I thoroughly enjoyed Amanda Gorman's inauguration poem and have listened and watched it on repeat. I have written about it for my Library of Congress Teacher's Corner post this month.
Read:
- Just Last Night (egalley) by Mhairi McFarlane - I enjoyed this as much as I have McFarlane's other novels. It was certainly more sad than the others, but still contained a health dose of satisfying romance.
- Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan - I think my expectations were high, which may explain why I was somewhat disappointed overall. What happened to Cahalan as documented in the book was a medical mystery for weeks at the beginning of her illness. The segment of the book chronicling her downward spiral and the early attempted to diagnose her illness were interesting. After that the story plodded along through her treatments and return to regular life activities. I would be surprised to discover that teens stay engage all the way through.
- This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (eaudio library book) by Ann Patchett - This is a collection of essays, one of the which is the title essay, written over a decade and published in a variety of magazines. I think Patchett may be as engaged an essayist as she is novelist. BONUS: Patchett does the reading
Reading:
- Gideon the Ninth (purchased book) by Tamsyn Muir - I am close to finishing, but one night, right before bed I read a few chapters and realized when I tried to pick up the next day that I had forgotten important details. This is why I try to avoid reading right before bed or when I am sleepy. I should finish within the next two days. Then will move immediately on to the next installment, Harrow the Ninth, to avoid losing the momentum of the first book.
- Angel Mage (library ebook) by Garth Nix - I have not read any more of this than I had last week, because life got busy and then the book was due back to the library. I have put it on hold again and am first on the list for when it is available again.
- In the Presence of the Enemy (elibrary book) by Elizabeth George - I had this once from the library then it was due, so when it popped back up again I moved it to the top of the TBR. I am not sorry to have done so. George mixed things up a bit by delaying the murder until almost half-way through the book, taking us slowly into the story through investigating a kidnapping before a murder occurs. The focus also begins with Simon St. James, rather than Lynley. This is the 8th Lynley mystery, but I have also read the 6 most recent works. I started over at the beginning and have 6 to read after this to catch up. I hope she has something new in the works too, I don't want to run out.
Listening:
- The Best of Me (audiobook purchased from Audible) by David Sedaris I mentioned this one a few weeks ago, but had to skip it in favor of the Patchett book that came in from my library holds list. But after finishing that this one rose to the top. As expected I snort laughed a number of times already. Luckily I was by myself in the car so I didn't get any funny looks from strangers.
What have you read? What are you reading and listening to?
**A note on the picture. I always use an image from the Prints and Photographs collections of the Library of Congress. I like these because they are interesting, and freely available because they are in the public domain. I mainly choose images of people reading. If you click the image in any of my posts you will be able to see the Library's bibliographic record which includes whatever they know about the image including its creator. There are also usually links to other similar items or to the collection the image is a part of.***
