Friday Reads 11/17/2023

This has not been a reading-forward week. Most days I didn't read 50 pages and one day I didn't read anything at all. I just wasn't feeling it. I looked at what I have going and just shrugged. However, yesterday I picked up A Court of Thorns and Roses to read during lunch and that absolutely hit the spot. I had been leaving it at work to read during lunch when I didn't have anything else going. It was definitely low priority. But when I picked it up yesterday, it was exactly what I needed. Now that book is my top priority reading.

The worst part of this reading slump is that I will have a hard time getting to my goal of reading 50 books from my shelves. I think I still have 9 to go. That makes for a lot of focused reading in December when there isn't a lot of time for that.

This list will probably look very much the same as last week since I have only read a little of everything and not much of anything since then.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - This is the book that finally got my attention. It's a fantasy book about a girl who kills a faerie (in her defense the faerie was disguised as a wolf). In retaliation, a high fae nobleman kidnaps her and makes her come live in his enchanted castle in fairyland. Sounds great, except she is the sole provider for her family of father and 2 sisters and faeries and humans are mortal enemies.

Persuasion by Jane Austen - I read a little bit in this this week. I'm definitely way behind the group I'm reading it with. That's ok. It's sort of asynchronous discussion anyway. I'm taking the time to tab and annotate it as I go, so it takes longer to read.

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova - I am probably the furthest in this book, compared to all the other ones I'm reading. It's set in current day, and that just isn't flipping my turtle right now. It's very interesting, though. Such a weird premise. A girl moving to Bulgaria to teach English accidentally takes a bag that belongs to someone else. While trying to figure out whose it is, she finds that it contains an urn with human ashes. A taxi driver volunteers to help her figure out where to find the people, and they go on adventures. That's where I'm at so far. They've gone to the empty house where the people last lived, and run up against another dead end.

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree - I have kind of put this on hold right now until I can read some more books from my shelves. This is an eARC from NetGalley so it doesn't count for my challenge. I am liking it. It's about an Orc who gets injured in battle. Her crew drops her in a little seaside town to recover while they continue hunting bad people. While she's there, she makes friends with the bookshop owner and the baker and the local handyman. She makes enemies with the local law enforcement. There is a creepy guy hanging around that she feels compelled to get rid of. I don't know what his deal is, yet. It's light. It's fun.

The Woman In the Library by Sulari Gentill - I imagine what will happen here is, when I get to it, I will get a print copy and just read it. I've been listening to it for 2 months and just not really getting anywhere with it. It's good, and I'm enjoying it, I just don't prioritize audiobooks. Podcasts come first.

The Headmaster's List by Melissa de la Cruz - This one I'm just abandoning for now. I took it off my currently reading list. I'm returning it to the library. I'm just not in the mood for a thriller anymore. Oh well.

So there you have it. I am still reading a ton of books with no real progress. Hopefully the next week shows some movement in that regard.