The Sunday Post #243

 

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

 

The Sunday Post #243

 

 

On The Blog Last Week

 

• On Tuesday I showed you the books I’m hoping to read in fall.
• On Saturday there was a book haul (of books I should probably read in fall).

 

 

 

 

On The Blog This Week

 

• On Tuesday I share my favorite quotes from Fredrik Backman books.

 

 

 

 

In My Reading Life

 

Last week, I finished I’ll Be Gone In The Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search For The Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara. It’s true crime. The title pretty much tells you the plot. I have mixed feelings about this book because I see so much missed potential! It’s a fascinating story about an amateur detective’s quest to find a serial rapist. Unfortunately, the author died while writing the book. Her research partners pieced the story together from her notes and published it. There is some brilliant writing, but because of how everything came together, it feels scattered and unfinished. That sucks. I wish the author had been able to finish it. It would have been epic. I don’t think this book is the next In Cold Blood, but if you like true crime, it’s worth reading.

 

As soon as I finished I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, I watched the documentary series that was made about the book. I like the documentary more than the book. It fills in the book’s gaps. Please watch it if you get the opportunity.

Then I finished American War by Omar El Akkad. OMG, this novel. I don’t know how to talk about it. Okay, it’s a dystopia about a young girl who is growing up in a refugee camp after the Second American Civil War forces her family out of their home. The girl is eventually recruited to be a child soldier. As you can probably tell by the plot, the book is relentlessly bleak. I eventually switched to the audiobook so I could do other things while listening instead of just reading and wallowing in the characters’ misery. (The audiobook narrator is Dion Graham, who is a great voice actor, by the way.) One of the reasons the novel is depressing is because the characters feel plausible. There are no good guys or bad guys. There are just a bunch of average guys clinging too stubbornly to their ideas. The ending is not happy. It’s not an easy book to read, but it’s beautifully written with a lot of interesting observations. I even highlighted some quotes:

 

“You fight the war with guns, you fight the peace with stories.”

 

“What was safety, anyway, but the sound of a bomb falling on someone else's home?”

 

If you like dystopias and can tolerate “heavy” books, check this one out.

Up next, I’m reading Beasts Of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang and Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. I haven’t started either of them yet.

 

In The Rest Of My Life

 

Five things that made me happy last week:

 

1. Watching TV. I really liked I’ll Be Gone In The Dark. Right now, I’m watching Away on Netflix. The plot is kind of predictable, but I like the characters. Also, Great British Bake Off! It’s back!
2. New books! They’re in my haul post, if you want to see them.
3. It’s cold enough at night that I can drink hot cocoa without feeling like a weirdo.
4. I took a break from hard workouts and only did easy yoga every day. My body feels so much better! I thought exercise was supposed to make people feel good? That appears to be a lie. I feel better when I sit on the couch and eat M&Ms. I’m restarting the hard stuff again this week.
5. I got distracted while reorganizing my (mostly abandoned) Facebook account and ended up looking at old vacation photos. I found this one from my last camping trip. Remember when we could go places? Places were fun.

 

 

 

Can I Get A Connection?

 

Pinterest || Bloglovin’ || Goodreads || Instagram || Twitter || Donate

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other! See you around the blogosphere!