I have picked up reading again and it has been glorious!

I’ve fallen in love with the library! It’s what made this all happen.

Finding books I want to read and putting them on hold and then picking them up when they are available – what could be easier? I use my receipt as my bookmark so I know when to return it.

Here are a few books I’ve been reading since my last post:

Fiction – I chose Girl on the Train because I kept seeing it everywhere. I liked that the book was told from different points of views of the different characters. And it kept me guessing what had happened! But I thought my guesses were even a bit more creative than the ending was. I liked the book, though I didn’t love it.

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Non-fiction – Yes, another dog book! I’m sure Amazon recommended this one to me or something… This true story of a man taking his beloved {and well-trained} pet around Europe, because why not?! I loved every moment of it. Dogs do bring people together and light up many faces. I could not find this book in the local library card catalog, so I had the used version shipped to me. If you want to read it, let me know and I can send it your way!

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Non-fiction – When I set out to begin reading again {what I mean by that is to always have a book that I’m reading}, I didn’t realize how many non-fiction books would come my way. Rubin’s account of her very own Happiness Project is quite detailed, sometimes scientific and almost overwhelming at times. However, there were still quite a few takeaways for me!

In fact, now that I’m writing this almost a month later, I’d like to skim through it again and put those little happiness reminders on post-it notes. I’ve begun following Rubin’s blog and have started to listen to one of her podcasts. There are little nuggets of info that I think anyone can pick up and apply to his or her life.

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Fiction – I’ve seen All the Light We Cannot See on bestseller lists and recommended often. It’s popular enough that it took a while to become available at my library when I placed a hold on it. Then I had to make sure that I could read it in the two-week time span because there were no renewals allowed on this book!

I had a hard time getting into this book at the beginning, mostly because I wasn’t focused and I didn’t understand the author’s writing style yet. Once I got into it, I went back and could totally see the opening as if it were a movie! The book bounces around from the points of view of different characters {somewhat like Girl on the Train} and jumps back and forth to different time periods, too. Some of the book took place in St. Malo, a little seaside town in northwest France which I visited back in ’97. It was like I got to go back, but back in time!

The author was very knowledgeable in certain areas for this time period, but sometimes a little too detailed and technical for my reading pleasure. And, as with most books, I found the ending to be hurried to tie up loose ends. It could have ended earlier without the “where are they now” details, really.

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I am currently tried to find books set in Montréal or Québec because that is where Rob and I are traveling internationally there this year. I have found the following books recommended in searched on The Google and purchased them used off ThriftBooks.com because my library doesn’t carry any of them.

• The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant
• Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec
• The Tin Flute
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – I’m currently reading this. It’s a little difficult for me to get into… and at this point, I’d normally give myself permission to let it go. However, I feel like I need to give it a big chunk of my time to be fair. Plus, it’s a bit of a well-known Québecois classic.

Do you have any book recommendations that are set in Montreal or Québec?

Name one book you read lately that you believe is a must-read!

Cheers~
Carrie