Any Better Than This by Eric Sean Rawson
Currently Reading
Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll—and the Arpanet? It’s June 1967.
On the way to his wedding in Berkeley, a strait-laced computer engineer working on a Defense Department contract picks up a free-spirited hitchhiker. Join Elliot Ames and Morning Star McGovern on a trip down the rabbit-hole that was the Summer of Love.
I won Any Better Than This: A Summer of Love Story through a LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway. The novel is a crazy ride that isn’t exactly my cup of tea. A noir farce? A satirical love story? Dark humor, wacky characters, but I might be too straight-laced to laugh at some of the scenes. The characters seem meant to be types that we laugh at, but real harm gets done by the bad guys.
Currently Listening To
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
Saving the world is a test no school of magic can prepare you for in the triumphant conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate.
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik is the last book in her addictive Scholomance trilogy. When this one came through on my library holds, I couldn’t wait to start it, even though I had planned to listen to Christmas books over the next couple of weeks.
Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost
Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost is a cozy mystery set in a town that’s all about Christmas – Mistletoe, Maine. First in the Christmas Tree Farm series.
Recently Listened To
Mistletoe in Paradise by Jill Shalvis
Although set over Christmastime, Mistletoe in Paradise takes place on a family charter boat in the Caribbean and isn’t actually all that Christmas-y. Also, this holiday novella is in the middle of the Wildstone series, and I wasn’t familiar with the characters before listening to it.
i’ve listened to at least one or two romances by Jill Shalvis before, and enjoyed them. This one has her usual funny banter between the two main characters – former and soon-to-be-again lovers – and a good number of poignant family moments. Nice audiobook narration by Erin Mallon who does an especially good job with the male voices.
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout is a fictional memoir of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., starting from the early, unreal days and going through the first vaccines and the first “end” of the pandemic. Lucy Barton was still grieving the death of her second husband David in the apartment they shared in New York, when her ex, William, persuaded her to leave New York and go to stay in a small town in Maine for what she thinks is a couple of weeks.
A favorite audiobook of 2022 for me!
This post is linked to “It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?” hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. Check out the link-up party there for more book lists!
Please tell me what you’re up to in the comments!
I haven’t read any of the Scholomance trilogy yet, though I’ve loved some of Naomi Novik’s other novels. I hope it is living up to your expectations?
Nice assortment of books. You remind me that I have A Deadly Education on my TBR mountain and should read it one of these days. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Yes, it is!
I have read a few blogs about Lucy by E Strout and I think I would like to try the books. Perhaps I should look at audio.
Lucy By the Sea looks good. I thought maybe it was a thriller at first from the cover. And a holiday cozy sounds good too 🙂