I finally finished reorganizing my bookshelves on Friday. It was a bigger task than I realized it would be, but I’m really happy I did it. My shelves look so much better and it will be easier to locate titles now. I shelved all of my nonfiction together in my dining room by subject in addition to alphabetizing the fiction by author’s last name. I also weeded a few books that I know I will never read or never read again. Now I need to recycle the twenty or so galleys I have at home that are gathering dust. I have a goal to completely de-clutter my house in the next few months and this was a great start.

Books finished this week:

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao – I read this for one of the book clubs I facilitate at work and at first I really liked it. Then some frankly gross sexual things happened and my liking for it slipped very far, but since it is the book club choice next month I had to complete it. The writing is gorgeous, the imagery is powerful, and the story is riveting, but I’m not sure why the author chose to include the sex scenes she did – something to discuss with the book club next month!

Old Baggage by Lissa Evans – Now this is more my kind of book! Did you ever read Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans? I loved that book when I read it a few years ago. Old Baggage is the prequel to that story set about 10 years after the end of WWI, featuring Mattie Simpkin, a former suffragette who is giving lectures about the fight for women’s suffrage to groups of pretty aloof audiences. She runs into an old comrade at one of the lectures who makes her question if she is really contributing anything to the women’s cause anymore which inspires her to start a girls’ club for teens in Hampstead. Mattie is a remarkable, sympathetic character and there is lots of humor, snappy dialogue, and tender moments. I cried at the end. I absolutely loved this book and recommend it and Crooked Heart both.

Have a wonderful week!