Mid-Year Book Review

Please excuse the fact that we are a month beyond "mid-year" and accept a mini update on the books I've enjoyed the most thus far in 2013.

I've read a lot. To date I'm on book 77 of the year. 

I know. It's ridiculous. 

Of those 77 books, beyond what I've already written about this year here and here, I'd have to say the best I've read is Sisterland, by Curtis Sittenfeld. I didn't know much about it going into the story, I had read her books before and liked them so I just got this one without even reading the description and dove in. I ended up listening to this one as an audio book (so I could be entertained while walking, walking, walking) and that definitely drew out how long it took me to finish it, but I think also had me focus on the story and what was going on in a different way than when I am holding the book in hand. 

Either way, I liked this one. A lot.

The other one, that was an unexpected winner in my book was The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. I say Unexpected because the book was released in 2005 and both the title and authors name are really familiar to me, but I think I had only heard of her and her books and never read one before. This took a bit of getting into for me, the style is one I'm not normally a fan of (first person story teller, telling the story of the past from the present with tons of foreshadowing and "but we didn't know that yet" type lines), but, I really liked this book. 

Another author who has been around for years that I've just discovered is Leah Stewart. I've read two of her books so far this summer and the other two are just waiting for me to get through my library stack to them. I liked both that I read so far, but the one that stands out is the The History of Us. It's told from the perspectives of four different members of the family - the aunt who ended up raising her nieces and nephew and the adult nieces and nephew - at a time of transition and turmoil for all of them. Stewart did a really good job of capturing the struggle of living up to expectations - your own as well as those you perceive others have for you. 

So there you go, if you are looking to round out your summer reading list here are three good fictional options to add to the pile. Nothing super heavy, but by no means total fluff. Just good books waiting to be enjoyed!

ps. Yes, the hiatus is over. I'll be back to my regular, if not sometimes sporadic, posting schedule.