Last week was Spring Break around here so we loaded the kids up and headed down to Southern Utah for a few days. It’s about a 5 1/2 hour drive for us so I knew I’d have a good chunk of reading time and packed accordingly. I managed to read a good amount so I thought I’d share a book report: travel edition!
Books I Packed
- The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P. Djeli Clark (novella, paranormal, adventure, magical realism)
- Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan (novella, irish fiction, historical fiction)
- Deep End, Ali Hazelwood (romantic comedy, romance/bdsm/mental health)
- If Cats Disappeared from the World, Genki Kawamura
Books I Finished
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan – This was a lovely book full of opportunities for introspection on ideals and morals. It left me feeling sad, thoughtful, and wishing that the author had continued the story in a few more chapters. The novella leaves the fate of the characters in limbo. I believe this is intentional so as to make the reader consider what might have happened to each of them and perhaps what would they would do if they found themselves in a similar situation. It certainly left me wondering.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P. Djeli Clark – I just love Clark’s writing. It’s witty, suspenseful, smart and fun. This was such a fantastic novella in which the main character, who is an assassin by trade, is given a job which seems typical at first. Except when she arrives, she realizes that not only is the person she is supposed to kill a young girl, but that girl is actually her kidnapped from another time. This book involves the undead, a goddess, and several other colorful characters. I loved it.
Books In Progress
In retrospect I probably shouldn’t have brought Deep End, Ali Hazelwood with me. I started it but just couldn’t get into a spicy, romance novel while on a family vacation. Ha! That being said, I finished it as soon as we came home.
And I still haven’t started If Cats Disappeared from the World, Genki Kawamura mostly because I own that book so I know I can read it anytime and need to prioritize my library books instead.
Books I Bought
We visited one of our favorite little bookstores, Back of Beyond Books and, while there, I picked out a book and so did my two boys. My husband is primarly an audiobook listener so he didn’t buy anything. My boys came home with My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George and Investigators, John Patrick Green. I had a hard time deciding but, in the end, I chose Tress of the Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson. I’ve been eyeing this book for awhile now, and haven’t really read much from Brandon Sanderson before, so I decided- why not? I’ll admit that this will probably sit on my shelf for several months while I catch up on library books, but that’s okay.
Do you take books on vacation? Physical, audio, or ebooks? Can you read in the car?
