2020 reading wrap-up

 I did NOT think I'd make my reading goal this year, because I was supposed to get married and my business would limit reading time. However I super-exceeded it. Story is where I escape too when I'm stressed. You are given a year of pandemic, quarantining, and postponing your wedding twice and this girl reads A LOT.

My top 5 :

1. You Were Always Mine by Nicole Baart⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3. Sheltering Rain by Jojo Moyes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. The Selection series by Kiera Cass (rating depends on the book? But overall 5 stars)

5. The Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Other 5 star reads this year:

*Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste NG

*The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

*The Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

What were your favorite reads this year? Did we read any of the same books? Sound off in the comments..

November reading wrap up

 

Is it already December? Have we really been at home for NINE months!? I swear yesterday was November 1st. Time is flying by and barely moving at the same time. 2020 is weird, ya'll. Anywho, this first read was my favorite of the month and I'm nearing the end of a LONG one we'll get to talk about next month. What was your favorite read of November?

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Museum of Extraordinary Things is hands down my favorite Alice Hoffman read so far. It had the was magical and quirky but still new how to break my heart in places. The way you watch the character shift, and grow, and learn is truly extraordinary. Hoffman keeps the extraordinary ordinary with seemingly little effort. Beautiful, beautiful, story.

⭐⭐⭐.5

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares made it onto my TBR because of the Netflix series. I HAD to read the book first, and I'm glad I did. It'd a quick and easy read to get you in the holiday mood. The TV series is just different enough that if you've already seen it you can still read the book. The best part about it is that the storyline is clever.

⭐⭐⭐

If domestic suspense is your jam; then When I Was You, is definitely for you. It's so twisty and turns down to the last two sentences. Yes some of these twists are predictable, but some definitely are not. Grandma Mary, if you're reading this-I think you would like this one.

"The Girl Behind the Red Rope" by Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker

 

Ya'll I have been DRAGGING my feet on writing up this review. And I'm sorry about it....a little bit.  I finished The Girl Behind the Red Rope, (Revell), by Ted and Rachelle Dekker almost exactly one year ago. Full disclosure, Ted Dekker is by far my favorite author, which if you've read my reviews I'm sure you already know.  So I'm a shoe in for Rachelle's books, right? Maybe?

Rachelle Dekker has written I think four books before this, and I've read them all.  They are ok.  It bothers me that she uses key phrases that only her dad's fans would pick up on.  While I understand that I would probably not have picked up one of her books unless I was his fan, I would like her to stand on her own and be more than just his daughter.  And while his writing style has a feeling that I love to go back to over and over again and it feels like home whenever I start a new book, hers have been subpar.  Ted has cowritten a few books in the past that the co-authors have added to his voice in a brilliant way so I was excited for this collaboration.

Overall I didn't hate this book.  But I didn't love it.  It felt like a cookie cutter of many other books I've read.  Maybe that's Rachelle's style?  That's the pattern I'm seeing at least. Maybe I feel that way because I'm such a big Dekker fan and this book wasn't the home I usually find in his stories.  I am EXTREMELY interested to know the opinion of those who haven't read very much Dekker before! So please sound of in the comments with your thoughts and feelings on this book.

I'm going to let my aunt read it, who likes thrillers and has only read 3 Dekker books I've lent her. We'll see if my suspicion is correct that first time readers may be really into it.

I did receive this book for free as part of the launch team (sorry for posting a year later, my feelings on this book just broke my heart) in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own

"Firefly Lane," by Kristin Hannah

 

For those who told me this was one of your favorite Kristin Hannah books; I would love to know why? This book came highly recommended and so I'm genuinely curious.

I've read 4 of her books and id this was the first I probably wouldn't have read another. Character development was close to Bill, not only was the main relationship toxic, but so were about 4 others. Not only were the relationships outrageously dysfunctional but I found them incredibly unrealistic. Then wham...let's fire up your empathy to save the story?! (I'm guessing that is why people.love it so?) Ughhhh! I can guess what happens in book 2 pretty easily.

I'm quite shocked Netflix is taking this on. I kept reading it because I wanted to know if what I thought would happen did....like bad reality TV, upsetting addicting. And yet I wouldn't recommend it. I'm guessing they are taking it on for the addictive quality, the empathy aspect, and Hannah's (other than this books) deserved popularity

"These Nameless Things" by Shawn Smucker

These Nameless Things (Revell), by Shawn Smucker, was not what I expected.  Not sure why, but from the description I thought maybe our lead character escaped an evil cult and was waiting for his brother to escape as well.  It was not.  Our main character, Dan, lives in a village on a prairie just outside of the Mountain all of the villagers escaped.  As time goes on more and more villagers decide to leave the prairie and travel east.  Dan is afraid that everyone will leave before his brother escapes and he will be left all alone.  One night a storm rolls in and everyone starts to remember snippets of their past and secrets begin to be kept. Dan keeps a secret of his own as he helps a tormented welcome heal in his home without telling any of the other villagers.  His moral dilemmas pile up as he begans to trust the other villagers less and less.

It was slightly slow going, in the way of the finale of Lost-I kept going but was never quite satisfied.  Then I discovered that the author followed the idea of Dante's Inferno and everything made much more sense.  Give me a break that it took me a while; I've never read Inferno. Haha.

I'm not sure that I would recommend this to the general public but I do think my fiance would like it.  If you're like him and like to peel apart the layers of story to find themes and metaphors and symbolism you may like this book.  You will find themes such as grace, grief, guilt, and forgiveness.  

You may even discover that as important as it is to forgive others in order to experience the freedom and guilt and grief you may need to forgive yourself.

 A copy of this book was provided to me for review by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"The Key to Everything" by Valerie Fraser Luesse

The Key to Everything (Revell), by Valerie Fraser Luesse, is a coming of age story set post World War II.  Our main character is 15 year old Peyton Cabot who we are introduced do during some turbulent family events.  A tragic accident not only disrupts his entire family but also any chance he has to date the girl he is infatuated with.  To cope with what is going on around him Peyton decides  to retrace a journey his father took at his age-to ride his bicycle from St. Augustine, Florida to Key West.

I love the quick relationships Peyton makes along his journey, the adventures those relationships take him on, and the lessons he learns through them.  It touches on a way of the past that our busy world has forgotten, and it was truly beautiful to experience.  My only complaint about this book is at the beginning the story led you to believe that his parents relationship was possibly abusive then later remembered it as a relationship that had struggles because of WWII but the dream love story.  This sat funny for me, and I wish that the plot line in regards to that would have been more cohesive.

My Quarantine fun was that we bough new bicycles while I was reading this book.  It was fun to go on rides and have some of my thoughts lingering on a story that followed a bike ride.

Over all this story was very charming and a nice and easy summer read.

  A copy of this book was provided to me for review by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

"The Chosen Ones," by Veronica Roth

The Chosen One, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is Veronica Roth's first novel written specifically for adults.  I requested to review on Netgalley, with little hope, because these big authors usually have hard requirements to meet on Netgalley to review...but to my amazement I was accepted!  I couldn't wait to dive in.
Five teenagers have been prophesied to defeat an enemy that is ravaging the world. Years later our main character Sloane cannot seem to find her place in the world.  She doesn't mold well with the new celebrity lifestyle that has been thrust upon her and is now without a purpose.  Parallel worlds, zombies, magic, an impending apocalypse...this book has everything.  The plot takes several twists and turns and keeps you from closing the book and getting some sleep!  I know this is not supposed to be a YA book, but honestly it kind of felt like one to me (not a bad thing). The relationship backstories and developments are solid. I did figure out some of the twists, but not others so it was suspenseful enough.  Overall I really liked this read and would recommend it to anyone who likes dystopian.  The next book in the series cannot come out soon enough!

A copy of this book was provided to me for review by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

"Acceptable Risk," by Robin Cook

I was hesitant to write a review for Acceptable  Risk, by Robin Cook but was egged on a bit by my favorite  book friend Bean (Hey, Bean!) after texting her  a picture of the singularly worst sentence I've  ever read. Yes, worse than Bella naming her baby Renesmee in Twilight! Not only was it the worst sentence  I've ever read, but it was in an unnecessary  chapter. Who adds a chapter  in the last 100 pages to introduce  two new characters  only to do nothing with that storyline?
Beyond that the dialog  was clunky and awkward. Specifically on the romantic front but really just all around. It was like Cook is a hermit and has never had human interaction . To make it worse our main character goes from dating one a-hole to another as  if the world has no good men and even though she knows it's she is too submissive and ashamed. What women does this author  know? Not one relationshipr or aquantance-ship in this book was believable.
The characters  all held jobs that required them to be of high  intelligence, but throwing a large word in clumsy dialog  doesn't  make it any better nor the characters  more believable .
Also, I find it extremely hard to believe a SICU nurse would be allowed to take 4 consecutive  weeks of vacation .

The above is all unfortunate  because the plot was quite good. Somewhat of a dual line story "present day" (1994) and the Salem Witch trials. I wish there was more POV of the Salem Witch time line but the letters that were found were well done and the plot was interesting  enough to keep me reading.

Overall I wouldn't  recommend and will never read this author again. If the plot sounds interesting   read "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane," by Katherine Howe instead.

"Stories that Bind Us," by Susie Finkbeiner

 Stories That Bind Us, (Revell), by Susie Finkbeiner is a coming of age story.  Our main character Betty Sweet marries her childhood sweetheart only to be widowed at 40. Her in laws are her greatest support system but she is quickly unraveling.  Unexpectedly her estranged sister shows up accompanied by a nephew Betty didn't know she had. As we learn of her sister's mental health issues stories from her childhood explain the full picture. As Betty's sister tries to heal, Betty is left as the sole caretaker for her 5 year-old nephew.

As they are both grieving in their own ways Betty tells stories.  She uses them as a way to teach, inspire, and help Hugo (her nephew) not to feel so alone. The way story is used to heal is so endearing.

Other heavy topics are touched upon lightly as Hugo is a mixed child being raised during the hight of the Civil rights movement. A 5 year old that feels abandoned by his mother, has to struggle to understand why he is ostracized because of the color of his skin, and learn to drop the heavy responsibility of care taker and learn to be just a little boy.

As heavy as that all sounds this was a pretty light read. Hallmarkish in a sense. It felt southern although it wasn't. And I had to remind myself Betty was only 40 as she felt a lot older. 

I would recommend as a poolside read (that is if you have access to a pool this pandemic summer...otherwise just as an easy relaxation).

A copy of this book was provided to me for review by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

"The Woman in the Window," by A.J. Finn

Image credit: Hoopla

They say that those in the mental health field often have their own severe mental health issues to give us. That's just ONE reason our main character is unreliable. And how much more interesting than it gets then trying to unravel the story of an unreliable narrator, and yet the end still shocked me. This would be a great read for those who loved gone girl, except this one doesn't get too drawn out in the middle. It's much more regularly riveting

"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" by Suzanne Collins

Most of this book many characters are morally gray. Which I think people like to ignore, but aren't situations more often gray than black and white? And then when people chose to do good sometimes their motive is inherently selfish, so then are they good or are they really bad? It also focuses much on the topic that it's NOT ok when a society is not allowed to question the belief system. We do not grow if we do not learn and we do not learn if we do not ask questions.
Alas, this story gives you a hope you know will not come true. You see hints of Snow's goodness, and you root for him to be. But we all know the end of that story. And when it was evident that he was cold, it still broke my heart.

Book Review: "Little Broken Things" by Nicole Baart

Photo credit: Netgalley

I'm always the first to sign up to be on the ARC team for a Nicole Baart book, and Little Broken Things was no different.

The plot idea is intriguing.  Our main character receives a cryptic text from her sister and a small unknown child dropped off to her with the only instruction being "keep her safe." This occurrence drives the story as our main character balances caring for this small stranger, solving the mystery of what exactly is going on and who this child is, and balancing a whole lot of complex relationships. The familial relationships are complicated and complex and so very realistic.  This adds an entirely new layer to the story.  The middle was a little slow for me but overall it's a solid story.

A copy of this book was provided to me for review by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Book Review: "You Were Always Mine" by Nicole Baart

I believe I started reading Nicole Baart because I won a book (or 2) in a series.  I then ventured into getting to review some of her books as part of a street team.  You Were Always Mine I bought just because and decided to read this now because well...coronavirus; we're all quarantined and this was a book on my shelf I haven't read yet.  This is hands down, no contest the best Baart has written thus far!

Jessica, the main character, is newly separated and has two sons-one adopted and one blood.  One night she receives a phone call about a tragic death regarding a loved one.  Not only does Jess now have to navigate "single" life, a career, a moody teenager, the behavioral/emotional issues that arise with her other son stemming from his past, but a web of lies uncovered by this death.  While trying to deal with grief and all the aforementioned she throws her self into solving the mystery that this death brought about concerning her adopted son. The mystery is multi-faceted and the answers slowly unravel.

This novel was engaging and riveting, the suspense continued to build.  As I neared the end I was CERTAIN that there was no way possible there were enough pages left to conclude the story.  But alas Baart slaps you in the face with an enormous betrayal and quickly ties up all loose ends.

I finished this novel last night and I'm experiencing a major book hangover today.  I need more!  I highly recommend this book for your next read!