Starting this Wednesday off with a question: How are you? There’s been so many positive things going on in my academic and personal life right now. For example, my in-person graduation ceremonies for my undergrad last year and my master’s degree are set for the same Friday in two and a half weeks! As I wrap up my master’s program, life has definitely been hectic and my reading and blogging lives have fallen a bit off the wayside in April. Life is SO different from last April (first full month of quarantine and being sent home from college early) vs. this April. I thought it’d be fun to take today to do the Last Year I Was Reading meme for the first time. Created by ReadingMaria, you take your current reads & compare it to the book you were reading last year at this time, considering the similarities or differences between them. 

Last year I was reading….

At the end of April in 2020, I read You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon. This was the first book I read by Rachel Lynn Solomon, who has become one of my all-time favorite authors. The book follows twin sisters, Adina and Tovah. They decide to take a genetic test to see if they test positive for Huntington’s Disease, which has wrecked their mother’s health over their high school careers. While one twin tests negative, the other tests positive. This book explores the twins’ complicated relationship, their family’s faith & Judaism, and their personal growth. I loved the plot and story, but I could not stand one of the main characters. 

I am currently reading….

I’m currently reading two books: Educated by Tara Westover and Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle. Educated was highly recommended to by my students and colleagues, since my students are currently completing a memoir unit. It feels weird saying I’m LOVING this book because there’s some heavy and at times gruesome material, but I find Tara Westover’s upbringing in a conservative Mormon household, in which her parents didn’t let her go to public school until she went to college, so fascinating. If you’re a fan of The Glass Castle, I highly recommend checking this one out.

• 

• 

I’m also reading Sarah Hogle’s Twice Shy, one of my most anticipated contemporary romances of 2021! After her estranged great aunt passes away, Maybell inherits her manor, which is currently being inhabited by her aunt’s grumpy groundskeeper, Wesley. Sarah Hogle has such a cozy writing style thats filled with humorous parts, and Twice Shy is no exception. I’m about halfway through and really enjoying it- I’m hoping to finish it one night this week or over the weekend. 

What are you currently reading? Have you read any of the books that I mentioned? Share in the comments!