- The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley – My GoodReads review: I found this rather gripping and hard to put down which says a lot for a romance novel for me. At the time I was reading it I needed a bit of an escape and found it nicely in these “pages”. I also love stories based on history. There’s something very satisfying to know that what I just read kind of happened.
- Civil War – Marvel Comics – I read this because the movies are coming out soon and I had not actually gotten to this point as a young adult when Marvel was big on my radar. It was glorious and I hope the movie does it justice!
- Doing No Harm by Carla Kelly – My GoodReads review: It takes a LOT to get a 5 star from me, specially for a romance novel but this one earned it. Maybe it was timely or just my need to escape lately but this story sucked me right in and didn’t let go. I fit it in to a trip abroad even. On every moment of down time I was reading. To find out in the end that much of the story was based on Scottish history both made me feel a bit ill and satisfied. Ill because finding out the atrocities happened and satisfied because the story was told so well.
- Paris Letters by Janice Macleod – My GoodReads review: Very timely read for me. I will admit it was a bit difficult for me to settle down enough to escape into this story. I had just finished a sci fi/fantasy series that was action packed and riddled with battle scenes but once I calmed down and really delved in I found the story inspiring and really quite a remarkable journey of self discovery. I completely got her love of walking around and exploring as well as finding that one coffee shop, the one park, the one restaurant that just makes it feel comfortable. This story has added to my excitement of moving to Italy and I can’t wait
- Girls Who Travel by Nicole Trilivas – My GoodReads review: I didn’t comment and gave it only 3 stars. Looking back on it now, I couldn’t tell you what the story was about, how it started or how it ended. I don’t remember not liking it but it definitely wasn’t memorable.
- Tracks by Robyn Davidson – My GoodReads review: While I completely appreciate the effort and the guts the woman had to go out on this journey, I have to be honest and say it was a rather difficult read for me. The story just didn’t grip me. It was a struggle to finish it. It might be my lack of interest in camels that was part of the disconnect but there was a very real disgusted reaction to the way they were treated that had me bounce between cringing and falling asleep. It is not beyond me that the rough treatment of the camels is perhaps the only way to handle them in a way where they are productive to the handlers needs but if that is the case then perhaps they aren’t meant to be slave to humans. This was rather tough for me to write because I am not a big animal rights activist in any way really, it just seems unnecessary to put them through it so this lady could cross a desert.
- The Book: The Mystery of Pimblebury Hall by Andy McGowan – My GoodReads review: Ugh the failed editing in this book was a nightmare. The author and the editor should be fired. Other than the horrid writing skills, the actual story was somewhat interesting and rather fun to imagine. Seriously, publishers what the hell?
This seems to be my list though I felt like I read more, perhaps it is because a couple of them were truly dreadful reads that took blood, sweat and swearing to get through but I finally did it! I don’t like leaving a book partially read.
There is only one book I can recall having to put down and haven’t picked up to finish after 25 plus years. Are you curious which book had me so disturbed I couldn’t finish it? Stay tuned, I’m on a mission this year to read the damn thing. Oddly enough, it is written by one of my favorite authors and I’ll give you that hint, it is by Stephen King. This will allow me to check a box off a reading challenge to finish a book I left open.
4, 5, 6 above were for a book club. 1 and 3 were indulgent, effortless reading that just allowed me to escape a bit. 6 and 7 were the beat downs.
Currently I am Reading:
Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt
May on Deck
The Maid’s Version by Daniel Woodress which will check off the book I can read in a day challenge (hopefully). Also, the next club book is Into The Wild by John Krakauer. I think these, along with moving and searching for a job, will fill my May quite nicely.
Want to Read:
The Selection Series by Kiera Cass and Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard
So there is my quarterly reading catch-up. What are you reading?
Life Notes 
Thank you for sharing the books that I should (and shouldn’t) consider for my next read! I always enjoy an introduction to books I might not otherwise pick up. Unfortunately, most of my reading is work-related, technical papers and so nothing I could recommend to normal people.
For fun, I’m reading Japanese manga but I’m not sure if Nodame Cantabile is available in English yet. Not sure if that’s your thing, though!
I do like a good graphic novel/comic book but haven’t gotten into the Manga simply because of the language barrier. Maybe one day I will sit down and give it a try. I do have The Book of Five Rings and the comic of it in English translation. Fascinating story. Do you know it?
In the US I know you can get a lot of manga in English versions, and sometimes you can find “scanlations” online. There are so many different genres of manga that usually everyone can find something they like! I haven’t heard of The Book of Five Rings, but I will have to check it out, because I do love classical texts, and comic versions are even better.