Monday Reading Check In

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the free review copy of WHAT YOU WISH FOR by Katherine Center!

I want to start today’s post by acknowledging that today is a Monday different from most. Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives in service and defense of the United States. Having recently read THE ONLY PLANE IN THE SKY: AN ORAL HISTORY OF 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff, I think the true meaning and value of the day is striking even closer to home beyond just a holiday and a three-day weekend.

It has been a pretty good weekend so far with several buddy read chats and a couple fun zoom sessions. I’m hosting a giveaway on my Instagram page which kept me pretty busy yesterday as well. Add in some Hunger Games movies and of course a lot of good reading and that pretty much sums up the weekend thus far!

My latest current read is WHAT YOU WISH FOR by Katherine Center. After absolutely loving THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE and THE LOST HUSBAND, I have been determined to read more of Katherine Center’s books. I was therefore very excited to receive this ARC! Here we’re following Samantha, a school librarian in Texas. As the book begins she’s facing an incredible loss when the principal at her school who she considers family passes away. In the few chapters I’ve read so far, Samantha’s grief is coming through, as is her passion for her work and school.

Coming in to replace the principal is Duncan, a man that Samantha remembers as a lovable goofball, but the impression she’s getting of the new principal is that he isn’t the man she remembers. Based on the synopsis, I know that things will not go smoothly so I’m eager to keep reading. As was the case with her previous books, I am finding myself easily settling into Katherine Center’s writing here. I’m very happy to have the day to sit back with my coffee and keep reading for what is shaping up to be an excellent comfort read!

I finished up several of my in progress reads from last week and started a few more:

THE THINGS WE CANNOT SAY by Kelly Rimmer is the book I chose for a historical fiction novel, though it actually follows two timelines. In 1942 Poland, Alina is a young girl waiting for her best friend and beau Tomasz to return to town and marry her while the Nazis begin to take over her home. In the present day Alice is mother to a nonverbal young son on the autism spectrum. Her grandmother has had a stroke which impacts her language center as well, but she still is trying to get across a message to Alice about her history back in Poland. This has been recommended to me as an excellent read and so far it is living up to expectations!

I am also still reading NEVER GO FULL PAI by Jeffrey Eng for a buddy read. I’m ready to finish this one up before our final chat next week. I’m still really enjoying it!

Did you get any good reading in this weekend? What are you currently reading?