The Dutch HouseCurrent fiction read

The Dutch House
By Ann Patchett
Buy from Amazon
Published September 24, 2019 by Harper

Ann Pattchett’s new novel has been getting a lot of buzz, and it’s the latest Today Show / Read with Jenna book club pick.

I’ll be honest, I have not been a huge fan of Patchett’s fiction in the past, although I know people who adore her. She’s obviously a gifted writer, but I had issues with State of Wonder. Bel Canto didn’t really do anything for me, and I just wasn’t interested enough to read Commonwealth.

I did, however, very much enjoy her essay collection, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. And I’ve been hearing lots of great things about The Dutch House, so I decided to give it a try, especially since I got it for free in a book exchange on Facebook.

From Amazon:

The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are.

I’m only about 50 pages in so can’t say much yet, but I’m enjoying it. Average rating on Goodreads at the time of this writing: 4.32.

Super AttractorCurrent non-fiction audiobook

Super Attractor
By Gabrielle (Gabby) Bernstein
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Published September 24, 2019 by Hay House

I read a lot of self-help / spiritual books, and quite often it seems like I pick up a book that is exactly what I need at that particular point in my life. Super Attractor is one of those books.

If you also read a lot in this genre, this book might not contain anything particularly new or groundbreaking. But it does contain a lot of good reminders and practical exercises. In fact, I might actually buy it in print after listening to it on audio, because I want to be able to easily go back and access the exercises during my morning routine.

Gabby is another author who has been hit or miss for me in the past. I didn’t really love her huge bestseller Spirit Junkie, but I got a lot out of The Universe Has Your Back. She describes this book as taking the concepts from Universe to the next level.

My only issue with this book is that Gabby tends to draw on her own life experiences to illustrate the concepts she discusses in her books. This isn’t always very effective, and it gets a little tiresome. Plus, if you’ve read a few of her books, the stories can feel repetitive. She has obviously worked with and coached a lot of people over the course of her career, so I wish she would make more of an effort to include other people’s stories in her books.

Average rating on Goodreads at the time of this writing: 4.32

Lightest Object in the UniverseBooks I did not finish in October

I mentioned in an earlier post that Searching for Sylvie Lee wasn’t doing much for me, and I ended up marking it as DNF around 50%.

I was also really excited for The Lightest Object in the Universe (and how gorgeous is this cover?) but I just wasn’t getting into it. I abandoned it around 25% in favor of In a Dark, Dark Wood, which I read in 3 days. I’m actually writing a thriller right now, so I’m trying to work in more thrillers around my usually literary fiction.

What’s on your reading list this fall?