The Sunday Post #237

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.

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The Sunday Post #237

On The Blog Last Week

• On Tuesday we talked about classics that I think are worth reading.
• On Thursday I answered the Internet's most-asked questions about books.

On The Blog This Week

• On Tuesday I blather about book series that should be made into TV shows.
• On Thursday we might talk about an experiment I did on Instagram.

In My Reading Life

Last week, I finished Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Like all of Backman’s books, it’s excellent. He’s great at creating realistic characters with memorable personalities. Beartown is about the fallout in a small Swedish town after a star hockey player rapes a teenage girl. It’s heartbreakingly realistic and has more humor than you’d expect. My only complaint is that the author sometimes tries too hard and over-explains things. I can figure out the moral of the story on my own, thank you very much. I highly recommend this novel, especially if you love sports.

Then I read Red Clocks by Leni Zumas. I liked this book, too! I guess I’d call it a literary alternate present novel? The world is almost the same as it is now, but abortion is illegal, and there are laws about who can have children. The book follows 5 women who are trying to start families or escape from families. I liked some perspectives more than others. My favorite is a (possibly?) mentally ill “witch” who is on trial for allegedly poisoning a pregnant woman. I also appreciate the perspective of an older woman who is trying to get pregnant before it becomes illegal for her to have children.

My biggest complaint is that I can tell the author has an MFA in writing. Sometimes the book is weird for no good reason. (I know from experience that college professors love books that are weird for no good reason.) For example, there’s a character who randomly eats a handful of dirt. The dirt-eating ties into the book’s themes, but it’s heavy handed and doesn’t fit with the character’s personality, so it pulled me out of the story. Despite the random weirdness, I’d recommend this book to fans of literary dystopias like The Handmaid’s Tale.

I’m currently reading An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. It’s brilliant so far! It’s about a man who’s arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and his wife, who isn’t sure she wants to stay married to him. The writing is stunning. Is it too early to predict that this book will be a favorite of the year? I haven’t even finished reading it yet!

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. I’m still re-watching every episode of The Great British Bake Off / Baking Show. I’d like to try baking those fancy foods, but I definitely don’t need the calories. Also, I’m still mad at Paul for insulting American pies and telling the bakers to “make them British” to make them taste good. I agree that American pies taste like sugar, but sugar is an excellent thing, Paul! Don’t abuse my sugary native cuisine.
2. I’m watching hockey too. My team has done well in the playoffs so far. Go Avalanche!
3. I’ve now done yoga every day for 6 months. I’m still terrible at it. The saying “Practice makes perfect” does not apply to me. I currently have rug burns on my wrist because I fell over while failing at crow pose.
4. Thank you to everyone who looked at my “Answering Bookish Questions” post. It’s been a while since I wrote a post that required a ton of research. I love doing research, but it tends to take multiple forevers.
5. BINGO! I guess I succeeded at Reverse Readathon? I don’t know. I did 3 readathons in a row, and now everything is blurry. (Literally blurry. I have eyestrain. I’m taking a long break from readathons.)

Please love me. I’m usually nice!

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