Did you read with me? All Adults Here & Sea of Tranquility

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Did you read with me? All Adults Here & Sea of Tranquility

In July and August the titles for my Book a Month challenge were All Adults Here by Emily Straub and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. I’m excited today to talk about them today. Not to jump the gun, but I liked them both.

In case you’re following along and want to read too, the next book for September is The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I’m excited about this one. This book promises to be a good read. I mean, a group of “unorthodox” octogenerians in a retirement home get to solve their first real murder. What could be bad? I love me a good murder mystery—but a book that is also “funny,” “charming”, and “moving” [so say reviewers]? I’m all in.

(Come to think of it, The Thursday Murder Club sounds a bit like television series running right now in its second season, Murders in the Building with Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez…It’s also funny and charming—and fun.)

While I don’t intend (ever) to write book reviews for this reading project, I do like to share my thoughts on the books—and invite you to offer your thoughts in the comments below. Ideally i’d do this once a month—but as I said I’m two books behind. So I’ll be brief about each book:

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Did you read with me? Utopia Avenue and The Candy House

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Did you read with me? Utopia Avenue and The Candy House

Today I want to report back on the last two books I haven’t had a chance to talk about yet, Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell and The Candy House by Jennifer Egan. You can find my thoughts for each of the other books so far for my Read with Me Project here. And if you want to join me, here are links to places you can find digital and physical books.

May and June ended up being two BIG BOOKS for this little reading project, especially considering the fact that I felt like I had to re-read Egan’s first novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad because The Candy House is essentially a sequel to it, and it’s true, they do fit together as one story—one VERY long story.

They reading wasn’t actually difficult. Both writers use language that flows easily and beautifully. But both books require attention and thought as all good art makes us do—and this is all to say that I didn’t write about them here on the blog as I intend each month because I simply didn’t have any more bandwidth.

But now, here I am, ready to say just a little something about each novel—and even better, give you a few links to real reviews which fill in the details.

Utopia Avenue

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Book a Month Challenge

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Book a Month Challenge

This year I’m challenging myself to read at least one book a month and I invite you to challenge yourself, too! Here is our book list for July through December!

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain.

If there’s anything I love as much as I love art it is reading, but by the end of 2021 I felt like I was slacking off on my reading life in these distracted times. So I thought about what would get me to read more books?

First, a book list would help so I wouldn’t have to think about what to read next.

Second, I’m more like to do the reading with a public commitment. One book a month seemed very do-able, a minimum target I knew I could hit. (in good months I read two or three more).

Finally,

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Did you read with me? Integrity by Martha Beck

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Did you read with me? Integrity by Martha Beck

his is my monthly Read With Me project and I hope you’ll join me! No commitment. No wine and cheese parties. If you want, simply read the book for the indicated month (see image to left) and then look for a post about the book here on the blog around the 15th of the following month.

I won’t write a formal review. I’ll just share what I found compelling (or not) and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments (but again, no commitment).

Ok, so here we go: The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to your True Self by Martha Beck.

This month for my Read with Me project, I made the mistake of

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Did you read with me—The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs

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Did you read with me—The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs

his is my monthly Read With Me project and I hope you’ll join me! No commitment. No wine and cheese parties. If you want, simply read the book for the indicated month (see image to left) and then look for a post about the book here on the blog around the 15th of the following month.

I won’t write a formal review. I’ll just share what I found compelling (or not) and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments (but again, no commitment).

Ok, so here we go: The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs.

This post is going to be short and sweet. The Lost and Found Bookshop was

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Did you Read with Me? The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

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Did you Read with Me? The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

I finished The Sentence in February for my Read with Me project this year, but I’m posting my thoughts about the book in the middle of March.

Just so you know, that’s going to be the rhythm for this project going forward and I invite you to join me! We’ll read the book for the indicated month and then look for a post about the book here on the blog around the 15th of the following month.

I don’t plan or intend to write a formal review. I’ll just share what I found compelling (or not) and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Ok, so here we go.


First of all, I thought Erdrich’s The Sentence was a beautiful book. Tookie immediately captured my heart and promised a good ride from very beginning—and when we get to know Pollux —oh my. I don’t know if I loved each of them or the love they had for each other more!

This is a story about people who are still haunted by the past.

Erdrich wonderfully works with the concept—motif—of ‘sentence’ to

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Read with Me: The Humans by Matt Haig

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Read with Me: The Humans by Matt Haig

Is it just me or did we blaze through January ’22 really fast? It seems like I just put out the list of books for my new little Read with Me project, and here we are at the end of the month, first book down.

So. I’m not going to write a formal review of the books. I really just want to pull a few of my thoughts together while the story is fresh in my mind, and then invite you to share your thoughts. I’m setting my own personal deadline to write a post by the end of each month. So here we are.

Haig’s The Humans was a lovely first book for the project.

I thought it was inventive, engaging, fun to read—and yet serious and thoughtful. I think it works for several reasons. First,

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