Reading has moved up higher on my priority list this year and I was inspired by Modern Mrs. Darcy to share the books I’ve been reading lately. These books all came out last year, and to be honest, I’m not aways on the cutting edge of publishing. I’ve made my peace with the fact that the books I read will most likely have been out for a little while. Books don’t have expiration dates, right?<\/p>\n

I’d gotten out of the reading habit, especially with the hectic holidays. I was a bit weary, and also a little wary of treading back into the literary waters. These books aren’t overly heavy reads, so they were a nice way to get back into it.<\/p>\n

Today Will Be Different<\/strong><\/a><\/em> by Maria Semple\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

I really enjoyed Where’d You Go, Bernadette<\/em><\/a> by Maria Semple, who used to be a writer on Arrested Development. And I was excited for the release of her new book.<\/p>\n

It’s about the mother of an only child who promises herself that she will be a better mother and wife in the day ahead. What mother hasn’t awoken and made that promise to herself at some point? While I don’t live in Seattle where the book is set, I love Semple’s descriptions of life in that city.<\/p>\n

I was expecting to relate to the heroine a bit more than I actually did.<\/p>\n

But other than pretty much everything going wrong, and in a darkly humorous way, though I didn’t laugh aloud like I did with Bernadette<\/em>. I don’t think this novel had that intent, and it was deeper than Bernadette. My favorite parts were about\u00a0the heroine’s backstory, which aren’t intended to be humorous at all.<\/p>\n

Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times<\/a>, “Ms. Semple is an immensely appealing writer, and there’s something universal in her heroine’s efforts to get a handle on a life spinning out of control. We may not all have long-lost sisters who live in the most crazily status-obsessed corners of the South, but we surely know what she means about waking up each dawn with new resolve that melts by midmorning.”<\/p>\n

I may have enjoyed Bernadette<\/em> a bit more but this is a good and quick read.<\/p>\n

The Nest<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The Nest is about a\u00a0dysfunctional quartet of siblings in New York and what happens when their trust fund inheritance, called “the nest,” goes away. I was surprised by how drawn into the story I was, particularly given that the characters aren’t all that lovable. They are, however, interesting and human enough that you don’t despise them all.<\/p>\n

I was intrigued by their relationships and the story roped me in enough to want to know how it all ended up. Apparently I wasn’t alone as this was a New York Times best seller.<\/p>\n

“A strong choice for demonstrating how adulthood is as much of a discovering process as adolescence,” is how April Sanders of School Library Journal<\/em><\/a> described the book. I like and agree with that, although I wouldn’t recommend it to my 14-year-old. It just seems that having dealt with adult issues like handling the mortgage, the importance of honesty in a marriage, and learning how best to relate to adult siblings makes this book more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

I confess that as the parent of a teenager, I was surprised that it was the second book I’ve read recently about teenagers in New York skipping out of the SAT prep class (the other being Modern Lovers<\/em><\/a>). As a result, I’ll be monitoring her attendance a bit more closely in a few years. (Oh, who are we kidding, I’ll probably forget by then.)<\/p>\n

Also, may I add that while you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, of course, I thought the cover to this one was especially lovely?<\/p>\n

My Name is Lucy Barton<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Elizabeth Strout\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

This made several lists of “best books of the year” and with good reason. Strout won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Olive Kitteridge<\/a><\/em> and her talent is on clear display again here as she tackles mother-daughter relationships.<\/p>\n

It begins when Lucy’s mother arrives at her hospital bedside as Lucy is recovering from an operation and dealing with complications that are not life threatening but that keep her from returning home to her two daughters, husband,\u00a0and her life. Their conversations are halting and seem a bit incomplete. It makes it real. Not all conversations with family members can be tied up neatly with a bow on top, right?<\/p>\n

If you’re looking for something super neat and tidy and that doesn’t leave you wondering, you may want to pick up something else.<\/p>\n

The book is short, but don’t let that fool you. It is what is not said that carries the most weight here. As Sara Nelson says in her Amazon<\/a> review, “Rarely has a book been louder in its silences.”<\/p>\n

What have you been reading? I’d love to hear what’s on your nightstand and what you’re recommending these days!<\/p>\n

You May Also Like:<\/strong>\u00a0What kids want in books, and how to help them pick great ones<\/a><\/p>\n

Prior Post:\u00a0<\/strong>10 Reasons to be excited for \u201cBeauty and The Beast\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

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