Weekly Reading Wrap-Up: a memoir (ish), a rom-com true crime mystery, & a Southern Literary Classic

In which I share my reads from this week, my progress on ongoing reads, and my mid-month (ish) check-in.
Time Stamps
00:00 Intro
01:20 The Great Eight by Scott Hamilton
03:40 The White City by Grace Hitchcock
06:20 Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
14:50 Paradise Lost by John Milton
21:20 Ongoing Reads
24:22 June Mid-Month Check-In
Friends Mentioned
‪@OldeAmericanSpirit‬
‪@beautifulminutiae‬
‪@ChantelReadsAllDay‬
‪@Shellyish‬
(some of the) Books Mentioned
The Great Eight by Scott Hamilton
The White City by Grace Hitchcock
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The Heir of Redclyffe Hall
Love Overboard by Shannon Hale Dunlap
A Moonbow Night by Laura Frantz
Stay in Touch
On Goodreads: / abcdefg88piano
On Instagram: / insearchof_wonder_
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On Voxer: web.voxer.com/u/insearchofwonder
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My Amazon Wish List: www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls...
ThriftBooks Wish List: www.thriftbooks.com/list/shar...

[@protagonistspub]

You are right about complex characters and they are far and away my favorite type.

[@insearchofwonder]

Yes! The ones with meat on their bones lol.

[@lindsaylou_lemus]

Getting that reading reading in on vacation!

[@insearchofwonder]

Oh yes! It helps that I'm not the one driving. 😂

[@lindsaylou_lemus]

Can't wait for the vacation vlog ❤❤

[@insearchofwonder]

Gotta edit it! 😬

[@OldeAmericanSpirit]

Can’t wait to hear full review when you finish with ‘the Heir’ book. Love these videos you do weekly.

[@insearchofwonder]

We're hoping to finish this week, but again, I don't have my Kindle. 😔 So we'll see if I fully finish it or not.

[@ChrissiesPurpleLibrary]

Love this little library

[@insearchofwonder]

Thanks!

[@ChrissiesPurpleLibrary]

Zora ❤Love this book! Such an interesting story and perspective. I really need to reread it again!

[@insearchofwonder]

I really enjoyed it!

[@OldeAmericanSpirit]

Love Overboard 🚢 🚢 woohoo! So much fun. Thx for mention of the club.

[@insearchofwonder]

Yes! Can't wait to get my Kindle back so I can catch up. 😂

[@OldeAmericanSpirit]

@@insearchofwonder Bless your heart! I thought about you when I was reading yesterday, wondering if you succumbed to reading on your phone out of curiousity! 😆When do you get it back?

[@OldeAmericanSpirit]

Enjoyed your full explanation of ‘Paradise Lost.’ SO interesting!

[@insearchofwonder]

I'm really enjoying it!

[@lindsaylou_lemus]

Yeeted 😂😂 yassss we yeet what we don't want

[@insearchofwonder]

You know that's right! Yeet that baby right on outta here. 😂

[@ChautonaHavig]

I agree on The White City. I loved learning about the Ferris wheel (I had no idea the cars were the size of like trolleys!!!) I think they really worked to not to show it not as gruesome as it was. No worries, you'll get the gruesome in The Blue Cloak. So if you want that, there you go! LOL

[@insearchofwonder]

Haha we'll see how I feel about that when I read it. Might be the opposite extreme from what I'm hearing. 😂

[@CandlewickLibrary]

Paradise Lost was an interesting read. Some parts I just slogged through, and other parts I really enjoyed.

[@insearchofwonder]

Yeah there's been some slogging here and there. But the annotations and summaries have helped me tremendously. I'm just really enjoying Milton's rich imagination and solid grasp of biblical themes and theology.

[@ChrissiesPurpleLibrary]

Haha you saying “GWORL!” Took me out😂 Loved hearing your thoughts about Zora’s book. The MMC decisions 👀☕️😂

[@insearchofwonder]

Haha! Sometimes it's the only thing left to say. LOL

[@BookLoverAmanda]

Ooo I think I might like the Grace Hitchcock book

[@insearchofwonder]

I think you would! It's a fun historic rom com mystery!

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

You've almost convinced me to read And Their Eyes. I trust your opinions more then a few others that I've seen talking about it. 😅 I love getting to hear more from you on summer break!🎉

[@insearchofwonder]

I didn't address it specifically in my video but there are definite overtones of feminism. That's what I was referring to when I said there were aspects to the messaging that I didn't agree with, and I also didn't agree with the protagonist 's self-centered self-destructive choices that were, I think, meant to be demonstrative of her feminist nature. So there's that. That's probably what you've heard referenced. On the flip side, many feminists don't like this book because Janie's life and choices revolve around the men in her life. So it doesn't fully fit in the feminist world either, which might be why that aspect of it didn't entirely derail my enjoyment of it. I found enough in the story and the telling of it to enjoy.

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

@@insearchofwonder ah ok....I have many others to read so maybe it will go to the back of the line. Lol

[@ChrissiesPurpleLibrary]

Les Mes ❤

[@insearchofwonder]

Favorite of mine!

[@ChrissiesPurpleLibrary]

Anne❤

[@insearchofwonder]

Loved those books since I was a girl!

[@MorgansEndlessBookshelf]

What translation is your Les Mis? I'm interested in trying it, but I want to make sure I get a good one.

[@insearchofwonder]

Well.... I chose my copy based on the cover and nothing else lol. It's a common, and good translation, as far as I know. But I have heard there is a more recent one that flows in more natural updated English without losing the quality of the original text. I will read that one next time I get around to it. Christine Donougher is the translator and it was published in 2015. I have Isabel Hapgood's translation.

[@MorgansEndlessBookshelf]

I enjoyed The White City, but I didn't love it.

[@insearchofwonder]

Pretty much sums up my response as well!