It’s a gorgeously mild sunny morning, a great way to end March Break and energize me for the return to work tomorrow. My steaming cup of chai and slice of delicious homemade date bread will certainly help me savour this lovely morning.
During this week off, I did far less reading than expected. I didn’t finish the Young Adult book I started early in the week, Famous Last Words by Katie Alender, and I’m not quite finished my book club book for tomorrow night’s discussion, Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld - I’ve still got more than a quarter of the book to read, so I’ll tell you about that one next week, once I’ve finished and we've had our discussion. I did, however, have plenty of opportunities to listen to audiobooks, and I finished one last week, The Twilight Wife by A J Banner. This novel is told from the point of view of Kyra Winthrop, a 34-year-old marine biologist who can remember nothing about the four years just before the diving accident that left her almost entirely reliant on her husband Jacob. Fortunately for her, Jacob is wonderful and attentive and good-looking, too! And he’s whisked her off to the seclusion of Mystic Island, where he inherited a sprawling house when his mother passed away, to rest and recover. But all may not be what it seems and when flashes of memory start to return, Kyra begins to suspect that Jacob may not be telling her the whole truth about the past four years, and it is up to her to piece together her own history while playing the role of the dependent, damaged wife. If this sounds familiar, it may be because there was another bestseller with this same theme not so long ago, Before I go to Sleep by S J Watson, which was also made into a film. And there were many similarities between these two titles: a main character who has significant memory loss due to an accident, a loving husband who cares for her, a suspicion that all is not what it seems, and an isolated setting, among others. I really enjoyed Watson’s book, which is probably why I chose to download this one, and it was pretty good overall, although I think Watson’s book was better. I didn’t love the narration, which may have affected my level of enjoyment, so I can’t really compare these two books fairly. I’ll just say that it would not be a waste of time to listen to or read this book if you like psychological thrillers where all is not what it seems.
And speaking of listening to a book versus reading it, I finally purchased a print copy of The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D by Nicole Bernier. I’ve listened to this as an audiobook twice and have loved it both times - the novel was great and the narrator, Angela Brazil, was fabulous! I enjoyed the book so much that I decided I wanted to be able to pick it up whenever I felt like it, so I ordered a copy online, but I’m curious about how much my enjoyment of the book was dependent on Brazil's presentation (she really did an amazing job of capturing the characters and the drama). I won’t read it right away, as I just listened to it a few months ago, but maybe I’ll revisit this book in the summer when I’m off work again and have plenty of reading time.
That’s all for today. Get outside and enjoy the sunshine!
Bye for now…Julie
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