Challenge Update, March 2018

There was a long stretch of the month when I thought I’d have nothing to report in this monthly update. I was in the middle of six books and was worried I’d never finish any of them. Thankfully, the spell broke right at the end of the month and I had an avalanche of books finished and I’m delighted to share my progress here. You can look at my progress at any time on my challenge page.

Books finished in March:

Pigs in Heaven//Barbara Kingsolver (5/5)
Son of a Witch//Gregory Maguire (1/5)
The Circle//Dave Eggars (4/5)
History of Wolves//Emily Fridlund (4/5)

One of these is coming this week and the other two will wait for next week. I’m not too far behind on reviews!

When Are You Reading? Challenge

6/12
I added only one this month with The Circle counting for my future-setting book. It never said definitively what year it was, but it was clearly a near future where we were all beyond Facebook. I’ll take it and happily sit with half of my books read at a quarter of the way through the year. Yay!

Goodreads Challenge

12/55
I’m one book behind now. I’m not that worried, I think I can catch up. I had two books partially finished that I’m jumping back into now that I’ve finished a few book club picks. I’m going to hope I catch up quickly in April.

Cover image via Goodreads

Book of the Month

It’s clear to me that I have to pick Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. This book blew me away and I kept wondering how Kingsolver was going to wrap it up. It was great to see Taylor, Alice, and Jax again and how their lives revolve around the adorable Turtle. I recommend it but suggest reading the first in the series first, The Bean Trees.

Added to my TBR

For the THIRD MONTH, I’ve added nothing! My TBR is standing steady at 97. I may have some book club picks to add to it soon so I’m not sure how much more it will drop, but I’m counting on some great progress in the coming months. Woo!

Personal Challenge

I used these monthly posts to keep myself accountable to my personal goals for 2017 and I’m excited to do that again this year. You all were so supportive before.

• Graduate and keep my 4.0- So far, so good in this class. I’m turning a big paper in now so we’ll see how that grade comes back. Fingers crossed!
• Travel to Europe with my husband- I booked all the transportation, now it’s time to book the fun things! Tours and tickets are the goals for this next month! I’m looking forward to this more and more every day.
• Complete a race per month- I did a 5K early in the month. A short distance to me but I was able to set a PR! I also ran into my high school English teacher which was a delight.
• Complete a 2018 Weather Blanket- I found a way to knit while I watch my online lectures which is helping me keep up. I’m in early March right now but I’m not feeling much pressure to hurry up. This is one where it’s easy to fall behind and catch up in one weekend.

How are your challenges going so far? I hope you’re off to a good start If you love historical fiction, give some thought to my challenge for 2018, it’s fun!

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 28-March-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

---

Currently reading: I’m still on hold with Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling but not for much longer! I’m speeding through my other books and I think I’ll be back to this one next week.
I’m much further into The Circle by Dave Eggers than I’d thought! I pulled out my physical copy to see and I’m in the last third of it for sure. I’ve been making an effort to pull it out more often in the past week and I think I can wrap it up pretty soon.
Still holding on The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp though I think I’ll start again soon!
I’m loving History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. It’s creepy enough to keep me reading but not so much that I’m afraid to read it before bed. The perfect mix. This will be a fun one to discuss.
As much as I complain about being in the middle of two books, I’ve started two more. The first is, as expected, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I started it during my long run on Sunday and got through a fair chunk. I’m really looking forward to seeing why so many of you loved this book!
The second is an audiobook for the car and this time around it’s The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is available as a CD audio so I’m starting it in the car. I heard Ishiguro read a chapter from it a while back and I know it’s going to be a bit more fantastical than I’m used to with him, but we’ll see how this goes.

Recently finished: The tidal wave is starting and I finished two books! The first was, as expected, Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. I took a homework break on Friday and finished up the last 20 minutes. I adored this book and I posted my review yesterday if you want to check it out. I gave it 5 out of 5 Stars.
The second was Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire which I finished Sunday. I honestly couldn’t wait for this book to be over. It wasn’t what I expected and I found the plot meandering and without a focus. I got sick of the politics because I wasn’t invested in the characters. I think it’s safe to say I’m done with this series.

Reading Next: It seems strange to think of more books to read with so many going already! I guess I’ll need a physical book next and it’s time for me to start chipping at the physical TBR in my living room. The next one there will be Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs. I adore Jacobs and consider him one of my favorite non-fiction writers. I found this book at a B&N sale a few years ago and I’m sad I haven’t read it sooner!

---

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Book Review: Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (5/5)

I read the first book in this duet a few years ago with some ladies from work and I ended up loving it. I was a bit skeptical going in, but I came out gushing about Kingsolver’s writing. I saw the sequel at a used book sale and picked it up with no idea when I’d read it. I finally got around to it on audio and I’m so glad I have.

Cover image via Goodreads

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

Other books by Kingsolver reviewed on this blog:

The Bean Trees (and Book Club Discussion)

Summary from Goodreads:

Six-year-old Turtle Greer witnesses a freak accident at the Hoover Dam during a tour of the Grand Canyon with her guardian, Taylor. Her insistence on what she has seen, and her mother’s belief in her, lead to a man’s dramatic rescue. The mother and adopted daughter duo soon become nationwide heroes – even landing themselves a guest appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show. But Turtle’s moment of celebrity draws her into a conflict of historic proportions stemming right back to her Cherokee roots. The crisis quickly envelops not only Turtle and her guardian, but everyone else who touches their lives in a complex web connecting their future with their past.

Embark on a unforgettable road trip from rural Kentucky and the urban Southwest to Heaven, Oklahoma, and the Cherokee Nation, testing the boundaries of family and the many separate truths about the ties that bind.

Kingsolver has an amazing gift to write. She makes me want to go back to Arizona in a heartbeat, to start with. She also creates characters you can see so clearly you’d think you met them. Jax is just incredible. Her dialogue is so realistic it’s scary and her descriptions are simply breathtaking. The plot in this one was a perfect continuation of the first book in the series and I’m glad Kingsolver revisited these characters and their unique relationships.

Barbie was the only character who didn’t feel believable to me. I’m sure there are people like Barbie, but she stuck out too much against these down-to-Earth characters who were so gritty and true and real. Alice, Taylor, and Jax were so easy to picture and relate to, I loved it. I wish Jax had played a bigger part in the book, but the Greer women didn’t need men to be happy so he wasn’t a big part of the change going on in Turtle’s life. Kingsolver’s ability to create a character is commendable and I really enjoyed seeing these people again.

I liked Alice best. I felt Taylor didn’t get a chance to shine in this book like she did before because her circumstances were so dire that she was scrambling and not reflecting her character. Alice, on the other hand, really shared her personality and her strength. She struck out on her own with a secret mission that was dear to her and she fell in love along the way. I loved that part of the story and learning about Alice was a wonderful time.

Even though I’ve never been in similar circumstances to these characters, they were so human that I felt I related to them well. They were well-rounded and their ways of thinking weren’t distorted to make the story work or build tension. They were logical. They made the same decisions I would have made if I were in their places. I also appreciated that there wasn’t anything they didn’t guess at that I saw coming as a reader. That sometimes makes me think poorly of a character and I’m glad I didn’t see the big twist coming in this book.

Barbara Kingsolver
Image via Appalachian Heritage.

I appreciated the time Taylor spent on the run most. It was a nice nod toward Kingsolver’s views of poverty in America without being heavy-handed. It was nice to see Taylor miss Jax, too. It was subtle, but it kept Jax in the picture and develop their relationship. Taylor was really creative in how she made ends meet and I applauded her for it. I thought the contrast between the two men she dated was a great subtlety, too.

I didn’t like what Jax did. I understand that it made them closer in the end, but it bothered me that he would fall into bed with someone else so quickly and be thinking of Taylor while it happened. It would have been easier to read if he’d been mad at her, which he might have been, but never thought or said. He clearly felt abandoned but never talked about it. I’m glad to know things will work out in the end, but I wish they didn’t have to get so messy first.

My audiobook was narrated by C.J. Critt. I liked her narration a lot but the voice she used for Turtle bothered me. If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have a bad thing to say. She was able to use a lot of different voices for the characters and I didn’t think any of them were particularly offensive (which I have before). The one for Alice made me smile.

The definition of family is put to the test in this book. Turtle says at one point that she doesn’t have a real family. She has their friends back in Tuscon, her grandma, and Barbie but she doesn’t see that as a family. When we find out about her family, the decision on who she belongs with is really murky. I liked the ending we got, but it was a bit convenient.

Writer’s Takeaway: There was nothing particularly memorable about the plot of this book. What made it so good and so memorable was the characters and the way Kingsolver writes. I love Taylor and Alice. Jax and Barbie made me smile. And the way Kingsolver described the setting, emotions, and the small moments people shared was incredible. Taking time to get the right metaphor is worth it if you can get an output anywhere close to Kingsolver.

I adored this book and these awesome characters. Five out of Five stars.

Until next time, write on.

 

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Related Posts:
Pigs in Heaven – by Barbara Kingsolver (1993) | alwaysreading1
Barbara Kingsolver: Her Life, Her Works & Her Words | Learn More Every Day
Let’s Discuss – Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver | A Morose Bookshelf
BONUS BOOK: Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver | The Banned Book Brigade
Book Review: Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver | redheaded wolf

WWW Wednesday, 21-March-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

---

Currently reading: I hate to say this, but I put Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling on hold for a little bit. Book club books call! I really hope I can get back to it soon. The ending was modified a lot to be more easily fit in the film’s constrictions so it’s like a brand new book.
I’m still plodding forward with The Circle by Dave Eggers. I hope I can renew it when my hold runs out this week. Maybe I’m going back-and-forth with someone else who’s trying to tackle this massive book. If that’s the case, I’ll switch to my other ebook.
I’ll get there with Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, though maybe not this week. I’m not having good luck with any of my books! I wish I could report some positive progress with at least one of them.
Of all my books, I think I’ll finish Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver next. I’m still enjoying it a lot on long runs but my runs are shorter with the weather refusing to warm up.
Still holding on The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. I might return to it soon if The Circle returns.
I started History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund and I can’t complain so far. I’m trying to finish this one quick so I can get back to Potter, though! I hope I don’t read so fast I don’t enjoy it.

Recently finished: Again, nothing! I think this is three weeks in a row? What a drought, the whole month of March. This has to end soon, right?

Reading Next: My next book club pick is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I’ve seen this book around for years and heard good things so I’m excited. I think this will be one I regret waiting so long to read. It’s available as an audio download so I’ll start it when I finish up Kingsolver. As long as it doesn’t delay me from finishing Potter, I’m happy.

---

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 14-March-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

---

Currently reading: Still moving forward with Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling. If I keep at it, I could finish next week, but I’m not going to hold my breath. My class has picked up and isn’t leaving a lot of time for reading. I’m hoping to watch both of the movies soon after I finish it.
I feel like I’m making great progress on The Circle by Dave Eggers but it’s such a long book that I’m really inching along. I have the hold for another few weeks and I hope that I can keep it going with another check-out.
I feel like I’m making progress on Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire though it’s a bit slower than I’d like. I still don’t see where this book is going. The arc seems to be weak so I’m wondering if I haven’t gotten to the true arc yet and I’m still wandering through the exposition. If so, it’s too long.
I’m halfway through Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. Her writing is amazing and I’m glad I’m getting to experience this one in audio. It’s almost better that way! Hearing her turns of phrase out loud is great and I can’t wait to see where this one ends up.
Still holding on The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. If I lose The Circle hold again, I’ll try to go back to it.

Recently finished: Nothing again! It will likely come as an avalanche of books finished and reviews to write again. I can’s say I particularly look forward to that but it is what it is.

I posted two reviews so at least I’m finally catching up there. I posted about John Irving’s A Widow for One Year on Thursday. I gave the book 4 out of 5 Stars. I watched the movie over the weekend and I’ll be posting about that tomorrow.
I also reviewed X by Ilyasah Shabazz and posted that yesterday. I’ll have two book club discussions and hopefully an author presentation to share for that one! I gave it 4 out of 5 Stars as well.

Reading Next: I found out I can’t get an audio copy of History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. Drats! I’ll try to finish Potter soon and pick it up then. If not, I’ll start it when I go to my next book club meeting and the issue is forced a bit more. Either way, I’ll get this one next!

---

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 7-March-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

---

Currently reading: I’ve made great progress in Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling. I’m through what was made into the first movie and I’m onto the second movie now, which is well over 1/2 way through. I’m starting to be more optimistic about ever finishing this one!
I got my hold back on The Circle by Dave Eggers! I’m reading it during lunch and waiting at the chiropractor again. It’s slow progress, but I’m making it through.
I had a fair number of drives into the city over the past few days so I made good progress on Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire. I’m going a bit slower than I really want to but I’m still enjoying it. I listened to the entire Wicked soundtrack at work on Friday because this one is getting to my head!
I haven’t been running as much so I’ve also made slow progress on Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. I hope the weather improves and I can run outside more which is where I do longer runs and can enjoy this one a lot more.
Since I got The Circle back, I’m going to hold on The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp for a bit. I’m sure I’ll trade back and forth as I lose and gain the holds on these two!

Recently finished: I didn’t finish anything this week. I’m so close to the beginning of many of these that I’ll probably go through a cycle like I did before and finish them all at the same time! This is making it hard to plan my reviews.

I posted a review of My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante on Monday. Please check it out when you have time. I gave it 4 out of 5 Stars.

Reading Next: I feel like I need to put something in here this week after leaving it blank two weeks in a row. My next book club selection (which won’t be discussed until April) is History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. I’ll see if I can get an audiobook of it and possibly jump-start and read it sooner rather than later. It’s always nice to be ahead.

---

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 28-February-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

---

Currently reading: I’m back to reading Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling. I bought a White Noise song to listen to on repeat so I could read this book on the airplane I’m over half way through it now! I’m not sure how long I’ll stick with it before another book interrupts but I’m being hopeful that this will be finished before summer rolls around.
Still holding with The Circle by Dave Eggers. Sad day.
Since I was on vacation for a few days, I didn’t get a chance to listen to Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire much. I have a few drives starting today that will give me some more time with it.
It’s a slow go with Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver as well but I got at least one long run in where I could listen to it. Again, being with family all the time isn’t ideal for audiobook listening so I was a bit slow here this week.
I got through a fair chunk of The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp on the plane when I finished X (see below). The narrator’s voice is really strong and I’m still adjusting to that but enjoying it all the same.

Recently finished: I finished X by Ilyasah Shabazz on the plane! It was a good read and really informative. I’m looking forward to hearing the author speak later this year. I’m sure it will be a little emotionally charged, but reading her bio, she’s a pro at these types of presentations. She’ll probably speak this summer.

No reviews this week because of my vacation. I’ve got a huge list of posts to write and I’ll be getting around to it soon, I promise! Its going to be my main focus this weekend (besides laundry).

Reading Next: Still no plans! I’ve got too much going to think about that just yet. I’m sure something will come along in a week or so and I’ll put it here then.

---

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 21-February-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

---

Currently reading: Unfortunately, I’ve had to put Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling on hold for a short while for a book club selection. I’m hoping I fly through it and can get back to this soon!
I have the saddest news. I lost the hold on The Circle by Dave Eggers! I went to read it at lunch yesterday and it had returned and when I went to check it out again, I couldn’t! I’m so sad that I’ll have to wait to get back to this story.
FINALLY! I’ve just started Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire this week! It’s great to get on to a new audiobook. I’m still getting into it so not much to report here. Trying to remember the first book is taking a lot of my concentration now, haha.
I also started Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. I remember Taylor and Turtle better than I thought I would. It’s  the side characters I don’t remember well but I’m sure I’ll pick it up quickly.
I started a book club selection as well, X by Ilyasah Shabazz. This is a fictionalized account of the story of Malcolm X as written by his third daughter. Shabazz will be speaking in my area later this year (or maybe early next year) so look for quite a few more posts about this book going forward!
Because I lost the hold on The Circle, I started another ebook. This time I picked The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. Yes, I realize that means I have six books going right now! This is a lot for me and I’m feeling more than a bit overwhelmed but I will press on!

Recently finished: I finished a book! I’m so excited to be able to say that after a long time of nothing making its way to this list. I wrapped up A Widow for One Year by John Irving. I adore Irving and this book was ‘classic Irving’ and it was great to read something of his. The last Irving book I read was very different from his normal style and topics so it feels like returning to an old friend.
I wrapped up My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante yesterday during my run. Woo! It ended a bit abruptly and I’m unsure if I want to keep reading the series and find out more about what happens to these characters. Let’s call it TBD at the moment.

No reviews this week! I’ll have ones for Irving and Ferrante soon.

Reading Next: I’m going to say I have no plans. I really hope to finish some of my six going on right now before I start worrying about what comes next. I think I have too much on my plate already, haha.

---

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 14-February-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

---

Currently reading: You’ll notice a pattern in this post. It’s exactly the same as last week. Yep. I’m really close to finishing A Widow for One Year by John Irving and I’m banking on finishing it by next week. I feel like there’s a lot of action still to go, but the disk count shows that I’m close to the end so we’ll see how Irving wraps this one up.
I’m almost halfway through Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte by J.K. Rowling which I see as a big accomplishment. I did a lot of reading on a snowy day that kept me indoors all day and got through about 50 pages in one day! And I didn’t have to take a nap afterward!
I’m almost halfway through My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. The weather has made it hard to get out for my long runs which is where I make great progress on this one. Maybe the book fairies will give us a break in the weather so I can listen more? Or maybe we’ll get another 11 inches, who knows?
I’m barely making progress in The Circle by Dave Eggers. It’s going to be a long haul on this one. That’s nothing against Eggers or his book, just the nature of my ebook reading that keeps it slow and plodding. This will slowly make its way to the top of this paragraph as it sits on my ‘Currently Reading’ shelf for ages.

Recently finished: Sadly, nothing again. I don’t even have any reviews to report on. It’s just been that kind of week.

Reading Next: I’ll be getting Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire from the library this week so I can start it right away. I hope I remember enough from the first book to dive into this one without too many problems!
I also plan on starting Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver when I finish Ferrante’s book. I read the first book in this duology a few years back but I remember it pretty well. I adored that the small girl was named Turtle! I’m excited to hear more about her.

---

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Book Club Reflection: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

This is quite long delay, but my work book club had a quick little discussion of Barbara Kingsolver’s book The Bean Trees that I want to share with you all. You can read the review I wrote of the book here. I gave this one a full five out of five.

The other ladies agreed with me that the book had a delightfully strong voice. A lot of Taylor’s personality came out in the way she spoke. We didn’t get to know Lou Ann as well because her portion was narrated in the third person. When we were first introduced to her character, one woman really wondered how they would come together, being so far apart geographically and having so little in common. Well, we came to find out very quickly.

We liked all of the characters, even the smaller characters. A favorite was Taylor’s mother. She was a strong woman to raise Taylor on her own and she was a good mother and still let Taylor be herself. It was sad that Taylor wanted to leave so badly, but it was good that her mother let her chase that dream.

We thought Lou Ann had a very non-traditional approach to family. She had a strained relationship with her mother, who had a bad relationship with her mother-in-law. However, Lou Ann loved her ex-husband’s family because they mutually disliked her ex-husband. It wasn’t really a surprise that her character would so easily accept Taylor and Turtle into her extended family.

Matti was a great character as well. She was very brave to do what she did and even braver to be so outspoken about it. She was a good person at heart and it was her warmheartedness that led to her breaking the law.

My very own Turtle, Jane.

Turtle was a good name to give Turtle/April. We know Taylor gave it to her because she was grabby, but she was also in her own shell a lot of the time. (As a side note, not all turtles are afraid of everything all the time. This is my turtle, Jane. She’s very outgoing.) She was able to be pulled out of her shell gradually so that she wasn’t afraid all the time. But can you really blame the girl? I don’t.

One of the other women pointed out that Taylor was very passive aggressive, which I hadn’t noticed the first time through. When someone handed her a child, she didn’t object.  I’m not sure you can get more passive aggressive than that. There were other times when she didn’t fight back against what was happening to her; when she realized she loved Estevan, when she was initially uncomfortable with the relationship with Lou Ann, etc. What changed her was when she might lose Turtle. She couldn’t stand that thought.

We found it strange that there was no concern over money in the book. Lou Ann and Taylor are both making minimum wage (or there about) but don’t seem to worry about what they can buy or how they’ll pay rent. I make more than minimum wage and I still worry about that stuff! I wish I had their confidence.

One woman in our group made a comment about how much violence there was in the book and I hadn’t noticed it until she said something. It was all implied violence, none of it really happened in the plot of the novel. There was the death by tire explosion, the murders and kidnappings that chased Estevan and Esperanza out of their country, and there was Turtle’s implied abusive background. I liked that Kingsolver kept the violence in the background so it wasn’t a focus, but it was used to move the plot along.

We also found a lot of religious satire in the book. Jesus is Lord Used Tires was kind of funny in name, but the place itself was a haven for the refugees. They were some of the most religious people in the whole book. When Taylor saw the 1-800-THE-LORD phone number, she thought it was going to be somewhere she could turn to and get answers, but it turned out to be a fundraiser. The characters found religion in very unexpected places.

The event we talked about the most was the adoption scenes. Reading about Esperanza giving Turtle away was so hard to read because of what it put Esperanza through. It was a lot for Taylor to ask of her new friends. It was almost as if Esperanza was loosing her daughter twice. I asked if it might have been therapeutic, but we agreed it wasn’t. Turtle even looked like their daughter, which only makes things worse.

Ultimately, was the adoption the right thing to do? We think that there were a lot of other things Taylor should have tried first. There were relatives somewhere, even if the mother was dead. The woman who gave Turtle to Taylor could have been a surviving relative. Speaking of that, Taylor might have tried resisting the child in the beginning. If someone hands me their kid, I think I’d ask a few more questions. Mattie might have been helpful in locating her parents, she seemed to have some good connections. However, the adoption is what was best for Turtle. It gave Taylor a purpose, too, and the two of them were a great team.

The adoption was a big step for Taylor’s character. In the beginning, she resisted the non-nuclear family she was forming with Lou Ann, thinking that it somehow meant less because they weren’t related. But the non-nuclear families in this book were the strongest. Taylor left her mother behind, but not Taylor. Lou Ann’s ex-in-laws loved her more than their son. And the closest relationships were friendships.

The next book we’re reading together is Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, which I’ve just started. We’ll be talking about it in the new year.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!