March 2023 BookSnacks
BookSnacks Vol. 3, Still snow on the ground edition
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Guess what’s changed in the last month? Not the weather! Gosh, I’m so tired of winter. And I know that’s not a new take or a hot take, however, I do think if you polled the audience you’d be hard pressed to find someone who is as fed up with winter as me. In other news, I quit my day job that I’ve had for the last 10 months. I was writing for our local newspaper and it was interesting, a good experience, and not quite what I was expecting. And for the last bit of news I think with our most recent sickness we’ve finally had everything there is to have this season. You name it, we’ve checked it off our list. Anyway, we’re also heading somewhere sunny for spring break next week so I’m counting the minutes until we leave. Are you heading anywhere sunny for spring break? Did you already go somewhere sunny? I certainly hope so.
On to this month’s books!
Currently Reading
I’m in the middle of Camino Island by John Grisham. The first book of his that I’ve ever read. Did I think I’d be reading crime-thriller books? Not really, but it is a good swing from the romance book I read this month. So far, the story is interesting and is moving much quicker than the romance novel so that part is good. It is a pretty different style of writing than I’m used to, very fast-paced and not drowning in detail. My dad recommended this one to me ages ago and I’m just getting to it and am excited to see where it goes, because he doesn’t recommend many books. Tough critic that one.
Just Finished Reading
It was definitely a slower month with the the whole trying-to-quit-my-day-job of it all, so I just finished Anxious People by Fredrik Backman a few days ago. Oh boy. What a ride that book was. The writing felt so fresh. The characters were woven together in a really unexpected way that I haven’t seen in a book in a long time. It was also so sad and tragic. But the ending was perfect for the story.😬 I feel like I can’t say too much because it will give it away. But the writing, the story structure, the twists, were all parts that I loved. Every character felt well-developed and like they were given a balanced portion of the story for who they were to the story. I really liked it.
For the Kids(and sometimes adults, too)
Oh boy, we found some cute kids books this week. We checked out I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared by Seth Meyers (yes late night, SNL seth) from the library. The book was good! I always analyze what feelings or situations children’s books are trying to help kids interpret and spoiler alert this one is trying to tell kids that it’s okay to be scared. I think the characters were cute and made for a pretty cute pair and relationship. If you have a kid who tends to shy away from anything ‘adventurous,’ this might be a good one for them.
I’m adding some books that I’m anticipating getting to read in case they are ones you might be interested in, too! If you’ve read these, let me know what you thought of them!
How to talk like a bear by Charlie Grandy
Fish and Crab by Marianna Coppo
Vintage Read
This book was published in 2005, but was recommended to me last year. And I was immediately intrigued because it’s about my one true dream job, being a food critic. It is a memoir of Ruth Reichl’s time as the New York Times Food Critic and what it took to have and do well at that job. It’s titled Garlic and Sapphires. I loved learning about this world that I really knew nothing about. She also gives some of her favorite recipes and I am a perpetual recipe collector so I loved that part. It was a fun, quick, interesting read and I would recommend if you like unique memoirs.
Snacks To-Go
(A new section, wherein I give you quick one sentence reviews of books I read that aren’t the highlight for this month, represented by my personal favorite on the go snack emojis)
🍫 Every Summer After by Carley Fortune (romance)—cute, quick, and cliché, but also a little immature, predictable, and underdeveloped.
🍫 Stein On Writing by Sol Stein (non-fiction)—meh. I feel like I’ve heard this book recommended as the greatest book about how to write, but maybe they meant the Stephen King autobiography? I don’t know, it just feels kind of not groundbreaking to me…
A Digital Snack for You
Some little digital things I cooked up for you.
I’m willing the grass to get green and the trees to blossom by digging through photos of when that was actually happening. Here’s one for you to use at your leisure: print, phone wallpaper, whatever you’d like, really.
And a funny little book mark I made for you. I have bought many a cute metal, clip-y, bookmark and yet I always end up sticking my nearest receipt in there to save my place. So I thought it’d be cute to make a little pretend receipt. Now, will I ever use it since its designated purpose is a bookmark, probably not. I’m sure I’ll still end up reaching for the scrap of paper on my nightstand.
(This is a new button I’m trying out so would you let me know if that doesn’t work, thanks!)
Thanks for reading and also for reading! (get it? cause you read this and you also read books? Yea, you get it.) Hit reply or leave a comment and let me know what you’re reading right now, I’d love to add to my infinite ‘to-read’ list.
Talk soon!
Adri
