Books That Need to Be Reviewed

I don’t know what has happened to me. I’m so busy and blogging has fallen by the wayside. I’m still reading, I’m just not writing those reviews. So until I get a little time, here is what I’ve been reading.

The Furies by Natalie Haynes

At first I was confused by The Furies because it is called The Amber Fury in the UK, but in either case it is a great debut for Natalie Haynes, garnering her a nomination for the Edinburgh Book Festival First Book Award. The Furies is set in Edinburgh, at a school referred to as The Unit, for teens at risk. Alex finds herself teaching drama-therapy after the untimely death of her fiance. The combination of Alex’s troubles and the troubled teens leads to another tragedy. And that is where I will leave you.

Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing author Naomi Wood at the Edinburgh Book Festival. As I was waiting in line, ready to enter the auditorium, i finished her book Mrs Hemingway, but have not yet had a chance to review it. So with the image of it fading in my memory, i will now attempt to put together a few coherent thoughts.

The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar

I don’t know who introduced me to Thrity Umrigar – it was years ago- but I must thank them. They gave me a copy of her second book, The Space Between Us, and it was magnificent. Since then, I’ve always tried to keep my eyes open for new books by her, so I leaped at the chance to read The Story Hour.

Bout of Books 11

I wasn’t going to sign up, but peer pressure has got the better of me, and I have a ton of books that need reading, so here I go. I’m in and I’m committed. In case you’re not familiar with Bout of Books:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

My plan is simple, I’m going to read, and read a lot.

• Finish The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
• Read The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters if I can get my hands on a copy before I see her on Aug 25.
• Read and make notes on Skim and This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki before recording my first ever podcast appearance on WriteReads.
• That can’t seriously be it, can it? Well, I have four blog posts that need writing, so does that count?

Have fun and good luck to all.

UPDATES

Monday: finished reading The Story Hour. (forgot to count pages)

Tuesday: read Skim. Started Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe.

 

DNF – How To Tell Toledo From the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer

Oh boy. Can I just start by saying I really wanted to like How To Tell Toledo From the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer. I have been following Netzer’s career since she came out with Shine, Shine, Shine in 2012. She is one of those hot young things getting all the accolades and everyone I know seems to like her books. Boom. How To Tell Toledo came in at the library and I was ready.

A Song For Issy Bradley by Carys Bray

I picked up A Song For Issy Bradley by Carys Bray without knowing entirely what it was about. This was both good and bad. I knew that it was set in a Mormon family and a crisis of faith. Hear that? That’s all my boxes being checked. What I didn’t know was that the daughter of the family dies near the beginning of the book. I do not read books in which children die. They are just too sad for me. But I decided to soldier forth because i do love me a crisis of faith.

Naomi Wood at the Edinburgh Book Festival

I saw Naomi Wood at the Edinburgh Book Festival on Saturday, so i’m writing this quite a few days after the fact. She was on a panel with David Park (The Poets’ Wives) talking about biographical fiction. Both have recently written novels with predominant literary figures at the heart of them. For the most part I will be sticking to Woods comments, as I have not read David Park’s book.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Yep, I digging way into the backlist for this one – 1965. I will admit that before I started blogging I don’t think I’d ever heard of We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Then last year, it seemed that everyone was talking about it. It’s by Shirley Jackson, who you probably think you’ve never heard of, but you have. She wrote The Lottery, a short story you undoubtedly read in high school or college and it blew your mind.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I should have listened. All my blogging friends were raving about Anthony Doerr‘s new novel, All The Light We Cannot See, and I wrote it off. I thought I wasn’t interested. Thank goodness the good people at Simon and Schuster Canada sent me a copy. I couldn’t have been more wrong. All The Light We Cannot See rates up there as one of the best novels I’ve read so far this year.