Whether it’s to relax or purely out of interest in the book’s subject, reading is a pastime that never fails to bring me joy. I rarely read more than two books at a time. I like historical fiction and action/adventure, but I often throw in a random genre like romance or science fiction if it’s a great story. For me, an amazing book can pull me into its pages and I’m transported to another life. Pure escapism. In the last year, I’ve yo-yo’d between being so busy I didn’t read for 3 months to reading a book every 3 days. I’ve always had this weird habit of having to finish a book, whether or not I enjoy it. At 43, you’d think by now I’d be able to say “this book isn’t my cup of tea” and look for something I truly enjoy. But somehow it’s been a psychological obstacle for me. I think it’s because once I choose a book, the relationship has started. Whether or not it’s entertaining or keeping my interest, I have always tried to discover or connect to what the author was trying to achieve. But this year, maybe because of COVID, I’ve realized life is just too short. So this is the first year, that if I’m not hooked by the first 100 pages, I let it go and move on to the next book on my nightstand. I’ve also subscribed to the Book of the Month Club and I’m a member of a book club with a bunch of girl friends who love to read as much as I do. I’m still a physical book reader, but many of the book club members have fallen in love with audible or ebooks. The great thing about having a subscription or being part of a book club is it pushes you to consider stories that might be outside your comfort zone or discover authors you have yet to read. These are my favorites of the last few months. Enjoy!
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab takes place in France and tells the story of a young woman who decides to change her fate by taking her life into her own hands and dealing with the consequences. It’s beautifully written and has breath-taking descriptions of all the cities and landscapes that Addie travels through on her adventures. Not being able to go much of anywhere for the last year has weighed on me, but reading something that starts out in the South of France and is well written had me hooked.
Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith is the 2020 release by JK Rowling under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. I never understood why JK Rowling wanted to change her name as an author, given that she had so much success with the Harry Potter series. But I guess she didn’t feel the freedom to completely change lanes and start a new genre. This new series is all about mystery. And this one takes place in Cornwall and London, one of my favorite places in the UK. It has all the beautiful differences of British English and was entertaining considering I haven’t been able to visit for almost 2 years.
The Ghost Moths by Harry Farthing. It just came out in February 2021 but I got an early release copy in June due to the fact that I’m married to the author. As you might imagine, I could be judged as completely bias. But luckily he’s gotten great reviews from book critics. This is his second novel in the series and it’s an action/adventure story about the Chinese kidnapping of the Pencham Lama in Tibet. A journalist from Rolling Stone goes over to interview the Dalai Lama and gets wrapped up in uncovering the story.
