What I’ve been reading lately

Hi everyone, it’s been a long time since my last book review or since I finished a book. I was in a reading slump last month and it took me quite a long time to find books to read or listen to, and I also took a 10 day vacation from work and so my reading time went down to the very minimum (almost non-existent).

But now I’m back and been trying to catch up with my reading. In the meantime, I got good deals on Audible this past month and I ended up buying 5 books. I’m currently listening to 3  of them (actually just one, the other 2 I stopped listening to in order to finish this one). I also started to read a book that I’ve put off for a very long time.

Here is what I’ve been reading and listening to:

The Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. If you’ve been following my blog you’ll know that I’ve read The Prince of Fools by the same author a couple of months back and enjoyed it a lot. I was about to start with book 2 of the series (The Liar’s Key) when I thought, why not try reading The Prince of Thorns again (I gave up on it the first time after 1 or 2 chapters) since there are some references to this series in the new one. Glad I did. I’m about 75% done with it and I will continue with this one before getting back to The Liar’s Key.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe narrated by Rob Lowe. I am really starting to get into autobiographies and it seems I’ll be reading my autobiographies in audio from now on. I like Rob Lowe as an actor especially in Parks and Rec so it’s interesting to find out about his life growing up and becoming an actor. I’m about 40% through the book.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens narrated by Richard Armitage. I have never read this book before and being a classic and narrated by this awesome narrator (seriously just go listen to the sample, here is the link) I thought I should get it. It’s 36 hours long and so I’m taking it slow. I’ve finished about 10 hours and so far I’m enjoying it a lot. Seriously check out the sample and get the book!

An Unwelcome Quest by Scott Meyer narrated by Luke Daniels. This is the third and last book in the Magic 2.0 series. Luke Daniels is one of my favorite narrators and the series is fun. I’m about 20% through listening will get back to it when I finish Rob Lowe’s book.

So this is what I’ve been reading lately, as you can see it’s quite a mix of genres :). I’ll be posting reviews as soon as I finish.

Not My Father’s Son – A Book Review

This book is a little bit out of my ordinary reads. I do like an autobiography every now and then and this one was quite interesting and left me thinking about it for a while after finishing it.

Not My Father’s Son is a memoir by the actor Alan Cumming (you may know him from his roles in the X-Men movies and The Good Wife TV show). The book is mainly about his relationship with his abusive father and his journey to find answers regarding the death of his grandfather.

I listened to it in audio which is narrated by the actor himself (I can’t say no to listening to a Scottish accent). The story goes back and forth in time between his life in Scotland as a child living with his father and his experiences in the more recent years and participation in the British TV show “Who do you think you are” to find out more about his maternal grandfather’s life and death.

I didn’t know anything about this actor before reading the book besides what films and shows he’s appeared on and I would not have imagined this actor having such a troubled childhood. The book is not long, it took me a couple of days to finish. It was well written, engaging and suspenseful. Here I’m sharing one of the interesting quotes in the book:

“Memory is so subjective. We all remember in a visceral, emotional way, and so even if we agree on the facts—what was said, what happened where and when—what we take away and store from a moment, what we feel about it, can vary radically.”

I haven’t read a good autobiography is a long time. This made me start to look for other best sellers in this genre. If you have any recommendations I’d love to hear them :)