Wow, so exciting to be celebrating 4 years of Show us Your Books this month!! Though I cannot say I have been here since the beginning, I think it’s been 3 years for me (ish!) I love this link up and this community of readers. Thank you so much for running the link up every month, Steph & Jana!! 🙂
My reading was a bit all-over-the-place this month. A few duds and a few wonderful reads and a few DNFs (which I don’t even bother mentioning really). Here are a few books I read:
Amazing books I am happy to chat about forever:
99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am not at all surprised that I loved this book – I adore The Hating Game and I had been anticipating this one for quite some time. I was overjoyed to receive an ARC from Edelweiss and the publisher (thank you SO much!!!) and I read it the same day it came in on my kindle app. The characters were so well done, the story was fun and so readable, and I know I will re-read parts of it for years to come much like I’ve done with The Hating Game.
I particularly really liked Darcy and her personality and loved that she had a twin brother – it was so fun to read about even though they had their ups and downs. If this is your genre of choice, definitely add this to your TBR – comes out Jan 2019 🙂
My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina LaurenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I didn’t want to race through this book in one sitting, but that’s what happened. These characters were SO much fun to read about. I loved the online dating component – that’s how I met my husband though it wasn’t Tinder and it was maybe a bit more like the app in this book. I struggled a bit at times with the female character not being able to express herself, but I understand why she was like that and it was very realistic for her life events. Her group of friends and her career and all of it – just so fun. I love these authors – I haven’t read a book of theirs yet that I did not completely love. I also want to mention that this book was SOOO hilarious at times too and it’s been awhile since a book made me laugh so much. Thank you Netgalley for “granting my wish” with this one!!
I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the perfect book for book lovers. I intended to savour this, and I will, the next time I read it, but instead I read it in one sitting. This type of book is not typically my favourite format, but I found myself nodding my head and feeling so well understood throughout all of these essays. SO good. Whether you are a MMD fan or not, this is still very fun to read if you love books. 
Mister Romance by Leisa Rayven
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I saw this recommended in a Facebook group and was honestly not expecting TOO much from it but thought it would pass my time nicely – I ended up loving it. This was a great romantic comedy. I am dying to get my hands on the second in the series and I think I will end up buying it eventually because it’s about her sister and I really enjoyed this author.
Very well done books: 
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I highly doubt that I would have enjoyed this book half as much or I might have DNFed it if I didn’t listen to it on audio. The audiobook was a great companion though – I really enjoyed following this epic family story over the course of decades. It was so sad at times and so hopeful at times too. I knew nothing about this time period in Korea/Japan, so that was very interesting too.
Ghosted by Rosie Walsh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book reminds me of something else but I can’t quite place it – there is an element to it that is familiar but not quite. Anyway, enough about that – I couldn’t really put this book down. I found it fast-paced and was very curious to see how it would all work out. It’s not really a thriller, and not suspenseful or scary but there is a WTF element so I guess I would maybe classify it a bit as a psychological romance?! I really enjoy books set in Britain and I liked this reading experience quite a bit even if parts of it seemed a bit unbelievable/coincidental.
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.5/5 stars but I would have likely never finished it in print – the audio was quite well done. Not sure that I am the target audience for this book although I did find parts of it absolutely hilarious and other parts very thought-provoking. Certainly well written. The ending definitely redeemed other parts of the story. Reminded me a tiny bit of Ove but on a road trip.
Promises and Primroses by Josi S. Kilpack
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I can’t wait to continue with this series. I loved these characters and this book was so fun to read. I have enjoyed most of the books I’ve read from this publisher, so I was happy to discover a new author via Netgalley.
This book kind of has two separate generational stories going on, and they were both great but I preferred the younger generation. Looking forward to more in this Mayfield series. Thank you Netgalley and Shadow Mountain Press!
Books I did not 100% fall in love with but you might:
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 – I wish I liked this series more. I want to like them because I love J.K. Rowling…..they just take me so long to get through and my attention wanes. This one was certainly better than book 2 which I DNF and now I can read the 4th, which I might try on audio to change it up a bit. Part of what I struggle with while reading these books is the length & detail – just too long for this genre.
Mirage by Somaiya Daud
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It took me a lot longer than I expected to get through this book, but I still enjoyed it overall. I think it was just at slightly the wrong time (busy busy time of year). Interesting concept, great world building and I will likely continue with the series to see how it all goes. I did enjoy the character development too. If you enjoy YA fantasy, this is a tiny bit similar to Cinder (minus the fairy tale retelling).
Undue Influence: A Persuasion Retelling by Jenny Holiday
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I love Persuasion, so the elements of this that were similar to that made my heart swell. The characters were great. This is not my typical type of romance, but I enjoyed it more than I expected to and I am anxious to read everything she has written now.
I also read TJR’s Evidence of the Affair (not my favourite – I generally hate reading about affairs), America’s Sweethearts (not bad but forgettable overall), and Savor You, which was the conclusion to a contemporary romance that I really really liked.
Currently reading: Stretched Too Thin on audio, The Dream Daughter via Netgalley and Virgil Wander (that one is going to take me awhile…haha).
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