My reading month has gotten off to a great start as I’ve taken a week off from work which means a bit more time for books! Granted I did have one DNF.
I started Community Board by Tara Conklin last month and I just couldn’t get into this story. The main character is a 29-year-old, newly single woman who goes back to her parents to help cope. Her parents are away so she’ll be on her own and will have to rely on neighbors to help get through the difficult time. I like quirky characters but this was just not for me. Darcy is just not a likable character and she comes across like a whining brat. So I DNFd this one about 40 percent in.
I’m still reading The Wild Iris by Louise Glück. I’m finding this one a bit more difficult and will often have to read the poems a couple of times but should finish it soon.
One book I’m absolutely hooked on is The Radium Girls by Kate Moore. What a horrifying story about hundreds of young women who worked in the radium-dial factories after WWI. They had such hopes about providing for their families, building their futures only to be slowly poisoning themselves and suffering terrible consequences. This is a fascinating read.
On the fiction front I’m reading Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. Nikki is the daughter of Indian immigrants, and prefers to live an independent life but she needs to find new employment so she starts teaching a creative writing course at the Punjabi community center. However the Sikh widows show up expecting to learn basic English literacy not creative writing. This one is really fun and I love to read about different communities and traditions and how they come together. Quite funny and sexy too!
Finally the other night I started Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay. A summer romance about a woman who doesn’t like books (what?!) and the handsome bookworm she meets while on vacation at Martha’s Vineyard. So far so good.
I hope to finish a couple of books this week so should be adding more to the list soon. Have you read any of these books? Let me know if have, and I would love to hear what books you are reading this month!
I have The Radium Girls in my stacks and will probably read it in November for Nonfiction November. Glad to hear you’re enjoying it.
The Radium Girls is one I’ve been meaning to read for quite awhile. Thanks for reminding me about it. And I just checked Summer Reading out of the library myself. It does look like fun, though I haven’t started it yet. 😀
I had high hopes for Community Board but it doesn’t seem to be getting good reviews from fellow bloggers, sadly. I have been wanting to read Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows for some time now. I am glad you are enjoying it! I hope you continue to enjoy your reading, Iliana!
The Radium Girls seems a bit terrifying. Like you’re trying to change the women’s fates as you read along. Gosh I can’t imagine — working with such things as radium or asbestos etc. Simply chilling.
Lesley – I hope you will add it to your Nonfiction November stack. It was so good and I probably could have finished it quickly but had to put it down several times just because it was awful to read about what these women endured!
Lark – I had it on my shelves for a while and just kept putting it off but am so glad I finally got to it. Hope you enjoy Summer Reading. It’s cute and I’m enjoying it.
Literary Feline – I may have had very high expectations but unfortunately I’ve also seen some other not very favorable reviews. Maybe you’ll find it more interesting though! I have heard that her first book was really good so maybe I’ll check out that one instead!
Susan – Yes, that’s exactly it. I kept wishing things were going to turn out differently as more women were falling ill only to just see how horrifying this was and what’s worse how the companies behaved towards them. It was definitely infuriating.
The Radium Girls sounds like a good read, though the topic is too sad. Summer Reading sounds like a fun read and I’ll keep this book in mind should I need something light to read. Happy reading, Iliana!
Melody – It was such an intense read. So good but yes, very sad and infuriating at times. I hope you’ll give it a try though. Summer Reading so far is really fun.