Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The Reading Groove - March 12, 2014


When you read as many books as I do, it is inevitable to experience burnout.  Believe it or not, occasionally there comes a time when I just don’t want to start another book.  The cure for this always comes in the form of a book so good that it makes me want to surround myself with books and start reading again.  The book I reviewed below is such a book and I literally could wait to reach for my e-reader each night. 

Currently Reading:
  • My Life in Middlemarch  by Rebecca Mead
  • Partials: Book One in the Partial Sequence by Dan Wells
  • Fifty Years in Polygamy: Big Secrets and Little White Lies by Kristyn Decker (received through NetGalley)
On Deck:
  • The Dream Dress by Janice Thompson (received through NetGalley)
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  • Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
  • The Kids Will Be Fine: Guilt-Free Motherhood for Thoroughly Modern Women by Daisy Waugh (received through LibraryThing)
Recent Reviews:

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh (received through NetGalley)
5 Stars

Set deep in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, author Laura McHugh writes about the small town of Henbane and the impenetrable ties of family.  This novel links two seemingly unrelated disappearances through the alternating narratives of present-day seventeen year old Lucy and her mother before she mysteriously disappeared.  The mystery unravels slowly and the missing pieces of what happened to Lucy’s mother as well as the other girl (Lucy’s childhood friend) are revealed one by one so that there are few twists but that in no way distracts from the eeriness of the book.  The author portrays the strange town of Henbane and the Ozarks beautifully and tragically.  The characters are complicated, imperfect and relatable.  Even the cruel ones had some redeemable qualities. 

The only time when this book lost some steam was during the second part, when multiple points-of-view were added in to show different aspects of the story which added an interesting perspective but also slowed down the story.  Overall, I thought this was an amazing book and I am excited to read her future novels.  I received this book through NetGalley.

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