As 2016 more than a quarter complete and work has recently been busy at a whole new level, I’m still finding reading moments and as I look at my Goodreads 2016 challenge it is nice to see that I’m continuing to remain on track towards completing 48 books this year. These are the books that have recently moved from “currently reading” to “read” in my long, long reading list.
In flight reading
The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure -The story of an architect in Paris in WWII who, in an effort to survive when work isn’t coming in takes on a risky job of building an undetectable hiding spot for Jews in an apartment because of the promise of bigger projects tied to the Nazi war machine. As he continues to take on hiding projects and more and bigger war projects he finds it more and more difficult to separate his personal view on the world around him from the work and it becomes increasingly personal in ways that he could never imagine.
Temple Mount by Keith Raffel – A thriller that combines a splintered family history with religious history and geo-political implications. While not quite as engaging as the Cotton Malone series that has been a recent favorite, this still was worth the time.
Truck: A Love Story by Michael Perry – A Kindle deal that I picked up after seeing a blog friend rave about his work. This is his story of a year in his life told through the restoration of his beloved old pickup truck. With all the time I’ve spent in Wisconsin, some of his descriptions of life there through the seasons really seemed familiar and brought many a chuckle or smile. I think I’ll read more of his work. Among my highlights from this: “I think it is not insignificant to be present the moment a child discovers that a word—and therefore the world—has more than one meaning.”
The Word in the Wilderness by Malcolm Guite – This was my daily reading during the Lenten season leading up to Easter. It was an enjoyable daily moment to read a poem and insightful commentary to prepare for Easter. I think I will return to this each Lenten season.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – When this book was released last year it was surrounded by a lot of buzz and comparisons to “Gone Girl” – as I was traveling I saw lots of people reading it on the plane & was hearing good things from reading friends. I got on the waiting list for the e-version at the library and after months when my number came up, I wasn’t able to find the time to read it before it was returned & so back on the list I went. In March my renewal became active again & carved out the time to read it. In the end, I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads: “Meh. Maybe it was a case of not living up to the hype – I contemplated not finishing it. Some of the back & forth timeline of characters telling the story seemed reminiscent of “The Expats.” At time it felt like it was trying too hard.”
The Accident by Chris Pavone – Speaking of The Expats author, I recently finished his second book. A fast read – it was so-so – I figured out “the twist” way early in the story.
On the work front, I’m starting on a new project that looks like it could involve a fair amount of travel in the weeks and months ahead. I plan to maximize moments in transit for reading.
Linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy‘s monthly QuickLit round-up.
What are you reading these days?
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