Back for the final “official” show us your books link up for the year!!! WOW!!! I’ll also share my top reads of the year later in December and I look forward to that, but here’s what I’ve read since the last link up. Check out Steph and Jana’s blogs for other book posts, especially if you need any ideas for Christmas gifts!! 🙂

Books I’ve read lately in no particular order:

Beard with Me by Penny Reid

This book was emotional – I knew it would be but goodness gracious Scarlet and Billy had difficult times in their youth! I felt heartbroken, tense, mushy, and all over the place while reading this but ultimately I am glad I read it to understand a bit more of their youth that we read so much about in later books. It was cute too. Not a happy ending though- as expected!

Beard Necessities by Penny Reid

I had over the top Everest-level expectations for this book after dying to find out what happened to Billy and Claire in the end after so many hints in past books. In many ways, this satisfied my hopes for them as characters and it was extremely fun to read about all the Winstons’ shenanigans in Italy too. It didn’t have quite as much emotion/angst as I was expecting but there were a few heart wrenching moments to read about. Loved the preview for the new spin off series with Cletus and Jenn 🙂 Thankful that Penny Reid wrote about all these amazing and complex characters and their lives in this series. The epilogue was wonderful.

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters

There is quite a lovable (and also a few irritating!) cast of characters to enjoy in this book. I am predisposed to love British holiday-time books and this one was no exception. It was adorable that way. It was a bit predictable, but I didn’t mind that. It read a bit like a Sophie Kinsella/Mhairi McFarlane book with a character who needed to have more confidence in herself and then grew that way throughout the book. It also reminded me a bit of Waiting for Tom Hanks with all of the romcom mentions and the film world setting. It took me a while to get used to some of the formatting in this book when she was acting out meet-cute scenes and writing about them. Still though, this passed the time nicely and the supporting characters were really fun so I don’t hesitate to recommend it. I definitely laughed out loud more than once and that doesn’t always happen so that counts for something 🙂 Thank you to Edelweiss and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell

This was a fun, quick, fall book with beautiful illustrations. Definitely YA but I really liked the characters and the tour around the pumpkin patch 🙂

Let it Snow by John Green

This book had some cute moments but the problem with short stories is that I almost always want a little bit more 🙂 The stories also made me feel cold since there was SO MUCH SNOW, haha. Cute little characters and now I can watch the movie on Netflix though!!!

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

I was feeling a strong urge to re-read this book so I did so on audio and it was so lovely, as before. A few irritating FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY moments but love these characters and so many quotable lines in this book. I really wish she’d write another someday!!!

What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

I’d say that I enjoyed the second book in this trilogy about as much as the first. It was generally a fun way to pass the time and made me want to go to this island and have all the adventures like this family. LOL. The diary entries were an interesting addition to the plotline and I will definitely end up having to read the third in the series to see how all of this family drama/small mystery type situation wraps up.

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

This book was soooo creepy and good and compelling and not easy to put down. The culture and community and characters were so well written and interesting. The mystery aspect itself was not easy to figure out and I was mostly guessing till the last page. Really enjoyed this and would recommend for fans of authors like Lisa Jewell and Jane Harper. Now I need to give Nalini Singh’s more dominant genre (Paranormal) a try!!! Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Trigger warning: domestic abuse.

The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

Loved this Christmas book SO much!! The ending made me tear up. This is aprt family drama with a little bit of relationship drama and a cozy and fun setting. There are three very different sisters who are altogether not as close as they could be but they find they have more in common than they thought. I’d say this is one of the least sappy/Hallmark romance type Christmas books I’ve read that still really makes you feel the spirit but not in a super cheesy way. Highly recommend. The book itself is absolutely gorgeous too if you end up with the metallic/glittery paperback like I did from the library. So special.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I have had this book on my list of books to read for YEARS but I was always a bit scared that I wouldn’t like it. One day, I just decided to go for it when I saw it was available on audio from the library and I really, REALLY enjoyed it. Unfortunately, this means that my book bestie has basically disowned me, haha, but I’m still going to stick with my opinion 🙂 I am excited now too because I have an ARC of her new 2020 book that I am looking forward to reading!!
It I can 100% see how this book isn’t for everyone, and I think I truly just happened to pick it up at the right time. I might not even have enjoyed it as much in paper format because the narrator was really excellent. There is a lot of jumping around in this book between time periods and groups of people and that can be a bit confusing or seem pointless but I loved it. It was extremely interesting to come full circle with who ended up owning the Station Eleven comics years later. I really enjoyed that parts of this book took place in Canada and I love that St. John Mandel is another Canadian author for me to appreciate.

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

With this book, I’ve officially read every book Fredrik Backman has written…so now he’s due to write me another one 🙂 I knew Britt-Marie (and Kent) from My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises and I’m glad I read that one first. This audiobook, as all of his books, was wonderfully well done and an excellent way to take in his words. Britt-Marie is a lovable and interesting character and my heart goes right out to her. I loved reading her flourish in this book. It was excellent if you have enjoyed his other works though I know this type of fiction is not everyone’s cup of tea.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

This was extremely readable, super cute, and really fun. Loved these characters and the entire plot. It was definitely YA fluffiness but it was adorable and too much fun and gave my brain a much needed little break so no complaints here!!! 🙂 Enjoyed the dual perspectives too. Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 


Secrets and Suitors by Joanna Barker

This book was adorable and I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted it to go – which is always fun. Really liked Nora and was glad to see her grow and stand up for herself. A sweet and fun little proper romance book – highly recommend if you enjoy this genre. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.  


TL;DR – I highly recommend Station Eleven (if you’re not one of the people who hate it LOL), The Christmas Sisters, A Madness of Sunshine, and Penny Reid’s Winston brothers series if you like contemporary romance.

Currently reading: Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris and Stay by Catherine Ryan Hyde. 🙂