Currently Reading
I finished both of the books I was reading yesterday. I had so many choices available to me from my TBR list, but I browsed through NetGalley and requested a few more advance reading copies (ARCs) of upcoming releases. (They sounded too good to resist!)
But for this week, I’m reading two that are already in my possession – one old and one new.
Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Oprah Daily, Elle, and LitHub!
A LibraryReads Pick for March 2023!
From Jeannette Walls, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle, comes a riveting new novel about an indomitable young woman in Virginia during Prohibition.
From my NetGalley shelf of ARCs, I have Jeannette Walls’ Hang the Moon. I’m not sure why I requested this novel except that I liked The Glass Castle so much (Historical fiction isn’t my favorite genre.) but it will be a good one to read for Women’s History Month.
Light from a Distant Star by Mary McGarry Morris
Massachusetts Book Awards 2012 Must-Read Fiction
Light from a Distant Star is a gripping coming-of-age story with a brutal murder at its heart and a heroine as unforgettable as Harper Lee’s “Scout.”
For the MassBook Reading Challenge this month, I’m going to read Light from a Distant Star by Mary McGarry Morris – a MassBook Awards Must-Read Fiction honoree the year it was published. This one will do double duty, as it’s also on my 2023 TBR Pile Challenge list!
Recently Read
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a memoir of the poet’s childhood years and coming of age. It’s been on my TBR (To Be Read) for years, until I put it on my 2023 TBR Pile Challenge list and finally read it. I am sorry I waited so long, but it turned out to be good companion nonfiction to read in February while I listened to The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ends abruptly when the author is sixteen. I now discover that there are six more autobiographies after this one! But isn’t that the way of the TBR list? You cross off one and add six more.
Currently Listening To
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
An instant New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today Bestseller • AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION • ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021 • WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York Times • Time • Washington Post • Oprah Daily • People • Boston Globe • BookPage • Booklist • Kirkus • Atlanta Journal-Constitution • Chicago Public Library
Finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel • Longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is from the library and turned out to be over 30 hours long. It expired, but I was able to renew it. I had to start the other audiobook I had borrowed around the same time, though, because it was going to expire on me, too.
No Plan B by Lee Child
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois and No Plan B are so different from each other, I can listen to them both at the same time with absolutely no possibility of mixing up the characters and plots!
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!
If I read more than one book at a time, I have to choose books that are very different from each other. I read so much that I tend to mix up plots and characters in any case. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
That last one sounds good but a nice mix
I’ll be curious to see what you think of Shoot the Moon. We know she can write memoir and I’ve read some positive reviews of this one.
I picked up a copy of I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings after reading about it here last week. Planning to start after I finish my current book. The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois has been on my list, too. Glad you’re enjoying the audio.
I liked The Glass Castle too but haven’t read any of Jeannette Walls’s fiction. I’ll be curious to see what you think.
I really liked I Know Why as well but I haven’t read any of Angelou’s other books. I’m pretty sure the second one is on my TBR though. You are right–a reader’s work is never done!
Enjoy your week!
I know why the caged bird sings is an all time classic. There’s a movie adaptation you should look up as well. You’ll enjoy the other books in the series as well, I think.
I saw that Jeannette Walls is coming to Houston soon, and I wondered if she’d be bringing a new memoir or a new novel.
I’ve never tried listening to two audiobooks at the same time. I’m glad you were able to keep them straight.
You have so many good books listed! I enjoy Jeannette Walls’ books, and I am eyeing the other books. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah I plan to read Jeannette Walls’s new novel too. After how good the Glass Castle was, there’s no way I’m missing it!
Nice variety here, enjoy!
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is SO good!! I need to get moving to read her other memoirs.
Love Songs of WEB DuBois is also high on my TBR list, though I already have a big stack for Big Book Summer! My husband just read Plan B – Jack Reacher is his favorite series.
I didn’t know Jeannette Walls had a new novel coming out! Her earlier historical fiction was excellent – she’s just such a good writer.
Hope you’re enjoying your books this week –
Sue
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