Category: Reading Challenge

Reading Challenge

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In January, I challenged myself to read more. In 2022, I read 12 books total. As a writer, I knew I needed to up my reading game. So far in 2023, I’ve read 18! I want to share my monthly books here. I’ll catch up another time with Jan-Apr. Here are May’s books . . .

bookmory app, elaina avalos may 2023 books
The calendar is a feature from the Bookmory app. The book appears on the date you finish the book. I didn’t read all of these in one day.
may 2023 books read, elaina avalos books, goodreads may 2023

I included Daisy Jones & The Six in the list since I was pretty disappointed in Malibu Rising. Maybe it was a fluke. Although I did take Carrie Soto is Back off my TBR, based on her appearance in Malibu Rising. Daisy Jones & The Six is a must read – especially if you’re a fan of the Fleetwood era of music. I was hopeful I’d enjoy all of Reid’s books because of it. But Malibu Rising wasn’t great. In part, I couldn’t fully care for or like any of the characters. There’s an extreme amount of telling vs showing and while I didn’t entirely hate this book, I really struggled through it. There were some sweet moments between the siblings – I will give the book that much.

On the four-star end are Me Before You & Someone Else’s Shoes. I thought Someone Else’s Shoes was tons of fun and a great female friendship kind of book. It would be a fun movie. Me Before You totally broke my heart. I cried. I don’t like spoilers so I don’t intend to give it away. If you want to know more and you’re sensitive to certain subjects – particularly surrounding death, maybe don’t read this one or read up on it. It was made into a movie I’m looking forward to seeing with Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin (from Daisy Jones on Amazon) and I’ve now started book 2 in the series. I loved the sarcasm and joking between Will and Lou. I genuinely loved Lou and lately, I haven’t cared for many of the female protagonists in the books I’ve read. Lou was endearing and weird. But the book made me stupidly emotional. You’ve been warned.

Finally, The Dead Romantics is super weird. This isn’t my norm. It’s dark and kind of morbid (the family owns a mortuary). And weirdly, I read part of it while home in California for my dad’s funeral. The book is enjoyable. But I won’t tell a lie, I wished the two main characters had been together – physically – a little longer. You’ll understand if you read. It was fun otherwise, but I could quite get to four stars. Although, I may have to rethink that as it’s light years ahead of Malibu Rising. Maybe it’s a solid 3.5 stars…

Hiding Love?

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kristin hannah, the nightingale kristin hannah, elaina avalos

I’m currently reading the novel, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I like the book and the characters more than some I’ve read recently. But I’m still reading so I’ll reserve my fully formulated thoughts on it until I’m done. There are some beautifully written phrases in this book that make me think.

This scene is one that stopped me in my tracks after reading it today:

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Isabelle seems unbreakable. She has a steel exterior, but it protects a candyfloss heart. Don’t hurt
her, that’s what I’m saying. If you don’t love her — ”

“I do.”

Vianne studied him. “Does she know?”

“I hope not.”

Vianne would not have understood that answer a year ago. She wouldn’t have understood how dark
a side love could have, how hiding it was the kindest thing you could do sometimes. “I don’t know why
it’s so easy for me to forget how much I love her. We start fighting, and…”

I sometimes feel as I’m reading this book, that I am most like Isabelle – of all the female characters in the book. I wouldn’t have expected that when I first started reading. But there are some similarities in our experiences, that I can’t quite deny. The scene above was one of those stop me in my tracks, moments. Vianne’s tenderness for her sister, in this scene, was a long time coming. In fact, it’s one of the reasons she’s not my favorite character. Her harshness toward her younger sister is entirely uncalled for. She is selfish. But there’s something about her saying, “She wouldn’t have understood how dark a side love could have, how hiding it was the kindest thing you could do sometimes,” that really got me thinking today.

Hiding love seems like the opposite of everything I believe and stand for. In most ways, it is. On the other hand, sometimes – it is what it is. Choosing to hide it, under some circumstances, may be what’s best for the one you love. In The Nightingale, Gaetan admits to Vianne that he loves her sister. He also says that he hopes Isabelle doesn’t know. To fully explain is to share spoilers for the book which I don’t want to do. But I will say that the characters are in the midst of loss and war all around them. For her well being, Gaetan doesn’t want Isabelle knowing how much he loves her.

Their work is dangerous. And life is fleeting in the midst of German occupied France. He made a decision – for her own protection and well being – that he wouldn’t let her see that love. He still makes choices that are protective and caring. But outside of that, he maintains his hard shell, to protect her from the things she won’t protect herself from. I’m sure there’s a chance that Isabelle’s steady and constant love for him – in spite of that – makes Gaetan love her even more. But Isabelle wouldn’t have known that through most of the book. I hope she knows before the end of the book.

So while hiding love seems antithetical to what I hold most dear when it comes to loving others, in some situations, it’s a necessarily painful part of loving another. I read through more than half of this book to get to the point where I could like Vianne more. This scene does it. But it also makes me love Gaetan (didn’t like him before this), for the way he protects the woman he loves, as best he can – in a situation that is unwinnable. To me, that is an incredibly beautiful love.

“She wouldn’t have understood how dark a side love could have, how hiding it was the kindest thing you could do sometimes.“

My Twenty-Five Years in Provence: Reflections Then & Now

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Peter Mayle, Provence, France, Elaina Avalos blog

I am participating in a 2020 Reading Challenge. For February – the book theme was memoir or biography. I chose Peter Mayle’s My Twenty-Five Years in Provence: Reflections Then & Now.

 

I have read other books written by Mayle, including the novel A Good Year, which became a movie starring Russell Crowe {love the movie}. Mayle, who passed away in 2018, writes charmingly about his life in Provence.

So charming in fact, that I try to contrive ways to move there, as I read. Like, maybe I can get a job with the U.S. government in France – searches frantically on USA JOBS website. Okay, yeah – that won’t work. 

His sense of humor is woven throughout his anecdotes on every day life, the passing of the seasons, tourists visiting the region and the village he lives in, and my personal favorite – talk of Provence’s food & wine {Rosé in particular}.

Mayle writes beautifully, but not in a complicated or fussy way. I have longed to visit Europe – France, in particular – all of my life. I hope to someday. But writing like his makes me want to get there as soon as possible. His writing is simple and straightforward. Yet somehow, he is still so artful that I can envision the scenes he describes, as if I were in Provence myself.

He is a delightful writer. And this book is a new favorite.

For March’s book, I will be reading The House on Tradd Street by Karen White. The House on Tradd Street is the first in her Tradd Street Series. I have enjoyed other Karen White books, so I’m looking forward to starting this today.

Here are the themes for the reading challenge:

January: Book Related to Your New Year’s Resolution
February: Biography or Memoir
March: Book in a Series
April: Try an Audio Book
May: Feels Like Falling! (Obviously… Then Join Us May 15 for a FB Live Discussion)
June: Classic Beach Book
July: Thriller So Scary You Have to Read on the Beach in Daylight
August: Historical Fiction
September: Book That Has Been in Your TBR Pile Forever
October: New Release Impulse Buy
November: One of Your Family Member’s Favorite Books
December: Holiday-Themed Book

*Links to books are affiliate links.

Slightly South of Simple – 2020 Reading Challenge

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reading challenge january 2020 kristy woodson harvey1

I admit it. I started Slightly South of Simple before starting a Reading Challenge in January. The theme for January was a book related to your New Years resolution. Since I don’t do resolutions, I decided finishing a book that was in my Kindle queue or on my bedside table, was close enough to a resolution.

First up was Kristy Woodson Harvey’s first book in the The Peachtree Bluff Series. I started this book during a very chaotic time last summer, as my foster son was preparing to be moved. As much as I love reading, you would have thought it would have been a little self-care. But I couldn’t bring myself to do much of anything but watch comedy specials on Netflix.

As a result, the book sat on my Kindle without being read. I read the author’s first book Dear Carolina, and loved it – especially the ways in which it incorporated Eastern NC – this place I’ve called home for so long. So I knew Slightly South of Simple had to be the first book I read for the challenge.

What did I think of it? I loved the book. But as I’m not a book reviewer, I don’t intend to dive terribly deep into the plot. What I will say is that I find her writing to be honest, heartfelt, and funny. While the book is technically not set in North Carolina, the town Peachtree Bluff is said to be modeled after Beaufort, NC. If you’ve been around a while, or read my book, you know how much I love that quirky, beautiful town.

I think Harvey writes relationships genuinely. She approaches complexities in those relationships in a way that I appreciate as a writer and reader. There were a couple of things I didn’t care for so much in this book. One of which was an obsession that a couple of characters appeared to have with body image/size.

While it rings very true that this might be something women in certain spheres are focused on, it did frustrate me as it didn’t really seem necessary to the plot itself. Who knows? Maybe I’ll come to understand that particular issue better, in the next two novels? That said, it didn’t alter my overall view of Harvey’s writing.

Elaina Avalos Reading Challenge Kristy Woodson Harvey Novel

If you’re wondering what my February book is, it’s My Twenty-Five Years in Provence, by Peter Mayle. Mayle was a wonderful writer. He wrote joyfully about his life in France (and about food & wine – my favs). You may have seen a movie made about one of his novels – A Good Year? Mayle passed away recently. I think this is the perfect book for this month’s theme.

Here are the other books in this challenge:

January: Book Related to Your New Year’s Resolution
February: Biography or Memoir
March: Book in a Series
April: Try an Audio Book
May: Feels Like Falling! (Obviously… Then Join Us May 15 for a FB Live Discussion)
June: Classic Beach Book
July: Thriller So Scary You Have to Read on the Beach in Daylight
August: Historical Fiction
September: Book That Has Been in Your TBR Pile Forever
October: New Release Impulse Buy
November: One of Your Family Member’s Favorite Books
December: Holiday-Themed Book

What have you read so far in 2020?

Elaina Avalos, Chasing Hope, Books you care about, reading challenge 2020

What Are You Reading in 2020?

Published on by Elaina6 Comments
Elaina Avalos, Chasing Hope, Books you care about, reading challenge 2020

Reading has always been a favorite escape. I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. I read early. I read a lot. And then somewhere in there, life got busy. I read less. I was online more (I say as I type out a blog post on my laptop). This year, I’m making a commitment to read more.

I plan on tackling my literal stack of to be read books (and the Kindle queue too). All of them have been started. None have been finished. The idea of participating in a reading challenge to help keep me motivated, is the right way to go. By the way, as far as my TBR is concerned, I’m at stage one.

I found quite a few reading challenges, but ultimately decided on this one, by author Kristy Woodson Harvey. I am not going to lie – I may stretch the categories a little. But I’m a rebel, so there you go. As an example, for January, the category is a Book Related to Your New Year’s Resolution. But I’m not a resolution kind of girl (I’m a one word kind of girl).

TBR, Elaina Avalos, Chasing Hope, reading challenge 2020

So instead, I’m going to finish Slightly South of Simple, which is the first book in The Peachtree Bluff series by Kristy Woodson Harvey. I started it last summer and then . . . life happened. While I don’t have any resolutions, I am working on being intentional about reading and writing. I thought it would be a good place to start.

While my goal is 12 books, when/if I finish early each month, I’ll plan on reaching for one in my pile, on my Kindle, or a few that have piqued my interest.

Here are a few of the books I’d like to read:

Hurricane Season by Laura K. Denton

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

The Family Fang: A Novel by Kevin Wilson

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

The Favorite Daughter (I also need to finish The Bookshop at Water’s End but it’s currently packed) by Patti Callahan Henry

What are you reading in 2020? What else should I add to my list?