Images from Goodreads

My reading time has taken a huge hit since I started painting rocks – that is what I’ve been using my free time to do! I could listen to a book, yes, but I’ve been listening to silly holiday movies on Netflix. 

[96] Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon
Fiction / Historical, saw in Goodreads a few times, and was on Kindle Unlimited

Trigger Warnings: violence, death, rape

Synopsis: Naomi May is traveling in a wagon-train from Illinois to California in 1853 with her parents and brothers. John Lowry, a mule breeder, planned to only stay on with the wagon-train part way, but he and Naomi are so enchanted with one another he decides to stay on. John being half Indian comes in handy many times on the trail, but there are still many hardships he can’t fix.

Review: My description makes this sound like a love story. But it’s not 100% that – this is a really a story of the hardships of traveling across the country, in a wagon and on foot, in the mid 1850s. And the story is sloooooooooow, maybe to feel as slow as it was to travel? Honestly, it was so slow it lost my interest for the majority of it, BUT I kept reading because the book starts with most of Naomi’s family being killed (what the heck?!), then goes back to the start of their travels, and you don’t find out why or what happens next until VERY MUCH LATER. Harmon is a wonderful writer and builds a beautiful sense of place, but this was just too damn slow for me, right now. I flew through the end, but it took me 70% of the book to get there. Seriously.

Recommend? No

[97] Operation Ironman: One Man’s Four Month Journey from Hospital Bed to Ironman Triathlon by George Mahood
Non fiction / Humor, have loved his other memoirs

Synopsis: Mahood is in the hospital recovering from having a tumor removed from his back, and hasn’t been able to work out properly for months, when he decides the best course of action to get back on track is to sign up for an Ironman that’s four months away!

Review: This is the third George Mahood book I’ve read and they’re all light-hearted, funny, and easy to read. His books always make me laugh and feel good, and I will read anything he writes (looks like I have two more to go)! The idea of training for an Ironman within four months after major surgery, while not having swimming or biking skills, seems preposterous, but Mahood makes it work, and makes it enjoyable to read about. You don’t need to be into triathlons or athletic to like this book – it’s not really a training log – you just need to be into laughter and having a good time.

Recommend? Yes! I recommend all his books, even the ones I haven’t read

[98] Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Contemporary romance / domestic fiction, because I want to read all of Jenkin Reid’s backlist

Synopsis: Hannah Martin has been bouncing around from city to city trying to find a place that feels like home all her life, and at twenty-nine, she moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles. She’s jobless, carless, homeless (she moves in with her best friend Gabby), and recently ended her relationship with a married man. She’s ready to get her life back on track, and see where fate takes her. She goes out with Gabby and friends the night after moving back and the book portrays two ways her life could play out depending on a decision she makes that night.

Review: This book has two timelines, but it’s easy to follow, and very readable. I was interested enough to finish the book and find out what happens in both timelines, but something didn’t 100% click for me. There were repetitive parts that annoyed me. Some made sense, like having the same thing happen in both timelines, but at different times, and a little bit differently. That was understandable, but I honestly sometimes skimmed it. The repetitive parts that made me bonkers were the focus on Hannah always wearing a high bun and her obsession with cinnamon rolls. It felt like lazy storytelling. Like can we have some other “quirky” fact about Hannah, please? I did love the part of the story about her adopted family and building a family when yours has left you. Her parents literally left her behind when she was 16 to move to London with their other daughter, an aspiring ballerina (I think?) and that’s a huge part of the reason Hannah feels so lost. It was great to see her come to terms with that in the book and realize what is best for her.

Recommend? Hmm. Sure.