Things have been quite busy this week in preparation for a piano recital that I performed last night. So this book review is a couple of days late, but something that I definitely need to write. I actually finished reading the book earlier this week.
I HATED THIS BOOK! I don’t know that I have actually ever completed a worse piece of fiction in my entire reading life. Why did I push through to the end? The novel was part of My Library Shelf project and I wanted to give the author — and the shelf — the opportunity to redeem themselves. Sadly, it never happened.
The Yellow Birds is a war story set in Iraq and follows a pair of soldiers through the challenges of deployment, the trauma of so much killing, and the stress of dealing with death all around and the subsequent pressure to return to American society. In theory, the book sounded interesting. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a fan of military fiction. I tried — I really did — to allow the characters to speak to me. I found them to be two-dimensional and not people that I could empathize with. I really did not care about their story and was very happy to see the final page of the book come.
I’m waiting for the service man to arrive at my apartment this morning to hopefully restore my internet and cable service. Once he is done, I plan to return my books to the library….and return to my beloved library shelf. It has been a good source of wonderful stories for me so far. I won’t hold my poor experience with The Yellow Birds against it.
If I can keep my eyes open, I’m ready to dive into another book and continue my reading adventure. Who’s ready to join me?
Reading for Me 
[…] As part of my personal goals for 2020, I am shifting my reading focus to the amount of time I spend reading each day rather than the number of books that I complete. The shift in focus has actually resulted in MORE books being read so far this year. However, this week’s novel — The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers — was a complete let down. I haven’t read a worse piece of fiction in a very long time! If you want a better scoop on this worthless novel, you can read the review on my other blog, Reading for Me. […]