Welcome to the Sunday Brunch #TBR Roundup. While you sip your Sunday morning coffee, you can see what we’ve added to our “To Be Read” lists in the past two weeks (Sun 27 Mar – Sat 9 Apr). Discover all of the various places we get our reading recommendations. Have you read any of these? What did you think of them?
Becky
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
This is the next book I’d like to read off of my Amazon 100 list. Full disclosure: on my printed list, this was the last book to read in a row so it drew my attention, but…after reading the description of the book as concerning “the portrait of a marriage” I felt compelled to read it considering my husband and I recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary.
A Thousand Country Roads by Robert James Waller
This book is advertised as “the epilogue to The Bridges of Madison County.” I just finished Bridgesx and will have a review coming out soon, and as someone who feels obligated to complete tasks 100 percent, it feels like a no-brainer to read this!
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker
My review of For the Love by Jen Hatmaker was published last week, and Lindsey’s comment on that post solidified my desire to read another (ok, two more—Interrupted was a bonus #TBR add) of Jen’s books. For the Love feels like a great introduction to Jen herself, so now I’m excited to get a little more in depth with her ideas.
Joli
We Could Be Beautiful: A Novel by Swan Huntley
I’m having a hard time remembering where I found this one! It sounds a little bit outside my comfort zone, but also really interesting, so I thought I should give it a try. Here’s a little snippet from Goodreads: “Featuring a fascinating heroine who longs for answers but is blinded by her own privilege, We Could Be Beautiful is a glittering, seductive, utterly surprising story of love, money, greed, and family.”
The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
I’m sure you’ve seen this one just about everywhere. I usually wait until all the hype over a book fades…not exactly sure why. I guess I’m a hipster when it comes to books? Ha. At any rate, I received this book from Book of the Month Club in exchange for a review of their club. All of the buzz around this book seems pretty good, so I’m excited to dive in!
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
After thinking this one looked good for a while, I finally decided to buy it in a cute little paperback version with a Barnes & Noble coupon. It sounds right up my alley, with just enough quirk. It’s about a 15-year-old girl, Bee, trying to find her mom after she mysteriously disappears. Here’s a tidbit from Goodreads: “To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.”
Mel
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
My work did a class on Marilynne Robinson’s books and, while I did not attend, a coworker did and praised this book. I’ve never heard of it, but after checking out the description online it sounded like an interesting read—particularly the writing style, described as “beautiful, spare, and spiritual prose… in the tradition of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.”
The Singing Wilderness and Listening Point by Sigurd F. Olson
If you’ve been following me on LQ you now know that I have a strong affinity for nature and nature-related reading. Even after 10 years living in Duluth and many days in the northwoods I have still not read anything by Sigurd Olson, a very important author and environmentalist to the North Country. It’s time. These are the two I picked out of his myriad books.
Think South: How We Got Six Men and Forty Dogs Across Antarctica by Cathy de Moll & Will Steger
Will Steger is a hero of mine and this newest book was the only one I hadn’t added to my list yet. Considering that fact, and that I will be taking care of 40 sled dogs this summer, I thought this was a necessary #TBR add.
