My Week in Books (2/11/19)

(#partner #free books. Thank you, Random House and Farrar, Straus and Giroux via NetGalley , for free books to review. All opinions are my own.)

Last Week’s Reads:

• American Spy by: Lauren Wilkinson (Random House)

“Throughout my life, the most consistent way I’ve revealed who I really am is through whom I’ve chose to love.”

As a Black woman working for the Feds in the 1980s, Marie Mitchell is sick of being passed over for high profile cases simply because she’s not a man. The United States is on the verge of the Cold War, but her big chance finally comes when she is given a mission by the CIA to go to West Africa to help infiltrate the President of a small country.

This is Wilkinson’s debut novel and she shows a lot of promise. Her writing is good and it’s well-researched. However, I found the storyline a little confusing. She switched from first- to third-person without any real transitions and I often found myself rereading passages because I was confused.

The storyline is intriguing, but I wanted to enjoy this story more than I did. I was invested enough to see it to the end and I definitely wanted to see how it all wrapped up, but even that left me underwhelmed.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t a big hit with me.

• Evidence of the Affair by: Taylor Jenkins Reid (Amazon Original Stories)

It’s impressive how much Taylor Jenkins Reid packs into this teeny, tiny short story. The story is told solely through letters – a wife finds letters to her husband from his mistress, so she begins writing letters to the mistress’ husband, who then begins to write her back. If you feel like you’re in the middle of a love triangle (err, square), you are…and it’s a quick and wild ride! In the end, you’re left with feelings of hope, sadness, despair, and wonder. If you need something quick to occupy your mind, grab this one! At only about 100 pages, I was amazed, once again, at TJR’s ability to pull at my heartstrings…I love her writing!

• Death is Hard Work by: Khalid Khalifa (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me at about 40%. I gave it a valiant effort because I liked the premise – siblings must cross war-torn Syria to lay their father’s body to rest. The writing is slow and meditative – not always a problem for me – but in this instance, it just didn’t work. I slowly found myself not caring.

• The Last Romantics by: Tara Conklin (William Morrow)

I loved this book and still can’t stop thinking about it – read my full review here.

Currently Reading/Listening:

• Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Daughters: A Memoir by: T Kira Madden (Bloomsbury) – Pub Date: March 5, 2019
  • I’m really enjoying these short stories so far. If it continues this well, I’ll have a full review soon!

• Audio: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by: Cheryl Strayd (Random House Audio)
  • Sarah from Sarah’s Book Shelves recently recommended this book on audio to me, and she nailed this recommendation. I am loving it – though it’s taking me f o r e v e r to get through because I don’t have a commute time and I generally have my kids in the car (and this isn’t quite appropriate for younger ears!). I have loved the Dear Sugars podcast for awhile and this feels like a wonderful extension of the show!

Likely to Read Next:

• We Cast A Shadow by: Maurice Carlos Ruffin (One World)
  • Already getting rave reviews from Liberty Hardy, I have to read this one ASAP! From the synopsis: This electrifying, suspenseful novel is at once a razor-sharp satire of surviving racism in America and a profoundly moving family story.
• Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by: Stephanie Land (Hachette Books)
  • There’s just way too much hype surrounding this one! I’ve listened to several podcasts and read many reviews on #bookstagram, and I’m definitely interested. I have some early opinions heading in and I’m curious how they’ll hold up after reading!

 

Tell me, friends, what’s been your favorite reads lately?