1 & 2Q16 books

Well I guess I forgot all about this, didn’t I? Whoops. I’ve not been as great of a reader as I’d like–I have binge-watched Nurse Jackie, The West Wing, and The Sopranos, so I’ve been productive–but at any rate, here’s what I’ve ready so far this year.

Fates And Furies, by Lauren Groff
People went kind of crazy for this book. I found it to be mostly infuriating until halfway through. Infuriating throughout, though, was the fact that I needed a dictionary to look up every other word. Anyway, I think people liked this book because of the s-e-x, but I didn’t find it very racy. It’s an interesting character study once you get to that halfway point…but first you have to get there.

The Rumor, by Elin Hilderbrand
I don’t even remember what this was about, but did it have Sancerre and Nantucket? Probably. I’m sure it was enjoyable, as all Hilderbrand’s books are for me.

The Art Of Fielding, by Chad Harbach
Okay. OKAY. Everyone loved this book. I had to slog through it. This book might be what almost single-handedly killed my reading mojo for the year. The plot(s) were good. The characters were interesting. The way the book jumped from point-of-view to point-of-view kept it engaging and enjoyable (although it was long, hence the slog). UNTIL THE VERY END. THIS WAS THE DUMBEST ENDING I HAVE EVER READ. Perhaps because I am not literary, maybe I didn’t get the meaning or something, but MEH. (This article that my girl Jennie shared years ago, on how this book came to be written/published at all, is a fascinating read. Recommend.)

Winter Street, by Elin Hilderbrand
This is Hilderbrand’s first winter-themed novel and I enjoyed it! It’s very short, I finished it in two days. It was nice to read in the summer, when it’s hot as balls and you’re just looking forward to Christmas.

The Royal We, by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
This was cute. It’s based-ish, I guess on Prince William and Kate Middleton (who I’m sure have actual titles by which they should be referred, but whatever). Anyway, the ancillary characters were probably more interesting than “Prince Nick” and “Bex” themselves, but there were a lot of those characters to cover, which is good. If anything, this novel did take me back to the royal wedding, which I was up early (late?) watching when LG was 9-days-old.

Right now, I’m finishing up the second in Elin Hilderbrand’s “Winter” trilogy, and then I’m not sure what’s up next. What have you read recently that’s not total dreck?

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