I started my week with Sycamore which is sort of a mystery but really so much more. I really enjoyed this story.

Then I read What We Lose which was a quick read but also tough. I have mixed feelings about this story.

I was looking forward to reading We Are Okay which had been on hold for a long time and I loved loved this cover so much so I hoped the book wouldn’t disappoint. And it did not. I really enjoyed this, too.

I’d waited a long time to read All Grown Up too. I got lucky and found a copy at the library and read the entire book in one single sitting (as i took a bath even!) It was very good. (even if i disliked parts and characters.)

And finally it was time for some Pema Chodron again, so I grabbed Don’t Bite the Hook in my Overdrive queue and let myself bask in some of her wisdom and kindness again. Love her.

I finally enjoyed Hello, Sunshine which I knew would be a simple and easy read. It was and it was still enjoyable. 

Lovely week with fun books!

Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

I didn’t like Arundhati Roy’s previous book so I was determined not to pick up  Ministry of Utmost Happiness despite all the press about it. But then Amazon listed it as one of the best books of this year and for some reason that was the tipping point for me. I committed to reading it. I wish I hadn’t. Yes, it was well written. Yes, it was an important story and has valuable points/perspective/insights but it’s so brutal. So difficult. So tough. The story just got worse and worse and I couldn’t deal with it. I should have put it down. 

I then read The Shack which is stupid because I knew it was also very sad. and it didn’t disappoint on the sadness. I just couldn’t get past the dying of the girl. I was so sad as a mom and kept imagining the worse case. It was a good book, though and I’m also watching the movie, now.

I then moved on to Void Star which I’d checked out an returned several times previously. So I decided this was the time to actually read it. I will admit though that I was still on vacation and listened to this book a but half-focused. Nonetheless if science fiction is your thing, this one is a good read. 

I had also returned The Fifth Season a bazillion times so I decided to also buckle down and read it. I read it on my last day in Sydney and on the airplane. I retained probably half of this book and would have to read it again if I want to read the sequel. However, if fantasy is your genre, this one’s a winner.

I finally got to read Hunger after patiently reading the books that came before it on my queue. I had been wanting to read this book since I heard about it. I love Roxane Gay. I knew this book would be honest. And I knew it would be tough. I was right on both counts. But I was also wrong. It was much tougher than I thought. So so tough. I am glad i read it but if you get triggered, I would not recommend this one.

When I got back I dove into Fireworks because it’s the next book in our Young Adult book group. It was a super-fast read and I am glad I read it instead of listening to it. It was eh. 

Next on my library queue was F*ck Feelings. I started listening to it but quickly moved to book format because I knew i wanted to be able to jump around and only read the sections that were interesting to me. There was nothing new in this book for me.

I then listened to Windfall for something fun. It was okay. Not as fun as I hoped it would be but not bad either.

And I ended the week with Body Love, thanks to Ali. She’s been quoting Kelly’s book for a little while now so I decided to order it on my kindle and see how I felt. I already mentioned this one in the Nourish post yesterday so I won’t add more here.

A lot of reading this week. Hunger was the most profound one.

Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

I read The Bright Hour on the airplane to Sydney. It was sad but beautiful and I really enjoyed it. It also reminded me to be grateful for my life. More and more.

I then read Do Not Become Alarmed without knowing much about it. I’d read Meloy’s short stories years ago and they were sad. This book wasn’t as sad but it was still really sad and I am not sure that I am glad I read it.

I knew nothing about Meredith Maran but Anne Lammot has a blurb on the cover and I love her so I checked out  The New Old Me. It was okay. It made me feel hopeful but it definitely wasn’t as wonderful as Anne Lammot’s non-fiction. To be fair, that’s a really high bar.

I then read The Answers but it was really weird. I kept thinking about putting it down the whole time. But I didn’t. In the end I am not sure I liked it. Interesting in places but not worth all the time in the end.

Can’t wait to read some great books again.

Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

I read The Barrowfields because I’d already returned it to the library once and didn’t want to again. It was an interesting and worthwhile story but it’s not at the top of my list for 2017.

i read almost no non-fiction last week so this week I read four! It started with Radical Candor which I loved. I don’t manage people and I had checked this out before and returned it but this time I decided I wanted to give it a try and it was very interesting, thought provoking and worthwhile. I passed it on to a few managers 🙂

I moved on to Chemistry which was wonderful. Very different in style and challenging to listen on audio. But I liked it. It was very sad at parts and very lovely in others.

On a whim, I ordered Craft a Life You Love this week. I am not a follower of Amy Tangerine, I only knew a tiny bit about her and while I like her style, it’s different enough from mine that I didn’t really feel a strong connection to her. I am so glad I got the book. It was awesome. I really really loved it. I loved the thoughtfulness around it. I loved all her ideas, stories, writing. It was a great book and related to so much more than crafting. I am so glad for this random purchase!

I then read No Time Like the Present. So many lessons here for me and I wanted more so I moved on to Bodhisattva Mind. Pema Chodron is amazing. And she was no less amazing here than usual. These two books made for a very thoughtful but peaceful Saturday.

And finally, A Million Junes which I loved. Lovely magical realism. Sweet story. I really enjoyed this one.

here’s to another great week of reading, especially on the airplane!

Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

I started this week with New Boy. It’s a retelling of Othello and it’s one of the few Shakespeare books I haven’t read. This is one of the series of retellings like the Anne Tyler one that came out last year. This particular story takes place in middle school and is about racism. It was a short, powerful read.

I then moved on to One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter because I was looking forward to it and it didn’t disappoint. I’ve read a few books like this, this year, and I’ve liked all of them.

I moved on to Loving What Is. I’ve read Byron Katie before and I knew what to expect but it was still worth it. This is the kind of book I need to read once a year. I need to think, journal, process, learn, and relearn all of this. I find her work to be one of the easiest and most powerful.

I was conflicted about reading House of Names which is a retelling of the story of Clytemnestra (which I didn’t know.) I kept wanting to stop reading it but I didn’t. It was about revenge. About how things go so wrong. It was a tough read, for me.

I then moved on to Woman No. 17 which I also wasn’t sure about reading. But it was much easier to read than The House of Names. Though I didn’t love it. It had a few interesting bits but overall I am so done reading these stories about these women. Characters I can’t connect with, stories I can’t relate to, people I don’t like.

Then I grabbed Startup thinking it would be light and fun. It wasn’t. It was a mess. It was too cartoonish. I wish someone would write a smart novel about the current Silicon Valley culture. Not something sensationalist but something interesting, thought-provoking and worthwhile. But alas, maybe that won’t happen.

I kept picking up One of the Boys and putting it down. I knew I was going to be so sad. And I was. it was so sad. I am not glad I read it. 

My library just got in Giant Steps even though it’s an old old book. I didn’t realize it was a 365-day book and it was weird on audio but it was great. So great that I put the actual book on hold at the library so I can read it again. It was thought provoking and promises some amazing journaling questions, I think.

And my last book was Ferris’ short story collection: The Dinner Party. There was one story I really liked called The Breeze, I enjoyed several others but short stories are always tough for me. I am glad I stuck with this one.

I guess this was another week of okay books but not many great books. Here’s to hoping next week is better.

Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

I started this week with The Book of Joy. This book is one I have to read again and again. Lessons here are wonderful. All of it thought-provoking. I am so grateful for these two amazing people and for a book that captures a bit of them.

I then moved on to Beartown which I knew very little about and in the end it ended up being a tough book to read. But it was very well done and I am glad I read it. Even though it was tough and sad.

I then picked up Ginny Moon which I also knew nothing about. This cute, sweet book was also frustrating at times and I wanted to kick some of the adults in it. But it was one I didn’t regret reading.

I had a lot of books checked out from the library but I wanted to read The Leavers even though it wasn’t next on my check-out list. This book is so layered and there are so many subjects the author tackles. But the one that resonated the most with me was about belonging because it’s something I grapple with a lot. I loved it.

I was so looking forward to Men without Women too since I love, adore Murakami. I love him. Have I mentioned I love him? Even though I don’t love short stories, I still wanted to see if I could like this. And while I don’t love all of the stories, I really liked several of them and I’ll take whatever Murakami I can get.

I am in this weird space where I have a lot of books checked out but many of them aren’t speaking to me so we’ll see what happens this week.

Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.