Bookish Weekly Wrap-Up: 3/12 – 3/18/18

Happy Sunday bookworms!

I hope everyone had a wonderful week/weekend!  It was a very stressful week in my personal life, so it was nice to blow off some steam yesterday when we hosted a St. Patrick’s Day party at our house with a few friends.  A good time was had by all.

Time to talk books!

*Bookish 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, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, what I will be reading next, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, and any interesting bookish articles I came across.

Monday 3/12

Books I Read for #BlackHistoryMonth 2018

 

Recently finished reading:

» Eligible (The Austen Project #4) by Curtis Sittenfeld

• Pride & Prejudice retelling – I think the author did a great job of bringing this story up to modern times.
• I am actually shocked at how much I enjoyed this book – probably one of the more captivating “chick-lit” books I’ve read, BUT this may have more to do with the fact it was a retelling of one of my favorite classics.
• I’d call this book a guilty pleasure type of book – family drama to the extreme
• Despite the fact that it was very readable & I enjoyed the retelling, there felt like there were some problematic issues.  I felt like some of the diversity was thrown in for the sake of diversity – a transgendered character, a bi-racial couple, a woman who decides to get pregnant via a sperm donor…  It just felt like these were thrown into the story to make it more modern and to provide drama, which didn’t feel right to me.
• The final chapter felt oddly placed – I appreciated the insight into that particular character, but didn’t like how the book ended on that note.

 

---

Currently reading:

» Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

 Status: 50%

There is starting to be more essays that deal with more feminist themes, which I appreciate.  I particularly was interested in her thoughts about rape culture, or more accurately how we tend to put the focus on the perpetrators of rape and less on the actual victims.  She also asked if we are desensitizing ourselves to the horrific nature of rape because we use it as a means of entertainment in TV shows, films, and books.  I agree with Gay that there is a right way and a wrong way to address the topic & portray rape, and that unfortunately it is not being handled correctly in most cases.

» Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzie Lee

Status: 50%

I adore this book!  I have the opportunity to try and make it to Mackenzie Lee’s book tour for this book tomorrow evening in Cincinnati.   I am going to do my best to make the hour drive during rush hour traffic and make it to the event on time.

» The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti

Status: Starting this evening

I have exactly 3.5 days to get this book read before Wednesday evening.  I am hosting one of my book clubs that night and I picked this book, so I should probably read it.  Keep your fingers crossed its a quick read!

---

On deck:

» The Daughter’s of Palatine Hill by Phyllis T. Smith

Two years after Emperor Augustus’s bloody defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, he triumphantly returns to Rome. To his only child, Julia, he brings an unlikely companion—Selene, the daughter of the conquered Egyptian queen and her lover.

Under the watchful eye of Augustus’s wife, Livia, Selene struggles to accept her new home among her parents’ enemies. Bound together by kinship and spilled blood, these three women—Livia, Selene, and Julia—navigate the dangerous world of Rome’s ruling elite, their every move a political strategy, their most intimate decisions in the emperor’s hands.

Always suppressing their own desires for the good of Rome, each must fulfill her role. For astute Livia, this means unwavering fidelity to her all-powerful husband; for sensual Julia, surrender to an arranged marriage and denial of her craving for love and the pleasures of the flesh; for orphaned Selene, choosing between loyalty to her family’s killers and her wish for revenge.

Can they survive Rome’s deadly intrigues, or will they be swept away by the perilous currents of the world’s most powerful empire? 

» Amanda @Hanging With Amanda shares some of her favorite Romance authors → My Auto-Buy Romance Authors

» Danielle @Books, Vertigo, & Tea talks fairy tales → Fairy Tales and Why We Still Need Them as Adults

---

» Romance Authors Pick Their Favorite Romance Novel Heroines

» Six Spectacular Books Set in East Africa for Book Clubs

» Spring 2018’s Hottest Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books: Warring Queens, One-Hit-Wonders, and Twisted Fairytales

» Watch the First Trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Gindelwald 

» New picture books celebrate female firsts

» The Best Children’s and YA Books of March 2018

» 12 Book Recs for Kids Who Adored A Wrinkle in Time

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week & happy reading