- Last week my work team decided to start a quarterly book club! We’ll read one book from one of the following genres a quarter: memoir, thriller, chick lit/romance, sci fi/fantasy; then discuss it. We drew memoir as our first genre, and we’re all going to make a recommendation then draw one out of a hat to see which we read. I’m going to recommend Inheritance, since Jamie recommended it on The Popcast and she hasn’t let me down yet!
- I finished The Nickel Boys in two days. It’s just over 200 pages and a quick read. It’s about two black boys sentenced to a corrupt and abusive reform school in Florida in the mid 60s. I thought it would be much harder to get through because of the abuse, but the students use a lot of metaphors to talk about it, so it’s presented through a bit of a veil. The writing is beautiful and the story is very well told. I need someone else to read it so we can talk about the ending. And I need to do more research about the actual reform school this story is based on.
- I started and finished Other People’s Houses, about four families that live on the same street and what’s really going on behind closed doors (the book opens with one neighbor walking in to another neighbor’s home to find her having sex on the floor… with someone who is not her husband). I read this because I loved Abbi Waxman’s latest book so much that I reserved her first two. This one had the same fresh, funny, clever, and relevant writing style, and great story telling, BUT, I did not love this story as much, because it was so kid-centric. It was an amusing and fun read, and felt realistic, I just couldn’t relate to the parent life. And there were so many kids to keep track of – I kept having to refer to the list at the beginning of the book (thankfully, the list existed!).
- I picked up Whisper Network at the library because I thought the cover looked familiar – I had seen it recommended on Reese’s Book Club, and I sometimes like her books. Not this one. It’s about four women who work together and decide to do something about the sexual harassment in their office. None of the characters were very likable or relatable, the writing was bloated and over the top, and parts of it were predictable. It’s an important topic, but I didn’t care for the style of writing. I also don’t think I want to spend my free time reading about other people’s work. I felt better looking at Goodreads reviews and seeing how many people struggled with this like I did. I did enjoy that it was set in Dallas, since I’ve been there a lot. And the company they work for is a large sports company (like Nike or Under Armour) so I liked imagining that.
- Whisper Network also has a bad connotation because I read it when I was sick and kept having weird fever dreams about it. I should have read something different before I went to bed. Instead I kept dreaming about their office and the spreadsheet that was being passed around listing bad Dallas men on it.
- A bunch of my hold books just came in and some of them have no renewals AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I am going to read them in the order they are due, ha!
- I copied Stephany and added the date to the post title! Thank you, Stephany!
I hate it when a bunch of holds come in at once! I feel like I have to rush through them sometimes. I do the same thing, read them in order of return date. The book club sounds like a fun idea!
That is how I feel and I don’t like that feeling. I want to savor each sentence (in a good book anyway, I totally skimmed the last two pages of Whisper Network because I was so over it and DGAF).
We presented the book club idea today and people were excited and we’ve already have four ideas submitted for memoirs to read!
I think that is so cool you are going to have a book club at work! I am excited for you – it’s fun and different to talk about books with a group of people.
I am full swing into “The Goldfinch” and my goal is to finish it before I leave to visit my mom on October 30th…I think I should be able to do that, EXCEPT for the fact I went to pick up a book on hold and came home with four additional books – how am I going to READ THEM ALL???
I am excited too! And I love all the suggestions they’ve made so far. I guess Demi Moore has a memoir that just came out this week, and that was one of them.
Yes, you can do eeet. Do you think you will read that and other books at the same time, to get them read?!
Am more than halfway through the Goldfinch so I think it will be fine. I’ve been reading the other books in between – they are in Dutch and non-fiction, so I’ve been taking them to my volunteer shifts. And one of them was actually a cookbook (Vegan Easy)!
I’m glad I could be an inspiration! 🙂
When you told me you were reading another Abbi Waxman book, I was hoping it wasn’t that one! Haha. I liked that book but it didn’t hold a candle to The Garden of Small Beginnings for me. That book was OUTSTANDING.
One of my favorite things to do on Goodreads is read all the 1- and 2-star reviews for a book I didn’t like. Makes me feel better about my opinion!
You definitely are! Thank you!
Ha, glad it wasn’t just me who liked this book but wasn’t in love. I have The Garden of Small Beginnings to read!!! I am getting through all my library books with no renewal option first.
Yes! It helps! Do you do it when you start to question if you should finish it? That’s usually when I start.
Love that your office is doing the book club and I like the way you are choosing your books. I should suggest that method for ours!
Thanks! How do you guys select now?
I can totally relate to the stress of all of the book holds coming in at once. How are you doing getting through them all?
Actually doing okay! But I didn’t have a library book with me to start this weekend when I finished what I was reading and feel bad for starting a book I own on my Kindle. Ha.