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 #294

On The Blog Last Week

• On Tuesday I predicted which unread books on my shelf will get 5 stars.

On The Blog This Week

• On Tuesday I attempt to talk about books that left me speechless.

In My Reading Life

Maybe it was a bad idea to read all the giant historical fiction books on my shelf. I feel like I'm spending a lot of time reading, but I'm not making a dent in the shelf. How did I acquire so many giant historical fiction books?

Last week, I finished The Fountains Of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. I've read almost all of Ruta Sepetys's books and enjoyed every one of them. If I had to rank them, this one would be my least favorite, but it's still a good book! It's set in Spain in 1957 during the rule of dictator General Francisco Franko. The story follows a group of teenagers who have very different lives. One of them is an American tourist and photographer who wants to learn about his mother's home country. The other characters live in Spain and are struggling to survive in a dictatorship. Their lives collide when they all get caught up in an adoption scandal involving kidnapped babies.

I love how the author shows the two sides of Spain. The country relies on tourist dollars, so the government is very concerned with creating a beautiful tourist playground. It's less concerned with the wellbeing of its own citizens. They're living in poverty and doing unethical things to survive.

I vaguely remember learning about the Spanish Civil War in my high school European history class, but I think I learned more from this book than I did in school. That's another thing I love about Ruta Sepetys. She takes little-known bits of history and makes them real. You'll fall in love with these characters. Even though they've had difficult lives, they're still hopeful about their futures.

This book has a steep learning curve. There are a lot of characters, and the author throws you right into the action. I struggled to keep up. I spent about half the book going, Wait, who's that? How are they related? What are they doing? Why am I supposed to care about this person? It took me a long time to feel comfortable with the setting and characters. That's my only criticism. I'll happily pick up whatever Ruta Sepetys writes next.

I'm still reading As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann. It's another thick historical fiction book. It's okay so far. I was nervous because people on Goodreads have this book shelved as romance and erotica, which aren't my favorite genres, but I'm halfway through the book, and the romance hasn't started yet. It's mostly about an awful dude who rapes his wife, murders a guy, joins the military, and attempts to control everyone around him. I'm not ready to DNF the book, but it's not really holding my attention. I'm not interested in the preparing-for-military-conflict life.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. If you're watching the Super Bowl, I hope your team wins, and I hope you have lots of fun. I'm just here for the party snacks. I know nothing about football.
2. New books! I almost have shelf space for them. That's why I'm reading all the giant books on my shelf. I need to read and donate the big books so I have space for the new books.
3. Catching up on reality TV. I'm now caught up on The Amazing Race, Catfish, Catfish UK, and Next Level Chef.
4. I'm still watching Olympic hockey. I'm looking forward to the medal rounds. (I think I just discovered why I'm not making a dent in my TBR shelf. I've been watching too much TV!)
5. I'm shopping for a new phone because mine is painfully slow. Give me suggestions for which one to buy.

Sometimes I have important thoughts (or important Wordle scores)

Pinterest || Bloglovin’ || Goodreads || Instagram || Twitter || Donate || Wish List || TikTok

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