Beautiful Ruins

 Book 48 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read on June 30

Beautiful Ruins

by Jess Walter

My Opinion

4 stars

I read this in a day.  The pages passed so quickly and I was deeply invested.  I'm glad they spent most of the time in the past because that's what kept my attention, although I'm glad for the present to have updates on their lives.

The ending wrap-up was a little clunky because it just listed what everyone was doing but at the same time, I'm not sure what else would've worked because I didn't feel the book needed to be any longer.  I'm also glad it didn't completely give into cliches and some people didn't change and some pairings didn't happen.

Strangers to Ourselves

Book 47 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from June 2 - 15

Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories that Make Us

by Rachel Aviv

My Opinion

2 stars 

Checking In (about 17% through):

This is very slow going for me.  I pretty much always have 3 books going at a time but I've started and finished multiple books since starting this one because I just never come back to it.

I don't feel like abandoning it but I'm also struggling to get into it.  I think focusing on one person at a time both makes the read enjoyable because hearing individual stories is part of the appeal but also makes it difficult because there hasn't been much of a throughline so far.

Checking In (about 60% through):

It's been about a week since I wrote the checkin above so it's still slow going.

Naomi's story was particularly compelling so I believe I now have the momentum to finish the book today or tomorrow.

Final Thoughts:

I did finish the book by the end of the day.

My feelings remain the same.  It wasn't that I was struggling to read it while I was reading it, it was that I didn't feel any compulsion to return to it when I would set it down.

Life Without Children

 Book 46 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from June 8 - 10

Life Without Children

by Roddy Doyle

My Opinion

3 stars

This is the kind of book that makes me feel dumb, like there is some sort of symbolism that I'm not getting that would make the stories clearer.

I liked the author's writing and setting all the stories in the pandemic added to the swirling uncertainty of the characters' feelings but I also finished almost every story unsure of what actually happened.

So I liked the book but also don't feel I can confidently said I read it.  It felt more like I was scanning English words but not fully understanding their meaning.

Capturing Camelot

 Book 45 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from June 7 - 8

Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick's Iconic Images of the Kennedys

by Kitty Kelley

My Opinion

4 stars

I chose this oversized book mainly for the access to old photos but it was deeper than I thought it would be with the added information and emphasis on the photographer.

It was a good way to pass a little time.

Rooftoppers

 Book 44 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read on June 5 

Rooftoppers

by Katherine Rundell

My Opinion

4 stars

I read it easily in a day.  This is a Juvenile Fiction book so there was an undercurrent of safety that helped as I read it because I felt confident the story wouldn't completely veer into catastrophe and there would be a somewhat happy ending.

I'm not sure what made me add this book in the first place; either one of my kids read it or maybe it was on one of their book lists.  But I enjoyed it more as an actual read for myself that I expected to; most of the time I'm reading J Fic through the lens of "would a young reader enjoy it?"  It probably helps that my brain remains fried from the busyness of May so this is a good way to ease back into reading without taxing my memory too much.

I'm very surprised there doesn't appear to be more books with these characters and am sad to leave them behind.  But looking at the author's work, she seems to write with a theme of adventures and I would read her again.  This is definitely an author I would recommend to reluctant middle-school readers.

Another Brooklyn

 Book 43 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from May 30 - June 2

Another Brooklyn

by Jacqueline Woodson

My Opinion

4 stars

Although it looks like I read this book over 4 days, it was really in 2-3 sittings.  I definitely could've read it all at once if I'd had time.

It was short and sparse but full of emotion.  I was left wanting more from the present day but also felt like the memories were the purpose of the book and adding anything on would've diluted them.