What I’ve Been Reading Lately (Show us your books April!)

Time for one of the best days of the month – when I can look forward to virtually chatting about books ALL DAY LONG 🙂 Seriously though…I was at the library the other night and a group of women twice my age were gathered in a program room talking about Louise Penny and I was DYING to join them but it was kind of private. Rambling sentence short, I want to talk about books and here’s my spot to do it. PLEASE talk books with me!!! lol.

That being said, I have been reading A LOT for pure enjoyment/distraction/relaxation so far in 2018. I don’t regret it, and this happens to me a lot in the winter months when there is less socializing going on and the Canadian winter encourages me to curl up with a cup of tea and a book every night. That being said – most of the books I’m sharing here are not necessarily books I would blanket recommend to everyone because we all have our preferred genres etc. However – I still feel like I’ve read a lot of good books for my preferences lately so I want to talk about them!! 🙂

Linking up as always with Steph and Jana with some short reviews of books I’ve read since mid-March. Also linking up with Rachel this month.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND:

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wavering between 4 and 5 stars on this one. What an incredible memoir. It took me a little while to get into this, which is sometimes the case with memoirs for me in general, but the latter 75% of this book read like fiction (at least to me). I couldn’t believe it. Someone in a group I’m in mentioned that this felt similar (in some ways) to The Great Alone, and I can see that comparison – it’s just scarier because this one wasn’t fiction and this is a real person who experienced these things. Wow. SO well written. I have nothing but empathy for this author. Here’s an interview with her. Even MORE interestingly, here are some Amazon reviews about this book from her family’s perspective and other people who know the Westovers. TORN about my thoughts on this book after reading those.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the advanced review copy of this highly readable memoir. It’s a “read now” book on Netgalley until April 23 so if you are interested in it, I would suggest heading over there to get it! It was very profound and so well written even if this genre is not one you normally seek out (like me).

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a short novella. In my opinion, Fredrik Backman can really do no wrong. Like The Deal of a Lifetime, this one was a bit too short for me :(, but it packs a very powerful punch. Can easily be read in one sitting. A bit confusing at the beginning, but SO so good.

Beauty and the Clockwork Beast by Nancy Campbell Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kristen recommended this book to me almost 2 years ago and I was dying to read it, but I couldn’t get my hands on it anywhere! I wasn’t sure if I would like the steampunk genre so I wasn’t willing to buy it on kindle. I recently found it on Hoopla via my library and was so excited to read it. I listened to most of it and the audiobook was very well done (I read the last 30% because I could NOT put it down). This genre is incredibly fascinating and I loved the characters, the setting, the ‘tons, the paranormal aspects…this book introduced me to things I didn’t know I liked. Lucy was such an interesting and strong character and the mystery aspect of this book made it quite fast-paced. I was unable to put it down until I found out who was causing all the trouble. Steampunk certainly won’t be everyone’s genre of choice though. I can’t wait to read the next one via Edelweiss!

This month I read MOST of the Knitting in the City Series by Penny Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love love love love love this series but I can also acknowledge that these books aren’t for everyone. An amazing friend lent me these on Kindle and I FLEW threw them. They are 100% contemporary romance but they are really funny and the characters are unique, fun, and different than one another. I have 2 books left in the series and I am going to wait just a little bit so that I can savour it. The addiction is real here though – each story is about another woman in a group of friends so it is just too much fun constantly revisiting the group again and watching the next relationship blossom. I am surprised by how she has managed to make each story so different from the others. I appreciate reading about these female friendships in such a humorous way and reading their completely (in my opinion) unrealistic love stories. This is super fun fiction for me so if you like contemporary romance, I highly recommend these 🙂

OTHER ENJOYABLE BOOKS:

Ashes on the Moor by Sarah M. Eden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have enjoyed many of the books in the proper romance umbrella published by Shadow Mountain (i.e. Edenbrooke), and this one was no exception. It was sweet and enjoyable. It was quite a quick read, and parts of it were heartbreakingly sad. It reminded me a little bit of the concept behind North and South. The people in the town really grew on me and Evangeline did too. If historical romance is your thing, particularly if you prefer it clean, this was a cute book. I read it in one sitting.

Thank you to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for providing me with an advanced review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book had been on my radar for awhile and when I finally got to it I gobbled it up in less than 24 hours. It wasn’t 100% amazing but I was REALLY into it while I read it and it was quite enjoyable, VERY funny, sooo snarky, and highly readable. I will definitely get to the next two in the series later this year.

On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not my favourite of the series but I still do love those Bridgertons. Sad to say goodbye to this series but I will pick up some other books by Julia Quinn when I’m in the mood for sure.

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was pretty much exactly what I was expecting it to be, and I really liked it. It was fun to read and the characters were great. I love the pretend relationship trope so I knew I would enjoy this and I will be happy to pick up another book by Guillory in the future. It passed the time nicely and was fun to read – what more can you ask for in a Friday night read?!

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Having only read Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (and loving that one), I was excited to dive into this despite only sometimes loving short story collections. This was one of the better collections I’ve read and I think it will be quite well received this summer. These stories were quite readable, quite eye-opening, and there was a bit of a wow factor in most of the stories. The characters were very diverse and that was fun to read too. A lot of these really made me think about how you can make quick judgements about a person without being correct…the whole collection really embodies that saying of “assume = ass out of u and me”. Like many short story collections, I liked a few stories way more than others, but that’s the way it is! I recommend giving this one a chance 🙂

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced review copy of this book.

Intermediate Thermodynamics by Susannah Nix
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was adorable. I enjoyed her first book last month and picked up this one on audio on Hoopla. I don’t usually listen to romance on audio but I kind of like it – the manly voice is interesting. Haha – and you can’t skim audiobooks. 😉 I love Susannah Nix’s characters so far and the L.A. setting is also kind of fun to read about – I haven’t read many books set there for some reason. I appreciate what she is doing with her women in STEAM fields of work too.

Don’t Bother:

Maybe Someone Like You by Stacy Wise
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

I skimmed parts of this and read it in one night over a holiday weekend, but I will admit that it was pretty forgettable – literally the next morning I could not remember the title or the main character’s name. Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

In summary: I definitely recommend almost all of these books depending on your reading preferences, but in particular EDUCATED, You Think it, I’ll Say it, Beauty & the Clockwork Beast, and Penny Reid’s books!!

CURRENTLY READING:

Graceling on audio, Down a Dark Road, and A Conjuring of Light <3<3<3

So, what have you been reading lately?!

10 books on my Spring TBR

At the end of 2017, I made a new shelf on Goodreads called TBR-2018. I turn to this shelf any time I’m not sure what to read next, and it also includes books on my shelves that I haven’t read yet (and books on my kindle that I forget about, honestly). I have gotten into a “bad habit” of seeing a review of a book on Instagram or a blog or Goodreads and instantly going to request it from the library right away (and then suspending it so all my holds don’t come in at once). Sometimes I get holds in from the library and I don’t even remember why I thought I wanted to read that book. I’m trying now to just add them to my Goodreads TBR categories and sort those out every once in awhile instead of having all the books come in at once from the library. I’m trying to remind myself that those books will always be there!!! 😉 (Netgalley is just as bad for this).

ANYWAY…I have a few more library books to read and then I am suspending some holds and taking a month or two to read books on my kindle shelf and my shelf at home. Here are a few books on my spring TBR list (linking up with The Artsy Reader Girl today for Top Ten Tuesday):

I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes – a few online bookish friends have RAVED about this book and I borrowed it from my parents probably a year ago and haven’t gotten to it yet. It sounds intense and fast-paced.

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton – My parents bought me this book for Christmas 12 years ago when it came out and I still haven’t read it. I’ve read and enjoyed The Secret Keeper and The Distant Hours by Kate Morton, but her books require a big time commitment so I’ve shied away from them sometimes.

Get Lucky by Katherine Center – I’ve had this on my kindle for over a year and I love her other books so this one should be good too. I think I only have this one and one other to go before I finish her backlist.

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab Kristen was kind enough to mail me this a SUPER long time ago and again, I just need to commit the time to it because I have heard that the ending to this trilogy is amazing.

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman – I had been stalking Netgalley several times a week to see when this book would be on there and then they e-mailed it to me and it was one of the best days ever. I loved Beartown, and this one sounds excellent too. (Comes out June 5)

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory – waiting for this one to come in at the library before I suspend holds…I have heard mostly wonderful reviews of this new release

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – I’m planning to listen to the Maggie Gyllenhaal narration of this one on Audible. I have tried to read War and Peace at least 10 times with no success but I have heard this work of Tolstoy’s is a bit more approachable and the audio version feels like the way to go 🙂

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (re-read) – I haven’t read this in quite a few years and I am going to listen to Rachael McAdam’s narration this time.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (re-read) – I want to listen to the audio version of this before seeing the movie in May – CAN’T WAIT to see the movie fyi 😉 The trailer is here. It looks SO GOOD!!!

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld – I have this one from Netgalley and though I haven’t read much of her work (only Eligible, which I loved), I look forward to this one.

Have you read any of these? What else should I add? I have a TBR list a mile long so this is just some of the many books I’ll read this spring, I’m sure! 🙂

Show us your Books March 2018

Yay, book chat day!! 🙂 We went without internet ALL weekend after a cable got disconnected during a snowstorm last week so I am rushing to get this posted today. My reading life has been all over the place – I’ve been trying to keep up with Netgalley and Erin’s challenge and books I have anticipated for months, but I also find myself craving some fluffy happily ever after stories on weekends when I’m relaxing. It’s a mix!

I can’t wait to see what everyone has been reading. Linking up today with Steph and Jana, our amazing hostesses 🙂 Here are a few books I read in the past month or so since the last link up:

HIGHLY RECOMMEND:

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

This book comes out May 15. I had extremely high expectations for this book because I absolutely adored Happiness for Beginners and though I haven’t read all of Katherine Center’s books yet, I have enjoyed many of the others as well. This book was just as great as I expected it to be. I think it claims my second spot out of her books because I just have such a strong adoration for Happiness for Beginners but this was still so great.

I am not ashamed to admit that I read it in one sitting on a rainy Sunday evening and loved every minute of it. It was more emotional (for me, at least) than Happiness for Beginners because the reality that the main character finds herself in is so devastating and hope seems to falter for quite a bit there.

As with many of her books, I loved the cast of characters. Her writing is so great and I found myself laughing and crying and deeply rooting for the characters. And of course, I was quite happy with the ending and all the feels 🙂

I will absolutely be re-reading this one and adding a paper copy to my bookshelf in addition to this advanced copy provided to me by St. Martins Press and Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and share my opinions before its May publication – I follow Katherine Center on Instagram and I had been following her progress with this novel and waiting with bated breath to have these words in my life.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It feels like it’s been awhile since I read a psychological thriller after burning myself out on them a bit last year – but this one deserves all the hype. I spent most of the book not knowing exactly who or what to trust and the ending was particularly surprising to me – and intense too. The short chapters really make this one move quickly. I highly recommend this one if you like this genre – it was kind of a better version of The Girl on The Train (in my opinion) and the writing was very good.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This isn’t a popular opinion but this book was difficult to read. It took me forever because I just never connected with the overall story and the format. However, I did enjoy many of the stories and the writing was wonderful…it just wasn’t enough to hold my interest over other books. I do think this is an important book and I’m glad I read it, but it was difficult to connect with because I would just be getting into a character and then their story was over. (Read for “home in the title” category for Erin’s challenge).

Leaving Everest by Megan Westfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After loving Lessons in Gravity last year, I was really excited to see that Megan Westfield had a new book coming out. I was a bit hesitant about this subject matter because Everest is soooo grandiose and the magnitude of the mountain and the survival skills required to summit it freak me out a little bit BUT I needn’t fear because this book made me really appreciate and love the Everest life. Emily and Luke and the supporting characters were so fun to read about and I had read 60% of this book without even realizing it. I happily finished it off the next morning and am now looking forward to revisiting it soon. It was also great to see a slight mention of April and Josh from Lessons in Gravity.

Again, I was reminded that I like the new adult genre quite a bit, especially when it is done well. Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me with a copy of this for an honest review.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this audiobook and finished it quite quickly. It was a cute story about a 12 year old girl and her friends and there were elements of time travel, A Wrinkle in Time, learning about friendships and family, and some growing up. It was great.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This audiobook was incredible. Woodson’s storytelling is so riveting and it was a joy to listen to. I was completely invested in it and if anything, I wanted more. I think the format of this really lends itself well to an audiobook too – the poetic nature of the writing was a bit harder for me to read in print although it is still lovely. This had been on my TBR list for way too long (and in my audible queue) so I’m glad I finally made time for it.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow – this audiobook was fantastic. This book will stay with me for a long time. I loved the language, the description of Barcelona, the mysterious story, the sadness, the emotions, and the love of books. This is an incredible story even though it was very dark at times. It reminded me a bit of The Book Thief for some reason (although meant for an adult audience) and it also reminded me a bit of The Count of Monte Cristo though that could be because the audio narration felt similar.

STILL WORTH YOUR TIME:

Force of Nature by Jane Harper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After loving The Dry (like many – it was so popular last year it seemed!), I was anticipating this book and it was another good one. I didn’t love it as much as her first book but I still found her writing to be absolutely captivating and all-consuming, particularly her description of setting. I really had no idea how this book would resolve and the ending was fast-paced and page-turning. I really like Aaron Falk as a character too and hope we see more of him in her future work.

The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am very familiar with the musical of The Phantom of the Opera but have not read the original book. I’d say this novel did a wonderful job of encompassing the story and adding to it as well. It took me awhile to get into, and made me realize that probably my favourite part of the Phantom of the Opera is the music, because other parts of it are creepy (a ghost?! a stalker crazy ghost in an old building?! ahhh). I did really like this book though and if you are a huge fan of the original story, this would be worth your time to consider. It’s still set in historical times but the story is told a bit more from Christine’s perspective.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sonnet Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel for review. It is now available.

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I still appreciate and admire Agatha Christie’s writing and I like Poirot as a character, this was not as good as I expected it to be. The cast of characters here was just unlikable to me and I found myself not really caring what happened to anyone. The mystery itself was also predictable. (Read for “setting = transportation” category of Erin’s challenge).

By the Book by Julia Sonneborn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had been anticipating this book for months because I love Persuasion AND I am generally a huge fan of many Austen retellings. While this fell a little flat for me, I still liked it. There were certain parts about it that I decidedly DID NOT like at all, but the ending was good and the characters were good enough and there were some cute parts. I liked the university setting and the supporting characters too.

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This was really cute. I wouldn’t classify it as a P&P retelling at all but I did enjoy the mention of the book a few times. Way less drama than P&P in my opinion. haha. Passed the time nicely. Very similar to Dating You/Hating You in a lot of ways.

Other books I read and enjoyed but don’t feel the need to discuss in extreme detail:

I went on an R.S. Grey binge towards the end of my Kindle Unlimited free month and read Anything You Can Do, The Foxe and the Hound, The Allure of Julian LeFray, and The Allure of Dean Harper. Anything You Can Do is likely one of my favourites of hers – I love that type of love story and it was well done and funny. The others were all good and as I’ve said before, her books are like sitting down to watch a romantic comedy in book form. Somewhat forgettable after the fact, but so enjoyable in that moment. I also read Living Out Loud and it was 3/5 stars for me – I can’t wait for the second part of this S&S retelling. I read this book in one day and while it wasn’t my favourite, it was still cute. I also read and enjoyed the first in a trilogy by Susannah Nix (contemporary romance) about women who work in scientific fields. It was funny and cute.

What have you been reading lately?

I’m currently reading:

Educated by Tara Westover

Re-reading:

First time reading the illustrated version! This is one of my favourites in the series so I am loving it.

Short Book Reviews – Show us Your Books link up!

So happy to be linking up with Jana & Steph today for Show us Your Books!!! It feels like it’s been ages since the last link up and I can’t wait to check out the books that everyone has been reading. I’ve shared a few reviews here and there over the past month, but this post is still pretty long because I basically did nothing but read and be a hermit in January. Click to the end to see a basic TL;DR about all these books. Haha 🙂

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING BOOKS

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

I talked about this book more here, and all I really have to say is that this book was excellent and deserves all the hype it is getting. It was so well done.

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.

Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was all over my Instagram feed in December and I had heard so many good things about it. The cover is also gorgeous and the premise was appealing to me, but I was reluctant to pick it up when I finally got it from the library in January (did I want to read something Christmassy after just packing it all up?!) Don’t let the title sway you – this book has a lot of mention of Christmases over the years, but it’s not specifically related to Christmas in any strong way. This book reminded me so much of another book I loved, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society except that the individuals writing letters were already friends so they spoke of shared history. The literary references and insertions of Shakespeare’s works and other poets etc was wonderful, and I loved the way the story unfolded (even though I did guess at some of it – it was predictable, but I didn’t mind one bit).

This story reminded me of what it feels like to write and receive letters, which is a bit lost these days and something I would like to get back into this year. The characters in this novel are fun, strong, and real. The cast isn’t as large as in Guernsey, but I liked the focus on the two main characters and their family/friends as side characters. I can’t stop thinking about how much I enjoyed this book, hence the 5 stars. This book came to me at exactly the right time and I am so happy that I picked it up.

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, I just love these characters. They are SO fun to read about, and quite humorous. Although I predicted the ending to this mystery, I still really liked this book and there were a few twists and turns. This is some of the most entertaining historical fiction I’ve read for sure.

Followed up by:
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

WOW. I am absolutely in love with this series. I found this one to be the quickest read of the three – I absolutely couldn’t quite put my finger on what was going on in the mystery. Stoker and Veronica were amazing as always in this third instalment and their chemistry just HAS to pay off at some point! I am already highly anticipating the next in this series – I HOPE IT IS SOON!!!

Thank you to Berkeley Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced review copy of this book which came out in January.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This audiobook was excellent. I love Elsa’s character so much, and the entire cast of characters is quite fun. Elsa’s love for Harry Potter might have predisposed me to loving her right from the very beginning, but this whole book was just so well done. The mysterious aspects, the family ups and downs, and the true emotion here were so evident (particularly on audio, I think) and I am a Backman fan forever and ever. He has not yet written something that I didn’t enjoy immensely. (Read for Erin’s challenge: book written in another language)

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kristen sent me a message when she found out that this book was out, and I promptly downloaded it immediately and read it until I was done. I really love Mariana Zapata’s books, and this one was particularly fun as a lead up to the winter Olympics when figure skating is featured a bit more prominently in the world in general. These characters were wonderful and I really really loved this book. Dear Aaron is next on my list by her after reading about some of those characters in this book.

Still Me by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Oh, it was so wonderful to read about Louisa Clark again. And Ambulance Sam. And a bunch of new entertaining characters. This was so, so enjoyable. Me Before You was absolutely sensational and a 5 star read for me. Unlike many others, I actually quite liked After You on its own. Still Me was better than After You and in some ways it felt like more of a continuation of Me Before You. There are some fun snippets of Will Traynor in this one. Louisa comes into her own in some ways. I love her as a character and I had forgotten that. I appreciate JoJo Moyes’ writing and need to get at her backlist soon. (In particular, The Girl you Left Behind is sitting on my shelf unread).

Greenglass House by Kate Milford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me a little while to get into this book, but the audio version was really very well done and I eventually could not wait to find out what happened at the end. The setting and the cast of characters were really interesting and unique and the story unfolded in a fun way. I can’t wait to share this one with my children in a few years – perfect middle grade book, in my opinion.

Enjoyable enough :

Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book reminded me quite a bit of The Hating Game, but there was a bit less angst. It was super cute and very funny – it was interesting to get a bit of a fictional inside look at the life of a Hollywood agent.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Winter is the perfect time to read this book, as I’m sure many readers would agree. At first, I wasn’t sure how much I liked this book – it seemed sad, and difficult to read during January. However, I stayed with it and really did end up liking it. I’d say it’s more of a 3.5 star rating but rounded up to 4 due to the lovely writing and interesting setting. This is ultimately a story of hope, growth, and belief. The magical realism and snow girl character made this really fun, and I really liked all of the other characters too.

Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I talk about this book more here. My favourite short stories were: Click by Katherine McGee, The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer Armentrout, and The Unlikelyhood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies.

The Beau & the Belle, The Duet, and The Design by R.S. Grey
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

These books were super easy to read and they passed the time just fine. I love curling up with one of R.S. Grey’s books on the weekend and just passing an evening with some smiles and the knowledge that a happily ever after moment is coming. It’s like watching a romantic comedy in book format, and I love it. Overall, they didn’t have quite the depth that I seek out in some books, but they were funny and the characters were great. The Duet was probably my favourite of the three of hers I’ve read so far and I talk about The Beau and the Belle more here.

Neanderthal Seeks Human and Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Penny Reid’s books are VERY funny. I read the first in each of these series and like R.S. Grey’s books, these pass the time sooo nicely. In particular, in Neanderthal Seeks Human, Janie is a one of a kind character, and so much fun. I will slowly read the others in this series although they’re not at my library so I am keeping an eye on kindle deals.

Not recommended overall:

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This wasn’t my favourite Austen adaptation. I’ve heard that it does follow the Youtube series pretty closely. It’s funny because in some ways it felt similar to Eligible, which I loved, but I think it lacked the humour of that book…or something. Anyway, it wasn’t too bad but I am off Austen retellings for a little bit after this one. (probably until next week or something – haha). Read for Erin’s challenge: book with a person’s name in the title.

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti
My rating: 2.5 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 but for me it was a bit of a flop. Freebie for Erin’s challenge.

If you’ve read this far – yay, thank you!!!

TL;DR – I highly recommend The Great Alone, Last Christmas in Paris, From Lukov with Love (if you like romance), and Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell series as well as all of Fredrik Backman’s books. 😉 Still Me was wonderful too.

Currently reading in some capacity: The Shadow of the Wind (loving it on audio), Brown Girl Dreaming (almost done on audio), and Homegoing. <–taking my time with that last one and have taken it out from the library 4 times now :S Needing to start another Netgalley book too. I tried Ensnared last week and had to take a major pause – might be a DNF but I hate to do that with ARCs.

What have you been reading lately? My Netgalley shelf and my library holds are both exploding but I’m trying to keep up OR just let some go until later. Too many books, too little time!!! 🙂

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

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??

Show us Your Books: The first of 2018!!

The weeks surrounding Christmas are notoriously bad reading weeks for me; this year was a little better than in the past, but I still felt like I never had any time (or energy) to read. That being said – I didn’t have much time to blog either. Those kinds of things just fall by the wayside when we are with our families and I’m busy parenting, cleaning, and celebrating 😉 Being home for 10 days straight with my family and visiting all of our families and friends just doesn’t leave much time to poke my nose in a book…but I did finish a few books over the last month and I am feeling back into a big reading groove!!! January-March are usually big reading months for me because it is SO FREEZING OUTSIDE that all I want to do is curl up and read books. Haha. Anyone else?!

Linking up with Jana & Steph today to chat about books for the first Show us Your Books link up of 2018!!!

Heir to Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had asked my husband for Edenbrooke for Christmas, so I wanted to read this one in case I ended up re-reading Edenbrooke sometime over the holidays. This was SO CUTE. Loved it. It was fun to read Philip’s perspective and know just how much that meeting with Marianne changed his life. SO fun, and definitely a quick and enjoyable read if you love Edenbrooke. My only complaint was that it was not long enough!!!!! I wanted more. If you haven’t read Edenbrooke yet, I implore you to do so if Regency romance is your thing. It is SO SO good.

Mr. Dickens and His Carol: A Novel by Samantha Silva
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this SO much more than I did. I am not a huge fan of A Christmas Carol, but I don’t mind Dickens in general. This was interesting at times, but it fell a little flat for me. I will say that if you are ever looking for a good book to read around Christmas time that has minimal romance and is not Hallmarky, this might be up your alley…

How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I sat on the couch and read about 90% of this book in one night. I had started it the night before, and was liking it, but I just plowed right through. It was really cute, and also very emotional at times. Can I just say that I love that books about bookshops and book lovers are so popular right now? I love the bookish themes in these books. A few I can think of off the top of my head that I loved: The Bookshop on the Corner, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Words in Deep Blue, Tell me Three Things (in the background), Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, A Murder for the Books. Even books that I didn’t completely love about bookstores were mostly redeemable because a setting of a bookstore is SO GREAT. Anyway, enough of that tangent – How to Find Love in a Bookshop is adorable and sweet. I loved it. It did remind me a bit of Fikry in some ways, especially the father-daughter aspect.

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this was quite the book. It was easy to read, since it is middle grade, but it was quite powerful. It’s about an 11 year old girl in a wheelchair who has SO MANY THOUGHTS and is sooooo smart but unable to speak (and has cerebral palsy). Melody was quite funny at times, and witty, and a normal pre-teen but with so many more challenges in life than many of us have. Parts of this were tough to read but it was so eye-opening. I definitely cried like a baby near the end. (I read this for Erin’s challenge for a character with a debilitating physical illness).

Kulti by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn’t love this QUITE as much as The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, but it was still very good and it made me realize that I kind of like books about sports – in this sense. Haha. Parts of it were quite swoonworthy and I really appreciated Sal’s confidence and strength to stand up for what she believed in. This was a cute, quick, read that left me with a smile on my face and passed a winter’s night quite nicely. I am enjoying Mariana Zapata’s books a lot – they probably aren’t for everyone, but they are quite enjoyable if you like the genre.

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun book to pick up here and there over Christmas. The alternating perspectives and short chapters really lent this book to scattered reading, although I did read the last half of it in one sitting quite quickly. I did not see the end coming and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The family drama and contrast between different careers etc was good and if you like family drama books, this is a good one to consider. It’s not all drama all the time though – I wouldn’t compare it to The Nest, for example.

This was a cute YA book – totally predictable, but it was still fun. A bit too YA for me, but that’s my own age showing 😉

Longbourn’s Songbird by Beau North
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5. 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. Kristen, you’ll like this one 😉

TL;DR: I highly recommend Longbourn’s Songbird, How to Find Love in a Bookshop, Out of my Mind, and Heir to Edenbrooke. Seven Days of us might be a good one to keep in mind for next holiday season, too. 🙂

Currently reading: The Snow Child (LOVING IT) and Greenglass House (on audio, LOVING IT). I’m carving out more time to read so I can finish these books off and continue on with Erin’s book challenge 8.0. Speaking of which, here are my choices for her challenge, which runs on Facebook and Goodreads from Jan 1-Apr 30, 2018:

Freebie: As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti via Netgalley
Book that Starts with ‘L’: ~~Longbourn’s Songbird by Beau North via Netgalley~~
Book with a Red Cover: The Alchemist’s Code by Martin Rua via Netgalley <— this was literally one of the first books I was ever approved for on Netgalley and I have yet to read it 😛
Book with a Character’s Full Name in the Title: The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennett by Bernie Su
Book with a Plot Twist: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz
Book with the word House or Home in it: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Book in which the author’s first and last name are alliterative: Renegades by Marissa Meyer (but I might go with that ~~Jenni James~~ book above instead)
Book that is written in a different language than the one you speak: My Grandmother sends her regards and apologizes by Fredrick Backman
Book that takes place on a form of transportation: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Book that has a character with a debiliating physical illness: ~~Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper~~

The Best Books I Read in 2017 (SUYB link up!)

I’m here to (belatedly) link up with Steph & Jana to share the best books I read this year.

I read 39,597 pages across 118 books Img bookstack 360

I love all of the best-of lists that come out at this time of the year because I always end up adding tons of books to my TBR list and finding lots of new gems to check out next year.

I plan to post a bit of an analytical post about my reading life in 2017 early in January 2018 but I wanted to link up today with Steph and Jana for a December bonus Show us Your Books post with the best of 2017. I am sharing the best books I read this year whether they were published this year or not.

As usual, I gave a lot of 4 star reviews this year. I think I have gotten a bit stingier with 5 star reviews, but four stars feels like OMG I loved this book and it is highly likable and recommendable.

Here are the books I rated 5 stars and would highly HIGHLY recommend if they sound like something you’d like:

Beartown by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have thought of this book at least once a week since I read it, which is rare for me. I need to read it again sometime to absorb the story again. I am beyond excited that there will be a sequel coming out in mid 2018!!! This isn’t *really* a feel good book, but the writing was incredible, and I know it has been quite well-received this year so I’m sure this is not news to anyone but this book was SO, so good.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book. The audio was especially fantastic – I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much in print. The narrator was wonderful. Loved all of the supporting characters and can definitely appreciate Ove’s views on life: simple and profound at the same time. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. I sent it to both of my grandmothers in the past few months, but I think it is great reading for anyone.

This one was also incredible in a completely different way:

Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There was so much that I wanted to highlight and re-read in this book. I loved all of these whimsical and interesting observations about the world. AKR’s writing is so positive and fun. I can’t wait to read her first memoir now.
Reading this book was quite bittersweet knowing that we will never read her beautiful words again.

Of course, I expected my beloved Louise Penny’s 2017 book Glass Houses to be awesome, and it was all that and more. The icing on the cake for that one was reading it early via Netgalley and then MEETING HER in person and getting my copy signed. ❤

Glass Houses by Louise Penny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Glass Houses was unbelievably good. The style was a bit different as many parts of it were told between two time periods (about 9 months apart so not a major time travel type book). As always, the residents of Three Pines featured prominently in the book, and there were a few newcomers too. Gamache’s character made some very tough decisions and some actions in this book that really caused me to pause and think. I don’t want to say much more about it but I do understand all of why it had to happen. All of the corruption in the past books really led up to the major plot in this particular story. I recommend this series ALL THE TIME, but start with book 1!!! It really hits its stride around book 4.

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a story that needed to be told. As a mother and a wife, I absolutely loved this book. It was so uniquely told and the writing was fantastic. Favourite quote from the book: “If you give all your worry to one thing, soon you’ll realize that’s way too much and worry about it less and you’ll feel more in control of it for keeping it at the front of your mind and that will help you worry less too.”

Children’s/Middle Grade/YA that I really enjoyed:

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this beautiful book.

Emily of New Moon and A Wrinkle in Time were also two re-reads that I enjoyed profoundly on audio this year.

And here are a few 4-4.5 star books that I also loved:

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So cute. I actually read this book twice this year and bought it. One of my favourite YA reads ever. I also loved her other YA book which was new this year, entitled What to Say Next.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I fully expected this book to be incredible, and scientific, and intense, and it was all of those things and more. It was also a lot more heartfelt and hopeful than I expected. Some of it definitely went over my head, but I didn’t mind and felt like I “understood” it all enough to enjoy it immensely. The hype is real for this book.

A Thousand Letters by Staci Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this in one sitting and loved it. I enjoyed the Persuasion aspects of it, and I will absolutely be seeking out more books in her Austen adaptations series. Parts of this were absolutely heartbreaking and made me teary. Beautiful writing. Thanks Kristen for the recommendation!!!

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an extremely enjoyable reading experience. I read this book in one night because I loved it so much. I also thought about it all the next day. The characters were super fun. Definitely a wonderful addition to the romance genre.

A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1)

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a fun book to read! Loved the characters, was quite invested in the story, and enjoyed the way it unfolded. Looking forward to continuing the series.

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen Flynn
Born a Crime: Tales from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
The Lost Husband by Katherine Center – I love her books & can’t wait to read a new one in 2018!!
The Darker Shade of Magic series (I still have one more book to read in the trilogy)
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Books that were good and really, really made me think:

The Hate U Give – by Angie Thomas
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Count of Monte Cristo (no kidding – it consumed 4 months of my life/51 hours of audio)
The Casual Vacancy
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
The Crossover
Murder on the Orient Express

I also love that the first book I read this year was The Bookshop on the Corner and the last one I am hoping to finish up is How to Find Love in a Bookshop. 😉

I can’t wait to share more detailed stats in the new year!!! Check out what everyone else is recommending over at the link up (Thanks for hosting, as always, Steph & Jana!!!!)

Show us Your Books – What I Read Last Month

Time for another link up with Steph and Jana! Can’t wait to read what everyone has been reading lately so I can broaden my 2018 TBR list!! This month, I hit my 100 book reading goal for the year and I also read a lot of really great books. Some of the books were cozier than others, but overall I loved many of the books I read. I read 3 books for my Austen adaptation month with Kristen, which I plan to continue with a bit in December. I have a few holiday books on my TBR for December too. Can’t wait for the second December link up to share the best books I’ve read all year!!! I am already enjoying browsing best-of lists although I disagreed a bit with Goodreads on some of the choices there 😉

I read quite a wide range of books this month – quite a few contemporary romance type books that were either holiday related or Austen related, but also a few other mystery type books and a few children’s books. All over the place!

A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilbert
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This was a cute cozy mystery, easy enough to read and the characters were enjoyable. The history of the town was interesting and there was a cute romance. At no point did I feel OMG I have no idea what is going on nor did I feel supremely concerned for the characters because I felt like it would all work out, but hey, that was kind of nice for a change. The romantic aspect was cute too. I will likely read other books in this series! (Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this fun book).

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this beautiful book. It’s a children’s book, but it deals with an interesting topic. The book itself is extremely aesthetically pleasing, but the subject matter and way the story is told really pulled at the heart strings. It’s not quite Ivan, but I happen to really love trees as well as personification so this was up my alley, haha.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was amazing on audio and I couldn’t stop listening to it. It opened my eyes to a very realistic situation and the impact that it could have on so many people. The characters were wonderful in this book and the story was so well told. Everyone needs to read this book.

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a fun book to read! Loved the characters, was quite invested in the story, and enjoyed the way it unfolded. Looking forward to continuing the series. Veronica Speedwell is SUCH a fun character to read about and I loved Stoker too. I don’t really quite know how to classify this series – it’s kind of like a cozy historical mystery?! Pretty fun though.

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Since I often enjoy books that Kristen likes, I had a feeling I would like this one but it still blew me away. IT WAS SO GOOD (if this genre is your thing). It was well written, and swoon-worthy, and I could not put it down and read it in one sitting. I loved it and I want to re-read it soon so I’m happy to have it purchased on my kindle 🙂 If you like contemporary romance, this should absolutely make it on your list.

Wait for It by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved Dianna’s story!!! This one wasn’t quite as good as Wall of Winnipeg and Me, but I liked how their story was included a bit in this one too 🙂 Loved Dianna’s relationship with her nephews and her independence, although her parental role made me feel a bit tired, haha. Zapata writes so well and I know I will enjoy all of her books and characters.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I fully expected this book to be incredible, and sciencey, and intense, and it was all of those things and more. It was also a lot more heartfelt and hopeful than I expected. Some of it definitely went over my head, but I didn’t mind and felt like I “understood” it all enough to enjoy it immensely. The hype is real for this book. I already passed it on to my dad, who I think will enjoy it a lot too.

Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs by Paula Marantz Cohen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Parts of this book were absolutely hilarious to me. The guidance counselor/student/parent relationships were quite humorous and I liked that setting for the book. The Persuasion elements in it were nice, but of course it was nowhere near as swoonworthy as the original or as enjoyable as A Thousand Letters. I still really liked all of the characters and the book was a fun one overall! 3.5/5 stars 🙂

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So many good and thought-provoking ideas about changing your perspective and giving yourself grace. I can absolutely see why Brene Brown’s work is so popular. I especially enjoyed this on audio but I might pick up a paper copy too so I can refer back to some of her ideas a bit easier. Loved the HP references 😉

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great middle-grade novel reminiscent a bit of Number the Stars. I loved Ada’s determination and how she grew throughout the book. I’ve heard the sequel is quite good too, and I will be picking that one up soon.

Wasted Words by Staci Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This couple was adorable and I loved that it was an Emma re-telling because they are a bit less common. Wasted Words seems like such a fun place – a bar/comic shop/bookstore all in one…so FUN! Staci Hart’s writing is fun and easy to read. I read this in one sitting and enjoyed it very much.

Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a joy to be back with the Quinn family after thinking their story was finished with book 3! I loved that this book had more Bart in it and all of the other characters too. I really liked Jennifer’s storyline and struggles in this book as well as everything Ava and Margaret were feeling. I knew the end was going to be heartbreaking, and it was, but it was also quite hopeful.
Thankful to have received an advanced copy of this wonderful conclusion to the series from Netgalley.

We’ll Always Have Christmas by Jenny Hale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was one of those adorable Christmas stories that you know isn’t necessarily high literature but gives you some cozy Christmas cheer. It was nice, it was a bit predictable, but I didn’t mind. I can see why her work is made into Hallmark Christmas movies, because that is exactly how it reads, but I didn’t mind at all. The little boy in this book was adorable if not a touch unrealistic. 😉 (Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this Christmas book).

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5 stars. I read this in less than an hour and was sad when it was over. It was excellent and thought-provoking though and I can’t get enough of Backman’s writing. Also, isn’t the cover just SO CHRISTMASSY?!?!!? I love it.

MEH books:

Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star by Heather Lynn Rigaud
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book more. The premise was fun, and when I started it, it reminded me a bit of Eligible in the sense that it was ultra modern but had a bunch of P&P characters in their rightful places. The premise of the two bands touring together was fun and an easy way for everyone to get to know each other. I did really like parts of this book but it was just wayyyy too long and drawn out, parts of it were totally unrealistic for a modern setting, and there was way too much predictable coupling going on. I skimmed entire pages just so I could see where the plot was heading. Unfortunately I think it was the writing that really bothered me on top of the way too detailed love scenes which I will admit I skipped over for the most part.

Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Not a big fan of this – it was my first by this author and I bought it on Kindle for a fundraiser but I’m sensing it is not her best. Fortunately, it was a short read.

TL;DR: I loved Wasted Words, Wall of Winnipeg and Me, Wait for It, Deal of a Lifetime, Dark Matter, The Hate U Give, and Daring Greatly as well as A Curious Beginning. Oh, and Wishtree and The War that Saved My Life. So basically, read all of those books depending on what you like. The Winter series by Elin Hildebrand is also very well written if you like something Christmassy and with some family drama, but start with the first one. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Settings I’d Love to Visit

This topic from Top Ten Tuesday over at The Broke and the Bookish resonated with me, so here I’ve included 10 bookish settings I’d love to visit (or visit again). Any that I missed?! 🙂

1) Hogwarts – OF COURSE I could spend a lifetime exploring this castle… 🙂 I’d also put the Weasley’s house on this list too but Hogwarts is first and foremost.

(source)

2) Three Pines from Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series – I’ve been there! Kind of!! We were in Louise Penny’s town this summer and I would have loved to spend more time there. The whole area is absolutely stunning.

3) Edenbrooke – as well as the beautiful grounds!!

(source)

4) Pemberley from Pride & Prejudice – preferably when The Darcys are home and there’s a ball going on 😉

(source)

5) Narnia from Chronicles of Narnia – I’d definitely want to bring a friend with me though, or maybe my own Lucy 🙂

(source)

6) Luna from The Lunar Chronicles – but I’d want to be there after Winter so that Levana isn’t around…

7) Terabithia from Bridge to Terabithia – it just seems like such a carefree and magical place 🙂 (PS: If you haven’t read this book, it is amazing and a huge cryfest)

8) Florin from The Princess Bride – would love to hang out with Buttercup and Wesley!!! Just to be clear though, I’m going to steer clear of the Fire Swamp…

(source)

9) Green Gables from Anne of Green Gables – I’ve been there when I was younger but it is wonderful and I’d love to go BACK there with my kiddos, so I’m counting it. New Moon is up there too, although it is more fictional!!

(source)

10) And this one is technically kind of from a movie, but I’d say the library from Beauty and the Beast (also depicted in Lost in a Book) – what is NOT to love about it??

(source)

Plus one honourable mention: Rivendell from Lord of the Rings

(source)

Recent Reads – Show us your Books November 2017

Yay!! Another month of reading gone by and some more great books to chat about. Linking up as always with the wonderful Steph and Jana 🙂 Unfortunately I had a few sort of “meh” books this month, but also a few amazing books to redeem those ones. I made my way through a bunch of Netgalley books but then I accidentally (oops) requested a few more, so I’m no further ahead really. Haha. This post is going to be a long one, but my main recommendations are in this first part! 🙂 I think it had been awhile since the last link up.

The best books I read this month:

Beach Music by Pat Conroy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was sweeping, intense, beautiful, sad, emotional, interesting, and unlike anything I have ever read. I had no idea what to expect out of it but it really covers a range of genres and is quite well written. I did not read it quickly, and I often didn’t seek it out at the end of a long day, but when I got closer to the end, I absolutely could not put it down. This is a book that is meant to be savoured and thought about, in my opinion, There was a lot going on with a lot of different characters but I didn’t have any problem keeping it all straight. It was wonderful if you are in the mood for a book of its length and depth.

Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything by Anne Bogel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I knew I would like this book, but I didn’t realize how much MORE I would want to read about personality after finishing it. I find this kind of thing endlessly fascinating, although I know it’s not for everyone. I think it is the psychology major in me, maybe? I also kind of secretly want to get certified in MBTI administration, which is pretty close to my career field anyway…so I might jump on that chance someday 🙂

I both read and listened to this. Listening to it was wonderful because I am used to Anne Bogel’s voice from her podcast and I like it. It was also great to have it in print to refer to the types she was talking about and make notes. There’s so much more that I am dying to learn about my family and my children and my husband after reading this book, and I can’t wait to dive in. I really think that learning about personality is beneficial to all relationships including those at work as well – so that was a good reminder.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was incredible. Eleanor’s character is so fun to read, and her observations on the world around her are fascinating. What happened to her was endlessly tragic and when it was all revealed, I found myself quite emotional and also quit impressed with her coping strategies. Such a good book.

Artemis by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book’s publication date is today so you’ll be hearing a lot about it in the coming weeks if you’re into book buzz at all! It took me awhile to get into this book, but once the action picked up, I was quite interested in what would happen to Jazz and the city of Artemis. There were a few twists that I definitely didn’t see coming and I finished the last half of the book in one night. Mark Watney in The Martian is still one of my favourite characters of all time, but Jazz was pretty good too and it was fun to read a book like this one with a female protagonist who loves science. This was a fun and unique book and I think fans of the Martian will also enjoy this one. I bet the audiobook will be great too – Weir’s writing really does lend itself well to audio.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for the advanced copy of this book. Thank you also to Goodreads and Crown Publishing for the paperback copy of this which I won through Goodreads!! 🙂

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my first novel by Agatha Christie and it will absolutely not be my last. Humorous, interesting, and surprising. The cast of characters was fun to read about, it was the perfect length, and the mystery was not what I expected at all. The basic storyline is about a group of people on a train including the world renowned detective Hercule Poirot. A man is murdered while the train gets stuck in the snow so the murderer is undoubtedly still on board. Hercule Poirot is fascinating to read about and reminds me a bit of Sherlock Holmes, naturally. Brian and I also had the chance to see the movie on Sunday night and I really liked it too – I had previously not considered myself much of a Kenneth Branagh fan but he sold me on Poirot’s character. The mystery aspect of this book pertains to quite a sad event and if you’ve read it you know what I mean…the movie made that even a bit harder to digest. So well done though. This book is a quick read so if you haven’t gotten to it yet, I’d recommend it – and then message me so we can talk about it because I can’t say much about the plot without spoiling it!

Origin by Dan Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been a fan of Dan Brown’s books for their fast-paced, action-packed, historically interesting plotlines, and this one was quite good. I don’t think it was quite up to the par of the Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons or even Inferno, but I still liked it. I didn’t read it as quickly as usual for some reason, so it wasn’t quite as intense but it was fascinating overall. If you’ve liked other books in the Robert Langdon series, this one is a good addition that raises some interesting questions.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had no idea what to expect out of this book but it was getting positive reviews from everyone I’d heard of so I jumped right in. I get the buzz around it now. This book pulled me out of a bit of a reading slump and I loved it for that. I think I read the second half of the book in one sitting. It was quite the page-turner and aspects of it reminded me of The Mothers although the writing is quite different. It was a very captivating book that raised some interesting questions, and I have found myself thinking about it often since finishing it. Now I am dying to read her first book, which I had been putting off for quite awhile. The characters and pace of this book really made it unputdownable for me, and I’m sure most of you already have this on your TBR because it has been everywhere lately.

A Thousand Letters by Staci Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this in one sitting and loved it. I enjoyed the Persuasion aspects of it, and I will absolutely be seeking out more books in her Austen adaptations series. I think this was the first adaptation of Persuasion that I’ve read and I wish there were more!! The story really lends itself well to retellings, in my opinion. Parts of this were absolutely heartbreaking and made me teary. Beautiful writing. Thanks Kristen for the recommendation!!!

A Quiet Life in the Country by T E Kinsey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I listened to this book while I was running and working on Halloween costumes, and it passed my time quite happily. The audiobook was very well done and Lady Hardcastle was an enchanting character. I don’t think the mystery aspect was quite up to par with other mysteries I’ve listened to, but like I said, it was still a pleasurable listening experience and I might seek out the other books in the series when I am in the mood for a cozy mystery.

Other decent books:

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I couldn’t wait to read this book since it combines two of my favourite things, Christmas and Pride and Prejudice, and the book itself delivered on those two premises even though I didn’t find it OVERLY Christmassy. It was a bit confusing that Darcy was a girl and “Lizzie” was a man, but it worked on some levels. There were a few very funny parts and a few cute parts in this book. Overall, not a bad festive retelling of one of my favourite pieces of literature but I still prefer Eligible over most other adaptations:)

The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first Katherine Reay novel I’ve read and I truly didn’t mind it. It’s maybe a 3.5 stars for me. I think really the writing was just kind of weird. I don’t know how to describe it but it wasn’t altogether favourable because of that. Parts of it were really fun. Parts of it felt completely disjointed though and I don’t think I really got invested until about halfway through the book. That being said, it was fun, and I enjoyed the ending too even if parts of it felt a bit rushed to the resolution. Although like I said, not altogether weird, just kind of up and down.

If you like reading about Austen characters (this is a tiny bit like Austenland in its storyline), this one is worth the read but it’s not at the top of the list for Austen fans either.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the advanced copy of this book.

It Started With Goodbye by Christina June
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It had been a bit since I’d read a YA book and I had completely forgotten that this was a slight Cinderella retelling, so that was kind of fun to figure out as I was reading. Parts of this felt a bit contrived to me (would the stepmother actually get away with that, really?), but I liked the SK parts and the friendships and the stepsister development. This book was fun and cute and reminded me of Tell me Three Things, which I adored.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blink for the review copy of this fun YA book.

The Royal Wedding by Melanie Summers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another fun addition to this series about modern royals. Highly readable and cute and just what I wanted for a little escape.
Thank you Netgalley and Buoni Amici Press for the advanced copy of this book.

One Step Away by Sydney Bristow
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

This book had a few cute moments (I enjoyed the librarian career part!), but it was overly predictable and a bit too much for me. I think Damon and Kelsey’s story might be a bit more interesting, and that’s the next in the series but I’m not in any rush to pick it up. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Dark Horse by B.J. Daniels
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was a bit disappointed to learn partway through this book that it was actually a trilogy! I was quite interested in the mystery of the kidnapped twins. I found the romance to be totally unbelievable but cute nonetheless…just extremely unrealistic. The writing was fast-paced and kept me interested. I even went so far as to pick up the next in the series at the library, read about 40 pages of it and said, nope…I just don’t care anymore. haha.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Intrigue for the advanced review copy of this e-book.

TL;DR: I recommend Little Fires Everywhere, Beach Music, Origin (if it’s your thing), A Thousand Letters, Artemis, and Murder on the Orient Express (the book AND the movie, but the book first! :)) If you like anything to do with personality typing, I highly recommend Reading People too.

What have you been reading lately? I’m hoping to read a few holiday books this month and get through a few more Netgalley books too. I’m currently reading The Hate U Give and Wishtree by Katherine Applegate (almost done that one). Hoping to start on A Curious Beginning sometime this week.