Weekly Wrap-Up: 3/20 – 3/26/17

Happy Sunday bookworms!

I’ve had a very long and emotional week/weekend, so I am looking forward to the start of a new week.  We had to travel out of town for a funeral over this weekend, so between grieving, traveling, and everything else, I’m exhausted.   I wasn’t as active around the blogosphere/community as I normally am, but I did the best that I could under the circumstances.  Despite everything going on in my personal life, I did manage to read 3 books this week and get a couple posts up on the blog, so at least there was some good to come out of this past week.

Let’s see what I got accomplished this week…

*Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish/blog happenings, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, interesting bookish articles I came across, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, and what I will be reading next.

This week on the blog:

Monday 3/20

Book Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

Wednesday 3/22

Blogging Babble: Blogger/Follower Expectations

Around the bookish blogosphere:

» CW @Read Think Ponder gives us some feminist book recommendations→ Book Recs: Feminist Reads for Women’s History Month

» Fadwa @Word Wonders talks blog redesign → How to Make your Redesign Go Smoothly

» Megan @bookslayer Reads talks about gaining followers → Gaining Followers // How To Gain Followers… Quickly.

» Gretchen @ChicNerdReads writes a powerful poem → your d*** is showing

» Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books talks about blogging envy → On blogging envy

» Reg @She Latitude does a “book look” for Queens of Geek  → Book Looks: Queens of Geek – Jen Wilde & talks about what she looks for in a book blog → Let’s Talk: What I Look For in a Book Blog

» Amy @Novel Gossip talks about blogger guilt → Blogger Guilt

» Resh Susan @The Book Satchel gives us some recs for contemporary Indian women authors → Contemporary Indian Women Writers who Should be on Your Reading List

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Interesting bookish articles:

» 10 Books to Get You Through a Bad Breakup

*Confession time: I’ve never experienced a break up… I married my high school sweetheart 🙂

» 2017 preview: Most anticipated memoirs

» 40 Books to Read Before Turning 40

*I’m not planning on every turning 40… I am definitely NOT turning 30 in two weeks.  Nope.

» Did You Know? 9 Facts About ‘The Hobbit’

*So what you are saying is Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were BFFs?!

» 2 Books About What It’s Like to Be a Black Woman In America

» Quiz: How Well Do You Spell? Pt. I

*Spelling is NOT my forte.  I got a 60% by dumb luck…

» Page-Turning Novels You’ll Race Through—and Read Again

» This Literature Map Shows the Best From Each Country

*I just added 196 books to my TBR….

» Our Future Depends on Books, According to Neil Gaiman

*Reason number 23,781 why I love Neil Gaiman…

» These 7 Great Books Originally Flopped!

*I’m not surprised by Wuthering Heights… It’s one of my favorite books but I can also see why people wouldn’t care for it.

» 6 Books From Childhood You Probably Forgot About

*The Egypt Game!!! Yes!

» Best Reading Apps for 4- to 8-Year-Olds

What have I been reading?

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» East by Edith Pattou

I loved this book and I can’t really put my finger on why exactly.  It may have just been the right book at the right time.  East is very fast paced read with short chapters and multiple perspectives.  Despite the fact that this book is just over 500 pages, I was immersed in the story from beginning to end.  This book feels very much like a fairy tale because it is based off the Norwegian fairytale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.”  I am not familiar with this fairytale, so prior knowledge of it is not a requirement to enjoy East.   This book also gave off an epic journey vibe as well.  So, an epic journey fairytale?  Whatever this book is, I loved it.

» Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story by Caren Stelson

Wow.  What a heartbreaking and horrifying story, yet also uplifting and hopeful.  The author weaves Sachiko’s story with historical context throughout the book, which made for an emotional and informative read.  We are given a personal account at what it was really like to survive the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

Honestly Sachiko’s account reminded me of pictures and media coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.   It felt many of the same feelings I did as a 14-year-old kid watching the coverage of the terrorist attacks on TV: horror, fear, anger, and sorrow.

This book also questions the decision of the United States to use nuclear weapons before really knowing the effects the bombs would have both short and long term.  Truman rationalized his decision by saying that dropping the atomic bombs saved hundreds of thousands of American lives we would have lost if we would have sent troops to Japan to fight a war in the east.  HOWEVER there were most likely other motives in play here as well.  Was it worth the instant death of 120,000 Japanese people?  How about the countless number of Japanese people who died in the aftermath from injuries, radiation sickness, and years later – cancer?

Sachiko definitely gave me a lot to think about.

» A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Another thought-provoking novel.  A Long Walk to Water is about the war torn country of Sudan, a country in northern Africa.  The majority of this book is about one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, Salva.  I must admit, before reading this story, I knew practically nothing about the hostility in Sudan that went on for YEARS (conflicts are still going on today), nor the very real problem that it’s people face: access to clean water.   A Long Walk to Water is also about a girl named Nya, whose job it is to fetch water for her family.  She spends 8 hours EVERY day fetching water for her family.  The book is told in alternating perspectives and timelines, but the connection between these two stories isn’t made clear until the end.  This book really opened my eyes to how privileged I am to be able to walk to my kitchen and turn on a faucet.

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Currently reading:

» The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

This book is NOT at all what I was expecting, but in a good way.  It is actually fairly gritty and raw, which is what I like about it.   I’ve found myself laughing aloud on a few occasions, but this book also has a darker side… I am really enjoying it so far!  I am 65% through, and hope to finish it up by tomorrow.

» The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewel

The Girls in the Garden is one of the books I was approved through NetGalley  last year, but hadn’t gotten around to yet.  I am about 68% through and things are beginning to unfold.  This is one of those books where you learn about “the incident” first, then go back in time leading up to the incident.  So far, I think the author has done a good job holding my attention up to this point.  I really hope this book will end with a bang, and not end up being predictable or flat.

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On deck:

The SOKY Book Fest is less than a month away, so it’s crunch time!  All of these books are by authors who will be attending.

» The Demon King by China Williams Chima

»The Illusionist’s Apprentice by Kristy Cambron

» Pillage by Obert Skye

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading