What is Tuesday Talks, you may ask? Well as you all know, I am an avid reader. One might call me any of the following:
- Book worm
- Nerd
- Bibliophile
- Bibliomaniac
I only wish I could share my love for books with the whole world but unfortunately, not everyone is as keen on reading.
Anyways for those out there who do enjoy a good book--or even those who are looking to be more engaged with reading, it's that magical time of the year. The time of the year where reading is encouraged and emphasized. People load up on summer reads, in preparation for those relaxing days on the lake, beach, etc. The time of the year that I so anxiously look forward to. SUMMER!
To emphasize my excitement for summer, a super Instagrammed picture of two new bathing suits I ordered from Zaful + the most perfect pair of folding Ray Bans. Also proof that my white comforter is still crisp and not tarnished from the number of times I eat in bed (sorry, Mom).
If you are one of those book loving people that I'm talking about, Tuesday Talks is for you. This is a time for me to provide book recommendations, upcoming reads, details on what I'm currently reading, book genres, authors, etc.
The one thing I am asked the most is to provide book recommendations--you'd actually be surprised how many times a week I'm asked for this. This spans from close friends to friends from middle school that I haven't chatted with in years.
What this pretty much means is that I make my book worminess quite known. I'm a nerd and I'm proud.
Look no further, this is a weekly post (phew, that's a big commitment for me) where I will welcome suggestions, questions, feedback, and anything else. If you're looking for a good thriller, let me know! I would be happy to base a Tuesday Talks blog on some of my favorite thrillers. If you're thinking about purchasing a book that I've read, I'm happy to include my thoughts on the book. Hell, if it isn't a book I've read, I'm happy to order it, read it, and then provide my thoughts.
For this first edition of Tuesday Talks: Catching Up on this Week's Titles, I'm thrilled to share my thoughts on a book I finished last night.
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins (author of The Girl on the Train)
Overall, I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
This book came out right before we were making a selection for our next book club book. I couldn't have been more thrilled--no pun intended but thrillers are easily my favorite type of novel, especially for summer reads--when BOTM emailed saying it would be available as an add-on for the month of May. I love when a book has me so enticed I'm unable to put it down. The mystery of "who-dun-it" keeps me up until the wee hours of the morning, guessing "was it Colonel Mustard in the dining room with a candlestick?"
Now there are certainly pros and cons to this book. With a whopping twelve main characters--each chapter written from a different perspective--and a few additional characters you need to be familiar with, I struggled at the beginning of the book to remember who's story I was reading. This isn't a book you can half read and still understand what's going on. Trust me, you wouldn't want to treat this book like that anyways. Once I started, I found it difficult to stop.
To give a little bit of back story for this novel, it focuses on a small town where women have been mysteriously committing suicide in a place often referred to as the drowning pool, a still pool of water in the town's famous river. It dates back hundreds of years when women were suspected of witchcraft and taken to the pool to be murdered in front of the town's people. Since then, things haven't gotten much better for the townspeople.
With two more deaths happening within a year, the mystery really revs up. You will be pulled in many different directions. I am not lying when I say that you will not know who has truly "dun-it" until the very last sentence. I was shocked and I was gripping my book so intensely, my fingers turned white.
I've read a few reviews this morning and have found that some were not impressed with this book. While I agree The Girl on the Train was a great breakthrough novel, I find Hawkin's most recent story was unpredictable. I easily guessed what had happened in TGOTT. (Side note: My boyfriend commended my ability to guess the ending for movies and books quite accurately early on but this book was a first where I was completely wrong.)
I suggest that you add this book to your summer reading list and try to read it slowly. Spoiler alert: it's nearly impossible. My book club's meeting is in a week and a half and I wanted to really prolong this book... that was a failed attempt as I blew through the last 150 pages last night.
For any of my thriller friends, have you read this book? If so, let me know what you think! As always, please be mindful with spoilers as those can certainly ruin someone's day. If you're not much of a thriller fan, what kind of novels do you prefer? Is there a book you've been thinking about reading but you're not quite sold?
As always, I hope my effort with Tuesday Talks will inspire those to pick up a new book or share their thoughts and preferences. Who says you have to be in a book club to get the same joys? Online book club sounds just as fun. Sharing your passion with others is inspiring enough. Let's just hope when I have children that they like reading half as much as I do.
Here's to setting a reminder on my calendar to post every Tuesday. To good books and summer days! Xx
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