Weekly Reads & More

This week in books, listens, links, & more

My reading this week has been heavily audiobook focused and it feels good to be back in an audiobook groove. We had a few warm, sunny days and I took my lab Vinny on his walks and then added in several solo walks myself. Although I’ve been spending at least 20 min of my walks in the woods without AirPods in my ears (I love listening to the birds), I find that having a great audiobook going is part of the enjoyment I get from a long walk. Speaking of walking in nature, every time I walk on my favorite paths, with trees I’ve “known” for 16 years, I remind myself that I really want to read The Overstory by Richard Powers and Greenwood by Michael Christie! The Overstory is one of my choices for my Pulitzer Project, so that’s a for sure but if you have thoughts on which one of the two I should read first let me know in the comments.

This Week….

Recent Reads…

• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri 🎧 Bookshop

  A debut short story collection (and Pulitzer Prize winner) that charts the emotional journeys of characters—immigrants, expatriates, and their children—who are seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations.

  I’m happy to say this first read off of my Pulitzer Project reading list is one I very much enjoyed. I listened and found the audio narration well done as far as voices, tone, and pace, but it was hard to follow at times because when one story ends the next abruptly begins and then it took me a bit to get into a new flow. I’m not a reader who reads many short stories, but last year I read Whereabouts by this author and I loved her writing style and knew I wanted to read more by her. What I loved: Lahiri has this remarkable ability to capture entire lives in just a few pages, weaving together themes of displacement, cultural identity, loneliness, longing, and love with language that gets to the heart of that she wants the reader to understand; she was able to capture the complexity of human relationships in so few words. This leads me to what I didn’t love: the short story format itself— just when I got fully invested in the people and their lives, the story would end, leaving me wanting more. Perhaps that was the point as these were characters whose lives were transition and their stories continued without neat resolutions.

• Sylvia’s Second Act by Hillary Yablon 🎧 Bookshop

This delightful story is about sixty three year old Sylvia whose husband is cheating on her. She hates living in Boca and decides she isn’t going to take it anymore. She’s moving back to NYC, the city of her dreams—with her best friend, Evie, in tow. Chaos, fun times, new love, new careers, and more ensues. I laughed and cheered for Sylvia and Evie the entire story. I LOVE a NYC setting and the fact that Sex and the City was referenced throughout endeared me to the ladies even more. This is a well written, smart with substance story that held a few surprises I didn't see coming. I did a combo print and audio, the audio narration was excellent, Jane Oppenheimer brought the characters to life! I don't remember hearing anything about this last year when it came out, so I’m grateful to Lori who recommended this in one of the Friday Thread posts…I loved it!!

• I just finished The Tell by Amy Griffin on audio (thanks to PRH audio for my complimentary audiobook) and I need to put together all of my thoughts into a coherent review. I listened to this impactful, thought provoking, fascinating memoir that “explores how far we will go to protect ourselves, and the healing made possible when we face our secrets and begin to share our stories.” I listened to this entire book in one day…I was riveted. Amy’s narration was stellar as was her storytelling. The way she structured how to tell her story was brilliant. I need to emphasize that this was very hard to listen to at times due to the graphic nature of the content. I’ll share more thoughts another day, but this was a 5 ⭐️ listen!

• Recent Listens…

  • Due to so much audiobook time this week, my only podcast listen this week was the new Oprah’s Podcast episode interview with Amy Griffin, the author of The Tell. As always, it was a great interview, Oprah always knows the pressing questions to ask authors!

• Book I Bought or Borrowed…

  I thought it might be fun to share a recent book purchase or one I just picked up at the library- I check out a lot of library books! A mood reader can never have too many options:)

  • 8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee - published June 2023 by Harper this is a book I borrowed on the Libby App. It’s inspired by the story of Lee’s great aunt, one of the oldest women to escape alone from North Korea and is blurbed by the publisher as being a riveting and genre-bending debut of love and survival, set in the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. It was long listed for The Women’s Prize for Fiction

    

• Links I Loved

  • 12 new books to read in March (Time)

  • 12 of the juiciest celebrity grudges (The Cut)

  • Could we possibly be getting another season of Younger? Yes, please!! (Bustle)

  • 11 new books to brighten your spring (Granted by

    Adam Grant
    )

  • 10 romantic comedy novels that scream escapism (Stylist)

  • The best reviewed books of the week (LitHub)

  • These shrimp teriyaki bowls sound delicious (Food & Wine)

  • Why people love to get lost in books - I would say I was experiencing “transportation” when listening/reading all of my books this week, how about you? (Nautilus)

From the Archives….

Any thoughts on today’s newsletter? Did you read, listen, or watch anything notable this week?

Have a great Sunday📚

- Renee