Another quick round up of books I’ve read. There’s only four today, but two of them were stand outs for me and I’ve been sharing them with everyone I know.
Books I’ve read recently
Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple – (Goodreads/Amazon) Let me just say that I loved Where’d You Go, Bernadette. I was super excited to read more from this author. This is the 3rd book I’ve read and I think I just loved the first one. This one was kind of a dud for me. I gave it just two stars. I probably wouldn’t have finished it, but it was a quick read and I was holding out for a great ending… it just didn’t show up.
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid – (Goodreads/Amazon) I read the description of this book. A woman is married and her husband dies, she grieves and finds love again, gets engaged and then finds out that her husband is still alive. I thought this might be a little too cheesy for me – like I should have waited for the poolside in the summer. After finishing it, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a book I would rave about, but it was entertaining and there were a couple moments in it that I loved. Definitely a good summer read.
2 Books I would definitely recommend
A Hope More Powerful than the Sea by Melissa Fleming – (Goodreads/Amazon)
My sister in law recommended this book to me. We’ve been exchanging lots of ideas, articles and books since we met, but especially since the election. I’ll admit, I didn’t know too much about the conflict in Syria until late last year. This book is a true story of a Syrian refugee. I definitely recommend it.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman – (Goodreads/Amazon)
Deep sigh. I just loved this book. It’s weird because there’s nothing super crazy or magical about this book. The story is about a cranky, old man named Ove (although not as old as I pictured him.) It’s about his daily interactions with his neighbors and how that changed the course of his life. I cried tears at the end and I’m still not sure if they were happy tears, sad tears or both.
My Grandma is my penpal and we send book ideas back and forth. When she wrote back, she told me that the book is just like “real life” but she totally understands why people love it. It made me think of her living by herself and how the everyday interactions could make an impact on her life. This is my favorite book I’ve read this year. I can’t wait to read more by this author.
So tell me, what are you reading? Have you read any refugee stories that you would encourage others to read? Have you fallen in love with Ove?
Linking up with Steph and Jana for my favorite book round up.
14 Responses
A Man Called Ove is on my list-everyone seems to love it!
A Man Called Ove has been on my TBR for sometime. I love that you and your Grandma are penpals. Adding A Hope More Powerful than the Sea to my TBR.
I just started a Man Called Ove this morning on audio. I finished his most recent book, Beartown, last week and I absolutely loved it but I hear it is quite different than Ove (the writing is phenomenal though!)
I could not do Ove. I tried.
I bought One True Loves on Amazon kindle on sale this week so I have that going for me!
I felt the EXACT same way about both Semple books. And TJR is one of my favorites!
I love the idea of the NYC book club. I remember seeing something about the voting and it made me wish I was still a New Yorker! (I realize I can read the book anyway but it felt a little like cheating)
wasn't Ove so great?? i tried his other book Britt Marie was here and nope; didn't like it. I heard BearTown is amazing and I'm waiting for that at the library.
I just finished A Man Called Ove this morning. I liked it a lot too.
I love love loved One True Loves 🙂 Totally my kind of book lol. I really disliked Today Will Be Different though haha. A Man Called Ove is on my list!
Ove was so, so good! I'm planning to read Beartown next because I have it from the library, but I've heard really good things about My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry.
I loved everything about Ove. I listened to it last month and cannot accurately articulate what it is that I loved so much about this book. I'm planning to read everything by Backman.
I know so many people loved The Man Called Ove, but I am hesitant to read it because I really didn't like Britt-Marie Was Here. I might give in, though! Haha.
I loved A Man Called Ove too! It was just such a beautiful story, and I loved how the author kept on jumping around so that we got the backstory on Ove so we could understand why he was the way that he was. I still haven't read One True Loves, but I know that I need to soon!
I really really really want to read Ove, hopefully sometime this summer!
I enjoyed Ove. I'm trying to get my mom to read it. I also have One True Loves on my summer reading list. Pam 🙂