Three Amazing Reads

I finished three amazing books this week. I typically get one or two duds for every great book I read, so having three books in one week that I absolutely love is a rarity that should be remembered and documented and celebrated.

The three books are pretty different too:

The Lost Wife was a book club pick for us. I personally love a good World War II book. This wasn’t my favorite ever (All the Light We Cannot See will always win), but it was an incredible story no less. It’s a story of two young lovers separated during the war. I found that it was hard to read at times. The details and descriptions of the concentration camp were tough to swallow. It was easy to forget that some elements of the book weren’t works of fiction, sadly. (In fact, a few characters were based on real people.)

I forgot about Where Am I Now? until I saw it in the bookstore. It’s the memoir of Mara Wilson (yes, Matilda). It’s a collection of short stories, and when I first heard about it, I knew I wanted to read it. To be completely honest, I only wanted to read it at first because Matilda was one of my favorite movies as a kid; it’s still a favorite movie of mine if I’m being honest! I wanted to be Mara Wilson because was was Matilda after all! I was hoping for behind the scenes information about the movie, or something like that I guess. The book had little bits and pieces about the movies she was in, but I was surprised that the book was so relatable. Despite being a “child star,” her stories touch on super common themes of just… growing up.

And finally, I listened to The State of Wonder as an audiobook. I typically avoid works of fiction on tape, but this one had come highly recommended. It only took a few minutes to get into, and the characters were easy to keep straight (my biggest complaint with audiobooks in general). It’s an adventurous book that’s rooted in science; you wonder by the end, what are the ethics of scientific discovery and to what lengths is it appropriate to go. Every time I would get in my car, I would look forward to my Bluetooth kicking in so I could pick the book back up. I would listen to the book for a five-minute minute drive or a five-hour drive. I devoured it really. The audiobook is about 12 hours, which makes it the perfect listen for long drives too.