old Men

How to describe this book…I guess I would have to go with cozy mystery with a generous helping of humor thrown in. Three friends and their wives travel to Martha’s Vineyard to settle the affairs and scatter the ashes of Dave’s old Uncle Walt. But it turns out that Uncle Walt didn’t die of a heart attack as the police first believed – he was poisoned with arsenic. Now they are stuck in Martha’s Vineyard way longer than anticipated, dealing with a host of wacky characters and mounting their own investigation into the murder. I’m about 20% in and it’s definitely funny. The characters are witty and the whole thing is filled with puns, quips, and word-plays.

The Warrior Maiden

Another Melanie Dickerson book, this one is a retelling of Mulan. I, for one, never get tired of woman-posing-as-a-man stories, and all the awkwardness and quick thinking that begets for the characters. Of course she immediately proves her worth as a warrior and begins to fall in love with a lord’s son. Predictable? Yes. But the thing is, all the predictable stuff has pretty much already happened and I’m only about quarter of the way through, so I can’t wait to see where she is going to take the story next.

Tasting Grace

This book, you guys. I’ve been reading it like a devotional, going through a chapter or two day, and it’s so good. Hearing the struggles she has been through and the role food played in the different seasons of her life is fascinating. She shows how sometimes our relationship with food can be unhealthy and sometimes it can be an instrument for grace and healing. Food makes many appearances in the Bible and she walks us through some of the most significant instances and shows how we can use food to point towards our Creator. I’m planning to post a review of this one next week.

Waking Gods

This is the sequel to Sleeping Giants (mentioned above). The formatting and audio quality are the same and the story picks up about decade after the last one ended, with another giant metal robot making an appearance in London. I just started this one so I can’t make a judgement yet about whether it will be as good as Sleeping Giants, but so far things look promising.

Frankenstein

How I came to this book is a long story, but you’ve got time, right? So I was listening to the He Read She Read podcast earlier this week and they were talking about classic literature. One thing led to another and I got the idea for a blog post I’m really excited about sharing next month with a list of slightly creepy classic lit titles that would be perfect for some highbrow Halloween reading. Frankenstein came to mind as a great choice for such a list but there was one problem – I haven’t read it. So I went straight to my Serial Reader app and now I’m in the process of correcting this issue. According to the app, I will be done around October 10th, just in time for my post.

Up Next:

Mycroft and Sherlock

I’m a long-time Sherlock Holmes fan, so this retelling jumped out at me from the New Fiction section at my local library. Speaking of reading rules, I should make it a rule never to look at that section because I never leave empty handed. Anyway, I’m excited to see what this book will be like and I hope it does the Holmes brothers justice. Side note: Was anyone else aware that Kareem Abdul-Jabar wrote fiction?

One More River to Cross

I’ve always had a morbid fascination with the story of the Donner party, so I leapt at the chance to review the fictional story of another wagon train that finds itself in similar circumstances. I just got this one in the mail Tuesday and it’s all I can do to discipline myself into finishing at least one or two of my current reads before I pick up this one.

Never Let Me Go

This book was featured on the most recent episode of One Great Book and Anne totally talked me into checking it out immediately when she described it as as three teens in an exclusive British boarding school with dystopian elements. I was especially intrigued when she said ideally you would know as little about the story as possible before jumping in. Again, I’m trying very hard to finish up some current reads so I can give this book the attention it sounds like it deserves.

Thanks to Modern Mrs. Darcy for hosting a quick lit link up! Go check her out if you want to see what even more bloggers are reading right now.