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4.18.2013

A Post: Long Time No See


This is a picture of my lovely cat, Stevie; although, it could very well be a picture of me because that's all I seem to be doing these days once I pick up a book.

It all started when I got an email stating that five (four of those featured below) books were available for pick-up at the local library. I had been waiting MONTHS for these and they all came at once. It seemed like a terrible conundrum because I just sat and stared at the pile. I had no idea how to go about choosing the one I'd read first. So, naturally, I let them sit on my coffee table for a few days. I'd casually walk by, pick one up, read a paragraph or two and then set it down. Finally, I decided to dive into the The Investigation because A) it was totally different than anything I'd read this year, B) the author is a male and I've been slacking in that department, and C) I'd been eyeing it longer than any of the others and this was my chance.

The Investigation by Philippe Claudel

I'm still not finished with The Investigation. Don't get me wrong; it's a great read, but I'll be the first to admit that the author's intentions are completely over my head. The overall message and social commentary are quite in your face, but that doesn't mean I completely understand what Claudel is trying to express exactly.

Read any smartypants review of the title on Goodreads and you'll understand what I'm talking about. Well crafted, but not totally engrossing. It's on my nightstand. I get about 5 pages in before I zonk out.








Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

This was my second most anticipated library score. I'm over halfway through, even if it has taken me two weeks, but know I'll really love this one when it's all said and done. The author is incredibly talented, the story heart-breaking and engaging. It's been hard keeping up with this one when it hits close to home. Family loss is always so hard and Brunt expresses it perfectly.












Homeward Bound: Why Women Are Embracing the New Domesticity by Emily Matchar

Guilty as charged. I love baking from scratch, learning to knit, and the idea of canning. Yes, I am totally the target audience for this read. Matchar explores the rise of interest in the "good ol' days" and how these fads are changing society. Written like an ethnography, I was sucked in before realizing I was reading five thousand other books. I've got some time because this one comes out in May.












Eight Girls Taking Pictures by Whitney Otto


I don't know much about this title other than it focuses on women who took pictures in the past. I like taking pictures, I'm a woman, and I enjoy reading about the past, so it seemed like a win.















Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann


Another of those highly anticipated titles. I had this one on my library list for about six months. Yes, six months! It was that popular. Then the system wonked out and never sent me the e-mail telling me to come pick it up. I lost my spot and had to request it again! Fortunately, the hype had died down a bit and it arrived much earlier. Maybe a bit too early?












For someone who absolutely detests reading more than one book at a time, I'm shocked that this many books are even lying around as a possibility at this point. Don't even get me started on my review list over on Netgalley. I should be banned from requesting more books. No, seriously. Or maybe even the site... you know, until I finish those already awaiting my attention.

What are you reading? Anyone else feeling the spring slump???

14 comments:

  1. OMG! I totally understand what you mean. I feel like I am swimming in books, which I love, but also hate. I feel like I can't focus on just one book at a time. So, I've been reading non-review ones to get my reading mojo back on track. It seems to be doing the trick, because since I've devoured THE DINNER and THE BEST OF US, I'm already immersed in one of my review books. So, the slump will end soon, I'm sure of it. Soon you'll be zooming through books :) And, I know what you mean about Netgalley - I'm addicted. I just requested more books this morning - what is wrong with me? LOL!

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  2. I'm so out of touch - I haven't heard of a single one of those books and based on your library's wait for so many of them and the fact that I'm a BOOK BLOGGER, you'd think I would have. Oh, and I'm all about the weird newfound domesticity too (except for knitting and sewing and that kind of thing). I love cooking and baking from scratch and I want to have a garden and can the things I grow. I'm all about homemade, so I may have to get that book. My reading problem right now is that I have finals AND my licensure exam coming up so I'm not allowing myself to read much for fun, but I keep buying books! So I'm swimming in books that I want to read (which is especially bad since I'm moving next month and keep adding to the stuff I need to pack) but can't read a word. Sigh.

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  3. I feel you--have a lot of books to read but not really "feeling" anything at the moment. Hoping I'll get into that perfect book soon.

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  4. Totally slumping. I like what I'm reading but the urge to read is low and slow. Having said that, I'm REALLY interested in Homeward Bound.

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  5. Last month, the pages just flew by. This month, I feel like I'm slow-motion running, like in a bad dream. ??

    Anyway - Homeward Bound is me, too, although I'm probably not the demographic that's being talked about since I was in my twenties in the 1970s when homesteading and canning and knitting and all the rest were still big...must be the middle-generation who missed it.

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  6. I just realised tonight that I'm reading 6 books, only I'm not REALLY reading any of them. It's... displeasing, to say the least. (I'm calling it a post-Murakami slump, because how does one follow up The Wind Up Bird Chronicle? One cannot).

    I am SO intrigued by Homeward Bound though! Because I'm all like "YEAH, sewing and baking and doing stuff for yourself and things!" but then I'm like "arrrgh, my lady ancestors wouldn't like it" but THEN I'm like "but I'm screwing over capitalism a little bit so YEAH!" Basically I don't properly know how I feel about liking these sorts of things. Other than, that I like them. Which is fine. I'm just going to stop talking now.

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  7. Beth, I feel for you as the same thing happened to me with library requests. (4) audio books I've been waiting for all came in at the same time....hate that.

    I like your choices, and loved Tell the Wolves I'm Home. enjoy

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  8. I think this slump is going around lately. I hope you snap out of it soon!

    I read Tigers in Red Weather and I'm dying to read Eight Girls Taking Pictures. I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on that one especially. (So get to it, lol)

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  9. Ohh, I'd only heard of two of these before (Tell the Wolves and Tigers in Red Weather - which I actually own, but haven't read), but these all sound good! I love the sounds of Homeward Bound - sometimes I wish I could have experienced life as a good ol' housewife ;) I usually only have one book - two max - on the go, but right now I think I have 5 or 6!

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  10. I perfectly understand you. Sometimes I have too much to read that I just curl in bed and wish I had only one thing to do so that I could manage it, have it done and feel productive. Persnally, I think it's got to do with spring-time because it also happens to me. Just try to enjoy your time doing whatever you feel like doing. And if it's nothing, then that's something!

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  11. I had a similar gigantic library pile. I had Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, Life After Life, Fever, The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, and Middle C all come in within a week or so. It was challenging, to say the least!

    Good luck getting through all of those books! :)

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  12. I am in the midst of a serious reading slump right now. I'm still reading, but I'm flitting from book to book like a drunken mosquito. I have 4 ongoing reads at the moment and while I'm enjoying all of them, I can't seem to commit to just one. So I'm reading a little of this and a little of that. I haven't even been to the library in like a month and a half!

    And I'm glad that you are loving Tell the Wolves I'm Home so I can stop harassing you about loving it. :-)

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  13. I tend to read multiple books at any one time anyway, but I definitely do find that I sometimes get stuck in a slump when I feel like I have too many going at once. It's like I don't know what to read next, or I feel guilty if I pick one over the next, or... something. Not sure how to explain it, but I find the best way out of it is to sit down with one and just finish it, then the rest start to flow a little better.

    I'm dying to read Homeward Bound (just requested on NetGalley and waiting for approval). Looking forward to your thoughts.

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  14. Tell The Wolves I'm Home was one of the most moving and fabulous books I have read in a long while. I am so glad to hear you are enjoying it. Looking forward to a final review!

    I'm also intrigued by that housewife book...sounds fascinating.

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