Images from Goodreads
[81] The Bolds by Julian Clary
Juvenile Fiction / Humorous Stories, Currently Reading, “Season 3, Episode 6: Are you “Book Bossy”? We are!”
I bought the first three books in the series for Luca and wanted to read the first one before I saw him
Synopsis: The Bolds live a normal life in their Teddington, England home, but are slightly different than their human neighbors – they’re hyenas! They keep their true identity hidden by wearing clothes and hats, but their nosy neighbor sees one of their tails and is determined to figure out what is going on.
Review: This is a cute, amusing book with a compassionate message in it. I enjoyed reading it and want to read more in the series as Luca reads more in the series, so we can talk about it when we’re together.
Recommend? Yes, for middle grade (or if you need a boost in your book count since you can read it in an hour or two)
[82] Dandelion Growing Wild: A triumphant journey over astounding odds to become an American marathon champion by Kim Jones
Memoir, I know I heard about this on a running podcast (probably I’ll Have Another with Lindsey Hein) and can picture where I was when I heard it and what the weather was like… but not the podcast episode itself. Oops.
Trigger warnings: alcoholism, drug use, abuse, death, mental health, child neglect, poverty, animal cruelty
Synopsis: Elite marathoner Kim Jones shares how she became a successful marathoner, despite facing setback after setback in childhood and as an adult.
Review: Er… this book is completely effed up from the get-go. The title is not exaggerating about “astounding odds.” It’s so intriguing and appalling you can’t put it down, but it’s a hard read. I actually don’t recommend it because so many horrible things happen to Jones… it’s completely depressing. She is tough and has a positive attitude, but it’s just one thing after another. I was greatly bothered by the animal cruelty stories, and wish I hadn’t read them (I’ll never forget one of them, and I just don’t need the imagery from it in my head). I got to the point where if an animal was mentioned I skipped to the last paragraph where they were mentioned (in a row) and just read the outcome. Easy to read (difficulty level, not emotionally), incredibly interesting, but just a bit too much of a tough hang.
Recommend? No
[DNF] Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Fiction / Literary, Sarah’s Bookshelves Live Episode 65, “Fall 2020 Book Preview” (also a green light by Jamie on the Popcast and mentioned by Currently Reading “Season 3, Episode 6: Are you “Book Bossy”? We are!”)
I was really excited to read Yaa Gyasi’s sophomore book Transcendent Kingdom since it has been getting so many rave reviews. But I couldn’t do it. I got 20% in and quit. It’s about a young woman in a doctorate program in neuroscience, who lost her brother to drugs and has a depressive mother. I could handle that. What I could not handle was the very detailed descriptions of experimentation on mice, especially so closely after the last book. I felt I was missing on some metaphor if I skipped those sections (which I was). Also… it was boring. I love character driven novels but this was too much like a diary. If you read it and love it please let me know! I want to hear more about it.
[83] Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin
Fiction / Contemporary Women, Book of the Month ad (later saw on Bookbub)
Synopsis: Claire is depressed from being kicked out of a band right before it becomes famous. She’s running out of money, so she reluctantly takes a job as a singer for a play date group of upper class Manhattan mothers. She’s surprised to discover she likes the women in the group, but other surprises (and DRAMA) await.
Review: This was such a fun read and exactly what I needed after that tough memoir! We get Claire’s point of view along with several of the mother’s, and they all have interesting stories and unique struggles. I thought it might be hard to follow with so many characters but it wasn’t at all. I loved all the drama, and loved the plot twist! Perfect brain candy.
Recommend? Definitely!
Haha, I like your suggestion of reading The Bolds to boost your book count 😛
Dandelion Growing Wild sounds SUPER intense. Have you read Educated? The part about “astounding odds” made me think about Educated, and I’m curious how this compares.
I finally finished Beyond the Point!! I really enjoyed it (well, until the last quarter or so. That was a bit of a downer). I’m taking a little break from reading now because I’m tired of stressing myself out over getting through books when I have other things that need to be done (like packing. Blech.) but hopefully once the move is over I’ll have more free time again!
I already have the second one! 😉
I have read Educated! And yes, very similar with crazy stuff happening, and being raised in poverty with a heavily religious background. I think Dandelion was more intense with the family issues (surprisingly) than Educated. Lots of mental health, drugs, jail time, and death.
I am glad you enjoyed it! And yes the ending was sad. Did you see that coming or think it was her? I was going to ask how packing and moving is going?!
I didn’t see it coming at all! I TOTALLY thought it was going to be her, and read like the first two-thirds of the book being like, “It’s so sad knowing what’s coming!” And then I didn’t know at all.
Moving is…going. We have boxes! Haha. And two and half weeks to actually fill them up 😛 Fortunately most of the pre-move work on the house is really winding down, which means we can focus our efforts on packing over the next couple of weekends. It will be really nice to have this all behind us!
Right me too!!!!! Gah. I felt so sad for her. Then she couldn’t get home! Ugh. I hope she found someone new.
Oh good! You are going to feel so good when you’re moved in and unpacked! I can’t wait to hear more about your new place!
Oh, no! I’m so sad that Transcendent Kingdom didn’t work for you. Maybe the wrong book at the wrong time? But kudos for abandoning it when it wasn’t working for you! I am always pro-abandoning. 🙂
Happy & You Know It was a BOTM pick a few months ago, but wasn’t sure if it was up my alley. I might put it on my TBR list with your review!
I think so! I could tell it was good writing, just not what I needed then, and such a bummer! I still want to read Homegoing. And yes, I am happy I skipped ahead to a more light-hearted read! Was it a BOTM? Did you get it?
If you love the dramz like I do, you will like it. No major triggers that I can think of, and the “mommy” stuff didn’t bother me (as a child-free person, I mean).
Wow, I could not read those books with animal cruelty, either. I can hardly watch movies with an animal character, because I am always afraid of something bad happening to the animal… I am even having a hard time with anticipating the big tree having to get cut down in “The Good Neigborhood”…
Yes! I am the same! I think there is a website, something like “does the dog die?” so you know going in to movies. There is a horrible scene in The Shape of Water and I as so glad my snis warned me – I just skipped through it.
You know what? I cannot even remember what happens to the tree! You will have to tell me! I totally get why she was so sad about it. Our neighbors around us are changing their property a bit, and… we just like it wild and natural. 😉 (Okay, one is taking down invasive species which is really great but you can see our property from the street now, in the cold months, wah.)
I am only half way through but the tree is dying…and is the focus of the lawsuit between the two families. It sucks to have to cut down trees. We had to have a huge birch taken down last year because it had gotten too big and was a danger to surrounding houses (I guess birch trees become less stable as they age and can easily blow over) – but it was so beautiful and home to a lot of birds. It really made me feel bad.
I would feel the same way! And that is why we just let everything grow on our property until it falls over… but now we are worried some things will fall on the house. Did you plant something in its place?
No, we have a lot of trees at the back of our yard and so we decided to let the others have some space now that the birch is gone.