Another double round! I am so pleased with how this challenge is progressing. This last fortnight, I’ve checked off:

500 pages or more:

The Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

Which I read as a way of finding out what was going to happen in the rest of season four of Outlander. Waiting each week for the next episode was proving torturous! I did admit in my original post that I didn’t actually read all 1070 pages, but between skimming the first half, partially reading until I got to where the series was up to and then solidly reading from that point on, I definitely read more than 500 pages of the tome.

Comedy:

How to be Second Best by Jessica Dettmann

The title of the novel really is a great one, linking in with the whole point of the story (for want of a better phrase). It’s not about being second best in a negative way, like you’re not as good as someone else. It’s more about not overwhelming yourself with trying to always be the best to the point where you burst apart at the seems. It’s about scaling back, just a little, and settling for the second best of your own efforts. At least sometimes. Because there are always times when near enough is good enough. I think that’s an incredibly insightful point to a story, to be honest, particularly today where so many of us are so busy yet still insisting on putting ourselves under the microscope, competing with ourselves, each other, and even people we don’t know. How to be Second Best is a lesson in taking a breath and slowing down, focusing inward instead of outward. It’s a terrific novel and I recommend it highly.

For 2019, I’m teaming up with Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse for an even bigger, and more challenging book bingo. We’d love to have you join us. Every second Saturday throughout 2019, we’ll post our latest round. Feel free to join in at any stage, just pop the link to your bingo posts into the comments section of our bingo posts each fortnight so we can visit you. If you’re not a blogger, feel free to just write your book titles and thoughts on the books into the comments section each fortnight, and tag us on social media if you are playing along that way.