Morning…hope you are having a good weekend. Ours has been perfectly quiet, if a little wet as we have been pounded by rain over the last few days. It’s about to get a little noisier though as we are heading off to a children’s party in a bit.
Reading wise, I was in a bit of a slump last week after the disappointing The Bed I Made by Lucie Whitehouse and it continued with Fair Play by Tove Jansson. Neither book did anything for me I’m afraid, though for different reasons. The Bed I Made was slow and didn’t have enough tension or twists and turns whilst Fair Play was well written but felt more style over substance.
Hopefully, I’ll have more luck this week, though I haven’t made it very far in Little Girl Gone, which I started last week so who knows. I have tried to step outside my comfort zone a little again this week and pick books I wouldn’t normally.
Honor Bright is a modest English Quaker who moves to Ohio in 1850, only to find herself alienated and alone in a strange land. Sick from the moment she leaves England, and fleeing personal disappointment, she is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape.
Nineteenth-century America is practical, precarious, and unsentimental, and scarred by the continuing injustice of slavery. In her new home Honor discovers that principles count for little, even within a religious community meant to be committed to human equality.
However, drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, Honor befriends two surprising women who embody the remarkable power of defiance. Eventually she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal costs.
On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
And finally, November 9, for the Caffienated Book Club.
Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day of her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.
And that’s it for me. How has your week been? What have you been reading?
Emma
This week, I’m linking in with Kimba at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer and her Sunday Post and with (a little early) with Katherine at Book Date for It’s Monday, What Are you Reading? Head over to see what other bloggers have read, written about or just added to their shelves.
One Readers Thoughts 
I’m in the middle of November 9 🙂 I’ve never read In cold blood, but now that you’re making me think of it, I’d love to ! Have a great sunday 🙂
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I have to start…and before spoilers! I have always wanted to read Truman Capote but never have. I hope it’s good. Have a good week!
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Your reads look good this week, hopefully they’ll be a little more engaging. We had about two days of rain and sleet (and even a hit of snow) but it finally cleared. Hope you have a good weekend… 🙂
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I do hope so. I just want to want to turn the pages. And I have to say I would prefer snow to rain. Have a good week.
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My daughter read and loved In Cold Blood for school a year or two ago. If you like the book you might want to watch Capote. I think it was on Netflix for awhile. It’s about him when he was writing In Cold Blood and is apparently unnerving.
I had a few weeks where all my books were meh and I definitely hit a slump but it looks like you’ve got some great books to bounce you out of yours this week.
Have a fantastic week!
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Good to know. I have seen Capote on Netflix but never watched it. I did want to then kept picking some teen vampire angst TV show or something else with vampires…my guilty please. I will see if it’s still in there.
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I found In Cold Blood to be more like a “reportage” of events, which makes sense, I guess, since Capote came to Holcomb to report on events and possibly write a magazine piece. Since it’s nonfiction, it is hard to make something like this read like a novel, or for the author to “show” us what’s happening. But in the process, it felt cold and dry.
I did enjoy the movie based on the book….maybe because they can “show” us events.
I hope you have a better reading week…mine last week slogged along until I finally snapped up two engaging novels.
Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
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I did wonder how it would be written. It’s just one of those books I have always meant to pick up, I’ve not seen the movie but will look out for it now.
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I need to start reading November 9, hope you enjoy it
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Sorry you haven’t been LOVING your reads. I do want to read November 9…hope you enjoy it!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com
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I know it happens to all of us I just feel grumpy cos I was on such a roll. In the grand scheme of things, it is small but I wouldn’t be me without a bit of a moan.
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November 9 looks so good. Plus, it’s Colleen Hoover, so I am sure you will enjoy it. I hoe you get out of your reading slump soon, as in I hope your next read is awesome. Have a great week!
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I’ve never read Colleen Hoover before but this gets good reviews so far. Looking forward to it.
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I bought The Last Runaway a few years ago but never felt in the mood to read it, even though I love TC. Something about this just didn’t appeal. I think I gave it away so I hope your review won’t make me regret that!
November 9 was asdkfsafj;j;as;asf!
Hope you all had fun at the party 🙂
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The Last Runaway isn’t my normal type of book and I’ve only read The Girl With The Pearl Earring but I am trying to read outside my comfort zone more. I’ll let you know if you need to buy another copy 😀
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Bummer you had two disappointing reads. I will start November 9 after readathon. Hopefully that one makes you smile!
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I hope something can make me smile (fake grumbles there)…I plan on starting soon.
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I joined the Caffeinated Book Club but I won’t participate in the reads until January because of work. November 9 sounds really good and I hope you enjoy it! Have a great week!
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I still haven’t started it! I will, I will, I will…it is supposed to be really good,
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Oh, it’s so frustrating when you get a couple of bad (or at least, not-good) books at once. Although it does make an enjoyable book far more so when you’re back in that familiar feeling of reading bliss!
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It is a bit of a bugged to be honest but hey ho, I will get there again I’m sure. 😀
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I’ve hardly read anything outside of nonfiction this month. I decided to venture out and reserved a bunch of fiction for Thanksgiving week.
http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2015/11/vemos-sandra-cisneros.html
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I like non-fiction but variety is the spice of life I think…
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It’s a shame your reading material last week wasn’t exactly right for you – I hope this week is better. In Cold Blood is a book that has been on my wishlist for a while now.
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I guess we all hit slumps now and again. Maybe I just need to give up and watch TV. I do hope Truman Capote is good. I have high hopes after reading reviews.
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Sometimes books don’t work out, but I guess we should be surprised that so many of them are such great reads. Hope you have those kind in the ocming week.
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We probably should – and October was a great month. I should probably learn to stop reading when I don’t enjoy a book too!
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I know that Tove Jansson wrote a lot of other novels apart from the Moomins – and I am really looking forward to checking those out – too bad though that it didn’t work for you.
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I knew very little to be honest. I would still say she is worth reading…even if not for me.
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bummer about your reads, last week nothing held my attention. fingers crossed this week is better for both of us. I really liked November 9, I read it for a book tour and I love CoHo’s writing but I can’t wait to talk about it in book club. Have a great week and happy reading 🙂
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Fingers crossed for both of us…though glad not just me that gets in a rut! Have a good week.
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Nice week.
The Last Runaway looks good.
I hope you are having a good week this week.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My It’s Monday, What Are You Reading
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I hope it is…now I just need to get to it!
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