Thursday, June 11, 2020

Reading Lately

I shared what I had been reading back in January and I wish that I could say I'd been using my quarantine time to read a bunch of books - but turns out I actually spent it making math lesson videos :) hahaha  So while I haven't read as much as I had hoped I have read a few good ones that I thought I'd share.

I mentioned in my January post that I was reading Recursion and I finished it and LOVED IT!  It was a bit more sci-fi than what I normally read and while I did find the ending to get a little bit repetitive - it was thought provoking and really really entertaining.





I ADORED  Home Front by Kristin Hannah.  It's no secret that Kristin Hannah can do NO WRONG in my book and Home Front was one of the most emotional books I've read.  I found myself in tears on several occasions as she told the story of Jolene, a black hawk helicopter pilot and the toll that war took on her and her family.  It was raw and really made me think about and appreciate the sacrifices that our military and their families make every day.  HIGHLY recommend.


It's been years since I read a John Grisham novel and when The Guardians came up on my recommended reading list (after watching Just Mercy in the movie theater) I decided to give it a try.   

 "In the small Florida town of Seabrook, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk as he worked late one night. The killer left no clues. There were no witnesses, no one with a motive. But the police soon came to suspect Quincy Miller, a young black man who was once a client of Russo’s. 

Quincy was tried, convicted, and sent to prison for life. For twenty-two years he languished in prison, maintaining his innocence.  But no one was listening.  He had no lawyer, no advocate on the outside. In desperation, he writes a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small nonprofit run by Cullen Post, a lawyer who is also an Episcopal minister.

Guardian accepts only a few innocence cases at a time.  Cullen Post travels the country fighting wrongful convictions and taking on clients forgotten by the system. With Quincy Miller, though, he gets far more than he bargained for. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith Russo, and they do not want Quincy Miller exonerated.

They killed one lawyer twenty-two years ago, and they will kill another without a second thought.

I did find it a bit "tedious" at times and had to go back and reference some names early on in the book but overall I really enjoyed it and if you like John Grisham I thought it was one of his better books.


The Alice Network took me FOREVER to get through - I kept waiting for it to really "take off" and while I found the characters endearing and the story interesting it wasn't my favorite from this time period.  If you enjoy reading about WWII I think it's worth the time for sure - but I think after reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz last summer it just kind of paled in comparison.



Last summer I read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and so when I heard about  The Nickel Boys I decided to try it and WOW was it powerful.  It tells the story of a young Black boy from Florida who was riding in a stolen car and then sent to a reform school of sorts.   The absolutely awful treatment the boys there received is written about in a way that isn't graphic but still conveys the pure evil and I found it hard to read knowing that the book was based on the real story of a Florida reform school that was in operation for 111 years.  It was a quick read and I think an important read.

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I'm currently about a third of the way through  A Good Neighborhood and I CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!!!  I'll keep you posted on what I think when I've finished it but so far I'm enjoying it.


I feel like my "to read pile" is growing by the day but I'd love to know what you've read recently and loved!

Happy Thursday, friends!

PS - this post contained affiliate links... thank you so much for reading and supporting my blog!

16 comments :

  1. Girl in the Blue Coat
    The Last Mrs. Parrish
    The Lost Girls of Paris
    Where the Crawdads Sing

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  2. I just finished Home Front as well! I am beyond thrilled that our library is open again for curb pick up. I simply have not gotten into reading on my kindle. I read a lot and enjoyed 'A Woman is No Man' as well within the past month.

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  3. I can remember exactly where I was when reading Home Front! Coming home from the beach, four years ago, sitting in the back of the car trying NOT to sob because I knew the three males (my husband and sons) would think I had lost my mind. So darn good;).

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  4. I need to read Home Front. I keep forgetting to look at it and see if I've read it...for some reason, I can never remember the names of her books and I never know if I've read one or not until I pick it up and skim the first few pages. I'm currently in a light and fluffy Christian fiction mood and have been since the Corona hit, and my go to authors are Robin Jones Gunn, Karen Kingsbury, and Neta Jackson. You can't go wrong with any of their books, but if you read theirs, make sure you go in order, because most of them are connected. Thanks for sharing your list with us!

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  5. I just read American Dirt. Oh my I loved it! Started BEFORE WE WERE YOURS last night and its starting to get good. It goes to the past and present and sometimes those kind of books are not a favorite.

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  6. I felt the same way about The Alice Network. I love anything about World War II and I couldn't make myself finish this book. I rarely give up on a book, but there are just too many good books to read to waste my time on a book I just can't get into.

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    1. For World War II read "We were the Lucky Ones" by Georgia Hunter. You will love it.

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  7. I think you’d enjoy The Dutch House.

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  8. I think you’d enjoy The Dutch House-

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  9. I read The Tattooist too. If you want a really good world war two book ready "We were the Lucky Ones" by Georgia Hunter. Soooo good!

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  10. I loved Recursion! Very interesting premise!

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  11. I loved Home Front! I thought The Alice Network was good; a bit slow but good. I liked that it focused more on the role of spies and women during the war which is something I dind't know as much about. Right now I'm still making my way slowly through Born Surviors a biography of 3 women who arrived at the concentration camps while pregnant and kept it a secret. I can only read short spurts of it before I have to set it aside and read some other fiction/fun things.

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  12. Reading Such a Fun Age with some friends this month. Next month is The Vanishing Half. We love Summer Book Club. :)

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  13. I love Kristen Hannah but I’m not sure I can emotionally handle Home Front! I might need to anyway. Thanks for the recommendations!

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  14. I read Recursion too! I think I discovered it because of a post on here or your Instagram. I thought it was such an interesting premise. I described the plot to my fiance and actually had to draw some things out on paper to explain :) The end did feel repetitive and very heavy stuff to read again and again, but overall I enjoyed it!

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  15. Just finished In Five Years and LOVED it. I think you might...not “like” One True Loves” but I liked it in the same way :)

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