Usually, my mid-month current reads list is a kind of snapshot of my reading life — a sample of some of the books I’ve been reading. This month, it’s almost the whole list. Due to a variety of factors, my reading has been waaaaay down the last few weeks. I’m on track to finish about half as many books as I typically do in a given month, but the good news is that the titles I’m sharing are pretty good ones!
So without further ado, here’s what I’ve been reading lately.
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Just Finished:
This memoir by singer/songwriter Jewel is inspiring and thought-provoking. I listened to the audio version, which she narrates herself, and I loved hearing her tell her story of overcoming incredible odds in her own voice. She even sings snippets of songs throughout the course of the book as she details her journey from the backwoods of Alaska to Hollywood and the life of a bestselling musician. So good!
Finished up my re-read of this popular series, and it was just as good as I remembered. This compelling story with surprisingly complex characters is truly a modern classic, and I liked the ending more this time than the first time.
I mostly liked this one, though it has a bit more language than I am comfortable with for a ‘sweet/clean’ classification. I realize that’s subjective though, so take it as my opinion and nothing more. It’s about Holly, who is having no luck in her increasingly desperate search for husband material. She meets Jax, a bartender who is launching a wilderness adventure guide business and offers to help her tweak her dating profile and find better dates than the losers she’s been finding on her own, in exchange for her donating her business experience to help him get started. As they get to know each other, attraction begins to bloom on both sides, but both are hesitant because Jax doesn’t believe in marriage and Holly is all about commitment and settling down. This is a fun story with lots of snappy banter that I really enjoyed.
In Progress:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
I’ve had this book on my shelf for upwards of five years, and for some reason, now felt like the right time to pick it up. It’s told from the perspective of a 15-year-old autistic boy who is fixated on solving the mystery of who killed his neighbor’s dog. He learns all kinds of things in his investigation, some of which will change his life forever. This story is unexpectedly funny and unlike anything I’ve read before. Hearing Christopher’s thoughts as the neurodivergent narrator of the story makes everything seem somehow familiar and different at the same time since he doesn’t see the world the same way most of us do. I’m interested to see if he figures out who killed the dog, and I’m hopeful that Chris will get a happy ending.
I’m listening to the audiobook for book club and I’ll be honest, I almost quit reading when I was about 5% in. But a friend with similar taste encouraged me to stick with it and I think I’ll end up liking it more than I expected to. It’s about a young lobbyist who loses her job when her unethical boss tries to bribe a politician. She needs to lay low for a while and her dad has the perfect place — a dilapidated old house that he recently inherited and needs someone to fix up before flipping it. She agrees to take on the task in exchange for part of the profits, not realizing that the house and the small town it’s in will steal her heart.
My husband and I are big Michael Crichton fans, so we are listening to this new release (finished after Crichton’s death by James Patterson) together. It started out well, but it has a bit of a slow middle. I’m hoping for an exciting, inspiring ending! There is basically no description of this book on purchasing sites — just the authors’ names in bold and critical reviews. But the story is essentially about a volcano that is predicted to erupt and a team of people who are trying to find a way to keep a very bad thing from happening as a result. That’s all I can say without spoilers!
Up Next:
I was surprised by how much I loved Belladonna, the book that comes before this one. I’m eager to jump back in and read what happens next as Signa continues her acquaintance with Death and meets his brother, Fate. Also, the cover is so beautiful! That’s actually what drew me to the series to begin with.
This romantic comedy about a female game developer who is trying to get her life together while falling for two different men — a handsome stranger from the train and a fellow gamer she only interacts with online — has great reviews and sounds like a lot of fun. Can’t wait to pick it up and see if it lives up to the good reviews it has!
My daughter loved the first book in this series (Beneath the Swirling Sky) so we were super excited to get an early copy of Between Flowers and Bones for her to read before release in September. She’s asked me to read it too and I always try to honor recommendations from one of my kids since I want them to do the same when I hand them books, so it’s on my list! The Restorationists books are about a family of artists who are able to travel through paintings. They restore art and try to keep it from the hands of an opposing group of art travelers who deface art and use it for their personal gain.
They Didn’t Teach This in Worm School
As I said above, when one of my kids asks me to read a book I try to do it! My youngest thought this book was so funny and wanted me to read it too, so I will definitely be picking it up soon. I have to admit, a story told from the perspective of an earthworm does sound entertaining.
And you can always find more great book recommendations in Anne Bogel’s monthly quick lit roundup – don’t forget to check out all the other bloggers in the comments, too!
