Girls and Women and Breaking All My Rules

Honestly what I've been reading about most here lately is news about the virus.  I'm not panicking by any means, but I've also been loading up on diapers and formulas and such just in case all of the sudden we can't leave our house.  You know, the bookworm's dream - so long as everyone is okay.  Trust me, if we get quarantined - I've got PLENTY to read!  Plus Jaxon's butt will stay dry, so win-win.

​At any rate, here's what I've been reading!

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Moderately oddball plot aside, this is a great book about race relations with surprisingly layered characters.  This was a fun and thought-provoking page turner that I would recommend for when you want something lighter but meaningful.  

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Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
I broke two rules with this book.  I read a book with "Girl" in the title AND I abandoned a book.  I got to 32% and then put it down.  I made it through a lot of depressing and awful stuff and then another group of folks was headed to a concentration camp and, well, I just didn’t want to venture down that road any further.  While I do read to learn and explore, I also read to relax at the end of a long day and right now, I don’t want to do my relaxing at a concentration camp.  But trust me, I’ve logged some serious World War 2 hours through the years, as it’s an enormously popular setting for historical fiction.  

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Westering Women by Sandra Dallas
This was our Book Club book, so I won’t delve too deeply.  I will say that it’s a lovely read, aside from all of the death and disaster you might expect from a group of people traveling on foot from Chicago to California.  It illustrated that women can do most anything men can do, but in case the reader was unable to connect those dots for themselves, various characters made proclamations of this theme every few pages.   Still, an enjoyable story!

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The New Me by Halle Butler
​Super well written book about a woman who is spiraling in and out of at least depression – not sure what else.  To be honest, it rubbed off on me a little bit (also, I need some sun and maybe the stock market to not crash and maybe not a pandemic creating havoc) and so I’m now reading a Jim Gaffigan book just to cure the book hangover.  However!  This was just funny and weird and pointless.  It’s not disturbing or sad.  Just really odd.  But it was a quick read, so for some of you it might be worth it just to be like, what the heck was THAT?  Just be sure to have something uplifting on hand.   P.S. Plus she hops on the Amtrak and stops off in Bloomington-Normal for a bit, which made me smile.

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What are you reading?  I've got my Gaffigan book going on my Kindle and am working through my library hold, Followers by Megan Angelo.  I'm also reading a lot about hand-washing and pandemics throughout history.  Don't panic but.... maybe go get some extra toilet paper before it's all sold out.