Wednesday, March 4, 2020

What We Read in February

February is the shortest month of the year, but I still managed to read 9 books! It wasn't my best month as there were far more misses than hits. Looking back at the month, I'm reminded that I need to be better about giving up on a book when it's not resonating with me. I wish I had given up on the misses below!

4 books were "just ok," 2 were excellent
Hits:

- I really enjoyed the 2 Ann Patchett books I read, Truth and Beauty and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Both are non-fiction. I enjoyed Happy Marriage the most out of the 2 - it's a collection of essays. I'll read anything Patchett writes!


Misses:

- The Ten Thousand Doors of January was raved about by several people I know and it was a selection for the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club (I'm not a member but I follow what they read as Anne, the blog author, has great taste). From the start it didn't pull me in but I stuck with it since so many others loved it. I should have abandoned it!

- 84, Charing Cross Road has been recommended by various sources as a book for book-lovers. It's a short book so I didn't lose much time reading this but it definitely fell flat for me. It's a collection of letters between a woman in NYC during the post WWII era and a bookshop owner in London. I guess I was expecting more substance in the letter but much of it was 'do you have this (rare) book' etc etc.

- Conversations with Friends in the debut novel by Sally Rooney. I loved her recent novel, Normal People, so figured I would like this book. Early on, I felt like it wasn't the right fit but decided to stick with it. I should have known that a story based on infidelity wouldn't be a good fit for me - that's a topic I really dislike reading about!

Paul's Reads:

Our little book lover continues to be passionate about reading. Paul and I can perform "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" We may take our show on the road as it's pretty cute! Ha. We performed it for my parents in Florida and they thought it was pretty cute. When reading books we've read frequently/repeatedly, I've started to let him finish sentences as he seems to have a lot of his books memorized. So that is pretty cool to see!

He still loves books with sounds and music. He's NOT happy in the picture below as he didn't want to wear his hat, but he loves the book he's holding. It plays different songs, like the ABC song, The Ants Go Marching, etc.



I was updating his baby book last month and he really enjoyed looking through it! Even though he looks so different, he could figure out he is the baby in the pictures from the early days!


6 comments:

  1. I love those kids books with music or sounds. I'm sure I would love them less if I heard them 24/7 but they're such fun. We have an Eric Carle Christmas one. They still haven't figured out which button to push for the right sound -- they just like pushing buttons!

    Love Patchett and haven't read those. I loved Charing Cross too, but then it's books and London combined! Her second and third books, The Duchess of Bloomsbury and Q's Legacy are better and more interesting, I think. (And also short!)

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  2. I feel the same way about Ann Patchett! And I also felt the same way about that Sally Rooney book, even though everyone really liked it. No thanks!

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  3. I was underwhelmed by Normal People from Sally Rooney and I have Conversations With Friends on my shelf, but I'm not super motivated to pick it up.

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  4. I'm thinking of getting The Bookish Life of Nina Hill from the library on my next go around.

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  5. 9 books is impressive for this short month! I am taking notes of some of your recommendations!

    I just finished Sally Rooney's Normal People and didn't really love it that much.... I am curious if I would like Conversations with Friends (because you were opposite on these two ;)).

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  6. Nine books in a short month or any month is amazing! The one thing I really enjoyed about less internet time was how much more time I had for reading. It was wonderful!

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