It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? 05-24-21 #IMWAYR

Bookshelf with text across the top reading "Speaking of Books..."

Currently Reading

Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard

cover image - Big tree with a rope swing hanging empty from a branch

“Sensitively plumbing the complexity of human emotions, of love and forgiveness, [Maynard] draws readers into a deep, aching attachment to her characters, creating an ultimately hopeful tale just right for this moment.”
Booklist (starred review)

Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard is coming out in July from William Morrow. I was the lucky winner of a publisher’s giveaway!

The novels by Joyce Maynard I have read usually have to do with families in crisis or families that are dysfunctional in some way. Count the Ways starts with an author’s note reminding readers that while there are similarities to the author’s own family and life experiences in this novel, it is a work of fiction.

If you like novels that delve deeply into marriage relationship and family dynamics – including estrangement and other painful times, but also peaks of hope and joy – through one woman’s lifetime and connected to historical changes in society, look for this one.

The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde

“A political satire cloaked in Fforde’s trademark bizarre whimsy, the novel reads like a crazed cross between Watership Down and Nineteen Eighty-Four.” —The Guardian

^ Sums it up well! If you have read any of Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next novels, you can deal with anthropomorphic (talking) rabbits.

Recently Read

The Smash-Up by Ali Benjamin

I read and enjoyed this novel about a contemporary family in a period of upheaval, reflecting the fractious political scene at the time, without realizing that the male main character Ethan’s last name was “Frome” and that The Smash-Up is a modern take on the classic novella about “a strained marriage in a small town” by Edith Wharton. The Smash-Up is a compelling story on its own, with enough acidic commentary from both husband and wife to keep you siding first with one and then the other, set against the backdrop of the #metoo movement.

But the family’s wildly smart, rambunctious sixth-grade daughter, Alex, steals the show.

All the Children Are Home by Patry Francis

All the Children Are Home (Harper Perennial, April 13, 2021) by Patry Francis

One of my top ten favorite books of 2021 for sure, All the Children Are Home by Patry Francis, author of The Orphans of Race Point, needs more love!

My rave review will be up tomorrow, along with a giveaway of a brand-new print copy of All the Children Are Home from the author to celebrate my upcoming blogiversary.

I haven’t been writing reviews, but All the Children Are Home has inspired me out of my reviewing slump!

Continue reading “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? 05-24-21 #IMWAYR”
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