reading lately list

I am beginning to realize that I’m more of a love-the-one-you’re-with type when it comes to books. I love a book and can’t stop talking about it with everyone – until I find the next book I love and the process repeats itself. I like these lists because they force me to think through what I really liked about a book or not. So here is my reading lately list:

This Is How It Always Is. I wrote about this one in last month’s newsletter, but I hadn’t finished it in time for last month’s list. You HAVE TO read this book. I don’t want to give too much of it away, and I don’t want you to read the flap or anything else about it. John Green says, “Great books help you understand, and they help you to feel understood.” This one does that.

Reviving Old Scratch. Grant told me to read this, and I listen to his book recommendations because he has yet to steer me wrong. The subtitle “Demons and the Devil for Doubters and the Disenchanted” makes you think this will be dark and weird, but it was actually really eye-opening and has sparked tons of conversations between Grant and me since.

Maybe in Another Life was a fun play on the Sliding Doors story line and would make a great beach/pool read if you have some of that in your future.

Our Souls at Night. I have only read a few Haruf novels, but I have adored them all. This unlikely love story was no different. I raced through the first three-quarters of it and then lingered over finishing it. Haruf writes about the interior lives of men really beautifully.

Windfall was an MMD Summer Reading Guide pick, and it was another book for your pool stack. It is all YA (that is a great thing, but know what you’re getting into). I loved the characters, and the story about a young lottery winner and what happens after his windfall is mostly predictable while still being fun.

Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning. I didn’t enjoy this book, but simultaneously have thought about it plenty since finishing it. I don’t even know why I read this book. I hear or read about a book, put it on hold at the library, and then forget where or from whom I heard about the book originally (I need a better system for tracking my TBR list if you have any ideas).

The author comes across as self-absorbed and as sex-obsessed as your stereotypical teenage boy, but some of her writing was brilliant so I kept hanging on to the end hoping for more. I wouldn’t recommend it, but I’m also probably about ten years younger than her when she wrote it. I’m curious how it would hold up when I’m a little closer to her age, but probably not curious enough to spend more reading time on it.

I’m linking about with Modern Mrs. Darcy if you want some more recommendations, and be sure to friend me on Goodreads so we can keep up with each other.

What have YOU been reading lately?