*This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thank you so much for helping to support my little family!

I slowed down a bit in my reading this month. Which should come as a shock to absolutely none of you! The girls had their last weeks of school, which are always total CHAOS. Jimmy was officially back from school which means more time hanging out with him and being together and less reading time (NOT complaining- it’s’ my favorite reason to not read.)!  Then the girls got out at the end of June…and there went the last of my reading, HA!

It’s all good. I’ll find my new groove soon.

With that said, I read some GEMS this month- here’s what I did get around to reading in June.

 

 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo // Taylor Jenkins Reid. 

This was one of my BOTM books from last month.

Y’all know I love me some TJR. This was a departure from the usual TJR read and I mean that in a really good way. It was excellent. My obsession with old Hollywood means I fell in love with this novel from page one. There was also a wonderful dose of social justice and activism which made me like it even more. That said, my super conservative friends would probably not enjoy this one. I ADORED it. 4.5 stars

 

The Sisters Chase // Sarah Healy

This was another BOTM selection. I enjoyed this one although I figured it out way before the end of the book. I didn’t really connect to any of the characters though… which keeps me from giving it a higher rating. 3 stars.

 

The Fall of Lisa Bellow // Susan Perabo

Nope nope nopety nope. This one is a NOPE for me. But I kept up with it because I’d heard so many others rave about it. So anticlimactic. I kept waiting for something to happen or some twist or resolution…but there was just…nothing. And my LORD I’m so tired of reading about bratty teenagers who treat their mothers like crap. 1.5 stars

 

 

A Million Junes // Emily Henry

This was yet another one of my BOTM reads. I haven’t stopped thinking about this one since I read it. Haunting, beautiful, magical, and thoroughly enchanting. The setting completely sucked me in and captured my attention. The last couple of chapters got a little too weird and convoluted for me, but the tear-inducing ending more than made up for it. Swoonworthy. 5 stars.

 

 

Bear Town // Fredrick Backman

Before I start this review, I need to disclose that I love Fredrick Backman. A Man Called Ove is one of my all time favorites. That said, his writing style takes a little getting used to. He is Swedish and I’m not sure if that has something to do with the different cadence and at times dry and abrupt structure of his sentences. But listen to me here- STICK WITH IT.

Ostensibly this book is about hockey. Which I know zero about. Zero. In reality it is about so much more. Love, fear, loyalty, loss, desire, family, good, and evil. It is about whether “boys will be boys” is an excuse and if “locker room banter” is acceptable. It’s about standing up for what you believe in…and so much more. Some of it is quite dark and some of it probably needs a trigger warning.

Listen to me here…Backman’s books are a slow burn. He wants you to KNOW his characters inside and out before you get to the action. He wants you to work for it and think about it. Always read carefully because there are gems scattered along the way. 5 stars.

 

 

Rabbit Cake // Anni Hartnett

Weird and quirky and memorable. And also deeply sad- but you don’t notice at first because it’s so offbeat. Enjoyable and unique for sure. One of my favorite narrators in recent memory. Some of you might find it too strange…I thought it was so lovable and endearing. 4 stars.

 

Now let’s talk about my July selections for Book of the Month.

1. Goodbye, Vitamin– Guys I really loved this one. It is not my usual type of book at all but I fell in love with it and haven’t stopped thinking about it.
2. Final Girls– A nice twisty escape read which wasn’t my all time fave, but still quite enjoyable.
3. American Fire– Haven’t gotten to this one yet but I have high hopes. The story is so intriguing! I’m trying to read more non-fiction too.

BOTM DEALS FOR JULY:

• BOTM Canvas Tote to anyone who signs up for two months (or more) and uses code: TOTALLY at checkout.
• 1, 2, or 3 month membership for $10 a month
• Add Hunger by Roxane Gay or The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver to your box for $9.99 per book.

 

Overall this month was SUCH a good month. So many excellent books that I’ll remember forever.

How about you? Anything you loved? Hated? Felt mehhh about?

Happy Monday y’all!

xoxo

S

UPDATED/// CURRENT POST WITH NEW INFO >>>>> HERE <<<<<<<

*This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thank you so much for helping to support my little family!

Now that I’ve been a BOTM subscriber for 11  months, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the club and how it’s changed my reading game. Spoiler alert: I love it and it’s been worth every penny.

Full disclosure: I recently announced that I’ve become a BOTM book ambassador. This means that the company will be sending me three of the five selections early each month so that I can read them and share thoughts with you to help you place your order at the beginning of each month. HOWEVER. I am writing this post based on 11 months of being a paying subsriber of BOTM.

For those of you who haven’t heard me discuss this before, here’s a little overview of Book of the Month Club in a nutshell:

BOTM is a monthly reading/book subscription box that offers newly released (often released before anyone else can get their hands on them) hardback books. You are given five choices every month and you select the book you’d most like to read.

You have the opportunity to skip a month if none of the books appeal to you. Also, you can add an additional book to your box for $9.99.

Pricing:

When you join for the first time, BOTM offers 3 standard enrollment offers:

• 1-month for $10.00
• 2-months for $10 per month, then $15 per month
• 3-months for $10 per month, then $15 per month

All membership plans automatically renew, but you can cancel anytime.  

If you were previously a member, and are looking to rejoin BOTM, they offer 3 re-enrollment plans.

• 3-months for $14.99 per month
• 6-months for $13.99 per month
• 12-months for $11.99 per month

For both new members and former members, special offers, different from those listed above, are occasionally made available through email and our partners, like magazines, blogs, and Instagramers.

If you read my Reading Recap posts each month, I often have coupon codes.

I actually have a fun deal for y’all today!! This June, new members can receive The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand, Theft by Finding by David Sedaris, or The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy for free with any membership by using the code FREEBOOK.

Overall Thoughts: It’s worth it. Totally worth the small cost to spoil myself and give myself joy. I look forward to the box every single month and this isn’t an exaggeration. Reading is something I will never ever fall out of love with. Treating myself to this small pleasure has been one of my best and smartest acts of self care. It may seem like an added/unneccesary expense but it has NEVER been that to me. I have never been great at taking care of myself and this is one of the steps I’ve taken to change that.

My favorite things about BOTM: 

1. I’m often exposed to books I would have NEVER chosen on my own.
2. Even when I’m not sure I will love the selection, it ends up being something that I’m so glad I read and something I think about long after I finish it, whether or not I give it five stars.
3. The pleasure and joy that holding a special book in my hands brings me.
4. The community of friends that also use BOTM has introduced me to. I love discussing my thoughts with passionate readers like Ali and Jessica.

Cons:

1. I now have a LOT of books. Sometimes too many. But I will donate them to libraries and shelters and friends of the library and I will take them to half price books. I send them to friends and pass them to fellow book lovers. I will use them as gifts. So not sure this is really a con.
2. Sometimes I have a hard time choosing. I tend to pick the one I like best and put the other four on hold at the library.

Okay, not sure EITHER of these are cons at all. HA! Like I told you, I’ve loved every month with BOTM.

Recommendations:

1. Treat Yo’Self to the whole shebang. I’m not kidding. It’s worth it.
2. Treat a friend. This makes a unique and special gift.
3. Try it out for only a month for $10 and see what you think.
4. Find past selections at your library and see what you think.

Overall Score- A+

This has been my favorite discovery in a LONG long time.

Have a beautiful day!

xoxo

S

*This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thank you so much for helping to support my little family!

First of all. Can I please get a FIST BUMP for getting my darn post up on time this month?  I mean…I just got my April recap up two weeks ago, so I’m pretty proud of myself.

May was a reading month with lots of ups and downs. I read two books I loved, one book I hated a little bit, and several books I was mehhh about. I also started and abandoned three books. Oh well, you win some you lose some! The wins were well worth the losses this month.

Here’s what I read:

 

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins- 1.5 stars. This one just fell flat for me. It was kind of all over the place and I never connected with any of the characters at all. NOTE. If you do read it, pay close attention at the beginning and maybe even take notes. There are a ZILLION narrators to keep straight.

 

 

 

Marlena by Julie Buntin- 1.5 stars. I didn’t love this one. It was so anti-climactic. And good gosh… All of the characters were just horrible people for the most part. I just feel so…ugh after reading it.

 

 

 

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel- 5 stars. Oh did I love this gem of a book. On the surface it’s about Rosie and Penn’s son announcing he thinks he’s a girl. But it’s about so much more than that. The overall theme is LOVE. Real, true, abiding, unshakeable love. Parental love that simply cannot be put into words…although Laurie Frankel still managed to do so somehow.

I especially loved the SPOT ON descriptions of a family with five children…I have five too and oh boy did Frankel nail it.

My favorite passage from the book- one that brings tears to my eyes just typing it- is this:

These kids, her multitudes, they could grow up. They could move away. They could- they would- become new, become changed,become actual adult people in progress,people she wouldn’t recognize,people she could not imagine. People remade. They would undergo miracles. They would transform. They would make magic. But they were her story, hers and Penn’s, so however wide they wandered, they would always be right here.

MAGIC.

 

 

Closer Home by Kerry Anne King- 2.5 stars. This one was just a sort of vanilla read. I listened to it on Audible. I have to say that I get really irritated when characters in books a. don’t figure out the truth until the end even though EVERYONE READING HAS KNOWN FROM THE FIRST PAGE and b. characters in books are in love but not together even though there’s really no good reason to be apart.
That said, I felt that Lis and Dale had good chemistry and I did enjoy the story overall.

 

 

 

The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood- 5 stars. Oh, my heart did I love this one. I loved every single thing about it. It was absolutely heartwarming. I love it like I loved Ove, Arthur Pepper, and Lillian Boxfish. It was just magical and charming.

 

 

 

 

 

Little Deaths by Emma Flint- 2 stars. I found this one to be a quick rather engrossing read (at the beginning, at least) with a somewhat satisfying surprise ending. I found parts of it really odd though. I mean- the reporter is a CREEPER. And I thought I might scream if the author described Ruth’s smell one more time. I mean…I get it. It was an exploration of shame?? But ew.

 

 

 

Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Ed Tarkington- 2 stars. I just never really connected with this one. I don’t know if it was the time period (I honestly don’t ever like books set in the 70s)  or the personalities of the characters or what. First of all, the big incident at the beginning really isn’t a big incident at all. The book barely covers what happens… Just a few sentences. I thought that was weird. Second of all, I just found the entire plot really odd. I did find the last few paragraphs to be quite beautiful though.

 

I have some really exciting news, y’all. Well at least it’s exciting to a massive bookworm like me. I’m joining BOTM as an ambassador! Every month I will have a chance to read three of the selections early. This is good because I can give y’all guidance as to what you should order. It’s also good because I LOVE BOOKS!

Here are the three books I chose this month:

White Fur

The Sisters Chase

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – I am halfway through this one and LOVING it, y’all!! I mean it. I stayed up until 1am reading it last night. I love love love Taylor Jenkins Reid.

I also had a book credit so I ordered David Sedaris’ new book. I adore David and have read everything he’s ever written multiple times. I’ve been known to read his stories out loud to Jimmy while we both laugh our butts off . He’s amazing.

 

Here’s a great infographic to help you choose what to order:

 

Right now y’all can sign up for a one, two, or three month membership for $10 a month.

I’ve never been disappointed. And I’ve been saying that since I joined BOTM, waaaay before this ambassador opportunity came along. It has changed the game for me, reading wise.

 

And last but not least, here’s what I’m working on now (in addition to my three BOTM choices above).

ScreamFree Parenting  // Hal Runkel

Siblings Without Rivalry // Adele Faber

NOTICE A THEME HERE? Sigh.

The Paying Guests // Sarah Waters

Just Mercy // Bryan Stevenson

The Fall of Lisa Bellow // Susan Perabo

Bad Feminist // Roxane Gay

 

 

As always, TALK TO ME! What are you reading? Listening to? Loving? Hating? Feeling meh about?

 

Big love, sweet friends!

xoxo

S

 

*This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thank you so much for helping to support my little family!

Another month, another awesome stack of books! This wasn’t quite the month of greats that last month was, but I’m satisfied nevertheless!

Here’s what I read:

 

 

Wayward and The Last Town by Blake Crouch- I polished off the rest of the Wayward Pines trilogy in a matter of days. My take on it? Super entertaining. I didn’t love it like i loved Dark Matter, but it was super entertaining. Totally worth a read. I won’t ever watch the TV show b/c I tried, and it’s just not my thing, but I did love the books. Warning: parts of them are totally ridiculous and they totally require major suspension of disbelief.

 

 

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica- I really enjoy Kubica’s books. This one was a quick read with plenty of twists and turns. It was entertaining, and that’s what I was in the mood for- it kept me guessing! 4 stars

 

 

 

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne-  I kept hearing all of these five star reviews for this one so I was so excited to read it. Prepare yourselves because for some reason I have a lot of feelings about this one.

From my Goodreads review:

Meh. I’m not sure of my feelings here.  Let me start off by saying that I am in no way a literary snob. I love me a good chick lit, a semi smutty romance- I do. I think they are fabulous palate cleansers and I enjoy them greatly.

With that said – while there were several things I really enjoyed about this book, there were more things that bugged me in the end.

Likes: there was some clever and snarky dialogue and witty banter I really enjoyed. The two lead characters had amazing – AMAZING chemistry. Seriously. There was also a great scene at the end of the book where one character tells off another. It was immensely satisfying!

Dislikes: I got so tired of hearing about how little and tiny Lucy was. So tired. By the end of the book I was rolling my eyes every time I read something else about how tiny she was.

Also – I despised Josh’s family. His dad is a horrible person and his mom never stands up for him.

For some reason the author likes to repeat certain phrases over and over. “Gimlet eyed” and comparisons to lara croft. But for me the final straw is when Josh describes himself as “socially retarded “. Just NO.

Last comment – I found certain behaviors that Josh displayed to be controlling and abusive. Like when he would snatch the phone away from Lucy and demand that Danny never Call her again. I totally get that some people are into the whole Fifty Shades of Controlling thing… but I’m not one of those people.

Whew. Not sure why i typed so much but apparently I have a lot of opinions about this book. Ha!! 2.5 stars

 

 

Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran- This is not a fast paced book. So if that’s what you enjoy, you won’t like this. This one is a bit slow and meandering. You have to stick with it because it’s worth it. Devastating and morally complicated and deep. And also very timely. It’s one of those books that’s interesting because it explores that gray area between right and wrong. 4 stars.

 

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour-  First off, best cover art award goes to this book. Haunting and sweet and sad and beautiful. And very short – I read it in one quick sitting. I also really appreciated the diversity in this book – it was done in a very authentic and organic way. 3.5 stars

 

 

 

The Night Circus byErin Morgenstern-  Where do I start with this one? Absolute magic. The most stunning imagery I can remember in a novel. I was completely immersed in the circus world. I had a couple of problems with the ending and the fact that it stalled out pace-wise for me a couple of times and gave it 4.5 stars on Goodreads, but the more I think about it I think it’s closer to 4.75 stars. I’ve been thinking about this one a lot since I read it, which is the measure of a good book to me. It was quite beautiful and moving.

 

 

 

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum-  I adored this YA read. I devoured it in one day and it put a big grin on my face. Yes… I totally figured it out by the end but that didn’t stop me from falling in love with it. Sweet, funny, and a little bit sad. Pretty much the perfect YA book. 4.5 stars.

 

 

 

My Book of The Month selection for April:

I need your  help here. I’m completely stuck between Startup and One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter. What do you think I should choose? HELLLLP!

April deals from BOTM:

** 1-month membership for $5.00

** 3-month membership for $9.99 + free BOTM tote

 

1. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
2. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

 

WOOHOO! Happy reading, sweet friends!

As always- please let me what what you are reading and what’s in your TBR pile!

 

xoxo

S