The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared -- Take 2

Back before Christmas, I started reading The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared, which was part of my 2022 Reading Challenge.

Prior to S and I leaving for our most recent trip, I had to skip forward several months in my 2023 Reading Challenge to find books that were available as e-books.  What I did find, while I was searching my library databases, was an audiobook version of The Reading Promise.  Several hours on airplanes gave me the opportunity to spend some time listening to this book, which I finished up shortly after we returned home.

During the paper book portion of this read, I found much of the author's writing to be somewhat trite, but I handled that just by skimming through the offending portions.  One of the wonders of audiobooks is the ability to listen to them at an accelerated pace, which I very much did in order to speed through the remainder of this book.  It's a very sweet story, and for a 22-year-old author, quite an accomplishment.  Occasionally I found her innocence and perspective to be endearing, but more often I had enough of it and just wanted to move to the next chapter.

Having said that, I cannot overlook the book's unabashed championing of reading for reading's sake, which is a message I can get behind, wholeheartedly and unreservedly.

What I'm Reading Now - Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know

Since I needed to move on to a new book while we were on vacation (and I didn't want to take any paper books), I was limited to books that were available as e-books from one of my libraries.  The next book on my 2023 Reading Challenge which I could find as an e-book was Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know, by Alexandra Horowitz.  It's the June book on my list, but one of the leeways I allow myself is to go out of order.  I'll have to go back and catch the missed books later in the year.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls -- Take 2

While S and I were traveling recently, I finished up my March book for the 2023 Reading Challenge, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls. 

It's a coming-of-age story about young Thea Atwell, cast out of her home during the depths of the Great Depression and sent to the titular camp.  She excels as a rider, and the reason for her being cast out is revealed as the story goes on.

I like the conceit, where you learn little bits of the past as the story goes on.  For the most part, though, the revealed story is pretty much what I expected it to be, at least once I learned who the major players were.  There was one twist which I didn't quite see coming, but it was minor in the grand scheme of the backstory.

I don't really have a complaint about the book, but generally I'm past the point in my life where coming-of-age stories do much for me.  The writing was fine, the story was fine, I love a good historical drama, but I couldn't get invested in the characters.