Better Late Than Later

About 12 years ago, give or take a year or so, I was reviewing books for an independent website out of Texas. I loved it, even when I didn't like the book. I am opinionated, love to read, like to write. It was fun. It didn't pay; I did it for the enjoyment. My now ex-husband did not enjoy it. He didn't actually care about the reviews I was writing, never read them for that matter. He was bothered by the amount of time I spent reading. I was still in my twenties, and instead of standing up for what I wanted to do with my free time, I just stopped.

Just before this I had had a review picked up by Reuters, which the website I reviewed for told me was a BIG DEAL. It was exciting to see my name on a news site, and to read comments on my review. An independent publisher had used another review on the back cover of the author's book when it went to print. It was maybe the start of something bigger, but I folded to someone else's desires.

Last year I started a blog to track and review the books I read for the PopSugar and Around the Year in 52 books challenges. I made it a few weeks, maybe a month, and then felt guilty about it and quit.

Now I am 40. I've decided it's now or never. I stick with it this year and see what happens, or I just leave it be instead of coming back to the idea now and then. I really want to do reviews but then coming up with lots of reasons not to. So this is my upcoming year of no excuses. Read the book, write the review, do the laundry later.

Wish me luck (and give me any feedback you think I need to hear along the way)!

Comments

Sweet Water by Cara Reinard

Sarah Ellsworth is a mother of two teenage sons, one away at college and the other, Finn, still in high school. One night she and her husband Martin receive a frantic, disjointed call from Finn. They aren't sure what is wrong, but they know their son needs help. When they find him sick and disoriented in the woods, they also find the body of his girlfriend, who has injuries that make it look like she has been attacked. Sarah wants to do the right thing and call the police, but her husband, a member of one of the most prominent families in tow, has other ideas. He convinces Sarah to leave the body where it is and get their son home. He and his high-powered family have experience covering up incidents that might put them in a bad light, and the death of a teenage girl, perhaps at the hands of their son and grandson, is no different. Sarah goes along with the ruse, but is unhappy about it and becomes increasingly concerned about what exactly the Ellsworth's are covering up this ...

Hummingbird Lane by Carolyn Brown

Emma Merrill has had an incredibly challenging life. She has been living in a fog since her late teen years, and is feeling hopeless about her future. Sophia Mason, her childhood best friend, comes back into her life at an opportune time and the two set off together on a journey of self discovery. The two rekindle their once deep bond while staying in a trailer on the vast plains of south Texas, reconnecting over their shared love of art. While it seems at first a one way street, with Emma nedding Sophia to help her begin to finally heal, it becomes clear that these two need each other in equal measure. Both are weighed down by secrets, and rediscovering their friendship helps both finally speak their truths and look forward to the future. Told from multiple points of view, I found the premise of Carolyn Brown’s latest story interesting, but this book did not draw me in. The descriptions of the surroundings and people were well written and provided colorful imagery, but I found t...

The Last Town by Blake Crouch

The Last Town is the final book in the Blake Crouch's Wayward Pines trilogy. It has been three weeks after Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke wakes up in Wayward Pines, Idaho, and here we are at the story's conclusion. A nomad sent beyond the fence over three years before is on his way back to town, and his return is sure to shake things up, but as he makes his way back, the town is on the verge of a breakdown (or a breakthrough, depending who you ask). The residents that remove their chips to wander at night are free from surveillance, but that doesn't mean no one knows they are up to something. A murder pulls Ethan in two different directions. Who does he believe when push comes to show? David Pilcher, creator of the town and Ethan's new boss, or his former partner Kate Ballinger (née Hewson), who almost ripped his marriage in Seattle apart? Ethan has to decide, and quickly, as things rapidly deteriorate in Wayward Pines. Is it better to live a half life, or potenti...

207 Book Talk

Search This Blog