It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? 9-16-24

My life was back to its normal busy self this past week, but I still fit in some reading time. I had high hopes of fitting in some blogging time, too, (hello, elusive Sunday Salon!) but did boring stuff like mopping the bathroom floor, cleaning out the crisper drawers, and also fun stuff like visiting family and going line dancing, instead. (Thank goodness for audiobooks, or housework would never get done!)

Please let me know what you’re reading in the comments and/or share your blog link! (If you can’t see where to comment, try clicking/tapping on the title of this post to open it in full.)

Currently Reading

A Reason to See You Again by Jami Attenberg

Attenberg’s fans will enjoy this novel, as will those who like sharply observed dysfunctional mother-daughter stories.” — Library Journal

A Reason to See You Again is being released next week. I’m reading an advance copy from NetGalley. If you liked Jami Attenberg’s book, The Middlesteins, you’ll want to grab this one! If you’re easily depressed by “dysfunctional mother-daughter stories”, you might also want to grab something lighter to read or listen to at the same time.

Recently Read

Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore

“There’s sun, sea and major drama—you’ll be carried away.” — People

Vacationland was my something lighter to read along with the new Jami Attenberg novel. I’ve had this book for almost a year, and was saving it for summer. (There was one week left!) I’ve read and enjoyed several of the author’s other books.

Set at a family’s summer home on the ocean in Maine, the story is a little predictable but that’s kind of what you want in a beach book, right? A beautiful summer setting, mostly likeable people with not-insurmountable problems, and enough local flavor to make you feel like you’re the one enjoying a summer vacation there! Not much thinking is required to keep track of the separate characters and storylines, but your emotions get engaged as they intersect (in some cases collide) with each other over the course of the story.

Just right for a satisfying beach read, if you like stories about relationships and families!

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

This book was SO good! I don’t have time to write a review of it, so I’ll just share these snippets of reviews from some of the biggies:

• “Occasionally a writer comes along who seems able to turn every domestic triumph and tear, every dinner concocted, co-sleep endured and I.P.A. swallowed (or not) — in other words, the ordinary stuff of first-world life — into a narrative rife with wit, humor and soul-bearing openness.” — Cathi Hanauer, The New York Times

“Catherine Newman’s new novel is a relatable tale of a women caught between the needs of her kids, her parents — and herself.” – The Washington Post

“Sandwich is my idea of the perfect summer novel: shimmering and substantive. “– NPR Books

“Finally, literary fiction has started to fully appreciate the joy of an older female narrator. From Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer prize winning Olive Kitteridge to Marian Keyes’s sharp and funnyMy Favourite Mistake,a woman over 40 is thankfully now able to use her own voice, after so many years of merely living on the periphery of another person’s story. “– The Guardian

I don’t know how I missed Catherine Newman’s first novel, We All Want Impossible Things, but I’ll be reading it soon!

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

I got the hardcover copy from the library to finish the last few short chapters I had left. Loved this retelling of the Arthurian legends! Highly recommended, if you like realistic novels (where magic is also real); fully drawn characters (who also do exciting things like sword-fighting and battling evil in its myriad forms); and lots of dialogue (So many funny, serious, philosophical, practical conversations among the ensemble, and ongoing, unspoken conversations with themselves!).

Currently Listening To

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

“Rory Kinnear’s performance of the fifth Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery
is “something of a masterclass,” says author Anthony Horowitz in a
recorded postscript that praises Kinnear’s flair and fluency.” – AudioFile Magazine

Close to Death is the fifth Hawthorne (and Horowitz) meta-mystery. This one is a little different, but promises to be as clever and darkly fun as all the others.

With the pun in the title, I have finally learned the answer to this age-old question (for me, at least, as an American): Is the English term “close” (as in a “cathedral close”) pronounced like “close” in “close the door” or “close” as in “keep your cards close to your chest”? (It’s the latter.)

Recently Listened To

The Hunter by Tana French

Another five-star read! I’m on a roll lately. The Hunter is the sequel to The Searcher. It’s literary crime novel set in a remote mountain village in the West of Ireland. A police procedural, but much more than that!

This post is linked up to It’s Monday, What Are You Reading, hosted by The Book Date. It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is a place to meet up and share what you have been and are currently reading each week. Visit today’s link-up for more books to add to your groaning TBR pile.