Dear Reader

I thought my blog had faded into oblivious and no one noticed.  
But, as it happened, at least a few of you noticed.  I was asked what the deal was with the disappearance of my posts at book club a couple of days ago.  
I explained that it was starting to feel like one more thing to do, and if it's more like a diary entry than anything else, then why mess?  
Their responses made me realize that perhaps there are still some readers out there.  Maybe I wasn't shouting into the void after all!

So... here's a tiny little corner of the Internet that is our own.  We can talk about books and whatever else, but I'm not going to try to sell you things and I'm not going to say things like, "Wow, what a week, ya'll!"  Paradise!

While I haven't been reading at quite the clip I used to, I'm still reading whenever possible.  A few books that have stuck with me in recent months have been:

- I'm Glad by Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy:  What a title!  I had minimal exposure to this actress outside of being annoyed by her tweeny-bopper sitcoms blaring on my tv from time to time.   I was interested in learning more about her child stardom and generally crap young adult life.  I think all of her readers are delighted to find that in addition to having captivating content, McCurdy is a terrific writer.  

- The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick:  This is also an interesting title, but enormously misleading.  Still, I stayed up until 12:30 am to finish it!  Grab this one if you're looking for some light-but-not-TOO-light reading with some mystery and a bit of romance.  Do not grab it if you're dead set on reading about the messy lives of book people.

(Sidenote:  Titles exasperate me.  I hate that so often they are clearly chosen by publishing houses as a driver of sales and really have nothing to do with the story.   I assume that's why we (EVEN STILL!) see so much of the clockmaker's mistress and the watchmaker's wife and the mapmaker's daughter.  Or why books about fully grown women inevitably have "girl" in the title.  I missed ranting about this.)

I read some great time travel novels!  My flight home from Puerto Rico was consumed by Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, which was the PERFECT choice for a flight - a quick read, totally engrossing, and best read in one sitting.  Plus, the story spanned many hundreds of years, which was fun.  A couple of months ago I finished This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub, which was a flawlessly executed time travel novel featuring the do-over, something my dad and I both love to read about.  There's just something so satisfying about watching a character go back in time and right some wrongs.  (I wouldn't mind a shot at a do-over or two...)

Oh, and of course I had to read the new Taylor Jenkins Reid.  I like to say that everything she touches turns to gold.  With Carrie Soto is Back, I think I might amend that to gold - or at least silver.  Carrie Soto was a great story but a hair predictable and a hair forgettable.  Come on, TJR!  Do something crazy next time!  

Also I'm seeing all this stuff about Colleen Hoover ruling BookTock and some of my fellow readers are reading everything she's got like they're obsessed.  What's going on?  Then I saw her quoted as basically saying she kind of sucks, she doesn't get the deal either.  Help me out, if you're out there?  Is this romance?  Is it good, though?  

I don't want to learn about BookTock.

Okay that's all for now.  What are YOU reading?

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