February 26, 2016

Reading Lately

Happy Friday friends! I'm linking up again for the Reading Lately link up! Here's a look at the books I've read this month.

Michelle Lately

"A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle - A good travel memoir should transport you to the place in question and make you feel like you're there. This book didn't do that at all. I expected this book to make me want to take off to Provence on a moments notice and instead, it left me with the feeling that I could probably skip it. I heard wonderful things about this book and all I think I can really say for it is that it was well written, well structured, and at times, slightly funny.

"The Martian" by Andy Weir - I hated this book through the first 50 pages. Here's a guy telling a story about how he got left on Mars and needs to try to figure out how to survive. The first 50 pages were almost exclusively Math problems and I thought, "Well if he's telling the story, he has to survive." Then, finally, on page 50, it switches to NASA. The narrative switches around quite a bit from then on leaving you to wonder if he actually will survive. In the end, I really loved this book. I found it fascinating and suspenseful.

"Spark Joy" by Marie Kondo - I didn't read Marie Kondo's first book, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" but I read enough reviews and Pinterest posts about the 'Konmarie' method to get the gist of it. I received a copy of "Spark Joy" in last month's PopSugar box and finished the book in a few days. I feel like this book has definitely put a lot of things into perspective for me in terms of tidying up. We have a TINY apartment and I've always felt like I'm never going to be able to keep a house clean when I can barely manage to keep my apartment clean. This book helped me realize that my problem is less about space than about having too much stuff. Do you need to read an entire book on decluttering your house? No, but there are definitely some valuable tips in here and it's a quick enough read that I recommend it.

"The Lady of the Glen" by Jennifer Roberson - I'm not quite finished with this Scottish historical memoir but I like it. It definitely isn't the type of book that you can put down and pick back up like I did this week, but it's beautifully written and I think Roberson captures the 'love of country' mindset brilliantly. This is a "Romeo and Juliet" - like tale of forbidden love between two opposing clans in the Scottish Highlands. My knowledge of Scotland is limited to what I remember from tours traveling through the country almost eight years ago, so I'm enjoying this.

None of these books fit into my 2016 Book Challenge, but that's ok! I kept the challenge short and sweet so that I had more flexibility with what I want to read.

If you joined the Beyond Bloggers' Book Club that Carolann and I are hosting, we announced our first pick yesterday. We'll be reading "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards. If you want to post about the book, you can do so on Friday, March 25. You can post about the book in the Goodreads discussion board as you're reading (Remember! No spoilers!) or suggest books for next month's pick!

What have you been reading lately?
Have you read any of these books?

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