Reading Update

Book #61 of the year was Amor Towles' short story collection Table for Two. I like his novels better, but there were some enjoyable stories here.

Book #62 was The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah. I was fascinated by the portrayal of what it's like to live in rural Alaska.

Book #63 was The Identicals, by Elin Hilderbrand, a story of twins living on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

Book #64 was Family Family by Laurie Frankel. An author's note says that Frankel wrote this to demonstrate that adoption isn't a second choice or something you settle for, but a beautiful way to make a family. I am paraphrasing because my library copy has disappeared off my Kindle already. I found this book very entertaining.

Book #65 was The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley. This was a time travel story in which I thought I knew exactly what was going on, until suddenly everything changed and I had to reevaluate everything. I love it when an author pulls that off. 

Book #66 was Real Americans, by Rachel Khong. I enjoyed this one a lot, too -- it asked interesting questions about nature and nurture.

Book #67 was Prince Across the Water, by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris. This was a historical novel about the events around the Battle of Culloden in Scotland. It was written for children, but I found it held my attention all the way through.

Book #68 was a re-read, Learning to Walk in the Dark, by Barbara Brown Taylor. I've blogged about it a lot before, including here.

Book #69 was Sandwich, by Catherine Newman. I find myself gravitating these days to books about people with adult children (I wonder why), and this was one such book. It was absorbing and thought-provoking.

Book #70 was One True Loves, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The love of Emma's life disappears, and she finally moves on and gets engaged to someone else; then her first husband reappears. (This happens in the first chapter, so it isn't a spoiler.) What should Emma do?

Book #71 was The Lost Bookshop, by Evie Woods. I read this with my book club because one of us found it at a library sale for $1. We didn't enjoy it much, though our conversations about it were still great fun.

Book #72 was Rock Paper Scissors, by Alice Feeney. This wasn't at all my kind of book, being a suspenseful story where people are all lying to each other. I did like how the author pulled a twist I didn't see coming.