When I travel, I always find time to get a bit of reading time in. Car trips, flights, and relaxing by a pool or on a beach afford ample time to read fantastic books. Here is my High Springs and Key Largo Florida Travel Reading List. And because I’m participating in the 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge, this reading list includes which books fulfill particular categories of the reading challenge.
Books Finished:
Beautiful Exiles
After seeing that at least part of this book was set in Key West, I had to save it to read on a trip to the Keys. The novel is a fictional telling of the story of Ernest Hemingway’s third wife Martha Gellhorn. I previously read The Paris Wife about Hemingway’s first wife Hadley, so I felt like this picked up the story of his life to some extent. And after reading both, I can’t fathom what women saw in Hemingway. He seemed to me to be a drunk pig, who happens to be a fantastic writer. But I can’t understand why anyone would have wanted to live with him and suffer him. In any event, the book is told from the perspective of Martha, who was a journalist and author in her own right. It made me want to read some of her works to get a better perspective on her as a person, and not simply as one of Hemingway’s wives. The book is well-written, and does a good job of portraying the spiral of the couple’s tumultuous relationship.
The Cuckoo’s Calling
2018 PopSugar Challenge: a book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym
Is there anyone who doesn’t know that Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling at this point? If so, now you do. I loved the Harry Potter series, and wanted to see what Rowling/Galbraith did with books gear toward adults. This novel fits squarely within the detective mystery genre. It was a solid entry with clues placed throughout, but which you don’t pick up on until the detective outlines them all together at the end. It reminded me of a grittier version of Agatha Christie.
The Invention of Wings
Set in the South before the Civil War, this book follows the lives of a white girl and a black girl who grow up together but lead very different lives. The white girl grows up to be abolitionist Sarah Grimke, and the novel is based on her true life. I really liked this book, and do recommend it. And if you want more by the same author, I also recommend The Secret Life of Bees
Books Abandoned:
None.
by A.G. Riddle
by The Countess Carnarvon
by Elizabeth Wein
by Ariel Lawhon
by Jeff Anderson
by Susan Meissner
by Tammy Kling
by Patrick Rothfuss
so much last month, that I jumped right into this…all 1000 pages! And I loved this book even more than the first. Now I’m impatiently waiting for the release of the third book telling Kvothe’s story. I’m not going to talk more about this book, as I don’t want to spoil anything if you’ve not yet read The Name of the Wind. But it is best categorized as an epic fantasy.
by Simon Pridmore
by Kristin Hannah
Special Edition
by Blake Crouch
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
which was a Newbery Honor Book. I liked this one, but not quite as much as the first. It is the story of a little girl who has been evacuated from London and an abusive mother and is living in the country during World War II.
by Edith Wharton (including Expiation, The Dilettante, The Muse’s Tragedy, The Pelican, Souls Belated, Xingu, and The Other Two)
and didn’t care for it, which made me think that I didn’t like Edith Wharton’s writing. Earlier this year, we read 
, which made me reconsider Wharton’s writing, as I really liked it. I’d picked this up by mistake when looking for The Old Maid, so I thought I’d dive into this short story collection for a broader taste of Wharton, and am glad that I did. These short stories were realistic, with complex character portrayals despite their short length. I’m now firmly in the Edith Wharton fan club after exposure to more of her writing. If you’re not sure about her, start with a short story collection such as this one and see for yourself.
by Sophie Hudson (I’ve been working my way through this book over the last couple of months, but forgot to list it. Oops!)
by Lysa TerKeurst (My bible study just started working through this book and the associated videos)
by Keith Richards and James Fox
by Vera Brittain
by Affinity Kovar
by John Berendt
by John Douglas and Johnny Dodd
by Vinzenz Brinkmann, Renee Dreyfus, and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann
by Simon Sinek (My overdrive checkout expired on this, so I’m waiting for my new hold to come up on it so that I can finish it.)