Christine Seifert's Blog: Lady Professor Reads, page 10

Vacation Time!

I’m on vacation next week, and my reading list has been determined by the holds that just came in from the library. So here’s what I hope to read next week:

   

I cheated and started The Good Daughter last night; it scared the liver out of me. After the first 10% I decided that maybe I didn’t have the constitution to keep reading it. I put it down and turned out the lights. Ten minutes later I got up and starting reading more. So I guess I’m in this one for the long-haul, even though the boo...

Review: The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

Elevator Pitch: Amber Patterson is sick of being a nobody, so she decides to get rich the the old-fashioned way: by marrying a super-rich dude. The only problem is that Jackson Parrish is already married to a beautiful and accomplished woman, Daphne, whom he adores. That doesn’t deter Amber, though. She insinuates herself into Daphne’s life, becomes her very best friend, and begins to rip at the fabric of Daphne’s perfect marriage. But like any psychological thriller, all is not what it seems...

Currently Reading

I’ve been reading less this week than last, in part because I’m in the midst of a few large writing tasks. But I did finish two books: The Queen and I and The Last Mrs. Parrish. I liked certain things about both of them, but I have a couple of rants to make, especially about The Last Mrs. Parrish. A review is coming.

I started two more:

  

And received July’s Book-of-the-Month from my club of one member (me):

On Writing

I’m working on my next book. It’s (loosely) about WWII, the French Resistance, and women who participated in the war, at home and in occupied areas. I have stacks of nonfiction, but I want some good fiction to put in a WWII mindset. What are your favorites?

Filling Reading Gaps

We all have a list of books we’ve wanted to read–or felt we should read–that we just haven’t gotten to. I have a zillion of them.

But here’s one I just got from the library that I’ve never read.

Murder, games, and mayhem? Yes, please.

To be totally honest, I hadn’t heard of the book until Liberty Hardy, my reading hero, mentioned it multiple times the All the Books podcast. I must fill this reading gap immediately!

 

Holidays Are for Reading

I’m going to start lying when people ask me what I’m doing for a holiday. If I answer honestly—that I’m going to sit on my patio, read a book, and enjoy the breeze, and when I’m done with that I’m going to sit on my couch and read a book, and then I’m going to go to bed and read a book—a lot of people seem to feel sorry for me.

“Oh,” someone sadly said to me this week, “that’s too bad you don’t have any fun plans for the Fourth of July.”

The truth is I would rather read than do just about any...

What I Read: June 2018

June was a lighter summer reading month for me because I went on vacation for ten days and didn’t do much reading at all during that time (save for plane reading). I did, however, read hard before I left town.

I read eight books in June:

To Explain the Word: The Discovery of Modern Science by Steven Weinberg
My Ex-Life by Stephen McCauley
The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth
The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy
News of the World by Paulette Giles
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Voices in t...

Review: The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth and The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

Elevator Pitch: Both books are about mothers who are facing difficult (even tragic) events related to their children, their marriages, and their friendships. Both books feature strong, smart women of means who are grappling with what it means to embrace their identities as mothers without losing themselves. While Hepworth’s book is set in laid-back Melbourne, Australia, and Molloy’s is set in upscale Brooklyn, both authors present characters who are so obsessed with the way they think they ou...

Rereading With Audiobooks

For years, I tried never to reread anything. My logic was that there are too many books out there that I haven’t read. I just don’t have time to reread. I’ve recently changed my mind about that. Some of my best reading experiences have been rereads. I’ve also discovered that the only way I like audiobooks is if I’m listening to something I already read and remember well. It’s a lovely experience hearing a beloved book come to life.

Here are two audiobooks that I listen to about once a year:

P...

Author Event: Me!

If you happen to live in Fargo, North Dakota, come say hi!

I’ll be speaking at the Fargo Public Library (main branch) on Tuesday, June 26 at 7 pm about my book The Factory Girls: A Kaleidoscopic Account of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.