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WHAT.A.MONTH!
I mean seriously. What a month for reading! I read fourteen books and listened to one , and three of them were five stars! I met my Goodreads reading goal and exceeded it! This was an excellent month for reading.
Whew! Let’s get started.
Sold // Patricia McCormick
So heavy and scary and sad and eye-opening. Not an easy read, but an important one. Every page broke my heart. I wish I could just save all of these sweet girls.
☆☆☆☆
On Second Thought // Kristan Higgins
I LOVE Kristan Higgins. I read her books when my heart and brain just need a BREAK and I want to relax and just enjoy a book. This one fits the bill perfectly. I loved it so much that I hunted down the other books that take place in Cambry on Hudson. Spoiler alert- this one is the best one. I loved the characters and their chemistry and I truly cared about them and what happened to them!
☆☆☆☆
One Perfect Lie // Lisa Scottoline
This one was super fast paced. I read it in a day. I felt like the beginning of the book was fantastic. There was a great twist and I was starting to really like the characters. The second half of the book was just kind of like a hot mess to me. The characters were never really developed and the end scene was absolutely ridiculously dramatic.I think I would like to check out other books by this author though.
☆☆ 3/4
Never Let You Go // Chevy Stevens
This one is a great dark and twisty read. It was super suspensful and deeply messed up in parts. It definitely got my heart pounding and the pages turning quickly. I always really enjoy Chevy Stevens.
☆☆ ☆☆
Do Not Become Alarmed //Maile Meloy
I heard SO MUCH BUZZ about this one and it the reviews were mixed. I have to say I really enjoyed it. I didn’t love the characters ( a couple were pretty self absorbed) but I certainly didn’t dislike them as much as I’ve seen others say they did. I always like books that make a mundane, safe situation suddenly dangerous.
☆☆ ☆ 1/2
What I Lost // Alexandra Ballard.
I really liked this sad and sweet YA novel. As a mother of five girls I am SO TERRIFIED of eating disorders and the impact they make on men and women’s lives and the lives of those who love them. This quick read gave me some good insight into the demons the main character faced. I wish there was a bit more diversity in the characters, but other than that it was just right. It’s a cautionary and educational tale of an anorexic facing heartbreak and hope.
☆☆ ☆ ☆
My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward // Mark Lukah
I always feel super weird reviewing memoirs because who am I to rate someone’s life story? I have no right to. I will say that this book wasn’t my favorite. I learned so much about the struggles of those who deal with mental illnesses and the hell that they walk through every day. However, this book was kind of all over the place and scattered. I wish the best for this couple and I think that it was really brave of them to share their story.
Jamie Ford // Love and Other Consolation Prizes
I have to start by saying that I snatched this book right up when I saw it at the library. I LOVED Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and I assumed I’d love this one too.
I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know much about this chapter in history and I learned so much and cried quite a bit reading this novel. Jamie Ford is the king of covering really sad parts of our history and wrapping them in hope and love. This book was just a gem and I can’t recommend it enough.
☆☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Every Last Lie // Mary Kubika
There is nothing worse than a cluless, dense, helpless female main character and UGH does Clara ever fit the bill. She annoyed the crap out of me. It drove me nuts that she was constantly jumping to conclusions and I thought it was really messed up that she didn’t tell her daughter something that she REALLY should have told her from the very beginning.
☆ ☆
Turtles All the Way Down // John Green
Oh John Green, how I love thee. I’ve been (not so) patiently waiting for you to write another book and Turtles did not disappoint. Oh how I loved this book. I flew right through it and then immediately wanted to start over from the beginning to really savor it. Sigh. Aza is fierce and brave and strong and complicated broken and oh she taught me so so much about anxiety. I can’t even tell you how much she taught me. Just go read this book. Now. Okay?
☆☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Castle of Water // Dane Huckelbridge
Y’ALL. Y’all. Y’all. Y’alllllll. Maybe I should start by telling you that when I finished this book I was crying so hard that Jimmy almost had to pull the car over. I’m not kidding. It broke me. BROKE ME. This book is so dang good. And so much to take, I thought my heart might burst. My only issue is that Huckelbridge wrapped the end up wayyyy too fast. I wish he would have slowed down a little bit because it was a little jarring. But I loved it so much. I loved the characters, I loved the story, I loved the setting.
☆☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
If You Only Knew // Kristan Higgins
Remember above when I said that I read other books by Higgins that were set in Cambry on Hudson? This is the one I was talking about. It’s just fine. It’s sweet and entertaining and bland. It just didn’t wow me.
☆☆ 1/2
Here and Gone // Haylen Beck
This one was super intriguing for me. It’s interesting because we know both sides of the story the entire time. So the suspense doesn’t come from trying to figure out what’s going to happen, it comes from wanting Audra to get justice, and boy does your heart pound along with hers. It’s not easy subject matter but if you like fast-paced crime thrillers, this one’s a good one.
☆☆☆☆
Bonfire // Kristyn Ritter
This was one of my BOTM picks for November. I don’t know what I expected Krysten to be like as an author, but she definitely exceeded my expectations. This book made me want to learn more about her because she’s kinda awesome. I really enjoyed this story of a girl going back to her past even though it haunts her greatly. My only problem with the book is that sometimes it got a bit too deep into “legalese” and made the plot drag a bit. I did find it easy to read and it kept my interest the entire time, it was fast-paced and intriguing.
☆☆☆1/2
The Secrets She Keeps // Michael Robotham
This was my lone Audible book for the month. I definitely reccomend it in the audio format. It was super creepy and hard to fathom, but I also ended up feeling so very sad for Agatha. I had a pretty big issue with Meghan. I thought it was repugnant that she punished her husband for her crime when she did what she did with Simon. Made me like her a LOT less. That said, this is an excellent thriller.
☆☆☆☆
For November I chose:
Bonfire // Kristyn Ritter (see review above). Fans of Chevy Stevens and Karin Slaughter will like this one.
The Rules of Magic // Alice Hoffman. I’m a quarter of the way through this one and I really love it. No, I haven’t read Practical Magic and I’m still enjoying it. Although now I have to go back and read it. I didn’t even realized this was a sequel when I ordered it! Fans of The Night Circus and A Million Junes willl enjoy this one.
Artemis // Andy Weir- I got this one because Jimmy LOVED The Martian and I thought he might enjoy this one too. I’ll let you know what I think after I read it.
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WHEW!
This month was CRAZY!
So tell me. What did you read this month? What did you love/hate/fall in love with?
xoxo
S
Oh YAY!!!!!! Book club is reading the JamienFordnboik for December!!!!
I just read The Hate U Give, and it was life-changing–so much so that I donated copies of it to a friend who runs a charter school. I would sit down and read it all again tonight…if you hadn’t given me so many books to add to my list! 🙂
I think about this book every.single.day. Not kidding. It was excellent and so timely. Such an important book.
I love to read your round-up posts … there’s always a few I end up reading myself. Thanks for sharing!
Love, love, love your readying recaps! I was waiting to read this post of yours until I could actually sit down and discern which to request from the library, which to purchase, etc. As a fellow book lover, I appreciate your love of reading and willingness to review! These posts never disappoint! Thank you!
I so appreciate you, and your love for reading. I am encouraged to read more, and then, put your recommendations on hold at the library. Thank you!
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Thanks Stephanie! Just finished The Secrets She Keeps. Enjoyed. Have ordered others by him from the Library.
I love Lisa Scottoline. Have not read that one, but have enjoyed several of her books. She is worth another try (check out my read books on Goodreads). I just started reading “That Night” by Chevy Stevens. Looking forward to seeing how that goes as I have had several people recommend this author.
You had a much better reading month than I did! For the first time in a long time I abandoned a book. But before I threw in the towel, it just sat on my nightstand blocking my way to the books below it! The abandoned book is News of the World. I have a degree in Journalism and work as a internal communications writer so I had a REALLY hard time getting passed the fact that the author did NOT use quotation marks! Not a single one. My sister was able to get past this horrendous offense and said the story was good. (I mean Tom Hanks is starring in the upcoming movie and he usually picks high-quality material! Oh, I had such high hopes. But since I spend my day writing, copy editing and proofing, I just couldn’t get past it.