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This was not a great reading month for me. First, I missed a week of reading because I was busy trying to watch the Tell Me Lies screen adaptation and was obsessed.
On the bright side, I had few wins: I took 2 weeks off from running because I was simply tired and lazy but I am back and ready for the Two Oceans Marathon. I am also excited to read The Hunger Games trilogy this week because I need to reread books that I love after honestly reading the worst romance novel this week.
I finally read Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Tatum. This is a great book to understand racism in a school setting and different ways educators can communicate to their students and colleagues on how to be anti-racist. If you have read Peggy McIntosh’s work this book feels like repetition but it’s still essential if you are interested in understanding racial inequality in America.
The worst part of my month was definitely reading two books that did not grab my attention and I really persevered to finish them.
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Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng ⭐⭐
Noah Gardner, a 12 year old boy, goes on a journey to find his missing mother. Noah’s mother disappeared and left her family without any explanation. Noah’s father destroys any evidence of her. One day, Noah receives a letter addressed to him as Bird – the nickname his mother gave him. After receiving the letter, Noah attempts to find his mother and understand her work as a political poet/activist who opposes the American regime.
I tried to enjoy this book but it felt so meh. The lack of speech marks made the dialogue so dull. I did not enjoy Bird’s mother POV and it is a dystopian novel but the topics discussed actually happen in real life. This felt like a history academic paper talking about xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment.
I know the title is significant because Our Missing Hearts became an important slogan in the book but its constant mention lost me. This book was not for me, prepare to be disappointed if you enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.
Beach Read by Emily Henry ⭐⭐
This book was so boring!!!! The characters were boring. The plot was boring. The dialogue was boring. The constant mention of Peloton was boring. I question why I put myself through this book expecting a different outcome. I even questioned the book cover but assumed it would be a light romance read.
Nora Stephens, a book lover and book agent, decides to visit a small town when her sister Libby asks for a sister’s getaway. She meets Charlie, an editor from the city and of course they fall in love with each other. I wish Book Lovers just focused on one romance trope instead of several romance tropes. To make matters worse I hated some of the real books mentioned in Nora and Libby’s reading list! 😭😀
I think I might have an Emily Henry problem because this book won Goodreads Best Romance in 2022. I have read all her other popular books and I had the same experience. People We Meet on Vacation was boring and I almost did not finish and disliked Beach Read because of the slow romance.
Please do not fall into the Emily Henry hype because I will never recommend her romance novels unless I hate you.
An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment. I do believe that you should publish more about this subject, it may not be a taboo matter but typically people dont discuss these subjects. To the next! Many thanks!!