Links I Loved This Week – 07/21/17

It’s early morning this Friday as I write this post, and as soon as I’m finished, I’ll be heading out to the beach for a full day of solo reading in my trusty beach tent. I’m really lucky to have gotten today off work so that I can get a jumpstart on getting through most of Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari (which I will be reviewing on Monday) and also starting Into The Water by Paula Hawkins for my May 2017 Book Of The Month delivery. I’m bringing some snacks and planning on at least 5 hours of uninterrupted beach and reading time. Ready. Set. Go.

For those of us still on the weekly grind this Friday, you may find some solace and entertainment in this week’s links. Only one more day till the weekend!

Book Blog Posts I Loved

• I wish I’d had this genius idea myself, because it feeds into all my Excel-making OCD tendencies, but if you haven’t yet make sure to check out Book Scrolling’s Ranking Of The Best Books Of 2017 So Far. They aggregated results for many different lists of the Top Books Of 2017, including ones from Amazon, Bookbub, The Washington Post and Barnes & Noble to create the ultimate ranking. It includes 37 books that were on more than one of the aggregated lists, and hundreds more that were only included on one list. This should keep you busy reading well into 2018. Thanks to Sarah’s Book Shelves for sharing on Facebook.

• If you’re looking for even more TBR fodder, this list from Lindsay’s Library in which she shares 10 2017 Releases She Enjoyed And 10 She Hopes To Read Soon had some amazing titles. They’re all either ones I’ve read or that have already made my way on my TBR, so it was really cool to see them all in one place. Great taste, Lindsay!

• It’s always hard to know which books will end up being good on audiobook, because so many variables are involved. Not just the writing style of the book itself, but of course also the ability and orating skill of the audiobook narrator. The titles included in Susie’s post Audio Reviews: The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo & Since We Fell on Novel Visits made me wonder if I should listen to them on audiobook rather than read them. I have the hardcovers from Book Of The Month, but we’ll see.

• Everyone still seems to be talking about Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, not least because Reese Witherspoon has scooped up the film rights and plans to start in the film adaptation herself. I’m still on hold from the library for the audiobook (which apparently may be the way to go when reading this), but it’s so interesting to continue reading of people’s varying reactions to the book. Sarah’s Book Shelves didn’t like it as much as she expected, based on the buss. Here is her review.

• In the absence of Top Ten Tuesday, Top Five Wednesday is still going strong. This week’s topic was very interesting: Books That Aren’t Set In The Western World. It’s so important to read outside of the usual American and European settings that are so often chosen for fiction and nonfiction alike. I liked the lists included on Lois Reads Books, Pace, Amore Libri, A Little Book Life and Hopewell’s Public Library Of Life.

Book Reviews I Loved

• Here are the individual book reviews I read this week that inspired me to consider adding the titles they covered to my ever-growing TBR pile:
  • The New Odyssey by Patrick Kingley on Parchment Girl (Nonfiction)
  • Astrophysics For People In A Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson on Hitha On The Go (Nonfiction)
  • Hum If You Don’t Know The Words by Bianca Marais on It’s Book Talk (Novel)
  • The Vanishing Of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase on What Cathy Read Next (Novel)
  • You Don’t Know Me by Imran Mahmood on Bibliophile Book Club (Novel)
  • The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry on She Reads Novels (Novel)

• On Monday I published reviews of the three books included in my April 2017 Book Of The Month delivery: American War by Omar El Akkad, Startup by Doree Shafrir and The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck. I actually really liked all of the picks from this month, which was a great surprise. Typically there’s one book that I really don’t enjoy in a batch. I’m keeping up with BOTM posts every other week and am on track to be caught back up with them by September.

• On Thursday (one day late) I posted a review of historical crime mystery Death Of A Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel. It’s not the type of book I may have picked up otherwise, but it was the July selection for my Wellesley book club and I ended up really liking it. It’s set in Francoist Spain following the Spanish Civil War and right before World War II, which was a setting I was less familiar with and eager to learn more about. Death Of A Nationalist is the first installment in a 4-part series starring the same main detective/policeman character, and I may just have to pick up the second book one of these days.

• What I have planned for next week is an Author Spotlight of Yuval Noah Harari on Monday to review his two recent and connected books Sapiens and Homo Deus, a post on Wednesday with a 1000 Novel Series review of Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and of course another Links I Loved This Week post on Friday!

• So I’ve been going on and on about my amazing new beach tent on social media (if you don’t follow me on Twitter and Instagram, please do!) and I thought it might be time to share the actual Amazon link for those of you who would like to get one for yourself. It’s not an affiliate link, I just seriously love this thing THAT much. UV protection for all day reading without having to reapply sunscreen, windows on all sides that let in the breeze, and mosquito netting to keep the pesky sand flies out. What more can you ask for? And it pops open in exactly one second.

• Sometimes the pressure of being single in my 30s does get to me a little bit. There are just so many steps from here to the family I think I probably want that it seems kind of pointless to even get started. Most of the time, however, I’m just lounging by the pool with a mojito, making all my own decisions. I loved this post on The EveryGirl that highlighted are the best reasons that Being Single In Your 30s is incredible.

• I read my fare share of fashion blogs, but I found The Rescue Runway really inspirational and creative. The founder takes pictures with shelter dogs from different facilities in her city to raise awareness about them and up the odds of each dog being adopted. The pictures are beautiful and the motivation even more so.

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Any articles or blog posts from the book world that you really enjoyed this week? Share them in the comments!

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Please note this post contains affiliate links for Book Depository.