Quarantine linkup. This is our fifth week in a stopped world here in Philadelphia, and for the first three weeks, I had a hard time reading like I've not had a hard time reading through anything else in my life. I couldn't. It was like I was stunned into a closed off brain. And the few books where I could, I had to use all of my energy to force myself to focus on a book, and getting into it - even when I liked it - was taking 10-15 minutes each time. Not like usual where I open the book and drop into it immediately if it's good or within two to three minutes if it's just okay. Out of everything with this quarantine, that was the thing that threw me off the most, having one of my coping mechanisms unavailable to me. Last week it seemed to come back to me, and I'm glad. I hope it stays.
How are you doing in general?
Also...some of my photos below remind me we used to go out. And see people. And travel. We will again but we sure as shit aren't now.
If you're not busy next weekend (lol), we're doing another readathon so come quaranread with us. We're giving away two $15 and three $10 prizes, all random - your choice: either gift cards to bookstores of your choice or actual books (physical or e-books). Join us! Follow me and Jana on Instagram and tag us so we can enter you for a prize. There will be a hashtag but I forget what it is right now.
Here's what I've been reading since the last linkup.
Buy it links that lead to Amazon are affiliate links and buying through them supports this link up. Non-Amazon links are not affiliate links
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier - The author of Jar of Hearts hits another home run. I was hooked from the start. I love when you can tell something is off but you aren't sure exactly what it is. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Comes out April 21. buy it
The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben - How do I love Harlan Coben, let me count the ways. One, I can absolutely always sink into one of his books, global pandemic be damned. Two, his characters make appearances in other books. Hester Crimstein here. Love love love. I needed to get two boxes of cereal and a bag of sugar delivered from Target so had to bump it to over $25. I did it with this book, no regrets. Hard cover, own, passed along to my dad buy it
Untamed by Glennon Doyle - Let me start by saying I am not a reader of books like this. I like Glennon, I like Brene, but I don't often read them in full. I listen to them or like their Instagram captions. This book was fucking amazing. I took photos of so many pages. Man alive. If you are a woman who thinks the way I do about the place of women in this world, you will love this. If you aren't, maybe you will see something that will change your life. I connected with this the first few days of quarantine when it was literally hard for me to wrap my head or heart around anything, that's how much of a punch it packs. Hard cover, birthday gift from my work BFF, passed on to my mom, will circulate more buy it
Cause to Save (Avery Black Mysteries #5) and Cause to Dread (Avery Black #6) by Blake Pierce - Rolled right through these. If I am having a hard time reading, a trusted series usually helps me with that. Amazon e-books
After She Wrote Him by Sulari Gentill - This was a very clever way to tell a story, unlike anything I've read before. Like writing into people into existence, and not knowing who was the author and who was the imaginary character. Free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia Butler - The best time to read a dystopian novel about end times is probably not during a global pandemic. Nevertheless I enjoyed it. The build up was a little long, but it is a YA. Paperback, own, bought from Harriett's Bookshop buy it
Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas - This book fell victim to the first week of lockdown. It was good and it took me a lot of days to finish but in normal times it would have taken maybe two. Paperback, own
Stay Close by Harlan Coben - I read this in a day, and it was good...then I realized I read it years ago. LOL, still good. Paperback, own
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell - This was a lot. Disturbing but compulsively readable. It was a hair too long you could feel it. Me Too triggers of the older man in authority/teenage girl variety. Hard cover, own
The Moonglow Sisters by Lori Wilde - A nice antidote to the serial killer/dark shit I typically read. Quick, a little over angsty for no reason, and absolutely not real life believable, but a good beach read. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Not Worth It
Summer of '79: A Summer of '69 Story by Elin Hilderbrand - This took 30 seconds to read and could have been an Instagram post. Lame.
The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler - This drug too much. Could it have been the pandemic? Maybe. Or maybe it was the same information written different ways too much. I figured it out early on which is fine, that never bothers me. The police parts felt forced. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
n/a
What have you been reading?
This link up is the second Tuesday of every month. The next linkup is Tuesday, May 12, 2020.
1. Visit and comment with both of your hosts, Jana & me, and check in with as many in our reading circle as you can - give some love to the later linker uppers! 2. Link back to us in your blog post - if you want the button you can get it from that link
