It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 11 June 2018

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? Button

" data-orig-size="474,356" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" aperture="aperture" /> Hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, this is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind. Here is what I read the week ending 11 June 2018. To learn more about each book, just click on the book cover!

Molly Harper saved the day! That and deleting game apps from my phone. It is amazing how much more reading time you find when you don’t have any other distractions on your phone.

FINISHED SINCE THE LAST UPDATE:

Book Cover Image: Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper

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Book Cover Image: A Shout in the Ruins by Kevin Powers

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Book Cover Image: Onyx & Ivory by MIndee Arnett

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Book Cover Image: Tin Man by Sarah Winman

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When the world as seemingly gone insane and when you are too busy to do much more than focus on the next thing that needs done, Molly Harper and Amanda Ronconi are there to bring a little bit of sanity and a whole bunch of comic relief back into your life. Or, that’s what I personally think. Ms. Harper’s Southern Eclectic series and this first full novel in said series is exactly what I wanted it to be – fun, charming, a bit sassy, a bit introspective, and a whole bunch of sweet. It is not earth-shattering literature. As far as romance novels go, there is not much there in the way of sexy times. Still, I love her characters, and I adore how she builds character development into the romance so that our leading lady is becoming a better person in general in addition to finding love. With this particular story, I especially enjoyed the idea of stepping away from the big city and the materialism that comes with living in an urban area and settling down into a slower, more relaxed way of living. The Harper/Ronconi duo never fails to soothe my weary soul, for which I am tremendously grateful.

I finished Kevin Powers’ new book wondering what the purpose of it was. While it was a rather depressing look at the side effects of the Civil War and the lasting impact into the twentieth century, I still don’t know what the point of it all was. Is it just a story? Is it trying to tell me something? Did I miss clues telling me what to look for while reading? I am not a fan of books that leave me scratching my head like this, even if the novel itself is perfectly decent.

The new series by Mindee Arnett starts out quite well. To be sure, it is a bit predictable and cliched, but there are some great moments as well. For one, no love triangle; there is a romance, but all doubts as to will they or won’t they are resolved by the end of the novel. It allows the story to unfold on its own, without the need for added and unnecessary drama. I may have figured out some of the big reveals, but the story veered in directions I did not expect most of the time. This means that there were plenty of welcome surprises for me, and those were enough to keep me invested in the story. While it is not the greatest fantasy trilogy beginning I have read, it is by no means the worst either. I even plan to continue the series with the next book, so there is that.

I read the Molly Harper novella as a precursor to her latest novel, which releases next week and for which I do have an electronic review copy. I flew threw this brief audiobook, entertained the entire time, and cannot wait to get to that review copy. If the novella is any indication, that next book is going to be so much fun.

Sarah Winman’s novel is a heartbreaking story of love and loss, and when I say heartbreaking I truly mean it. The love expressed in the novel by two of the characters is so pure and yet complicated that it will be the rare person who can read it without being affected in some way. At 224 pages, it is a relatively quick novel but one that is stuffed with all sorts of goodness.

DID NOT FINISH:

It’s been a good week.

CURRENT READ: