Five books for the week
I am on vacation this week and can’t even reflect back at the week we’ve just had because I’m so firmly looking forward to whatever is coming. As much as I love traveling (and I thought long and hard about a couple of impromptu offers to go to Jacksonville and Toronto this week) I am also happy about being at home and having no obligations on the calendar beyond catching up with some loved ones, getting ready for Christmas, and enjoying the increasing holiday spirit.
The start of a new month feels like a fresh start and the impending end of the year feels like time to wrap things up. Being inspired and influenced by both, I’m shuffling things around a little while keeping a couple of reads I’m enthusiastic about. For me, this time of year finds me seeking out comfort reads. I want to be able to get cozy and read one book at length. I want it to be light enough to binge a little, but not so light that it’s mindless or trivial.
A quick recap of last week’s reading: I finished reading Her Body Among Animals by Paola Ferrante and Reuniting with Strangers by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio.
The books I’ve chosen for this week are:
French Exit by Patrick deWitt - I read this book a few years ago and I loved it so much, but I had borrowed it from the library and had never actually owned a copy. Recently, my friend Serena ended up with an extra copy (it’s a whole book lover’s dilemma and I shared the details yesterday) which I volunteered to take off her hands. It just arrived to me this weekend and seeing it is kind of making me want to read it again. (And I NEVER reread!)
And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier - Before the start of this year, I canvased the bookstagram community for twelve recommendations for reading this year. This was one of the books that ended up on my list thanks to my friend Anne. I have only read 4/12 books on the list so far and, if I’m honest, I wasn’t planning on reading any more, but I came across this one on my shelf earlier today and thought it could be a good one for this week.
Roost by Ali Bryan - Despite following each other on Instagram and enjoying a few interactions, and then receiving three different books written by Bryan this year, I have never read her work. I’ve wanted to start this one for a while, but it’s kept getting bumped down the list due to poor timing and needing to prioritize other books. This book sounds like the exact combination of light and heavy that I love and I’d like to start it soon.
The Witches of New York by Ami McKay - I’m still reading and listening to this one and I am loving it. I just need to find some more time to be able to focus on it. Something interesting about the audiobook is that in many parts, it is different than the physical copy that I have which I discovered while trying to find my page. The changes aren’t significant - just sentences reordered or reworded, but they’re there and I wasn’t expecting that.
The Adversary by Michael Crummey - I had already read about 30% of this book as a digital advanced reader copy, but when I came back to it, I really wanted to have a fresh start so I started again from the beginning. I’m at about the part where I left off the first time and I just love Crummey’s writing style and especially his choice of words. I often stop myself to ponder how he can get the language so right.
What will you be reading this week?