Reading on a Rainy Day

I am so glad that this is a short work-week (well, a 4-day week as opposed to a 5-day week). Work has been more insane, if that's possible. I almost feel like I need to put in more hours this week just to be on top of things. This weekend cannot come soon enough, and I can only hope that I won't be bringing work into my weekend. The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows: I picked this book solely on the merit of this author's co-authorship in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . I'm only four chapters in, but I can say with plenty of confidence that this book is going to be a favorite. It has the same charming voice as Guernsey, the characters are very likable and the writing is quirky and fun to read. I'm not too sure yet what the book is supposed to be about but it doesn't matter - the book is fun and the writing is easy to get lost in. Evoking the same small town charm with the same great eye for character, the co-author of Guernsey Lit...

I have been having a hard time reading anything at all this past week. I doubt it's a rut because I do want to read and happily pick up a book every evening. But, by the time I start reading, which is usually past 9.30 pm on a weeknight, my eyes are ready to shut. Most of my evening before bedtime tends to go into TV, cooking, resting (oh, that nasty back pain), and trying to plan my baby shopping. Hopefully, I'll have some of that shopping plan in order by this weekend, making next week at least a good one for reading. One can always hope. For now, these are the books I'm reading (or trying to read). The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag: I am in two minds about this book. On the one hand, I love love love this book. I feel the same way about it as I would about a book that is filled with literary characters or references. Except for a passing mention of Virginia Woolf, Beatrix Potter, George Eliot, and Sylvia Plath, there really are not many literary...

Right now, I am sort of in the middle of some good books - one audiobook in the car, one print at the gym, another print for evening reading. It's nice to be on a reading roll and have multiple distinct books going at the same time. This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki: Lately, I have been seeing this book on many blogs. It has been on my TBR since I first heard about it last year, but I picked it up at the library this weekend after reading so many good reviews about it. I have been saving graphic novels for weekday evenings, so I'm hoping to get this one started today and maybe even finished tonight. Another of Mariko Tamaki's books is also on my wishlist - Skim - so I'm hoping to get hold of that one next. Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rose's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won'...

Last weekend, I headed out to the library to get three books for the husband and brought home an additional three books for myself. So much for my one book out at a time from the library rule. In my defense, two of those books were graphic nonfiction, which don't count, simply because one sitting is all I need to get through them, and then it would be pointless to keep going back and forth for the next three days. Not that a library visit is unpleasant. Marbles : It certainly took a long time for this graphic book to show up at my library. Ever since I heard about this one a year or so ago, it has been on my wishlist. I am a fan of first person narrative stories by people who are suffering from a mental disorder. It's a strange thing to be a fan of - it is certainly unpleasant to be the one suffering, it's also rarely cheerful. Also, with books like that, it helps to know in advance that the narrative could be unreliable, at least some times. Marbles is about Ellen...