Category Archives: Books & Reading

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (February & March 2025)

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My reading has been quite irregular and unusual over the last couple of months. I’ve been slowly reading my way through a doorstop of a Norwegian book (still not done!). Meanwhile, I’ve been listening to audiobooks on drives and walks, so all my finished books recently are audiobooks. Usually, there’s much more of an even split. There was also travel and illness, both of them potential opportunities for more reading, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. I was also busy planning a trip to South Korea which was time-consuming (and from which I’ve now returned). But when looking back at what I did complete, even though fewer than usual, they were generally very enjoyable and satisfying. On top of that, I added three countries –South Korea, Jordan, and Canada – to this year’s Read Around the World challenge, which felt especially productive (see my map).

What have you been reading lately?

Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim (2021)
Narrated by Sue Jean Kim and Raymond Lee

The setting — Korea during the 20th century, starting in 1917 during the Japanese occupation and continuing through Korea’s independence in 1945 — was exactly what I wanted as I looked forward to a trip to South Korea. The story followed Jade, a courtesan-in-training, and JungHo, an orphan-turned-revolutionary. Their lives intertwined with various characters from different walks of life and political sides both in Pyongyang and Seoul. Even though there were a lot of characters and relationships to keep track of and the development sometimes felt a little disjointed and uneven, I greatly appreciated the insight into Korean history and enjoyed following Jade’s coming of age during this turbulent time. ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️

Note regarding audiobook verses ebook: I mostly listened to the book. Though the narrators were great, I think I would have benefited from reading more of the book so I could have seen the characters’ names, especially the male names, and kept better track of them. If you’re more of a visual than auditory person, I recommend reading it rather than listening to it, unless you’re familiar with Korean names.

  • Read Around the World: Central & East Asia (Korea)

The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon (2017)
Narrated by Jorjeana Marie and Lauren Fortgang

This book has been on my radar a long time. The setting and premise intrigued me: two American military wives in Jordan in May 2011 during the rise of the Arab Spring. Cassie is familiar with the customs and expectations; Margaret is newly arrived and naive. After a fender bender, Margaret leaves her son with Cassie while she goes to the police station to handle the situation. However, Margaret doesn’t return as expected and Cassie becomes increasingly concerned. The structure was engaging. The story alternated between Cassie’s first person narration of the current day and Margaret’s journal looking back into the past (which Cassie is reading). The setting was interesting, but unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of either woman so that took away from my enjoyment of the whole story.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Read Around the World: Middle East/North Africa (Jordan)

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave (2024)
Narrated by Julia Whelan

The chance to join a group to discuss the book with the author bumped this book to the top of my TBR list. It’s a slow burn mystery about two estranged half siblings, Nora and Sam, who come together after the unexpected death of their father. Though ruled accidental, they suspect foul play. Together, they begin their own investigation into what happened that night. The timeline alternates between Nora’s narration of the present and the past as experienced by the father. The merging of the two timelines to illuminate what happened was satisfying. I really enjoyed the siblings’ relationship and was intrigued by Nora’s occupation as a neuro architect.  ⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum (2022)
Translated from the Korean by Shanna Tan (2024)
Narrated by Rosa Escoda

With a trip to South Korea coming up, I couldn’t resist adding this to my TBR list. This was a quiet, cozy, and satisfying read. It’s about a woman who, after a personal crisis, returns to an old dream and opens a bookshop in a small residential area outside Seoul. Slowly but surely, it welcomes a regular group of customers and is transformed into a thriving neighborhood space. There are many characters that weave through the story; all of them have past or current issues that they’re dealing with. It was a heartwarming and hopeful book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Read Around the World: Central & East Asia (South Korea)
  • Read my own shelf: purchase

Still Life (Three Pines, Book 1) by Louise Penny (2005)
Narrated by Ralph Cosham

This was recommended to me years ago, and I’ve been intrigued by the fascination so many people have with Louise Penny and her series for a long time. I don’t know why I waited this long. I really enjoyed it. I loved Inspector Gamache – so calm, observant, and thoughtful. I really enjoyed the setting and people of Three Pines, a little village in Quebec outside of Montreal, and how life in this small town was portrayed; and I was very satisfied with how the murder mystery was developed and resolved. I will definitely be reading more of this series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Read Around the World: North America (Canada)

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Related posts:

  1. Reading Lately (February 2020) & #ScandiReadingChallenge Update
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (May 2023)
  3. What I’ve Been Reading Lately & Reading Challenges Update (December 2024)

What I’ve Been Reading Lately & Reading Goals (January 2025)

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New year, renewed reading goals!

Once again, I will be traveling around the world through books. Since 2021, I’ve used The Book Girls’ Book Voyage: Read Around the World map to guide my reading. This year, I’ve created my own map and tweaked the regions to suit my interests. I separated Central America and the Caribbean from North America and included Middle East/North Africa instead of just the Middle East. My goal is to read more books set in countries I have not yet visited through books and set in regions I have not read as much from yet, in particular South America and Africa.

A highlight of 2024 was the diversity of books I read both in regard to author perspective and genre, and I want to continue that intentional reading this year. Sadly, the Diversity Across Genres reading challenge is not being hosted again this year so I am still finalizing how I’ll be accountable for that goal.

Other reading goals are to continue my exploration of Nordic literature with my ongoing Nordic Literature Reading Challenge (progress here), read women in translation from around the world, and read my own bookshelf (physical, digital, and audio).

Do you have any reading goals for the year?

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham (2023)
Narrated by Karissa Vacker

I started the year off by finishing an unread BOTM selection that had been lingering on my shelf for a while. I needed something engrossing enough to keep me coming back, and this mystery/psychological thriller delivered. A mother’s toddler son was taken from their home in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep. The case went cold, but she was desperate and kept the search going, determined to find her son. The story was a little slow to get started, but as more information was gleaned about their pasts and her investigation moved forward with the help of true crime podcaster, it picked up and finished strong.  ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️

  • Read My Own Shelf: BOTM selection

Untamed by Glennon Doyle (2020)
Narrated by Glennon Doyle

This is a memoir with the subtitle “stop pleasing, start living” for other editions. My book club chose it because it was a book that someone brought for our holiday book exchange (we all brought a book from our shelves, read or unread) and we decided it sounded like a good way to start off the new year. It turned out to be too much of a self help book in my opinion, and I only finished it for the sake of book club. I did admire the author’s honesty and courage to share so much personal information, and she did have some interesting observations on parenting and life in general, but overall not for me.  ⭐️⭐

  • Read My Own Shelf: Gifted

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024)

The setting was what drew me to this book, the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, a place I’m familiar with from visits since high school. The story centers around the disappearance of a 13-year old camper during the summer of 1975. This camper happens to be the daughter of the wealthy family that owns the summer camp, and coincidentally, her older brother also disappeared 14 years old and was never found. Told through multiple perspectives in various time periods, it was an intriguing mystery with family drama and secrets and interesting characters that I really enjoyed.  ⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️

  • Read My Own Shelf: BOTM selection

James: A Novel by Percival Everett (2024)
Narrated by Dominic Hoffman 

This was a fantastic listening experience; both the story and performance were exceptional (though I wish I’d had a map to better visualize the journey). It’s a retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain told from the perspective of Jim, an escaped slave and friend of Huckleberry. Huck fakes his own death to escape his abusive father while Jim runs away to avoid being sold and separated from his family. Together, they travel down the Mississippi River meeting all sorts of people and enduring a variety of experiences. I loved Jim, especially how he moved between his true educated, intellectual, and compassionate self and the carefully crafted persona he put forward to white people in order to survive. The relationship between him and Huck was heartwarming. This is not a light or easy read—the pre-Civil War era is not kind to Black people—but Jim’s story is extremely engaging and compelling. Highly recommend. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Author/Genre Diversity: Black / Historical Fiction
  • Read Around the World: North America (USA)
  • Read My Own Shelf: Audiobook courtesy of librofm’s Educator ALCs

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Related posts:

  1. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (June 2024)
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (April 2024)
  3. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (November 2024)

What I’ve Been Reading Lately & Reading Challenges Update (December 2024)

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Even though I didn’t quite follow through on all my end-of-year reading intentions, I’m happy and satisfied with how the 2024 reading year wrapped up! Unfortunately, I got waylaid with delays from library holds and an attempted read that ended up not working for me. Instead I seized the moment and jumped into a holiday read that crossed my path.

Once again, I traveled around the world with The Book Girls‘ Book Voyage: Read Around the World reading challenge. I changed “Book Set on a Mode of Transportation” to “Book Set in Another World” for some interesting out-of-this-world reads. I visited 18 countries (not including the USA), four of which were new to me in reading (Egypt, Cyprus, Panama, and Uruguay), and I traveled to more of the Middle East than in previous years.

I was so very close to completing the 2024 Diversity Across Genres reading challenge. I loved seeking out diverse authors and different genres that I wouldn’t necessarily have read if I didn’t need them for this challenge. I’m most proud of completing all the genres for Indigenous authors. View my 2024 reads.

My Nordic Literature Reading Challenge is luckily not a time sensitive one, so I can read at my leisure for that one. I would have liked to have read at least one book from each Nordic country, but that didn’t quite happen. View my ongoing progress.

Did you have any reading challenges to wrap up last month? 

Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar (2024) 📖

This romance was a very pleasant surprise! A teacher enters into a fake engagement with a potential match made by her Indian family in order to avoid more matchmaking efforts by them. This is after her best friend and secret crush gets engaged and asks her to be his “best man” which she has agreed to. The premise is a bit over the top, but their relationship over time is sweet and delightful and the story has some substance. It also provided interesting insight into how traditional family and cultural beliefs, in this case Indian, affect modern relationships, which I really appreciated. ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️

The Seed Keeper: A Novel by Diane Wilson (2021)
Narrated by Kyla García 🎧

I am so glad I finally read this. It’s been on the fringes of my to-be-read list for a while. The story follows Rosalie Iron Wing, a Dakhota woman who returns to her childhood home, a place she has not been since she was removed and placed into foster care as a child, after the death of her white husband. Struggling with grief and disconnection from her cultural roots, Rosalie begins to confront the past, on a search for family, identity, and a community where she can finally belong. The story spans several generations weaving together different women’s stories and sheds light on not only the hard history of the Dakhota people but also their rich culture. It was a hard story told in a beautiful way. Highly recommend it. ⭐⭐️⭐⭐️⭐

Anatomy of a Disappearance: A Novel by Hisham Matar (2011)
Narrated by Khalid Abdalla 🎧

Set in Cairo, Egypt, the story follows Nuri, a boy whose mother died when he was young and whose father then marries a younger woman, a glamorous woman who fascinates Nuri. His father, a dissident in exile from his homeland, is later abducted under mysterious circumstances. As Nuri grows up, he struggles with the mysteries surrounding his father’s disappearance and his complicated relationship with his stepmother. It was interesting to read a story set in this part of the world, a place I haven’t been in person or in a book before.  ⭐️⭐⭐️

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter (2024) 📖

I’m not usually one to read holiday-themed books during the season, but this one caught my eye as a Book of the Month selection. I didn’t select it at the time, but when I saw the ebook on sale, I decided to grab it. Knowing I wouldn’t read it outside the holidays, I dove in—and I’m glad I did. Set over three snowy Christmas days in the English countryside, the story is a fun mix of romance and crime. The plot centers on two archrivals invited to the estate of a renowned crime fiction author for unknown reasons. It was a little slow to start, but then as I got to know the main characters better through flashbacks, I was pulled in. An enjoyable holiday read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Related posts:

  1. World Cup 2018: Time for Some Literary Connections!
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (June 2024)
  3. Denmark through Eyes of Indian Author Amulya Malladi

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (November 2024)

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With the end of the year fast approaching, I’m on a mission to complete my reading challenges for the year. Book Voyage: Read Around the World has been complete for a couple of months, though not as robust as I would have liked. My most urgent goal is to complete Diversity Across Genres, and it looks like I’m on pace to do that. Luckily, my current Nordic Literature Reading Challenge is not time sensitive so I’ll pick that up again in the new year! (In the meantime, you can see my progress here.)

What have you been reading lately? 

Mad Honey: A Novel by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan (2022) 📖

This was an excellent book that made a very strong impression on me. I can’t really share too much without giving away important story points. The story is told from the perspectives of two women. Olivia is the mother of 18-year-old Asher. She took her son and left her husband years ago when the husband revealed a darker side. Lily is Asher’s girlfriend. She and her mom had just moved to town for a fresh start. One fall day during senior year, Olivia receives a call that Lily is dead and Asher is being questioned by the police. So begins a suspenseful story of young love, secrets, murder trial, and a mother’s love for a child, with a wonderful dash of beekeeping and honey mixed in. I highly recommend it, but the book does contain many potentially triggering topics so research that if it’s important to you, but otherwise I suggest just diving straight into the book.  ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️

  • Read My Own Shelf: Gifted

Whiskey Tender: A Memoir by Deborah Jackson Taffa (2024) 🎧
Narrated by Charley Flyte

This is a coming-of-age memoir by a mixed tribe Native woman. She was born to a Native American father and Catholic Latin American mother on the Arizona Yuma reservation and raised in Navajo territory in New Mexico. She shares stories of her childhood from the age of three to eighteen in the 1970s and 1980s on and off the reservation. It explores the difficulty of balancing mainstream American culture and Native inheritance as well as assimilation and respect for tradition. It provided interesting insight into the challenges of her childhood as well as Indigenous history. ⭐⭐️⭐

Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith (2018) 🎧
Narrated by Kyla Garcia

This is a young adult novel categorized as a romance, but it really wasn’t one in my opinion. It’s a contemporary fiction story set in Kansas about a Native teen dealing with a variety of high school issues, including first love. Most important is her school community’s feelings and behavior towards Native people. It becomes an issue in her relationship with her first boyfriend and with the school’s upcoming musical The Wizard of Oz with its color blind casting, which she ends up covering for the school newspaper with the new boy in town. It was a quick and enjoyable read. However, I was a bit put off by how the chapters would end so suddenly. I was listening and actually thought there was a fault with the recording and but then it happened with every chapter. ⭐️⭐⭐️

A Different Dawn (Nina Guerrera #2) by Isabella Maldonado (2021) 📖

For last year’s #DiversityAcrossGenres, I read the first in this series and really enjoyed it (Reading Lately, July 2023) so I thought I’d read the next in the series now. I still liked the cast of characters. Nina is a FBI Special Agent, and she and her team take on trying to solve the mystery of a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight. Every 4 years for the last 30 years, the suspect has murdered a family in their sleep. I liked the premise, the pace, generally everything except for a coincidence that was too unrealistic and ruined it all for me. ⭐️⭐️

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Related posts:

  1. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (June 2024)
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (May 2023)
  3. World Cup 2018: Time for Some Literary Connections!

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (October 2024)

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This month, I’ve really had to start being more intentional with my reading so that I’ll be able to complete my reading challenges in time. I’ve now planned my reading for the rest of the year. For Diversity Across Genres, I have a TBR title for every missing prompt – two of which I read this month – which will help me move quickly from one finished read/listen to the next one. For Book Voyage: Read Around the World, I have already read something from every world region, but I would love to add another title for South America, Africa, and/or Southern Asia so I’ll see if I can squeeze any of those in. My Nordic Literature Reading Challenge is luckily not a time sensitive one, so I can read at my leisure for that one.

What have you been reading lately? 

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (2022) 📖

This was a fun mystery thriller. A mother witnesses her 18-year-old son murder someone and is shocked and baffled. He’s in police custody and his bright future is gone. However, when the mother wakes up the next morning, it’s actually the day before the murder and this pattern continues. As time continues backwards, the mother learns more and more about how this murder came to happen. I’m not usually a fan of time travel, but this time loop premise worked for me. Some aspects of the mystery I guessed in advance, but there were still twists that surprised me. There’s some substance to it also, such as questions around motherhood and parenting. It was a fun read! ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️

  • Book club read with work colleagues
  • Read My Own Shelf: Gifted

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell (2023) 🎧
Narrated by Nicola Walker and Louise Brealey with full cast, music and sound design

This is a book that needs to be listened to if you’re going to read it. The structure (which included podcast recordings) and production (with a full cast, music, and sound design) were so unique and well done. And the story was good, too. It’s a dark psychological thriller that follows Alix, a popular podcaster, who is intrigued by Josie and records her story for a podcast. As she digs deeper, she uncovers dark secrets that blur the lines between truth and deception. She soon finds herself in an unsettling friendship with her. I was riveted and have already recommended the audiobook to many. ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️⭐

  • Book club read with friends

Murder on the Red River (Cash Blackbear Mystery, #1) by Marcie R. Rendon (2017) 📖

This book had an unexpected intersection of interests! Descendants of Scandinavian immigrants were part of the setting. In an attempt to learn more about Scandinavian immigration to that area, I came across The Great Dakota Boom: Scandinavians, an interesting 4th grade lesson from North Dakota on Scandinavian immigration to the Red River Valley area, and as well as Norwegian Immigration to Minnesota, a deeper dive into the topic.

This book has a mystery element to it, but it’s more of a character-driven look at life for a 19-year-old Ojibwe woman named Cash in the Red River Valley (North Dakota/Minnesota border area) in the 1970s. Cash grew up moving from one White foster family to another and only graduated high school thanks to the support from her “guardian,” Sheriff Weaton. Her life now consists of driving trucks for local farmers, drinking beer, smoking cigarettes, and playing pool. When a Native man is found dead, Cash is drawn into the investigation. The story puts a spotlight on the lasting impact of Indigenous youth being removed from their communities and placed into White foster care. I liked Cash, flaws and all, and appreciated the unique perspective the setting offers. I’m eager to dive into more of her story in the next book in the series. ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) by Talia Hibbert (2019) 🎧

I really enjoyed the main characters and their relationship in this romantic comedy. Chloe, a chronically ill woman in her twenties, is smart and strong and decides she needs to push herself out of her comfort zone. She enlists the help of her grumpy but attractive building superintendent in exchange for creating a website for him. As they spend more time together, their initial tension gives way to a slow-burning romance. It’s a funny, heartwarming story about embracing life and vulnerability. My only issue with it was the graphic, vulgar language used when it came to the sex scenes. For me, it was cringeworthy and just didn’t jive with the tone of the rest of the book. ⭐️⭐⭐️

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Related posts:

  1. Reading Lately (September 2019)
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (June 2024)
  3. What I’ve Been Reading Lately & #WITmonth (August 2024)

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (September 2024)

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After a summer packed to the brim with reading (July and August), September with its return to school schedules and fall activities was much slower paced. I did, however, return to my yearlong reading challenges with intention which was satisfying. I have now plotted out how to complete the challenges. We’ll see if it works out as planned.

Coincidentally, all three books this month took place in the 1980s – a memoir from South Africa, crime fiction set in Iceland, and literary fiction set in the art world. That was a unique experience!

What have you been reading lately?

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (2016)
Narrated by Trevor Noah 🎧

This was a captivating account of comedian Trevor Noah’s childhood in South Africa as he navigated life during Apartheid. He was born in 1984 to a White father and Black mother, at the time an illegal interracial relationship, and had a challenging childhood in many ways. Even though it’s in the subtitle, I did not realize this was a collection of stories. The stories jumped back and forth in time a little bit, which was sometimes jarring since he re-introduced aspects and people from earlier years later on as if they were new. The book was an eye-opening look at Apartheid and, at the same time, a moving tribute to his mother. Hearing Trevor Noah narrate it himself was exceptional. ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️

Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson & Katrín Jakobsdóttir (2022)
Translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb (2023) 📖

Ragnar Jónasson is a prolific and best-selling Icelandic crime fiction writer. I really enjoyed his Hidden Iceland trilogy, aka The Hulda Series. Reykjavík was written in partnership with the then-current prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir (2017-2024) so I was intrigued.

This is the story of a 15-year-old girl’s disappearance in 1956 when she took a summer job as a maid in a prominent couple’s home on a remote island and disappeared without a trace. On its 30th anniversary in 1986, an eager journalist revisits the case and new information comes to light. This coincides with Reykjavik’s 200th anniversary and Reagan and Gorbachev’s summit meeting in Iceland. I felt the book was trying to have a strong sense of time and place, but for me it was just a lot of place names that I didn’t know. And unfortunately, the story was not as engaging as I’d hoped and the translation was somewhat awkward at times. ⭐️⭐️⭐

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochilt Gonzalez (2024) 📖
Narrated by Stacy Gonzalez, Jonathan Gregg, and Jessica Pimentel 🎧

I really enjoyed the author’s debut Olga Dies Dreaming (Reading Lately, April & May 2022) and was quick to select this title as my Book of the Month selection, especially after reading, “From campus to galleries, this engrossing tale of two female artists paints a complex portrait of power and privilege.” Also, I’m all in for a nonlinear timeline, multiple perspectives, and a glimpse into a world unfamiliar to me, in this case the art world. I wish I had known in advance that Anita in this story was based on a real Cuban performance artist, Ana Mendieta, who had a very similar life (NY Times article).

This story follows art history student Raquel in 1998 and artist Anita in 1985. While researching Anita’s famous artist husband for her thesis, Raquel discovers Anita, who had largely been erased from the art world. Initially, I started with the audiobook but was quickly turned off by the overly dramatic narration for Anita. I pivoted to reading which was much better. However, soon after I got immersed in the story, Anita came back as a ghost after her untimely and questionable death and this caught me off guard as I was not expecting this element in the story. I powered through and enjoyed the resolution, though I wished Raquel could have sorted out her personal and academic challenges a bit sooner. ⭐️⭐️

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Related posts:

  1. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (June 2024)
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (May 2023)
  3. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (December 2021) & #ScandiReadingChallenge Update 

What I’ve Been Reading Lately & #WITmonth (August 2024)

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Welcome to another round of “What I’ve Been Reading Lately” when I enjoy linking up with other readers. My focus these past summer months was the reading challenge at work. Luckily, in August I had two 5-hour flights for uninterrupted reading which helped with completing that challenge. All of the books this month checked off a box (or more) for that challenge. I tried as much as I could to choose books that crossed over with other reading challenges, but with less success than I had hoped. I did complete all the prompts, though not with unique books.

August was Women in Translation Month so I made sure to support that initiative again this year. Since I read books by women in translation all year, I try to find new original languages and points of view to read in August. This August I read a novel translated from the Catalan with multiple unusual narrators which was a nice change of pace.

For September and the next months, I am refocusing on my Nordic Reading Challenge and the Read Around the World and Diversity Across Genres challenges as well as participating in the Norwegian #sakprosaseptember challenge where we read nonfiction (sakprosa means nonfiction) books that correspond to various prompts (with English translation).

What have you been reading lately? 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953) 📖

I found this 1984 edition on my shelf at my parents’ home. I believe I read it back then, but I didn’t have any recollection of details from the book. It was like reading a new-to-me book. I definitely enjoyed (re)reading the book because references and comparisons are often still made to it. Another interesting aspect of reading it is that Ray Bradbury lived in our neighborhood for years until his death in 2012. When his house was later sold and torn down, the new owners installed a gate with words from his writing to honor his legacy which I frequently pass by. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Summer Reading Challenge: A classic AND a book about books, bookstores, or book clubs
  • Read My Own Shelf

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (2021) 📖

I really enjoyed Emily Henry’s Beach Read (Reading Lately, July 2023), but unfortunately, I was underwhelmed by this one. I loved the idea of Poppy and Alex’s friendship and the travels around the world they did together on a yearly basis, but I think there were too many trips going on. The main trip is the road trip to Palm Springs after 2 years of being separated after something “big” happened on their last trip. While the Palm Springs trip is happening, the story jumps back in time to previous trips leading up to the one that disrupted their friendship. And I felt the resolution to their relationship dragged a bit. (And too bad their planned trip to Norway didn’t work out!) ⭐️⭐️⭐

  • Summer Reading Challenge: A road trip book

When I sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Solà (2019) 📖
Translated from the Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem (2022)

There wasn’t just one unusual narrator in this book but several, and together they told an immersive story of life in a present-day village in the Pyrenees mountains of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. The story unfolds through a series of interconnected narratives, each providing a very different perspective on the village’s collective experience. Starting with storm clouds and continuing with witches, mushrooms, a deer, mountains, and of course some human narrators and even a pet dog, the reader is immersed in this village’s life. I was surprised by how engaged I was in this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Summer Reading Challenge: A book with an unusual narrator AND a book by a woman in translation
  • Book Voyage: Read Around the World: Europe (Spain)
  • #WomenInTranslationMonth

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros (2023) 🎧📖

This was a fun read, especially since so many others around me had recently read it or were reading it at the same time. I never would have thought I’d read and be so engaged in a high fantasy novel about “the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders”, but the trials and tribulations of the strong and independent Violet who never imagined herself there, her fellow cadets, and the commanding officers kept me turning the page. A note, if you are sensitive to the F-word, this book is not for you. Book #2 is on my TBR for when I need another read for pure entertainment. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Summer Reading Challenge: Romantasy AND a big book AND a book “everyone” has read

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (2022) 📖🎧

This is the story of two estranged siblings who reunite in California after their mother’s death. She had left them a voice recording to listen to together along with a black cake to eat together when “the time is right.” Their mother, born on an unnamed Caribbean island to a Black local woman and a Chinese immigrant man, shocks the siblings with the news that they have a half sister and she shares the story of her life growing up on the island and being forced to leave, of which they had no knowledge. Her story takes us from the island to the UK and USA, and interspersed with her story are those of the three siblings. There’s a lot going on here – many characters, many points of view, many issues – all of which kept me totally engaged in the story.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Summer Reading Challenge: A book written by a BIPOC author AND a debut book
  • Book Voyage: Read Around the World: North America (Caribbean Island)
  • Read My Own Shelf: unread BOTM selection

An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good (Elderly Lady #1) by Helene Tursten (2013)
Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy (2018) 📖

This collection of short stories features Maud, an 88-year old woman who lives alone and, due to a technicality in the contract from way back then, rent-free in her family’s spacious apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden. She is still agile and totally with it, unless she finds it beneficial to pretend she isn’t. When someone or something is causing a problem and threatening her lifestyle, she has no problem resorting to murder. It’s supposed to be a “funny, irreverent story collection” but it didn’t quite land with me.

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhhà Lại (2011) 📖

This is a middle grade novel-in-verse about 10-year-old Hà who is forced to flee Saigon, Vietnam, with her mother and brothers when the city falls in 1975. It is based in part on the author’s own childhood. After travel on board a navy ship and time at refugee camps in Guam and Florida, they ended up in Alabama, a world so challenging and different from anything she had known. She struggled with the language, bullies, friends, and everything she missed from Vietnam. Family and friendly people did make it easier over time. It was a completely absorbing read and gave interesting insight into a refugee experience — all in verse which was impressive! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Summer Reading Challenge: A book from a past school reader list
  • #DiversityAcrossGenres: Asian (API) / Historical Fiction

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Related posts:

  1. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (June 2024)
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately & Another Virtual Book Event (June 2020)
  3. My 10 Favorite Books for Women in Translation Month #WITmonth

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (June 2024)

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Welcome to another round of “What I’ve Been Reading Lately”. My summer reading is off to a very satisfying start. A highlight of summers at home is returning home from work in time to sit outside reading in the afternoon sun.

I am primarily focused on our summer reading challenge at work. My plan is to complete all 25 prompts, but I’ll be double- (and maybe even triple-) dipping in order to do so. I’m trying to find books that check off prompts for my other reading challenges as well but not with as much success as I was hoping. I am, however, reading many unread Book of the Month selections that have accumulated over time which is very gratifying.

On the horizon is a trip to Norway to spend time with family. I look forward to long plane rides and long days with lots of downtime (rainy days inside or sunny days outside, it doesn’t matter) to get in long stretches of reading. I also eagerly await the opportunity to browse Norwegian bookstores and add to my collection of Norwegian language books.

How’s your summer reading going? 

Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar (2021) 🎧
Narrated by Vaneh Assadourian

This book takes place in 1979 and is about a Los Angeles woman who joins her boyfriend on a trip to his hometown in the Kurdistan region of Iraq for a family wedding. She’s an aspiring photographer and thinks this trip will provide the perfect opportunity to take the shot that will take her from lowly secretary to respected photojournalist. Also, she wishes to learn about her boyfriend’s childhood to understand him better. However, going to this war torn area of the world is not what she expected. There are certainly beautiful sights and touching experiences, but also frightening and tragic moments. The story is gripping and emotional. I loved learning more about the Kurdish culture and their struggles. The glimpse of Los Angeles in 1979 was also interesting.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Rabbit Factor (Rabbit Factor Trilogy #1) by Antti Tuomainen (2020)
Translated from the Finnish by David Hackston (2021) 📖

This is the first in a trilogy about insurance mathematician, Henri, who lives life based on careful calculations. However, his life is thrown off balance when he suddenly has no job and, at the same time after the death of his brother, finds himself the owner of an adventure park in dire financial troubles and with a great debt to criminals. It was a quirky and somewhat absurd crime fiction. The staff at the park were a motley crew, and Henri found himself in some odd situations. This Finnish author has been on my radar for a while, and learning that Steve Carell has signed to play the main character in an adaptation was intriguing (though no new news in the last couple of years). I can certainly see him playing it! I enjoyed it enough but won’t be reading book #2 anytime soon. Maybe another one by this author instead. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (2023) 🎧📖
Narrated by Maura Tierney

This was a good one. I got totally wrapped up in this family saga about four inseparable sisters — the ambitious Julia, Sylvie the reader and dreamer, the free spirited artist Cecilia, and Emeline caring for them all — and William, the broken man who became a part of their close knit family. There was joy and trauma, love and heartache, a very moving story. And the structure was interesting. Chapters alternated between perspectives of them all (in the third person) but time would overlap a bit so the reader experienced the same event from more than one perspective. Highly recommend. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Summer Reading Challenge: A book from a celebrity book club (Oprah)
  • Read My Own Shelf: Unread BOTM selection

Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3) by Abby Jimenez (2024)
Narrated by Christine Lakin and Zachary Webber

I listened to Yours Truly not long ago and loved it (Reading Lately, April 2024) so I knew I wanted to read this one. However, I was concerned it might not live up to expectations. I need not have worried (though I was a little thrown off at first by the same male narrator for a different character but I got over it). I loved the world of these characters and now want to go back to #1. This is the story of Emma and Justin, both with major parental issues which complicated their plan for a summer fling to break a curse of their exes always ending up with their soulmates. It had humor, heart, and substance.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Summer Reading Challenge: Takes place during the summer
  • Read My Own Shelf: Unread BOTM selection

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Related posts:

  1. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (May 2023)
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately & My Latest Virtual Book Events (May 2020)
  3. Reading Lately (September 2019)

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (May 2024) & Summer Reading Plans

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Welcome to another edition of “What I’ve Been Reading Lately” where I join other readers through Modern Mrs Darcy’s monthly QuickLit posts in sharing what we’ve been reading lately.

Summer is here and with that, an additional reading challenge for me. At the elementary school where I work, we once again have a summer book bingo reading challenge with 25 prompts. My plan is to complete the whole board, but I’ll be double- (and occasionally triple-) dipping in order to do so. I’ll be reading books that check off prompts for other reading challenges as well. It will be a wonderful summerlong puzzle as I find books to meet prompts across all my ongoing reading challenges! Continue reading →

Related posts:

  1. What I’ve Been Reading Lately & Another Virtual Book Event (June 2020)
  2. What I’ve Been Reading Lately (December 2021) & #ScandiReadingChallenge Update 
  3. Introducing the 2021 #ScandiReadingChallenge

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (April 2024)

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Welcome to another round of “What I’ve Been Reading Lately” when I join other readers through Modern Mrs Darcy’s monthly QuickLit posts in sharing what we’ve been reading lately.

I love when an unanticipated common thread appears between reads. Sometimes it’s obvious very quickly; other times the common thread is more obscure. This month it was between two very different crime fiction reads, one I read for my Nordic Literature Reading Challenge and the other in anticipation of an author event at the LA Times Festival of Books last month. Continue reading →

Related posts:

  1. Introducing Reading Challenge 2023: Nordic Literature
  2. Denmark through Eyes of Indian Author Amulya Malladi
  3. Introducing the 2021 #ScandiReadingChallenge