Show Us Your Books- May

Tin Man- Sarah Winman: 2 Stars
Netgalley

For some reason, I thought this was YA, which it certainly wasn't. I thought it would be a light-hearted coming of age story of friendship between Ellis and Michael, and while there is some of that, there definitely wasn't enough. The way the story was told was very convoluted as it jumped timelines and left a lot of gaps. Also, I found the lack of quotation marks when people were speaking to be very confusing; I couldn't tell who was speaking half the time which was distracting. Though the writing was beautiful, it seemed overly described and the settings, with all of the names of places, made it hard to make any real connection for me. There was no real action and I became thoroughly bored. I don't think I would have finished this if not for how short it was and the fact that I was given a free copy for review purposes.

How To Walk Away- Katherine Center: 4 Stars
library e-book

I figured this would be some fluffy chic-lit, but it wasn't. It was way better than I expected, in that everything did not wrap up in a neat little bow with a perfect ending. There was a lot of adversity, it was realistic, and I was really rooting for Margaret the entire time. I also loved the banter between Margaret and her sister Kit. And there was one twist that I didn't see coming at all which just made this story even more enjoyable. 
DNF: Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury. I tried. But after about page 50, I just wasn't feeling it.

Currently reading: Love and Other Consolation Prizes- Jamie Ford and Dear Dwayne, With Love- Eliza Gordon

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Erin's Reading Challenge 9.0

I actually had a lot of trouble coming up with some of these categories, particularly the water one and the one where I find a character that works in the same profession as me. Luckily Alexandra mentioned that the main character in "The Wild Woman's Guide..." was an IT consultant, so I'm going to give it a go. Yay for the book-loving community! I was also trying to find books that I already had and/or fit categories for the other 2 reading challenges I'm participating in this year. I decided not to add those here because it would make this post extra long, but let me know if you're interested and I'll share! 

(5 points) Freebie – Read a book that is at least 200 pages: TBD

(10 points) Read a book that starts with the letter “N”: Night Road- Kristin Hannah (385)

(10 points) Read a book that has a (mostly) orange cover: This Is How It Always Is- Laurie Frankel (336)

(15 points) Read a book with an unlikeable character: Dumplin'- Julie Murphy (371)

(20 points) Read a book from the list of 100 books that PBS calls “The Great American Read”: The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao- Junot Diaz (335)

(20 points) Read a book with something related to water in the title: Water Cooler Diaries: Women Across America Share Their Day At Work- Joni B. Cole (320)// Something in the Water- Catherine Steadman

(25 points) Read a book you've owned the longest but haven’t read yet: One Hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez (417)// Night Sister- Jennifer McMahon (Netgalley)(322)

(30 points) Read a book with an emotion word in the title: Love in the Time of Cholera- Gabriel Garcia Marquez (348)

(30 points) Read a book where each word in the title of the book begins with the same letter: Summer Sisters- Judy Blume (416)

(35 points) Read a book featuring a character who shares your profession or similar one: 
Personal Days- Ed Park (256) (cube rat)// The Wild Woman's Guide to Traveling the World- Kristin Rockaway (352) (IT consultant)

What's next on your bookshelf?