What I’ve Been Reading Lately – July Reviews

Happy Show us Your Books Day!!! Linking up with Steph and Jana today to share some recent reads. Hope you are all enjoying this summer reading season. I know I am! The only problem is that summer is soooo busy that there are nights when I sit down to read and I do not even have the energy to look at the words on a page. This happens every year and I just have to embrace it 😉 The warm weather and socializing make up for it, of course!!! I am mostly reading ARCs and library books these days, and I’m ok with that. I have to keep up with those ARCs so I can keep being approved for them, after all!

That being said, it took me a lot longer to get through some of the books I read this month than it normally would – but here are the books I’m dying to talk about:

Here are a few books I loved:
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

I absolutely loved and devoured this book. As in, tried to ignore almost everything in my life for 3 days to finish it. It was SO good. Mind you, this book probably isn’t for everyone – it’s a retelling of Beauty & the Beast with very loose ties to the original. It’s not high fantasy though, it’s pretty readable and it was definitely very compelling to follow along with. I can’t WAIT to read my ARC of the second one asap because this one leaves you hanging just a little bit!!

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear

I absolutely loved this. So relatable and applicable and motivating. I don’t always find non-fiction/self-help type books to be easy to read or pay attention to, but this one is definitely one with a lot of little tidbits that I HOPE will lead to lasting change in some areas of my life. His website and newsletter are also excellent. (I listened to this via Scribd).

Becoming by Michelle Obama

I think it is almost impossible not to enjoy this book. I really enjoyed the inside peek into the White House life, but I also LOVED hearing about her early life, how she met Barack, her family and education, and the initiatives she took on as the first lady. So good. Her narration was also excellent and I highly recommend the audiobook – it is not a short book, but it held my interest throughout.

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews

I LOVED the first three books in the Hidden Legacy series so I was highly anticipating this one. I knew it was about a different main character, Nevada’s sister, Catalina, and I grew to really love her too by the end of this book. I am simply DYING to read the next in the series now though and I can’t, for years to come!! UGH!!! Catalina’s magical abilities are SO cool and interesting. She is a strong character and she has definite similar tendencies to Nevada. I love their family loyalties and willingness to help others even if it maybe isn’t in their best interests.
Anyway, like I said, I loved almost everything about this book except for one little thing which I am happy to talk about if you’ve already read it too. This whole world is very fascinating to me. Thank you to Avon and Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Recursion by Blake Crouch

I really liked this, and it was exactly what I expected from Blake Crouch after enjoying Dark Matter. However, I found parts of it suuuuper confusing and had to re-read sections. This was probably more me than the book and I shouldn’t have chosen to read it during such a busy season in my personal life. I loved Barry and Helena. The last half was really intense and heartfelt and I loved the ending. Highly recommend this book – I can’t say I will read everything he ever writes because I still feel like too much of a wimp to try Pines but I do love this writing. Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC of this book which published June 11.

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

Oh, I really loved this book. It was charming and hilarious and adorable. It was also long – but it flew by, for me. I love how British it is. It reminds me of a better Sophie Kinsella book – the main character is perceived as a bit of a hot mess, but she isn’t as much of one as the Kinsella books I’ve read. Haha. I would re-read this in a heartbeat and I did re-read several pages immediately after finishing. This is perfect chick lit/women’s fiction for the summer time. It’s romantic but not really a romance book. Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Collins for the ARC of this book!

The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare

This series continues to be so fun to read. I loved Penny and Gabe and being “reunited” with the other characters from the previous books. I absolutely feel the need to read all of Tessa Dare’s books at some point in this lifetime. If you like cute and funny historical romance, try this series! Start with the first one, The Duchess Deal though 🙂 There will be one more to come and I cannot WAIT for that!!! Thank you to Edelweiss and Avon for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lady in the Coppergate Tower by Nancy Campbell Allen

This was a solid addition to the series and I loved Hazel and Sam and their adventure in this book. Now I want to re-read the other two books. I get the feeling there will be a fourth…fingers crossed?!

Thank you to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the ARC of this proper romance book – it comes out Aug 6!

Other books I liked enough:

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

I definitely liked this – the characters were mostly great, I found the CTE in football aspect extremely interesting, I liked the whole dating app competitors thing and the set up of the main love interest. It didn’t hold my interest quite as much as I was expecting though, and I’m not sure why. I also found Annabelle hard to get on board with even though I know she was intended to be that way. I will definitely read more from this author in the future. Thank you Avon & Edelweiss for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t Ever Tell by Lucy Dawson

This started out feeling pretty creepy to the extent that I didn’t feel like reading it before bed (but I’m a bit wimpy these days)…however, ultimately, it fell a little bit flat. I guessed most of the twists except one and that maybe didn’t help. Interesting concept and definitely had me hooked to the page and not super long so would make a good beach read. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

I liked this book enough and read it in mostly one sitting. The characters were fun, cute, and loveable. It was especially fun to re-connect with characters from the first two books in this series although it took me a few minutes to sort out the timeline and I’ll admit that I didn’t remember Theo particularly well from The Wedding Date. I just didn’t love it as much as the first two in this series…and that happens sometimes!
Thank you to Berkley and Edelweiss for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor

I flew through this book pretty quickly and I liked the concept of it, despite it not really being about Grace Kelly aside from her being a peripheral character. I enjoyed the dual perspectives. I really liked the characters overall and the setting. The plot moved quickly and it was fun to read. I had some issues with some things that happened near the end though, and I can’t rate it higher because of that…don’t want to spoil anything but it just didn’t quite end up the way I expected overall. I will still pursue other works by these authors as I enjoy their style though!! And that cover…WOW!!! Thank you to Edelweiss and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Hattie’s Home for Broken Hearts by Tilly Tennant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was cute and I liked the plot, the setting, and the characters. The writing wasn’t my favourite of all time, and I think it is a bit forgettable overall but it was still a good enough read at the time. I will admit that I picked this up solely based on the main character’s name which is the same as my niece, and the cover – which satisfied a category in Erin’s book challenge. 🙂
Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

And that’s about it! What have you been reading lately?

Currently reading: Soulless by Gail Carriger (so good) and Washington Black by Edi Edugyan

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman (Book Review)

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend!! Ours was busy, but fulfilling. We spent a lot of time as family at playgrounds and riding bikes. It was a true spring weekend with wind and sun on our faces and though it was a bit tiring, it makes me feel excited for the summer.

Even though tomorrow is the Show us Your Books link up with Steph & Jana and I’ll be sharing short reviews on all the books I read in the last month, today I wanted to share my thoughts on an amazing book I finished last night. This was one of my most highly anticipated reads of the year (along with Kingdom of the Blind which doesn’t come out until November!!) and I was overjoyed to read it prior to its publication.

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 6 of 5 stars <–at least!

Last year, I read Beartown and that was my first exposure to Fredrik Backman’s writing. To say I was impressed would be a huge understatement. I’ve read all of his backlog now except for Britt-Marie was Here (which is on my list!) and I have loved them all, but Beartown will always be special to me. That being said – this sequel was equally as good if not better in some parts than Beartown for me. The writing was gorgeous and he has such a way with words. Following along with all of the characters in the aftermath of the events of Beartown was heart-wrenching, but also hopeful. A few of the new characters were really interesting and the political aspect of this book added a new level of intrigue. Of course, hockey is another major part of this book as well though there is a new coach this time around.

Almost all of the characters from before are present in this book: Bobo, Amat, Benji!!!, Maya, Ana, and the Anderssons. What I loved about these characters: Bobo’s family (so emotional but so sweet), Amat: his strength and his values and his friendships, Benji – I can’t go into a lot of detail without spoilers but his character is what I live for when I read and he was SO good here, Maya + Ana and their friendship, Leo, Kira, Peter – they were all such interesting and flawed and realistic characters who were dealing with realistic problems. The way Backman writes these characters is amazing. Just when you start to really root for or “side with” one of the characters, he shows you things from another one’s point of view and then you’re unsure again about who to side with. I love that about this book.

I don’t even know what to say about this book besides the fact that it is 100% worth the read and So, SO exceptionally well done. I have friends who have tried to read Backman’s books and didn’t love them (understandable! to each his own!) and this particularly seems to apply to A Man Called Ove. I also know that Beartown wasn’t for everyone because of the focus on hockey in the plot (which again, is present here) but I implore all of you to give this trilogy a chance. I do like hockey, so I suppose I am a bit biased that way, but it is just such a means to an ends in this incredible book about a small community and the effects of rivalry and politics on all of the members of the community.

It was emotional, intense, and lovely. I cried several times and felt visceral reactions to some of the unbelievable events on these pages. I only recommend that you absolutely read Beartown first before picking this one up.

Thank you to Ariele Freedman of Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced review copy of this book. It exceeded my expectations which were already remarkably high and I can’t wait for the third in this trilogy. This book hits shelves on Tuesday June 5.

Books for Review (January-February)

All of the books listed in this post were provided to me from the publisher or author as an advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

I’ve read a few REALLY great books lately, and since a few of them are recent publications, I wanted to highlight them! I’ll also share short reviews in the Show us Your Books link up next week. The Great Alone came out yesterday, The Beau and The Belle came out on February 1, and the other three books came out in January or December.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, this book was so powerful and thought-provoking. The tension and plot-building in this story reminded me of Beartown. Both books take place in remote locations that are cold and have tight-knit (and opinionated) communities. The description of the setting in this novel was absolutely incredible and I am certain this will be on many people’s must-read list this year. A trigger warning for some domestic violence, so beware of that if this might not be the right time to read this book for you. I had previously only read Winter Garden and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, both of which were amazing and I found it so interesting to see her writing in a more modern (still, 1970-80s) time period. She certainly never fails to bring tears to my eyes in her work (that’s 3/3 right now – haha – I will have to continue to test this). Leni and her family and friends will be in my mind and heart for the rest of the year and I can undoubtedly say that this will be in my top reads for 2018 already.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy of this wonderfully exceptional book. 🙂 It will stay with me well into the future.

PS: Read an interview with Kristin Hannah about The Great Alone here.

The Beau & the Belle by R.S. Grey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have read and loved three R.S. Grey books in 2018 and this one is lovely. The characters are adorable and humorous, and I loved the setting. I loved the initial meeting as well as the reconnecting down the road. The side characters were also great – including both the mothers and the other friends etc. Also…how gorgeous is the cover? If you are looking for a lighthearted romance, I can’t recommend this author enough.

Thank you so much to this lovely author and her marketing team for sending me the advanced review copy of this novel.

Longbourn’s Songbird by Beau North
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I really, REALLY liked the time period that this re-telling was set in, and I enjoyed the progression of the plot that was somewhat close to the original, although there were some very with obvious changes that didn’t seem TOO ridiculous to me (as in other adaptations). Better yet, if you haven’t read the original P&P, this is still a nice little story to read and it was quite well written. I like Beau North as an author quite a bit and I’m looking forward to reading her other work now that I’ve enjoyed two of her Austen retellings.

Thank you to Netgalley and Beau North for the review copy of this wonderful book.

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The premise for this book is quite captivating and unlike anything I’ve read before, so I was initially quite taken with it. I read the first third of it quite quickly and was anxious to find out what happened. However, Eldon’s character soon got pretty old and he never seemed to do much. He was also so angsty and difficult to read about. I will say that the author strung me along quite nicely in that I wanted to keep reading to find out what his wish was – and what others had wished for – but overall, this book wasn’t quite as good as I expected it to be. The ending did redeem it in some ways, and this might be better received in its target YA audience.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced copy of this novel for review.

Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I often find it quite difficult to rate short story anthologies, so what I did here was provide a star rating for each story and then averaged them 😉 *nerd alert*

The concept of this whole anthology was super fun – I LOVE reading about first meeting, first falling in love etc. Although I enjoy and really love the stage of marriage that I’m in, I think it is fun to reminisce about those early days and reading about them is just so fun. The butterflies, the wondering what to say… it’s all amplified in this anthology because it features young adults 🙂 This is a fun book to read around Valentine’s Day too if you want to experience some lovey-dovey ness.

SIEGE ETIQUETTE by KATIE COTUGNO
This was a story about a boy and a girl at a party who had known each other for years but never spoken. It was okay but nothing too exciting and reminded me why I sometimes find short stories hard to read. (2/5 stars)

PRINT SHOP by NINA LACOUR
A cute story about a teenage girl starting a job at an eccentric print shop and how she goes out of her way to offer customer service to another teenage girl over Twitter. Cute and modern. (3/5 stars)

HOURGLASS by IBI ZOBOI
A story about a high school senior who wants to get out of her small town and move on. (3/5 stars)

CLICK by KATHERINE MCGEE
A cute story about a program for online dating that takes your entire internet history and matches you up with someone based on your compatibility. Packed a punch and I really, really liked this one. (4.5/5 stars)

THE INTERN by SARA SHEPARD
A story about a girl who spends a part of her day entertaining a rock star and learns a bit about herself in the process. (2/5 stars)

SOMEWHERE THAT’S GREEN by MEREDITH RUSSO
A story about a transgendered girl and some of the issues she is experiencing in high school due to one girl’s public stance on her. (3/5 stars – very interesting)

THE WAY WE LOVE HERE by DHONIELLE CLAYTON
A story about an island in which all of the inhabitants know when they will meet their true love. A look at future destiny. Cute and unique. (3/5 stars)

OOMPH by EMERY LORD
A cute story about a girl meeting another girl while waiting for her flight at the airport. (4/5 stars)

THE DICTIONARY OF YOU AND ME by JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT
One of my favourites in the anthology – this one is about a girl who works at the public library and spends quite a bit of time trying phoning a guy to return the dictionary he took out months ago. I can’t resist a good library setting 🙂 (4.5/5 stars)

THE UNLIKELY LIKELIHOOD OF FALLING IN LOVE by JOCELYN DAVIES
As someone who has studied a lot of statistics and works with them daily, I loved this. Such a cute story about a girl who does a high school stats project on the likelihood of seeing a stranger on another subway train in NYC. So cute. (4/5 stars)

259 MILLION MILES by KASS MORGAN
Super interesting premise but the ending didn’t live up to it for me. (2/5 stars)

SOMETHING REAL by JULIE MURPHY
Not my favourite, unfortunately. Was not super impressed with the whole reality show concept. (2/5 stars)

SAY EVERYTHING by HUNTLEY FITZPATRICK
Cute. (3/5 stars)

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEAD LOVE by NICOLA YOON
such a cool concept (4 stars)

Thank you to Netgalley and HMH books for young readers for the copy of this book.

Read any good books lately? Are you dying to read any of these??

Day of No Clutter (March 6)

I recently read Year of No Clutter by Eve Schaub, which I talked about a little bit here. I accepted this book from Netgalley & Sourcebooks in advance of its publication in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book and found it inspiring and humorous. I feel like I am constantly sorting through clutter in our home – this is the product of having two small children, a lot of doting people in our lives (NOT complaining), and from working full-time etc. etc. I have managed to purge A LOT in the last year or so, but it’s still always a work in progress to keep the papers & artwork & toys from piling up.

A post I read last week on Modern Mrs. Darcy sums up the way I feel about productivity, life betterment, and non-fiction perfectly: I need to read books about certain topics in order to live out those topics in my life. Reading books about things that I want to improve in my life helps me to focus on these things. Sometimes, I need to re-read certain books in order to maintain that theme. If I’m reading a book about bettering myself or my habitat, I generally have these thoughts at the forefront of my mind and I am able to strive towards these things in my daily life. That’s how I felt when I was reading alongside Eve Schaub’s journey in Year of No Clutter. In some ways, I expected the book to be a bit more of a how-to, but when I finished it, I realized that I have already read a lot of how-to books. What I needed at that time was to realize that other people suffer from these types of things and have managed to conquer the clutter.

Sourcebooks asked me if I would share some information this week for their Week of No Clutter during the publication and release of Eve Schaub’s book. I was happy to do this since they sent me the free copy of the book 🙂

To sign up for the week of no clutter challenge, go HERE.
To win a free copy of the book, enter via this Rafflecopter giveaway.

Do you enjoy books like this one? Other books I’ve really enjoyed that are loosely related to this topic:

Clutterfree with Kids
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
The Happiness Project

Some blogs that talk about minimalism that I really enjoy and find inspiring (even though I am uncertain if I will ever become 100% minimalist in ANY way)

Becoming Minimalist
Not Entirely Perfect
Measure & Whisk

Secret Sisters – Literary Ladies Book club link up

When I first read the synopsis for the Literary Ladies’ book club February pick, Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz, I was pretty intrigued. I had never heard of this author, but when I searched for her I learned she has written TONS of books. I put the book on hold, and hoped to get to it sometime. The next day, I went to the library to pick up a bunch of other books on hold that I had been excitedly waiting for and Secret Sisters was in the one-week rapid read section. I scooped it right up and started it right away. I had forgotten how much I like this genre every once in awhile. It reminded me a bit of some of James Patterson’s books (i.e. the Women’s Murder Club series). It was an easy read, and I finished it in a couple of days. I enjoyed some of the plot twists and the character development although I did find a few parts predictable and unbelievable at the same time.

Long story short? This book really captivated me from the get-go, and I really enjoyed it. I will for sure seek out more books by this new-to-me author. In my mind, books like this pass the time just fine and provide me with the distraction and relaxation I crave so much from reading.

Thank you for introducing her to me, Kristen, Kari and Kay!!

Their next book club pick is You Had Me at Hello, which was also recommended highly by a favourite book blogger of mine, Hannah at So Obsessed With. The title in itself totally gets me because I love that line in Jerry Maguire:

I am looking forward to adding it to my February reads because I have a few intense novels lined up for this month too and this will provide some balance!!!

I’m looking forward to sharing all of the books I’ve read lately in Show us your Books next week (Tues, Feb 9) 🙂 I didn’t manage to finish the Winter Book Challenge with Semi Charmed Life because there were two books I picked that I just couldn’t finish, but I still did OK with it!!

Books Lately

I have read a LOT of books in the past month or so because I am participating in the Literary Ladies Summer Reading Challenge! I am so happy with my 10 choices for the challenge so far and I was enthralled by many of the books I’ve read lately. I have quite a few more on my to-read list this summer, but I still have lots of time! 😉

Image via Stocksnap.io and edited by me

Here are some of my recent reads:

Sloppy Firsts – the first in the Jessica Darling series. I ate this book up in about a day. It was very well written and I loved the characters. Can’t wait to read more in the series, especially after the ending of this one!! 4/5 stars

Cinder – I have had this series on my TBR list for ages now, and I’m so glad I finally got through the first one! It was an easy read and I loved the take on the Cinderella story. I am a huge sucker for Cinderella stories, for some reason…I also got pretty hooked on Once Upon a Time last year on TV but I haven’t finished the series yet. Anyway, loved this one too, another fairly easy read and I will be picking up the next book in this series ASAP! 4.5/5 stars

Jane Eyre – I’ve been at this one for a few weeks via audiobook on Librivox (*love* Elizabeth Klett as a narrator!!) I finished the last 10 chapters or so via paperback that I picked up 10 years ago at a used bookstore. This was one of the best classics I’ve ever read, and I absolutely loved it. They call it a classic for a reason!! I would highly recommend it because there were some interesting twists and I adored the characters. The audiobook version is wonderful 🙂 Now I can go watch the movie on Netflix!! 5/5 stars

Big Little Lies – I could NOT put this book down. I started it in the car on our trip to New Brunswick and I read it off and on in the car the entire weekend – which is usually not something I can pull off! It was SOOOO captivating in the sense that I just had to know the ending!!! I almost googled it, but I’m glad that I held out because it was pretty surprising. I enjoyed reading about the relationships in this book – especially as a mother of young children. I will definitely check out more books by Liane Moriarty because her writing really hooked me! 5/5 stars

Gone Girl – I am one of the last people on earth to read this book, I’m sure, but I saw the movie floating around Netflix and I kenw the basic premise of the book so I knew Brian would enjoy the movie. I can’t say that I am a huge fan of the book, to be honest. It kept my attention and I needed to finish it, but I didn’t really LIKE it. The movie wasn’t much better, but I can still see how it was so popular…because everyone needed to know how it ended! I just didn’t feel like it resolved enough for my own liking. 3/5 stars

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry – this was recommended by A LOT of bloggers and people on Goodreads, so I was anxious to give it a try. It was short and sweet (very sweet characters) and I really enjoyed all of the “book talk.” I’d highly recommend this one! 4.5/5 stars

Twenty Boy Summer – another book for the Literary Ladies Book Challenge (actually all of the above were from my original post on that), and this one was a very quick read. It stirred some emotions, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. It was good, but I felt like I wasn’t as invested in the characters as I wanted to be. 2.5/5 stars

The books that I have left for the challenge are The Martian (started it last night via audiobook), One More Thing (halfway done) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (just got it from the library last night!)

Other books I’ve read lately (June 2015):

The Cuckoo’s Calling – I was dying to read this series by Robert Galbraith AKA J.K. Rowling, and although this one was no Harry Potter (obviously, it’s an adult book ;)), and it took me awhile to get into, I still really enjoyed it and I would highly recommend it if you like private investigator type stories, although this one is not as funny as the Veronica Mars or Stephanie Plum books. (3.5/5 stars)

Me Before You – I haven’t felt this emotional about a book in ages and I loved it. It was SUCH a good read. Although I couldn’t necessarily relate to it in very many ways and I am also undecided about whether I am in agreement with it, I still absolutely loved it and it was a great fictional journey. I can’t wait for the sequel which is supposedly coming out this fall. (5/5 stars)

In short, I’d definitely recommend Me Before You, Big Little Lies, Jane Eyre, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. 🙂

Linking up with Show Us Your Books here.