It's Monday, New Facebook Page Edition

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Monday update. I thought I’d revive the practice since I’m welcoming all my vast Facebook fans. Hello, Facebook!

To initiate you newbies, my Monday posts are where I lay out all of the reading I’m going to do and apologize profusely for not fulfilling last week’s promises. That sums up two parts of my personality --- AMBITIOUS and GUILTY!

Here’s this week’s stack:

Last week, I reviewed two books – Angela Flournoy’s The Turner House and Toni Morrison’s God Help The Child. This week, I plan to add Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration to this set. This book has been on my leaning stack for years, and I added it to my 2015 TBR Pile Challenge in January. I also have a square in mind for this title on the Leaning Stack of Books Diversity Challenge Bingo game.

Here’s the summary on Goodreads:

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.

I also plan to read Ann Hood’s The Obituary Writer. I picked up this title at the Friends of the Seattle Public Library book sale years ago, and it is also on my 2015 TBR Pile Challenge. I am trying to make some headway with this challenge, because I have only read 2 of the 12 so far (again, AMBITIOUS and GUILTY).

Here’s the summary on Goodreads:

On the day John F. Kennedy is inaugurated, Claire, an uncompromising young wife and mother obsessed with the glamour of Jackie O, struggles over the decision of whether to stay in a loveless marriage or follow the man she loves and whose baby she may be carrying. Decades earlier, in 1919, Vivien Lowe, an obituary writer, is searching for her lover who disappeared in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. By telling the stories of the dead, Vivien not only helps others cope with their grief but also begins to understand the devastation of her own terrible loss. The surprising connection between Claire and Vivien will change the life of one of them in unexpected and extraordinary ways. Part literary mystery and part love story, The Obituary Writer examines expectations of marriage and love, the roles of wives and mothers, and the emotions of grief, regret, and hope.

And finally, I really need to finish Adult Onset by Ann-Marie MacDonald. I have enjoyed this writer’s other novels, and this one started out so great! I thought I would knock it off in a few days, but I have stalled. I'm still searching for a PLOT to pull me through to the end. 

Here’s the description on Goodreads:

From the acclaimed, bestselling author of 2 beloved classics, Adult Onset is a powerful drama about motherhood, the dark undercurrents that break and hold families together, and the power and pressures of love. Mary-Rose MacKinnon--nicknamed MR or "Mister"--is a successful YA author who has made enough from her writing to semi-retire in her early 40s. She lives in a comfortable Toronto neighbourhood with her partner, Hilary, a busy theatre director, and their 2 young children, Matthew and Maggie, trying valiantly and often hilariously to balance her creative pursuits with domestic demands, and the various challenges that (mostly) solo parenting presents. As a child, Mary-Rose suffered from an illness, long since cured and "filed separately" in her mind. But as her frustrations mount, she experiences a flare-up of forgotten symptoms which compel her to rethink her memories of her own childhood and her relationship with her parents. With her world threatening to unravel, the spectre of domestic violence raises its head with dangerous implications for her life and that of her own children.

So that’s my week. I will be back next Monday to apologize for not finishing. I hope you stick around – and follow this blog in whatever way suits you ("Like" on Facebook; Follow on Twitter; Subscribe or Follow by Email above…). Happy reading!