Share what you are reading

That is a sweet book! I read it in about 2016 and it was quite popular in the elementary school library that I ran. Kids love animal books and this one was told so well that it has broad appeal.

The Guncle by Steven Rowley was very entertaining! People who recommended it to me said they imagined it was Sean Hayes in the story, and that helped me envision the funny, snarky type of former-actor who might be the Guncle. I listened to it, and the author reads it himself, so that helped too -- all the snark came off just as he wanted it. I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes. GUP actually gave great advice! It's hard for authors to write children well in my opinion, but this author did a superb job especially with Grant (and his lisp). Maisie came off a little older than 9, but I gave it some leniency because her mom had died and maybe she'd been forced to grow up a little more quickly. While it might not be a book for everyone, I found Patrick endearing and funny, making this one of the more enjoyable books I've read this year so far. 



From Goodreads:
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is honestly a bit out of his league.



So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting—even if temporary—isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you’re unfailingly human.

I added this to my "get" list, even though it sounds pretty heavy (and I'm not in the mood for heavy reading right now ). The rating on Amazon was really high!

I'm not finding it depressing. Is it dark? 100%, but his attitude isn't. It's a pretty quick read too, which is good because I checked it out at the same time as the new Stacey Abrams and that one took longer than I anticipated. I'm not even 30% through the Kingsolver and I only have 5 days left on the loan! Time to do what I jokingly refer to as "book club math." That's when you calculate how many pages you have to read each day to finish in time for book club, only this time it's until the library takes the book back! I could always put my Kindle on airplane mode for a day or two to finish it.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Demon Copperhead too, and there have been moments that I've thought it's upsetting and kind of depressing, but it's so well done, and the main character seems to be resilient and I can't help but have hope for him! It is good and I'm not bored with it, like I have been with several other books this summer so far. I really don't remember if I ever read David Copperfield so I don't know much of the story, outside of a sad orphan boy tale, so I'm enjoying not knowing how it ends! When will it end, though?? It really IS long! LOL! And I have until Sunday morning to finish it, before it goes back to the library. I better get back to it here.... 

I finished The White Ship a few days ago and WOW. Amazing. I hadn't thought about the fact that the book is about my ancestors (I'm descended from the Plantagenets on both sides of my tree), so it was like, "Oh! That's a relative! And that's a relative!" I kept opening my family tree program to see what the relationship to me was. Very cool.

Now I'm reading Congresswoman (in my home district) Katie Porter's I Swear, Politics is Messier Than My Minivan. She was the keynote speaker at the trade show I went to last year and she was just delightful. Sadly, the book wasn't out yet, so I had to wait. I totally forgot about it until just recently, so I put a hold on it at the library. The book is delightful! Yes, she does talk about more serious issues, like campaigning and January 6th - it was her office that AOC and her staff hid in - but she also talks about her childhood and her life as a single mom. It's really enjoyable and I've laughed myself silly a few times.

My mom and I have been doing the 2023 reading challenge through my home county's library system. It's 100 books in a year and I'm WAY behind! I've been trying to pick books I think will be fast reads. A few novels, but more memoirs, which do go quicker.

I just finished Horse: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks and really enjoyed it. There are real-life characters and events in the story, which I found very interesting! I love how she did that, forming fictional stories around factual stories. She's a wonderful writer, bringing me to tears a few times in this one. This story features a racehorse, but it's not all about racing or training (which I was afraid of, since I'm not a big fan). It's more about the relationship between the trainer and the horse, a boy when the foal was born and connected with him deeply. Being enslaved, and the time period before the Civil War, made for interesting and unique storylines. 


From Amazon:

Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.

New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.

Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.

Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.

Okay, so I finished the book this morning, and started to re-read it this afternoon.  Yep.  It's that good.  (IMO)

Circe by Madeline Miller
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell
The Winter Garden by Nicola Cornick
One by One by Ruth Ware
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
Educated by Tara Westover
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World by William Alexander

Right now, I'm listening to Julia Whelan's Thank You For Listening. She does a lot of audiobook narration for other authors (including several in the list above) and this is her second book. Light and fun.

I just finished Britney Spears' book and wow. I bought it because I wanted to support her in making and keeping her own money. I'm around her age and was never a big fan but was part of the generation that was; her music was always in the background of my life. When I heard her talking to the judge in 2021 my heart broke for her. To hear her own perspective of everything thing was happening to her and around her was heartbreaking; I cried several times during this book. I'm honestly surprised she's still alive. I hope she can find peace and some happiness in life and her parents and "handlers" should be in jail. Lou Taylor, if you go down that rabbit hole, is creepy and an outright predator.

Thanks for sharing.  The ladies on The View said it is fabulous, and contrary to what was said over in the Celebrity Gossip section, apparently she shows Justin a lot of grace.  I'm going to give it a whirl.

When I think of Brit, I immediately think of her on The Today Show.  Katie Couric would vocalize to Brit that she didn't want her to grow up too fast and Brit would reassure her that she was doing well.  I think/I know Katie understood the industry and she was more or less warning Brit of what Brit couldn't yet foresee.  Always admired that about Katie.

I'm going to get a copy of Being Henry: The Fonz... and Beyond.  Such a sweet and uplifting man.  He's my go-to on Twitter for positivity.