Reading All The Books

For about a year and a half now, I have been posting collages of every single book I've read over the past week or two and writing brief reviews on Instagram. You can find those posts under the hashtag "natashareadsonfridays" here.

These past two weeks I read too many good books to write reviews on Instragram so I decided to write a whole blog post instead.

I read this book because it came up on my library's homepage of recommendations and who hasn't been interested in hygge recently? Well, I have determined that hygge includes too many candles and not enough fresh flowers for me to really cultivate it! However, this was a fun, quick book to read.

I saw this book on someone's Instragram during the 24in48 readathon. Although they were reading it as a textbook, it immediately intrigued me. This book made me think of the various libraries I have worked at (four), volunteered at (three), called home (at least four or five), or visited (countless). It made me reconsider going back to school for my Library Sciences degree. It made me cry -- more than once.

If you are a lover of libraries like I am, you should read this. If you hate libraries, you should read this to learn why you should love them. If you are indifferent to libraries, you should read this to learn why you should become passionate about them.

In short, READ THIS BOOK!

I can't remember where I saw this book recommended but I enjoyed it. It drew me in and made me want to visit France. And the Delaware shore. In short, it's about a woman who tragically lost her husband, the effects of that loss on her daughter, and what came after.

This book is similar to The Last Mrs Parrish, Behind Closed Doors, Gone Girl, etc. I feel like these kinds of books are really popular right now and creating a new genre. I liked this one (as much as you can like these kinds of books), so if you're looking for an easy read that will keep you up at night, read this. (Note to readers who appreciate this kind of warning (ahem... Emily): A baby dies. That is not a spoiler.)

I read this book because my book club is reading it this month. I only finished this book because my book club is reading it this month. (I feel like it's easier to justify disliking a book if you've actually finished it.) It's a selection of personal essays. Samantha Irby has had a hard life and reflects on it with dark humour. I don't think I appreciate dark humour. Sometimes life is not funny and trying to find humour in it isn't appropriate. Plus, there is a lot of swearing in this book. So much so that I found it distracting, and that sort of stuff doesn't usually bother me. If you've read this book and feel differently, let me know. I'd love to hear another point of view.

I feel like this is the "it" book right now. Everyone's reading it and talking about it. It's about adoption, but it's about the potentially dark side of adoption. Let me preface this by saying, I'm a big fan of adoption. I am adopted. It was not an "open adoption." Because of this I've always had mixed feelings on open adoption. But let me say, open adoption would completely negate all the issues in this book (I think).

The hardest part of this book is that it is based on facts. Things that actually happened. While the families involved are fictional, the premise is not. This book is like Lilac Girls in that I spent a few hours online after I finished it, researching the back story of this novel.

I had this book out of the library three times before I finally got around to reading it. And then I read it in two days. This book is good. This book is hard. This book is powerful. You should read this book but be warned that it deals with some really ugly facts of life.

So that's what I've been reading the past two weeks. Can you see why I needed more than an Instagram post to sum up these books?!?!?!