Book review: The Library of Lost and Found

The Library of Lost and FoundThe Library of Lost and Found
by Phaedra Patrick
Park Row Books

March 26, 2019
Genre: Contemporary women’s fiction
352 pages

Goodreads

With many other readers, I really enjoyed one of Phaedra Patricks’ previous novel, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper. I actually never took time to write a review about it, but I really liked the characters and the plot, as Arthur leaves his routine and follows the spirit of adventure as he is led from an object to the next. So I was expecting a lot from The Library of Lost and Found.

Click to continue reading

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2019: February wrap-up

FEBRUARY WRAP-UP

It’s still insanely cold around Chicago, so what better to do than curl up with a good book? I did read some interesting ones this month.
And I also DNFed two:

  • A Deadly Affection, by Cuyler Overholt. I explain why here
  • I tried briefly the upcoming In the Blink of an Eye, but found it super confusing and stopped quickly. So I have this brand new ARC, if anyone is interested in some swap

Let’s talk about good things now.
I’m still reading Don Quixote, basically by myself, as the people who organized the read-along seem to have stopped. I’m also late in the schedule, but slowly but surely, I’ll manage.
Everyday, I also read a chapter of Les Misérables in French, a read-along with one my students. It’s kind of neat to see her reactions, as she hasn’t read it yet, and doesn’t know what’s coming. Even though I read it decades ago, I no longer have the effect of surprise. We are almost done with volume 1.

So here is what I finished in February:

8 books:
7 in print 
with 2,391 pages, an average of 85 pages/day
(wow! I’m impressed: 2 were long books, one of them a manga!)
1 in audio
with 11H06, an average of 23 mn/day

4 in literary fiction:

  1. La vie mode d’emploi, by Georges Perec – in French
  2. The Goose Fritz, by Sergei Lebedev – ebook, for review
  3. Trace, by Pat Cummings – book won, middle grade
  4. The Library of Lost and Found, by Phaedra Patrick – ebook, for review

1 in poetry:

  1. Cocktails with a Dead Man, by Joe Albanese

1 in nonfiction:

  1. Earthern Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer According to the Patristic Tradition, by Gabriel Bunge

1 in manga:

  1. Orange, volume 1, by Ichigo Takano

1 in between nonfiction and historical fiction!!

  1. HHhH, by Laurent Binet – audio, in French

So yes, I finally found a manga that I really loved and devoured! It’s YA and romancy, two genres that I usually don’t like, but it’s a very interesting story actually, and the art is beautiful. I’m saving volume 2 for March, and I found the latest one by the same author as well!

MY FAVORITES IN FEBRUARY

HHhH Earthen Vessels

READING CHALLENGES & RECAP

Classics Club: 42/50 (until end of 2020)
2019 Calendar of Crime Challenge 1/12
Where Are You Reading?: 21/50 – to be finished in ??
Total of books read in 2019 = 15/100
Number of books added to my TBR this past month= 30, BUT I did manage to delete a lot of old ones.

Blog wise, you may have noticed a few posts for Thursday Travels. I’ll try to do this on a regular basis.

MOST POPULAR BOOK REVIEW THIS PAST MONTH

Are We French Yet

click on the cover to access my review

MOST POPULAR POST THIS PAST MONTH
– NON BOOK REVIEW –

Born a Crime chapter 9-14:
read along at Book Bloggers International

BOOK BLOG THAT BROUGHT ME MOST TRAFFIC THIS PAST MONTH

Modern Mrs Darcy
please go visit

TOP COMMENTERS OF THE MONTH

Judy at Keep the Wisdom
Karen at Booker Talk
Angela at Musings of a Literary Wanderer

BLOG MILESTONES 

1,924 posts
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Be sure to check the giveaway posted on my homepage!

*

Come back on Monday
to see the books I plan to read in March
and my exciting plan!

Eiffel Tower OrangeEiffel Tower OrangeEiffel Tower Orange

How was YOUR month of February?

2019-Monthly-Wrap-Up-Round-Up_300

Nicole at Feed Your Fiction Addiction
has created a Month In Review meme
where you can link your monthly recap posts
Thanks Nicole!

 

Mailbox Monday February 11

Mailbox Monday2 It's Monday! What Are You Reading2 WWW Wednesdays 2

Mailbox Monday,
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
and WWW Wednesdays

click on the covers to know more about them

BOOKS RECEIVED THIS PAST WEEK

Trace  The Republic

Trace:
US release date: April 2
“Haunted by flashbacks of the accident that killed his parents, the best he can do is try to distract himself from memories of the past. But the past isn’t done with him. When Trace takes a wrong turn in the New York Public Library, he finds someone else lost in the stacks with him: a crying little boy, wearing old, tattered clothes.”.
Not sure why I received this. I may have entered and won the contest, for a woman in my book club who has several grandchildren who devour books. No note was with the book. That’s Middle Grade fiction, but the story could be interesting. I’ll give it a try before giving it to her.

The Republic:
Received for review. US release date: April 30
“With a playful mix of literary and pop culture references, this novel immerses us in the world of the global intelligentsia, where the truth counts for less than what is said about it. Joost de Vries has written a biting academic satire, an absurd and exceptionally intelligent tale.”
Sounds like my cup of tea, especially as this was presented as similar to The Seventh Function of Language, by Binet, which I enjoyed a lot.
And Other Press often offers great books.

BOOKS JUST READ

FICTION

La vie mode demploi

POETRY

cocktails with a dead man

CLASSIC

The Moonstone

La vie mode d’emploi:
For classics club.
Just finished this fascinating work pertaining to the Oulipo movement.
Available in English as Life: A User’s Manual.
I’ll try to write my review soon.

Cocktails for a Dead Man:
Poetry, for review.
It was ok.

The Moonstone:
For classics club, audio.
Interesting structure. Good, but I preferred The Woman in White.

CURRENTLY READING

FICTION

The Goose Fritz

CLASSIC

don quijote

AUDIO

HHhH

The Goose Fritz: 
For review.
Russian literature. Interesting novel on the themes of personal and national history and identity.

Don Quixote:
For classics club – read-along
Thoroughly enjoying it, a chapter a day

HHhH
OMG, I’m so much enjoying Binet’s book! It’s related to Reinhard Heydrich, “the most dangerous man in Hitler’s cabinet”, but it’s also a book about writing, about writing historical fiction. The author inserts his reflections in the midst of the book, which is structured in very little chapters. So well done!
“A seemingly effortlessly blend of historical truth, personal memory, and Laurent Binet’s remarkable imagination, HHhH—an international bestseller and winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman—is a work at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing, a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the nature of writing and the debt we owe to history.”

BOOKS UP NEXT

FICTION

The Library of Lost and Found

MIDDLE GRADE

Trace

AUDIO

Walden

Library of Lost and Found
Really looking forward to this, because of the author.

Trace:
Won.
“In a debut novel that’s perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Erin Entrada Kelly, award-winning author/illustrator and educator Pat Cummings tells a poignant story about grief, love, and the untold stories that echo across time.”
I’m going to give it a try. See more above.

Walden:
For classics club.

GIVEAWAYS

2 giveaways listed on the Homepage

WHAT ABOUT YOUR READING?