Weekly Wrap-Up #2

Happy Friday!  It’s Easter weekend, which means I am currently at home on the couch.  We get Friday-Monday off here in the UK, woo!

Books

Books finished this week

1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire

Red Sister

Geekerella

The Girl of Ink and Stars

Caraval

This sounds a lot more impressive than it is.  I had been working on 1666 and Red Sister for a long, long time.  I finished them up late last week, I feel like I was reading them forever.  They were both good and I enjoyed them, but I didn’t get through them as fast as I had wanted for different reasons.  1666 is a nonfiction history, which means that it reads a bit slower, and Red Sister was just a long book.

Because those two took so long to read, I wanted some books I could tear through next.  I picked up Geekerella and The Girl of Ink and Stars as quick reads to boost my reading numbers a bit, and they were absolutely lovely.  I finished each up in less than a day.  I have already posted my review of Geekerella and The Girl of Ink and Stars should be up next week!

I finished Caraval last night and it was fine.  I think it was overhyped for me — you can’t go anywhere on book-related Instagram accounts without seeing it everywhere.  I’ll post a review soon.

Currently reading

The Jungle by Pooja Puri

The Futures by Anna Pitoniak

The Jungle is an ARC from the independent Scottish publisher Black and White.  It follows the story of Mico and Leila, who displaced child refugees in the Calais refugee camp that was dubbed The Jungle.  As I’m sure you can imagine it is not the happiest read, though not as heavy as you might imagine, but it is very well-written — I’m about halfway through.

I’m still chugging along on The Futures, which is really great so far.  I think that a turning point for me was realising that neither of the characters are good people.  I think that this could go down as a great New York novel.

Books bought

The Power by Naomi Alderman

I’m following my April TBR strategy — I’m sure you’re all very proud of me.  I earned a book when I finished 1666 and The Girl of Ink and Stars (ARCs don’t count toward book buying) and decided to pick up The Power.  Shortlisted for the Bailey’s Prize, The Power has had a lot of buzz around it.  A trusted coworker is reading it and enjoying it, so I’ll take the plunge soon.

 

Life

Well, life was great until earlier this morning!  I slipped on a blanket in the bedroom and fell on my foot the wrong way.  Despite a loud crunching sound and lots of screaming and swearing (Scottish Boyfriend and the cats ran in to investigate immediately), it’s not broken but is a bit swollen and hurts a lot.  Naturally I’d ruin a 4-day weekend at 9am on the first day, but I guess this means that I am going to be sitting on the couch and reading a lot!

 

Are you reading anything good this week?  Got any plans for the long holiday weekend?  Shout below!