Oh man, I am late.
Let me tell you. The end of my first semester of graduate school was no joke. I felt like I was constantly going. I was reading. I was writing. I was working. I was cooking and cleaning and taking care of kids. I was going to church.
I have been doing all the things, but all the things did not include sitting down to write about my book for two months. TWO MONTHS!
The time just flew by in a craze.
But now I am here. Let's look at what I have read in October and November of 2019.
I"ll start with October.
Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella
This is the 5th installment of Kinsella's Shopaholic series. And it is probably my favorite of them all. Becky is pregnant and excited for the baby and that includes baby shopping! Of course, this comes with its own set of problems and Becky's wild antics to save the day.
Light in August by William Faulkner
This bad boy here I had to read for my Southern Lit class this semester. I not only read it, but had to dive deep into this text to write a 20 page paper about it.
This story follows the lives of several people in the 1930s American South. It is full of violence and racism and a deep story about being an outsider and struggles with not knowing oneself. After the several reads that I had through this novel, it began to grow on me. I would not call it my favorite book but I would say that it is worth reading.
Oh, the baby is here. And she has grown. She is two years old and a bit of a handful. She has all the spunk of her mother and the sternness of her father, so Becky and Luke are a little rattled. And to top it off, Becky is trying to throw a surprise birthday party of Luke while trying to maintain a budget. It is another fun novel to the series.
As you probably noticed, I got into a bit of a Shopaholic binge lately. They are just really easy to pick up and read (or listen to). This particular installment does not rank very high in my opinion. It is one of the books in which Becky seems very selfish and unBecky like. Usually she seems selfish but generally has good intentions, but in this one, she is only selfish. I only read it in order to continue the story.
The part of the series is where Becky is able to redeem herself from the previous book. In this one Becky and family road trip around the American southwest in order to right a wrong from Becky's father's past.
Oh, literary theory, you are my foe. This is one that I had to read for school. I have had to read some literary theory in the past so I was aware of many of the theories represented in this text but it is not my favorite subject to take on. But it is a big part of what I am currently studying so I at least need to know this stuff. So, I read it.
I listened to this book while driving to and from school. And I was blown away. I love being apart of my church and loving on people the best I know how. Over the years I have learned how important it is to love people where they are, and this book spoke to all that I have learned. Andy Stanley speaks about how to make a church a place where people are welcome, not just "churched" people. It is so important.
This is the current installment of the Shopaholic series, it just came out in October. And my awesome husband surprised me with it one day because he knew that I would want to read a new book. And I did. It started off a little slow, a little boring, but by the end I really did enjoy it. Sometimes with books we just need to push through to get to the good stuff, and this was one of those times. And I super love that Michael thought of me and brought it home, just because he is that amazing.
And that's October. Are you ready November?
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake
I read this for one of my classes this semester. This is by far one of the weirdest things I have ever read. But the background about the making of Blake's work is very interesting. In his process of creating his text, he created a new way of laying down printing. Very weird, and very interesting.
This book was part of my research for my paper on Light in August. I would have never touched it if I didn't need it for research.
This was another book used for research purposes. Only read it if you are interested in William Faulkner or Richard Wright and violence in their novels.
Man oh man, I have probably read or listened to the book a half dozen times over the years. I know people are really big fans of the Twilight series, but if you want Stephenie Meyer at her best The Host is it. Her world building and storytelling is amazing. And that is why I keep turning back to it over and over again. My advice, skip Twilight, read The Host and be happy with your choices.
This is the first time Kinsella wrote a YA novel. And I think she does a wonderful job. This story is told from the perspective of Audrey, a fourteen year old with high anxiety. She has been through a trauma that has left her home bound. This story is how Audrey goes through her anxiety and moves through it and learns how to cope in life. It is endearing and lovely. I enjoyed it and think others would enjoy it too.
This is the first Kinsella novel I ever read. It obviously was good enough to get me hooked on Kinsella as my favorite author. It is currently being turned into a movie that I cannot wait to see.
If you are going to read one Sophie Kinsella book, read this one. Twenties Girl is my absolute favorite book that she has written. I have literally read all of her novels and this one stands above all the others. Lara is struggling. Her business is hard and needs help, her love life is going down the drain, and suddenly the ghost of her great aunt Sadie is haunting her. This book is about the bonds and troubles with family. Trust me. Read it.
This is another goody that I read for a class. It speaks about the book printing history. Interesting stuff, but not necessarily a page turner.
And that is it. That is a lot of book over the last couple of months.
What have you been reading? I'm looking for recommendations now that I am in between semesters.
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