book recommendations – simplify the chaos

2025 Book Reviews: A Mid-Year Roundup of everything I’ve read so far

Life lately has included things like a fairly major surgery, family activities, and a realignment of priorities, and it feels good to get back into the swing of things here! Monday of this week I rounded up all my 2024 books and today I’m catching up on everything I’ve read in the first half of the year. There are some really good ones here – a few that are even going on my top recommendations list! – and it has been such a satisfying stretch of reading for me.

Let’s get started!

This is Not a Holiday Romance by Camilla Isley (2/5 stars)

Tristan is Nina’s older brother’s best friend, and for years they have been enemies, never hesitating to try to outdo one another in a never-ending prank war. When Tristan gets invited to Nina’s family’s Christmas, tempers flare and pranks ensue until a snowed-in truce is called and they realize that beneath all the animosity, there is something else simmering.

I love holiday romcoms and an enemies-to-lovers trope, so I went into this book expecting to love it but unfortunately . . . did not. The prank wars and tantrums thrown feel extremely childish and I was not into it. I didn’t love the (underdeveloped) main characters and thought there was way too much immaturity all around so the chemistry isn’t particularly believable. Suffice to say, this one just wasn’t for me!

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (5/5 stars!)

In August 1975, Barbara Van Laar goes missing from Camp Emerson. To make matters more complicated, she is not only the daughter of the wealthy camp owners but her older brother also went missing from this same place 14 years ago, never to be found. As a search ensues to find Barbara, questions resurface about what might have really happened to her brother all those years ago. Woven across decades and told through multiple point of views, this novel intricately layers events and perspectives about what has happened within the camp, the Van Laar family, and the greater community over time.

I could not put this book down! It has a really great historical fiction-meets-camp thriller-meets-murder mystery vibe and I could so clearly visualize the camp and characters. I do have to throw in a disclaimer that by the halfway point, I couldn’t decide if I absolutely loved it or if it was an absolutely maddening read. The classism and sexism was so frustrating to read and I was getting so annoyed! That being said, I think the fact I felt that way is truly a sign of a well-written book. It was incredibly immersive and I was so invested, it got my emotions, good and bad, involved too. I’m glad I stuck with it because by the end of the book, I was putting on a movie for my kids because I just HAD to finish it. It is long and there are several characters and timelines to keep track of, so if that’s not your thing you probably won’t enjoy it. For me, I loved the pacing, I loved the varying character perspectives and timeline shifts, and I loved seeing all the breadcrumbs and clues connecting as I read. Ultimately I found it to be a very satisfying read – it’s going on my top recommendations list!

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson (3/5 stars)

Lennon Carter has no idea Drayton College exists until she receives a mysterious phone call inviting her to apply for acceptance. Driven by curiosity and the need for direction in her life, she accepts the invitation and learns that Drayton is a school of magic that has been concealed deep within Savannah, Georgia. Everyone at this school has the gift of persuasion and it soon becomes clear that Lennon is one of the most gifted of all. Amidst the highly competitive atmosphere of Drayton, she starts to discover more of this new world she inhabits and just how important it is that she learns to harness and control her own power.

The setting wants to be the college version of Hogwarts, and in some ways, it nails it. I loved the concept of persuasion as magic and the overall idea of the school and thought the plot started out strong. That being said, I just did not personally enjoy the actual writing style, and I had a very hard time with the main character. She was inexperienced but gifted and often came across as entitled, needing to know more and include herself in every situation that came up. There is a relationship that I feel was underdeveloped and lacked chemistry, and the side characters don’t add much depth either (I couldn’t even keep them straight, they all blended together). It was definitely dark academia, emphasis on dark with several violent actions and overall this book just didn’t hit for me.

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren (4/5 stars)

Fizzy Chen is a highly successful romance author who has lost her spark, both professionally and romantically. Connor Prince is a documentary filmmaker who has been tasked with coming up with a new reality dating show. A chance encounter has him inspired and he approaches Fizzy about starring as the lead in his TV show, which plans to bring some new spins to a familiar format. This show could be the answer to both of their problems . . . as long as they can ignore any attraction they may feel towards one another as production begins.

I enjoy Christina Lauren’s books so I went into this book hoping for an entertaining, flirty romcom and that’s exactly what I got. It’s a standalone novel but is also a follow-up to The Soulmate Equation in which Fizzy was a side character. I thought all the overlap in characters and plotline from The Soulmate Equation made this book extra enjoyable and would recommend reading them both in order. This book felt fresh and fun with relatable and likeable characters. I totally bought into the chemistry between Fizzy and Connor and loved watching their relationship unfold; it was easy to root for them the whole time! And while I haven’t watched The Bachelor for five+ years now, I was a longtime watcher in my 20s and really enjoyed this author’s twist on a similar reality show dating scenario. The banter is great, the relationship feels realistic, and it’s just a perfect read for when you want something engaging and easy, entertaining and romantic. It does have steamy scenes and language, and because of Fizzy’s zingy, unfiltered wit it definitely has some raunchier lingo than other Christina Lauren books I’ve read so if that’s not your thing, you wanna skip this one. I do want to also emphasize: if you think romance is cheesy, this is probably not going to be the book for you. The dedication is written to fans of the romance genre, and it leans into that throughout the plotline. The authors wove in specific things that are meant to be appreciated by lovers (no pun intended) of romance novels so if you fall into that category I feel like you would especially love this one.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn (5/5 stars!)

As a boardinghouse for women tucked in 1950’s Washington D.C., Briarwood House has seen quite a bit over the years. Most recently, it bears witness to the weekly dinner parties hosted in the attic by the newest resident: Grace Marsh. Grace is a beautiful, somewhat mysterious widow and prior to her arrival, each resident kept mostly to herself. Now, Grace has slowly drawn each resident into her weekly dinners, joining the eclectic bunch of women from various backgrounds and stages of life together in community and friendship. But that friendship is about to be tested, because there is one more thing the house has recently borne witness to: a shocking murder on Thanksgiving Day.

I absolutely LOVED this one! I loved the structure, with a different character’s perspective in each chapter and a shifting timeline. The characterization is incredible; I loved the mix of personalities and their dynamics. I loved the Briarwood House setting, and that the house itself felt a bit like a character. I loved the era. It feels like a huge majority of historical fiction leans into the WWII era (don’t get me wrong, I love those too!) so it felt refreshing and fascinating to get this imagining of what it was like living in Washington D.C. during the years of McCarthy and his Red Scare. The pace is great, the plot is spellbinding, and it’s one I wish I could read again for the first time to enjoy all over again. I read it for my book club and it received ALL 4 and 5 stars, even from those who typically don’t enjoy historical fiction so it definitely appeals to a wide range of readers. I can’t recommend it enough, this is going to be a top read of the year for me for sure!

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (3/5 stars)

Millie Calloway can’t seem to escape her past and find and keep a job to support herself. When Nina Winchester offers her not only a job as housemaid but also a place to stay inside her gorgeous mansion, Millie cannot believe her luck has finally changed. That is, until she actually starts working for Nina and realizes the job is less of a dream come true, more of a nightmare, cleaning up disgusting messes and navigating erratic instructions. The pay is too good to turn down though, so Millie persists, getting to know the unpredictable Nina, her impudent teenage daughter CeCe, and her handsome but often absent husband Andrew. What exactly is going on in the Winchester house? And what has Millie gotten herself into?

This is a bit of a different review than I normally give, but it was an unusual reading situation. A friend of mine absolutely loved this book and lent it to me to read so I went in excited for a domestic thriller. I was hooked for the first 75-100 pages but the more I read, the more I realized I could predict all the twists because it is as if two other domestic thrillers I have read had a book baby. The vibes are so so similar to those other books that I could guess what happened and was not surprised by anything. It was like book deja vu! When I mentioned this to my friend, we realized she hadn’t read either of those two books so she was surprised by all the twists and loved this one. If you have read one or both of those books, you probably won’t be impressed by this one. And if you haven’t read them, you will likely enjoy this one (although I do have questions about how this book could be so similar to the other two). Personally, I would recommend the others over this one – they are so well written and original! PS – If you want to know the books it reminded me of, click here and here. I didn’t include the titles in this post to avoid spoilers for those who still want to read this one.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (5/5 stars)

“The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette’s brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.” (summary from Goodreads)

Wow. This memoir was incredibly compelling and nearly impossible to put down. The author has a very unique way of sharing truths about her childhood – the neglect, the struggle, and the persistence – that paints an honest yet compassionate portrait of her family. There is a deep sense of loyalty woven throughout, even as she acknowledges the hardships she experienced due to neglect, erratic behavior, addiction, and dysfunction from her parents. It’s often difficult to read about her experience, and the author doesn’t hold back from or sugarcoat some truly desperate times in her childhood; however, it also manages to demonstrate resilience and hope amidst heartbreaking circumstances. I found it to be engrossing and impactful in a way that lets me know I’ll remember it for years to come. Highly recommend.

There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids by Linda Akeson McGurk (4/5 stars)

Part memoir, part self-help, this nonfiction read was a (pun intended) breath of fresh air. After an entire childhood spent in her native Sweden, Linda Akeson McGurk is now living in Indiana, raising two daughters with her American husband. Despite her best efforts to encourage outdoor play and exploration in nature, she’s noticing the barriers and difficulties with getting outside: everything from deserted playgrounds to getting fined for letting her children play in a stream. When her father becomes ill, she decides to take her daughters to Sweden for an extended period of time. They move into a small rental near the author’s parents, enroll in school, and spend the next six months embracing Swedish culture, particularly in prioritizing time spent outdoors.

This book gives practical advice and gentle encouragement to change our thinking about the outdoors and the importance of playing, exploring, and having unstructured time outside for children. As a mom of three young children, I found it to be both refreshing and inspiring. It validates so much of what I sense deep in my bones – that my kids need to be spending unstructured time outdoors and not just 20 minutes at recess time. I wouldn’t say there is anything particularly groundbreaking in this book, but it offers advice, solidarity, and inspiration along with charming anecdotes and interesting reflections on the author’s experience and life. My one critique is I wish there had been more time spent reflecting on how to create a more “Swedish” outdoor mindset while actually living in the United States. I loved reading about their time in Sweden and how different it was, but when the culture changes and you move back to a less-outdoor-loving society, how can you keep it up? She touches on it a bit, I guess I just wish there was more. Overall, I enjoyed this read and would recommend to parents who want to get outside more and who enjoy travel and different cultures, as this was a lovely peek into Swedish daily life as well.

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (5/5 stars)

In this revealing memoir, Trevor Noah is not a rich and famous celebrity. He’s not yet a famous comedian, host of The Daily Show and multiple Grammy awards. Instead he is a scrappy child growing up under intense poverty in apartheid (and then, post-apartheid) South Africa where his very existence as the son of a white man and black woman was legally considered a crime. Told with a structure that gives both a history and explanation of South Africa and a very vulnerable look into his own life and experiences, this memoir is both horrifying and humorous. Perhaps it doesn’t seem like those two words belong together, but that seems fitting for a story about a young boy who, according to his country’s government, was born from parents who shouldn’t belong together either.

I cannot in any way relate to growing up under poverty, violence, intense political and racial unrest, or any number of things Trevor experienced, yet he shares the truths about his childhood in ways that are both eye-opening and still somehow relatable to the shared human experience. We read of his relationships with his family, his peers, and the broader community and even though it is often heartbreaking, he never shares in a way that seeks pity. He is just being real about his life and experiences and his likeability captures the reader’s attention from the start. He manages to weave both wit and warmth into his stories, even when they are about incredibly heavy topics. I learned so much about the complicated dynamics of South Africa along with his life and it’s a book that I will be thinking about for a long, long time. I highly recommend, and I don’t often say this, but I do wish I had listened to the audiobook instead of a physical copy. I think it would have had an even bigger impact on me hearing these stories from his actual voice!

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez (4/5 stars)

After a fairly disastrous first impression, Xavier and Samantha have the chance to start over and proceed to have the best first date of their lives. It’s so epic in fact, that they both know this could really be something . . . if only Samantha wasn’t moving 2,000 miles away to take care of her mother. Continuing the relationship is impossible so she tells Xavier to forget about her as they both move forward in their separate lives, but knowing you should forget someone and actually doing it are two very different things.

It was a little hard to buy in initially because the attraction between Samantha and Xavier is so abrupt and has practically no build up, although I was willing to look past that and just go with it. I’m glad I did because other than the insta-love component, the development of their relationship was fun to follow along with. This book has heart; I loved the dynamics of Samantha’s family and how the author navigated us through their shared experience. I enjoyed rooting for Samantha and Xavier and appreciated that we felt their chemistry but also saw their realistic ups and downs. There are just enough side plots and characters to give the story some weight without it being too much to keep track of. It does venture into slightly cheesy territory a couple times and makes a few too many references to current pop culture but overall I enjoyed the escape. There is language and some spice, but if spice isn’t your thing I do feel like this one has less than other books by this author (and stays quick and mostly closed door so it’s skippable if you want). I like Abby Jimenez books because I know I’ll read chemistry that feels natural and the plot will give me beach-read-with-substance quality and that’s what I got here. It’s not my favorite book from this author but I did enjoy it and would recommend!

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (4.5/5 stars)

Evelyn Hardcastle will die at 11:00 pm tonight, in the middle of a party. And she will die again tomorrow night at the exact same time, in the exact same way. She will continue to die every night at 11:00 pm until Aiden Bishop can figure out who her killer is, because her death is not what it seems. For the next eight days, Aiden will relive the day of the party over and over, waking up each morning in the body of a different guest at the party. Each guest is very different, and each has secrets and talents he can use, but he must make the most of his time in each host in order to find the killer and escape the cycle.

I read this book while on vacation and it actually made for a fantastic vacation read because my understanding of the plot benefitted from having long stretches of uninterrupted reading. I can understand that this book is not for everyone. It’s incredibly complex and gets dark at times, but it is also so cleverly written. It’s an original, creative concept, a engrossing mystery, and it had me guessing until the very end. I actually read it twice in a row! Once I finished it, I immediately felt the need to read it again and take notes to see how everything worked together. The second read caused me to bump up my rating for the book; it made me realize just how brilliantly everything is all woven together. I would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars; I can’t give it the full five because it is long, it took me a while to feel invested (though once I was, I was hooked!), and I think that any time a plot involves bending time my brain gets stuck around some of the logistics that don’t quite add up. Despite all that, I really enjoyed the journey with this one and would highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a thrilling mystery.

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green (5/5 stars)

After an encounter with a young man suffering from tuberculosis in Sierra Leone, John Green became interested in learning more about the infection and how it has pervaded through centuries and continues to affect millions of lives around the globe. What he learned astounded him: effective diagnostic tools, treatments, and even cures exist for tuberculosis. But the cure is where the disease is not, and the disease is where the cure is not, so millions of people continue to die from it each year. This book is a non-fiction deep dive into what tuberculosis is, how society’s perception of it has shifted over generations, and how we still live in a world where this is a massive global health problem.

John Green made a name for himself writing young adult fiction, and he is gifted with the art of storytelling. This book may be nonfiction, but it reads like a novel in many ways and makes learning about a disease not only informative but even riveting. He infuses facts with his own anecdotes and brings a personal touch to a disease that feels far away for those living in countries where tuberculosis is not a large threat. It opened my eyes to a disease I knew very little about and also the upsetting injustices that surround its presence in our global society. It’s insightful, informative, thought-provoking, and inspiring – you will read it and want to take action! (And good news: there are ways you can take action!) Green is clearly a passionate global health advocate and has used his gifts and talents to spread a message towards better access to screening and treatments in the most vulnerable communities. I highly, highly recommend this read!

Here’s to more great reading in July!

2024 Book Reviews

Hello, hello!

It’s been a while since I posted book reviews and wow, I have missed it. I love reading and sharing my thoughts on books and then hearing from others on what they’re reading and enjoying! I thought for quite a while about whether I wanted to catch up on all the books I’ve read over the past 18 months or just start back in with what I’m reading now…turns out I just couldn’t leave all of last year’s books behind. And thankfully, even though I wasn’t publishing blog posts, I was still drafting reviews on most of them throughout the year so I decided to bring them all together into one massive catch-up post. Today’s post is a big round up of all my 2024 books, although to be fair, it’s the fewest amount of books I’ve read in a year by a long shot so don’t be too intimidated 😉 Let’s do this!

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue (3/5 stars)

While supporting herself through college by working in a bookstore, Rachel befriends her super-charismatic coworker James, and the two soon become best friends and roommates. When Rachel confesses to James that she is in love with her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, she and James concoct a plan for him to come into the bookstore to do a reading. What starts out as an attempt for Rachel to seduce Fred ends up completely changing the lives of Rachel, James, and Fred as they navigate increasingly complex relationships and the consequences of their own decisions over the course of the year and beyond.

So here’s the thing. I flew through this book. I was hooked by 30 pages in and compulsively read the rest of it in less than two days. I loved the author’s style of writing and will absolutely be interested in reading other books of hers in the future. But! Did I actually enjoy this book? I don’t think so. And that’s such a strange thing to feel when I liked so much, but I think it all hinges on what I did not like, which unfortunately was: Rachel. It was hard to find her endearing or want to root for her when she felt like a chaotic, immature hot mess making terrible decision after terrible decision for the majority of the book. Now my friend read this book at the same time but primarily listened to it as an audiobook and she did not feel this same way, so our theory is that perhaps the audiobook narrator’s delivery made you feel differently towards Rachel. For me, it was not a win but I will still read another book by this same author in the future (hopefully with a main character I can actually like). I’ll note that it isn’t steamy or very graphic, but does include a lot of mentions of sex, drugs, and language, and I would give it an R-rating. This book isn’t for everyone, myself included, but I do think it finds it’s audience with people who crave a provocative story of a young woman trying to find her way in life.

Dear Henry, Love Edith by Becca Kinzer (3/5 stars)

Recently widowed Edith Sherman has decided to forget about love and lean into a life of adventure by using her nursing skills on a humanitarian trip to South Africa. Since she can’t go until the paperwork is finalized, she accepts a short-term nursing position in a small Midwestern town. Her contact there suggests an unusual housing situation: her Uncle Henry works days and Edith works nights, so would Edith be willing to share his house and essentially switch off living there? Edith agrees, but does not actually meet Henry in person. He knows she’s a widow and assumes she’s elderly. She doesn’t realize he’s close in age to his niece and also assumes he’s a (somewhat grumpy) old man. When they keep missing each other in person, they begin exchanging notes―short messages at first, then longer letters, sharing increasingly personal parts of their lives…and then, one day they finally meet.

This is a Christian rom-com, so it’s pretty squeaky-clean other than one very quick mention of a teen pregnancy (which actually felt pretty out of place in the story). There are mentions of God and church, but it doesn’t dig into any of the character’s faiths so it’s not one you have to be religious to enjoy. It’s Hallmark-esque but felt more sweet than cheesy. It’s not a standout, but it’s also a nice, easy, happy read and sometimes you’re just in the mood for that. I loved that Henry and Edith both thought they were writing letters to someone in another generation as they shared parts of their lives in writing. I actually wish that had gone on a bit longer; I wanted to see a little more development through letters and the flirtations in person before they found out who the other person was. That being said, as a whole I thought the book was way too long – it’s 370+ pages and could easily have been 100 pages shorter. There’s a lot of extra fluff and some pretty over-the-top situations with the townsfolk and side characters that are meant to be charming and quirky but feel a bit overdone and unnecessary. I couldn’t keep all the side characters straight and so much time was devoted to them that I feel like the actual main plot was underdeveloped. The premise reminded me a lot of The Flatshare, which I loved and thought was executed better than this one, but if you’re specifically wanting a fun, sweet, clean rom-com, this would be a good one to choose.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark (4/5 stars)

Meg Williams…or should I say Maggie Littleton…or should I say Melody Wilde? All three names point to the same person – a cunning con artist who upended Kat Robert’s life 10 years ago. Kat has been waiting all this time for Meg to return so she can uncover her secrets and it looks like she finally got her wish. Meg is back in town and Kat is determined to get close enough to expose her. In a riveting back-and-forth, we see Meg and Kat grow closer but as they do, Kat starts to realize that she may not understand Meg’s motivations and targets as well as she thought.

There is a scene in the TV show Friends where certain characters are learning about a big secret and trying not to reveal their knowledge and this line is said: “They don’t know that we know they know we know!” This book felt exactly like that line. There are so many layers of deception and trickery between the two main characters and it definitely keeps the reader on their toes. What is real? What is a lie? Wanting an answer to those questions had me picking this up again and again to keep reading more. Because there is so much deception with the two main characters, I appreciated that there weren’t a ton of side characters or plots; pretty much everything gravitated around Meg’s cons and Kat’s desire to expose her, though we did have some time jumps within those. I went back and forth with which protagonist I wanted to see “win” their objective: sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes neither, sometimes both. It’s not really a twisty or shocking read, but it is clever and interesting to see how the characters try to manipulate each other as they work towards their goals. Ultimately I found this book to be riveting and satisfying. I will say, I absolutely loved The Last Flight by this same author and would probably put this one a smidge below that one, but it’s still a great domestic thriller I would definitely recommend!

A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin (3.5/5 stars)

With younger sisters to provide for and only twelve weeks to pay off her father’s massive debts, Kitty Talbot is getting desperate. She needs a husband, a rich husband, and she needs one now or her sisters will lose their home. She boldly decides to enter the London season despite having limited resources and connections and uses every ounce of her cunning and scheming abilities to present herself as a lady and snag herself a rich husband. Being in love, at least on her end, is not a requirement. Her plan seems to be working on everyone except Lord Radcliffe, who sees through her ruse to snag his brother and is determined to thwart her every attempt. An agreement is reached that she’ll lay off his brother if he helps her find someone else and thus begins a season full of Kitty and Radcliffe sparring with one another in one event after another.

It’s not often that I want to start off a book by skimming, but in this case, I did. It took me a long time to get into the storyline and I wasn’t even sure I could commit to actually finishing the book, but then about 25% of the way in things picked up and I finally became interested. Kitty somehow manages to remain likeable despite all of her scheming, and I did enjoy the banter she had with Radcliffe. It took me WAY too long to realize this is a spin on Pride and Prejudice (like, embarrassingly long!) but I actually like that it wasn’t an obvious re-telling. It felt like a fresh version that hasn’t been done before. It’s very clean, with no language or steam but has a nice slow burn romance. It was a pleasant enough read with enough fun banter and charming and satisfying moments later on to redeem the earlier skimming.

Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks (3/5 stars)

Tom Hanks is the voice of my childhood, and he’s one of those celebrities that has just become more cherished as time goes one. I happened to see this book of short stories on the shelf at my local library and just seeing his name as the author made me want to read it. I wanted to love it because I love him as an actor and human, and I was charmed by the use of typewriters woven throughout all the stories, but I wanted to love the compilation of stories as a whole more than I actually did. I do think short stories are hard to write since they have to be compelling and interesting in just a few pages and I think he wrote them fairly well; however, if it didn’t have his name attached to it and someone just gave me the book and told me to read it without my knowing the author, I would’ve just thought it was an okay read.

Project 333: The Minimalist Fashion Challenge That Proves Less Really Is So Much More by Courtney Carver (2.5/5 stars)

The challenge is simple: streamline your wardrobe down to just 33 items for 3 months. By paring down your wardrobe, you can significantly reduce the number of daily decisions about what to wear, de-clutter your closet, and save money on shopping for new items you likely won’t wear very often. This book sets out to inspire and equip you to live with less in your wardrobe and enjoy life more.

I thought this book would be right in my wheelhouse because it aligns with my values, but I think the problem is it’s written more for people who want to get to the point of a streamlined wardrobe and minimal living than for people who have already started. I already have a pretty simplified closet and a strong interest in living minimally (though I’m still always looking for tips and ideas for other way to pare down!) so I felt like I had already gathered much of this inspiration from other sources on my journey. It also felt like it might have been better as a magazine article or blog post than an entire book and I found myself skimming a lot. I did appreciate that she referenced other people in the minimalism movement, as it gave me a few inspiring people to follow for inspiration, but this specific 333 formula didn’t particularly motivate me. If you’re already interested and versed in living with less, it might not hold much new information for you, but if you’re interested in paring down your wardrobe and don’t know where to start, you might like it!

Cheap Old Houses by Elizabeth & Ethan Finkelstein (4/5 stars)

Welcome to the magical world of Cheap Old Houses, where the new American dream comes with zero mortgage and an affordable lifestyle fit for a storybook. Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein have scoured the country to find homes in desperate need of saving—including a $45,000 Victorian in Mississippi, a $25,000 mansion in Indiana, an $82,000 recreational camp in Maine, and more. Cheap Old Houses features the stories of how these homes were acquired and lovingly restored. (summary taken from Goodreads)

This is probably a niche pick for a book to read, but I loved flipping through the pages and reading stories of homeowners who saw these diamonds in the rough. They could look past things that other potential buyers saw as dealbreakers and pour a lot of TLC to create beautiful, cozy, inspiring homes for themselves. I personally love seeing how people actually live in spaces; that is so much more inspiring to me than picture-perfect showhouses. I gained inspiration and also just enjoyed getting immersed in a variety of homes so different than one another and from my own home. This book is perfect for anyone who loves HGTV and seeing old homes given new life.

Small Space Style: Because You Don’t Need to Live Large to Live Beautifully by Whitney Leigh Morris (4/5 stars)

Whitney Leigh Morris has demonstrated through her blog and popular Instagram account that living in small spaces can be stylish, beautiful, functional, and enjoyable. Her tiny family of three (plus two dogs!) lives in 362 square feet and while her cottage is charming and inspiring in and of itself, she also shares a variety of spaces and creative solutions for minimal living in other settings. With tons of pictures and hundreds of practical tips, she makes living minimally both approachable and manageable.

Now this is the kind of minimal living book I really love. Honestly, I was blown away by the sheer volume of practical tips – it’s not like a 10-step solution, there are over two hundred ideas for ways to live more minimally within your own home. Some ideas are big, some are small. Some literally take a few seconds to implement and make a difference. It allows the reader to pick and choose ideas that will work for them without feeling guilty for not doing everything. I also really love that Whitney lives in the intersection of minimalism and environmentalism. She shows how you can live beautifully while still being mindful of and gentler on the planet. She encourages working with simple things you already have or items you can find secondhand. She reuses things, she repurposes things, and she generally does not encourage buying new things. I appreciated the wisdom and grace with which she guides the reader to try to view your space with fresh eyes and find solutions for living more simply. She’s also an inspiring Instagram follow and I’ll end this review with something she said there: “we usually don’t need more space, we just need to explore the full potential of the space we have.” Loved it!

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (3/5 stars)

Over the past twenty years, every time Daphne meets a new potential partner, she mysteriously receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it revealing the amount of time they will be a couple. Every romance she has experienced has had an expiration date, and every paper she’s received has been exactly correct. Then one day, she receives a paper with just a name: Jake. Does this mean she has finally found the man she is supposed to be with for the rest of her life? And does she like him because there’s no expiration or is there no expiration because she likes him?

I was intrigued by the unique concept of this book and was excited to read it, despite not really liking In Five Years by this same author. You do have to suspend some realism with the prophetic slips of papers, but I knew that going in and had no problem just going with the premise. The author takes you on a journey between Daphne’s present-day relationship with Jake and all the past relationships that came with expiration dates. It’s interesting enough, but I wish there was a little more character development and didn’t love Daphne. Also, around 2/3 of the way through I found myself so tired of reading about the past relationships and solely wanted to know about her present day situation; I was invested enough in the story to need to know what happened and how things resolved but just didn’t care about the past anymore. I definitely liked it more than In Five Years, and while it’s not a new favorite of mine, I found it to be an overall satisfying read.

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez (4/5 stars)

Thanks to a viral reddit post, Emma and Justin learn that they have one very unusual thing in common: every person they date goes on to find his or her soulmate right after they break up. If they’re both cursed with being the person before the soulmate, how will they ever find true love for themselves? A DM is sent and a plan is formed – date each other and then break up. They would both be destined to find their soulmate immediately after, right? It seems worth a shot, and with Emma’s travel nursing job and Justin’s major family transitions it can only be just for the summer anyways, so what’s the harm in trying?

This is an example of a book that, for me, got stronger as it went on. I admit, it started off a little hard to get into. It felt similar to the start of The Happy Ever After Playlist, except not quite as convincingly done as that one. The whole break-the-dating-curse premise is very over the top and the dating formula they come up with seemed so silly to me but I decided for the sake of enjoying the book I needed to just overlook that. I needed to suspend beliefs in the reality of two people actually trying this plan in real life and just accept it and go with it. I’m glad I did because with that set aside, this was a really fun little escape! Justin and Emma are both likeable and their chemistry is entertaining. I loved the side characters and I enjoyed that there was some depth woven in through some harder storylines. It felt like a beach read with some weight to it and that’s the sweet spot for me. There is language and some steam, although easy to skip over the spicy parts if you prefer since it’s not written as open-door as other Abby Jimenez books. There are both fleeting and significant references to characters in every other book she has written and I got a little thrill every time I spotted one dropped in throughout the story (one in particular caught me so off guard in the best way). Overall, I really enjoyed it and would recommend!

The Opt-Out Family: How to Give Your Kids what Technology Can’t by Erin Loechner (4.5/5 stars)

Erin Loechner was among the first people to become a social media influencer, way back before we even had a name for the job. She started writing online in 2001, joined all the social media platforms as they rose to popularity, headlined conferences, hosted workshops, and even had her own HGTV.com renovation show. She amassed a following of 1.4 million followers . . . and then walked away from it all. She now has no social media and is raising her children in an “opt-out family” which she defines as “an intentional home environment, group, or household unit in which the role of technology is greatly minimized as a result of evidence-based research on the developmental harms attributed to screens, social media, and digital use.” This book works as a kind of playbook to help you do the same with your family. Honestly, sign. me. up!

I found this book to be incredibly validating; it gives voice to many things I have been feeling myself but wasn’t sure how to put into words. I enjoy writing on this blog and sharing parts of my life, particularly my home projects, on social media – but I’m “bad” at it (meaning, anyone working at a tech company would say I’m not doing the things needed to grow my audience and they’re right, I’m purposefully not) because quite frankly, I also want to minimize technology in my life. When I look at my children and my family as a whole, I want less technology, not more. This book dives into a ton of research and stories that question the narrative we’ve been fed over the years – do we really need this? Do we even want this? Or can we opt-out? I thought this book did a great job of staying hopeful and inspiring while giving practical, realistic advice for use in your family. Don’t get me wrong, the facts are daunting and can feel scary, but the author is determined to equip parents with applicable strategies to choose a different path forward. In this book, she takes her experience as an influencer and her knowledge of the tech world’s playbook and flips the script to reveal approachable ways to resist the pull of tech and choose differently for your family. I appreciate that she isn’t anti-all-screens-all-the-time; some families, like my own, are going to continue to have TV, smartphones, laptops, etc. in some capacity and this book is so helpful for finding ways to minimize technology’s grip on our lives. Highly recommend!

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

Lily Wilder, daughter of the famous treasure hunter Duke Wilder, is using her father’s hand-drawn notes and maps to guide adventurous tourists on fake treasure hunts to try and earn the money to buy back the family ranch he sold years ago. She is shocked to find out that one of the tourists coming on her next tour is none other than Leo Grady, who broke her heart a decade ago and has no idea that she is the guide assigned with taking him and his friends into the Utah desert. Miscommunications ensue but a second chance may be on the table for Lily and Leo, all while their motley crew of adventurers learn that the treasure they seek in the desert might not be so fake after all.

I’ll keep this one short: I’ve enjoyed Christina Lauren books in the past but this one just fell pretty flat for me. It’s supposed to be a riddle-filled, Wild West, treasure-seeking epic adventure but it ended up being too over the top for my liking. The treasure hunt took precedence in the plot over the development of the romance so once Lily and Leo got together it seemed really sudden and kind of forced. It wasn’t terrible, but it also wasn’t a fave for me and ended up being somewhat forgettable.

The Women by Kristin Hannah (5/5 stars!)

In 1965, Frankie McGrath follows in a long line of family tradition and enlists in the Army, but the difference from all other family members is that Frankie is a woman. As part of the Army Nurse Corps, she serves in Vietnam and is immediately thrown into the immense chaos and destruction of the war. Despite the atrocious horrors she faces daily, Frankie perseveres and is one of the lucky ones to come home – but the world she comes home to is different than she expected and her struggles are far from over.

This was HANDS DOWN the best book I read all year! This is phenomenally written historical fiction. It is so evident to the reader that Kristin Hannah doesn’t just pull things from her imagination – she heavily researches the subject matter to make her work of nonfiction feel incredibly realistic. The characters are so well thought out and the events are so vividly described that it doesn’t feel like fiction at all. Before I read this book I knew very little about the Vietnam War and this was such a compelling look into the women who served. I love that while we only got Frankie’s firsthand perspective, we also saw the different paths other women who served with her took to move forward after returning from the war. It’s heartbreaking, it’s redemptive, it’s captivating, and it’s thought-provoking. It will make you want to do a deep dive and learn more about the Vietnam War and the real-life women who served there. It’s honestly the most engrossing book I’ve read in a long time and I absolutely loved it. HIGHLY recommend!

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Daphne’s world is rocked when her fiancé, Peter, realizes he is in love with his childhood best friend, Petra, and breaks off their wedding. Heartbroken and now kicked out of the house they shared, Daphne turns to the one person who might understand just how much this situation hurts: Petra’s ex, Miles. Daphne and Miles have very little in common, but do share a need for a place to live and a person who understands their pain so they decide to become roommates. After receiving a wedding invite for Peter and Petra, Miles and Daphne decide to get their revenge by pretending to now be in love with one another to make their exes jealous. They’re so opposite from one another it’ll be hard to be convincing in love, but they’re up for the challenge.

Here’s the thing. Every other book on this 2024 list, I either had a review already drafted after reading or I could easily remember how I felt reading the book. For this book…I genuinely can’t remember. I think I liked it, but did I love it? I have no idea. What exactly happened? I can’t recall. A few minutes on Goodreads and I was able to refresh my memory a bit based on other reviews, but I can remember only vague details for myself. So honestly, I need to re-read this one. And maybe that in and of itself means it was only okay? It clearly didn’t leave a super lasting impression, but I also don’t think I disliked it. It definitely doesn’t top the list of Emily Henry books for me, but it also didn’t crash and burn for me because I would’ve remembered if it either of those things. So…TBD on this one. It’s bothering me that I can’t recall it well enough to review so it needs to go back on my 2025 reading list.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (3/5 stars)

Sadie is a struggling artist who finally caught her big break by landing in a prestigious portrait competition, only to have a nonconvulsive seizure in the middle of the road on the way to her celebratory party. Saved by a Good Samaritan, she winds up in the hospital where she learns she needs brain surgery. The surgery is successful except for one side effect: Sadie now has a condition where she can’t recognize faces. Struggling to cope with this face blindness and navigate a path forward with the portrait competition deadline looming, Sadie also meets two totally different men and unexpectedly falls for both of them. Will she be able to pull off the most important portrait of her career? And will she be able to find someone to love, even if she can’t see his face?

Katherine Center is a reliable author for me when I want to read a light, happy rom-com and this one fit the ticket. Sadie was likeable. Oliver and Joe, the two men vying for Sadie’s heart, were also likeable. The premise is a little farfetched and silly at times, but I was willing to go with it. However, even when I want a predictably happy romance, this felt too predictable and the beginning was so slow. I wanted cozy romance, but the plot focused on on family drama, her new diagnosis, and her struggles to paint for too long. Things picked up once she actually started interacting with Oliver and Joe, and I breezed right through the rest of it. While it was not my favorite Katherine Center book, it was ultimately a light and happy read.

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center (4/5 stars)

Emma Wheeler is a struggling screenwriter and full-time caretaker for her medically-fragile father when she receives the opportunity of a lifetime: ghostwriting a romcom screenplay with the legendary Charlie Yates. She will fly to LA and spend six weeks writing her favorite type of script with her favorite screenwriter and get paid an absurd amount of money to do it. It seems like an offer too good to be true . . . and it turns out, it is because Charlie does not actually want to write this romcom, does not even like romcoms, and above all, does not want Emma’s help. What he wants is to have his Mafia movie script picked up, but the only way that will happen is if he finishes a romcom for the studio first. Begrudgingly, he allows Emma to stay and she has her work cut out for her in not only making Charlie see how romcoms are meaningful, but also how they can actually write a good one together.

This one is for lovers of romcoms, of which I am one. If you’re in the mood for a romcom, you want fun, you want spark, you want to swoon, you want to laugh, and you want a satisfying, predictably happy ending. As Emma herself put it: “The fun is in how we get there.” This book delivers on all counts! It’s a little bit cheesy at times, but it’s worth it. Emma was a fun lead to root for (although I will say there were a few times she felt a touch too desperate and naive, but it’s something I could look past and still enjoy her character). I loved Emma and Charlie’s chemistry and enjoyed seeing their dynamics change and relationship unfold as they spent more and more time together. I also loved that it showed them falling into a slow kind of love – a quiet, cozy, just-living-our-daily-lives kind of love. So relatable and refreshing! I also appreciate when a plot has one or two meaningful side plots happening, and Emma’s family situation provided an extra layer of depth and heart to the story. I put this one up there as one of my favorite Katherine Center books so far, along with The Bodyguard (which had a couple cameos in this one!) and Things You Save in a Fire. It’s a clean romance (nothing spicy, just a couple kisses) but it does have language so if you’re looking for totally squeaky clean this isn’t quite it. I enjoyed it!

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell (4/5 stars)

Alix Summer and Josie Fair cross paths for the first time in a pub on what they find out is their shared 45th birthday. When they cross paths again, and Josie learns that Alix hosts a popular podcast sharing other people’s stories, Josie offers to share hers. Alix is intrigued enough to welcome Josie into not only her her podcast but also gradually into her life, and before long, Josie has intertwined herself into Alix’s home and family in irreversible ways.

Lisa Jewell knows how to write an absolutely riveting psychological thriller and this one is no different. I found it to be binge-worthy and flew through it. I really enjoyed that the author switched up narrator points of views and also interspersed documentary interview clips throughout. That format kept things pretty fast paced and full of suspense. There are definitely some very dark themes along with well written, creepy, and unreliable characters. It’s addictive and unsettling and a good choice if you’re in the mood for a domestic thriller.

Whew!! We made it! Now on to 2025 reads!

December 2023 Book Reviews

Hello hello and happy 2024! I enjoyed a very fun and full holiday season with my family and definitely enjoyed cozying up with a blanket next to the Christmas tree to read. In December I read seven books of various genres. It was interesting to me that the full-fledged “Christmas” books I read I didn’t love, but a few of the non-Christmasy ones gave me the perfect cozy holiday feels. Others weren’t even remotely cozy or Christmas-y and yet I still enjoyed them sprinkled in among the other books this month. The variety this month was great! But I digress…

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

A powerful hurricane is headed to Florida, and thanks to the state’s slowly crumbling infrastructure and rapidly deteriorating weather patterns, Hurricane Wanda is going to wreak havoc and usher in a new era for society and survival. For one family in particular, the hurricane brings both devastation and new life, as their baby girl is born right in the middle of the storm. Named after the hurricane itself, curious and unusual Wanda grows up in a society that seems to be unraveling more and more with each passing year.

I read this story for a book club and it was an excellent choice for reading with others, as there was so much to discuss. The story is broken up into four parts: power, water, light, and time. Through alternating perspective chapters, we follow Wanda and her family as they navigate both the unprecedented hurricane and the devastating aftermath. This story was unlike anything I’ve read before! It was essentially the author imagining a potential future for our planet given our current context of climate change, and I found the whole concept to be really thought-provoking. I was captivated by the hurricane saga and intrigued with the imagining of the deteriorating world afterwards. I was able to read it pretty quickly; although there was a section in the middle where things got pretty slow for a while, it thankfully picked up again for me as I read on. There was also one piece of the plot that brought in a bit of fantasy and I wish that hadn’t been included, as it took away from how realistic the rest of the plotline felt. Other than those issues, I enjoyed the storytelling overall and I enjoyed that we saw different character’s perspectives as the world around them drastically changed. Bottom line: I was intrigued and challenged by the ideas in this story and I absolutely know I will be thinking about it for a long time so for those reasons, I do recommend it!

A Knights Bridge Christmas by Carla Neggers

Single mom Clare has just moved with her young son Owen to a cute little small town called Knights Bridge where she now works as a librarian. It’s there that she meets Logan, a busy ER doctor who lives in the city but has come back to Knights Bridge to help his grandmother Daisy as she transitions to assisted living. Daisy has moved out of her beloved Victorian house in town and makes a request to Logan: could he please decorate it for Christmas one last time? Unsure of how to do the grand old home justice, Logan turns to Clare for help and offers a chance to look through Daisy’s book collection for donations to the library in return. As the house comes to life under their hard work decorating, they discover an unexpected and growing attraction…but will they be brave enough to allow themselves to fall in love this Christmas?

I wanted a cute, easy, festive, Hallmark-y read and thought this would fit the bill. When I’m searching for a book using that criteria, I know there will likely be predictability and not a whole lot of deep character development, but this one felt a bit too easy for me. The characters had too little depth and the storyline was too repetitive and predictable. I wasn’t ultimately very invested or interested and I ended up mostly just skimming along. There were a few storylines I expected the author to dig deeper into and was disappointed that they just kind of got glossed over. All that being said, it’s still a pleasant, fairly clean read (a few swear words but no steamy scenes) and has a LOT of festive elements like Christmas decorations and ice skating and hot cocoa. It was also evident that this author has a series set in this town, as there were a lot of references to other couples that I’m sure are the main characters in other books, so if you’re a fan of this author and series, you’ll likely enjoy this book! It just didn’t quite hit for me and my Christmas-y mood.

Never Fall For Your Fiancée by Virginia Heath

Hugh Standish is in trouble. His lie to his mother about having a fiancée seemed innocent enough; after all, she lives in America, he lives in England, and his letters about “Minerva” have gotten her off his back about settling down. But now, she is on her way to visit and fully expects to meet his beloved Minerva. Hugh knows he is going to get caught in a lie, but when he steps in to help a beautiful young woman on the street and learns her name is actually Minerva, he gets another idea. He makes an offer too good to pass up for Minerva, who has been struggling to provide for herself and her two younger sisters. Getting paid to spend a few weeks pretending to be in love in a stunning English manor can’t be that hard, right? But as the charade goes on and High and Minerva spend more and more time together pretending to be in love, it stops feeling like an act and starts feeling like the real thing.

This book gives some Jane Austen-meets-Bridgerton vibes and was about what I expected. Hugh and Minerva are pretty likeable, and the overall storyline is predictably cute (leaning heavily into the fake dating and miscommunication troupes), but it also got pretty repetitive. Hugh is highly motivated by this one specific character quality he believes he inherited, and that gets old in the storyline and ultimately feels silly in the end. The setting is fun, some of the banter is enjoyable, the side characters bring a playful and interesting dynamic, and it feels slightly Christmas-y because it is set around Christmas time. I believe it is part of a series with each book centered around another sister’s romance but I don’t anticipate that I’ll read the rest of the series. There is one steamy scene, but it’s very easy to see coming and skip over if you prefer not to read those. Overall, this book was fine, a middle-of-the-road level read for me.

The Hike by Lucy Clarke

Liz, Maggie, Helena, and Joni have been friends for years. Though life has taken them all in very different directions, they still reunite for getaways together when they can. This year, it was Liz’s turn to pick a destination; since she’s currently stressed out by life and the state of her crumbling marriage, she suggests something different than their typical beach holiday: hiking in the remote mountains of Norway. Despite their hesitations, the others agree to come along and the group sets off for camping and hiking in the wilderness. What they don’t know is that there are secrets lurking everywhere along their journey and if they’re not careful, they may not make it out of the wilderness alive.

This book is a destination thriller that leans survivalist at times and I loved that it was such an escapist read. I felt like I had been transported to Norway and it made me want to travel and experience this gorgeous country for myself. I binged the entire thing in less than 24 hours – I couldn’t put it down! It’s not a twisty and jumpy thriller, but it is a compulsive, must-find-out-what-is-going-on page-turner. The characters all felt authentic and layered, each with likeable and dislikable qualities; I love that we see their own thoughts and feelings alongside their actions and can compare those to how they each perceive one another. The premise is interesting, the plot moves along at a good pace without feeling rushed, and it is satisfyingly dramatic without being scary. I didn’t quite love how everything wrapped up at the end, but I’m willing to overlook that because of how much I enjoyed the suspenseful ride throughout. Overall, it’s a solid thriller that I do recommend!

Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis

“On a snowy evening in March, thirty-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear. The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence.”

This isn’t a Christmas read at all, but since it initially started in a blizzard it felt wintery and perfect for my cozy reading mood this month. It’s a sweet rom com with a bit of a Hallmark-y feel but I didn’t find it to be cheesy or cringey; I thought it was a fun read! I loved the premise and enjoyed Sam and Noelle’s characters and was absolutely rooting for them to get together. There are just enough side plots layered in to keep things interesting without distracting from the main storyline, and it does pull in some weightier topics like death, loss, and life’s challenges. I will say I had to give some leeway in the fate/realism department – there are a lot of coincidences with Sam and Noelle continuing to run into one another in some fairly far-fetched circumstances, but if you can accommodate that, it’s an enjoyable, feel-good read! I found it to be delightfully heartwarming and exactly what I was in the mood for snuggled up by the Christmas tree. It’s also pretty wholesome – it does have a bit of language but no steamy scenes. I definitely recommend if you want a lighthearted read with a bit of depth to it!

Christmas from the Heart by Sheila Roberts

Olivia’s passion is running her nonprofit, Christmas From the Heart, and she relies heavily on the generosity of donors to be able to provide relief and comfort to struggling families in her area. When she learns her charity lost a large and long-standing donor, she is furious. Guy Hightower feels he did what needed to be done; his company may be large, but prior mismanagement has meant that they need to try to cut what they can and save the company from crumbling. He never expects to meet the woman who sent him all the angry emails after he cut off her funding, but when his car breaks down as he passes by her small town, the beautiful Good Samaritan who rescues him from the side of the road is none other than Olivia. He quickly gives himself a fake identity, and as he’s stuck in town for a few days, Guy gets a first hand look at Livi’s life and charitable work, and Livi gets to know “Joe”, a good-hearted, thoughtful stranger who she finds herself falling for. But when the truth about him is revealed, will they be able to continue their growing feelings for one another?

This is another one I thought would be perfect for curling up by the tree and getting in the Christmas spirit. The potential with the storyline was there! But the execution was off for me. Unfortunately I did not connect with the characters or their romance. I think the biggest problem was I didn’t find the main character to be likeable. Livi was meant to come across as a kind, generous do-gooder but in actuality I thought she came across as entitled, gold-digging, and even rude at times. I could not fit her behavior after being turned down by one donor with how someone who actually runs a charitable nonprofit would act. Plus the lie with Guy’s true identity went a little too long, and the subsequent chapters after that revelation felt really disjointed. Despite all the lies and personality shortcomings, I was being told how the romance was unfolding and the characters were falling for one another, but as the reader I wasn’t actually feeling it at all. I wanted to like this one, but it just fell flat for me and I skimmed just to finish. Bummer!

One Last Gift by Emily Stone

Ever since she was a young girl, Cassie has been given a special Christmas gift from her older brother Tom: a scavenger hunt created just for her. This year, he has promised her it will be the best one yet, but then he tragically dies right before Christmas. Lost for months in her deep grief, Cassie struggles to just make it through her days until one day, she is given an envelope with Tom’s handwriting on it. She knows it is the start to the scavenger hunt and her last communication from her beloved brother. In order to complete the hunt, she will need to rely on her closest friends, and that includes Tom’s best friend Sam. Though Sam is hardly recognizable from the younger version of himself she once loved, he is the only other person who feels Tom’s loss like she does. As Cassie works her way through Tom’s last scavenger hunt, she also begins to work up the courage needed to accept the final gift he has left for her.

Oooph, this book got me good! It’s hard to describe because it deals with such a heavy plotline but somehow isn’t a distressing read. Granted, I have not lost a close family member like Cassie has, so perhaps those who have would find it harder to read, but I thought the author did a great job navigating loss and giving space for the heartbreak while balancing other aspects of life. Obviously, grief is a huge part of the book, but I think it’s done in a way that manages to not be completely heart wrenching and sad. You feel the sorrow, you empathize with the characters, but you also feel joy and hope with them. I loved seeing Cassie’s confidence grow throughout and I was always rooting for Sam to get his act together. I will say, it’s partially a (closed door) romance but not a banter-y, laugh out loud rom com. Instead it’s a touching story of growth, friendship, support, love, and showing up for one another through all of life’s challenges. It is centered around the scavenger hunt, which is a Christmas gift, but the rest of the book is not Christmas-y at all. Even so, it was a perfect choice as a deeper holiday read. It tugs on your heart, it makes you smile, it just brings out emotions and ultimately is uplifting. I loved it!

Whew! That’s it for last month, now bring on all the 2024 reads! As always, if you have any great recommendations, send them my way!

November 2023 Book Review

Happy December 1! It is officially my favorite time of year!

Last month, I expected to finish more books but ended up with only one read. The reason for that: it’s been a while since it took me this long to finish a book! Today I’m going to chat a bit about both the book and whether or not the slow build was worth it.

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

“Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family from bustling Chicago to a coastal island in Maine when their neighbor Morgan Baines is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie. But it’s not just Morgan’s death that has Sadie on edge. And as the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of what really happened that dark and deadly night. But Sadie must be careful, for the more she discovers about Mrs. Baines, the more she begins to realize just how much she has to lose if the truth ever comes to light.” (Synopsis taken from Amazon)

I saw this book recommended on another account from someone who historically has similar reading preferences to me. I’ll be honest, for the first third of the book, I kept thinking “why on earth did she hype this up so much?” I just could not get into it – the characters were all unlikeable and the plot felt extremely slow and veered into some territory I wasn’t excited about. It also might have just been the wrong choice for me right now, since I was getting into the light, happy, festive mood and a murder thriller didn’t quite fit that. So all that being said, it took me many days to even make it 1/3 of the way through, just chipping away a short chapter at a time. I wanted to quit or at least jump to another book and (maybe) come back to this one later. I stuck with it though and around the 1/3 mark I had a revelation: I believed I had figured out the twist. Suddenly my motivation exploded – I had to know if I was correct and the more I read, the more convinced I became. I doubt it was the author’s intention for the reader to do this, but in this instance knowing actually helped the story seem so much more compelling. By the time I got to the last third, I could not put this book down!

Now in terms of recommending, I don’t know! After like 9 days of slowly reading a bit at a time, I compulsively read the last 2/3 of this book in like 24 hours and loved it. There were still things I DID NOT see coming at all and I had a major jaw drop towards the end. But that being said, if I hadn’t guessed that one particular aspect of the plot at the time I did, I would’ve struggled to keep reading. For me, the book was 1/3 slow, 1/3 compulsive reading to prove my theory, 1/3 shocking twists and reveals in the end. It could have been 2/3 slow build and 1/3 twists and reveals and I just don’t think I would recommend that, you know? So if this long-winded review has you curious or you think you could also figure it out early, I say go for it! But if you don’t typically guess things in advance, you may find this a little too much of a slow build. For me, things picked up early enough that I still loved the book overall.

Do you keep reading books you’re not into? Or do you have a threshold where you’ll quit? My threshold is really high but I have quit books before – this one I’m glad I stuck with!

August 2023 Book Reviews

Between three major milestones and jumping back into projects with the kids’ closet update, August has been a busy month! I did manage to get three books read and I’m excited to discuss them today so without further ado, let’s get to it!

I F ound You by Lisa Jewell

“In the windswept British seaside town of Ridinghouse Bay, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on a beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside. Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, newlywed Lily Monrose grows anxious when her husband fails to return home from work one night. Soon, she receives even worse news: according to the police, the man she married never even existed. Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty Ross are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. The annual trip to Ridinghouse Bay is uneventful, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just because he’s a protective older brother. Who is the man on the beach? Where is Lily’s missing husband? And what ever happened to the man who made such a lasting and disturbing impression on Gray?” (review taken from Amazon)

I feel a little conflicted writing this review, because I liked it, but didn’t love it. On the plus side, I thought it was a compelling read with the three different storylines that slowly start to overlap and connect. It’s a character-driven plot and fairly slow for a thriller but still was one I read quickly and enjoyed figuring out. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why this book didn’t totally work for me and then I realized: I had to suspend too much reality regarding reasonable decisions parents would make. Every single adult in this book made terrible decisions regarding children and it just did not seem plausible to me that these things would happen. With Alice in particular, I believe her character was supposed to come across as a bit of a normal/endearing/relatable mess but her choices just made her seem very reckless. It’s also a fairly light thriller until one chapter in particular where it takes a sharp turn into a very dark and disturbing scene that felt pretty jarring in the context of the whole book. Overall, I would say I enjoyed it as an average thriller but would give preference to Watching You.

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Elise Hannaway is a theoretical physicist and has been struggling to survive on her adjunct professor salary. She moonlights for a fake-dating service to make ends meet but all that may be coming to an end because she’s finally up for a faculty position at MIT. There’s just one little problem: when her interview process begins, she realizes the faculty member in charge is Jack Smith, the older brother of the guy she has been fake-dating and even worse, the experimental physicist who ruined the career of Elsie’s mentor and called into question the validity of theoretical physics. Elsie doesn’t want to play nice with Jack, but it seems like she has to, especially because he sees right through all her people-pleasing personality shifts and notices who she really, truly is.

This is now the third book I’ve read by this author (also read The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain). They are all about women in STEM (which I love!) and science is a strong part of the plot (like, I will skip an entire paragraph here and there because it’s science-y and way above my head). The downfall to this is books do end up feeling very similar in plot, characters, conflicts, etc. so it can kind of feel a bit like you’re reading the same kind of thing over and over. That being said, I liked Elsie and Jack most of all the characters and think this book would rank as my favorite of the three. Their banter is witty and enjoyable and their conflict and storyline felt the most believable of all the books. I loved the side characters, especially Jack’s grandma who makes some very memorable appearances. It was also fun to see that Hazelwood has created this little world of science where we had little cameos from the characters in the other books. I would give this one a rated-R ranking for language and steam just like the first two (although I would say this one is the steamiest), and I would say if you enjoyed either of the first two, you would also enjoy this one.

Dating Mr. Darcy by Kate O’Keeffe

Emma Brady agreed to go on Dating Mr. Darcy, a reality TV dating show inspired by Pride and Prejudice, for one reason and one reason only: to promote her struggling activewear apparel line. She’s not looking to fall in love and certainly not with the show’s lead: Sebastian Huntington-Ross. He’s arrogant and rude and okay, yes, attractive, but Emma can totally ignore that thanks to his other undesirable qualities. That is, until she actually gets to know him. Because once she starts to discover what he’s really and truly like, she finds it harder and harder to convince herself she can’t find love on a TV show.

I saw this book on the shelf and decided to grab it on a whim. My expectations were that it would be a light, easy, cute, and predictable read and that more or less was the case. It didn’t feel particularly original since it’s essentially just combining two well-known scenarios (The Bachelor reality TV show Pride and Prejudice), but I wasn’t really expecting or needing it to be groundbreaking. It was . . . fine. The premise seemed entertaining and I wanted to enjoy it, but it fell flat for me for a couple reasons. For one, I couldn’t quite get into Emma and Sebastian as a couple. Their misunderstandings were a little too silly and Emma’s assumptions too immature – it felt like we were trying too hard to create conflict out of pretty minor things. I would have liked to see this as a dual-perspective book to get more invested in Sebastian and the relationship in general. I also thought there was way too much time given to the tension and cattiness with the other contestants and, without spoiling anything, I’ll just say I was personally unsatisfied with how everything resolved in the end. It’s the first of three (looks like book 2 is about their wedding and book 3 is about their trying for a baby) but I am not interested enough in these characters or their storyline to pursue any future books. I will say, this is a clean book (no language, no intimacy beyond kissing) which can be hard to find these days so if that’s a priority for you, this one might be worth it.

What have you been reading lately?

July 2023 Book Reviews

Hello August!

This summer I kind of took an unplanned break from home projects and blog posts and such. For a myriad of reasons, it felt best for me to let those things slide to the back burner and just enjoy time with my family and get back to the basics around my life and my home. Other than a few small projects and posts here and there, I decided to just give myself time off from it all and it was refreshing and just what I needed. Now that it’s August, it feels like a perfect time for a fresh start – school is approaching (LJ is going to be in kindergarten!! What!!!) and I’m feeling ready to get back to projects and plans for our home. I’m starting to plan for my next few projects and I’m getting very excited to jump back in!

Despite taking a break from other things this summer, I didn’t take a break from reading. I read three books in July and I’m excited to discuss them today!

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Harriet and Wyn broke up five months ago but still haven’t told their best friends. Harriet has decided to share the news with everyone during their annual reunion trip to Maine but to her shock, Wyn is already there when she shows up. It turns out, one of their friends called him and begged him to come because the cottage that has hosted this yearly getaway is for sale, making this the grand finale trip. Harriet and Wyn realize everything must go perfectly for their friends this week so they have no choice but to pretend they are still engaged and in love for the entire trip. After being a totally in love, made-for-each-other couple for years, how hard can that be?

I don’t mind a trope-y book and enjoyed this one despite the fact that the miscommunication trope isn’t one of my favorites (so much could be solved if people just talked honestly!) Besides making me want to take a summer trip to Maine asap, I thought the chemistry and tension between Wyn and Harriet was great and I easily was hoping for them to figure things out. I appreciated that their love journey felt realistic and dreamy at the same time. I really loved the eclectic friend group and how their relationships developed and grew over the years; again, watching them handle changing seasons of life and friendship felt realistic. It’s told in a way that’s relatable and fun and makes you feel like you’re in on all their inside jokes and traditions. One thing that didn’t work for me was the length – it clocks in at 385 pages and that is just too long for this type of book. There were too many details about too many side plots in the background chapters (Harriet’s family, Wyn’s family, various stories about the friend group) and coupled with an angsty, miscommunication trope in the present day chapters, it felt pretty drawn out at times. It could have been 80-100 pages shorter and still been great. All that being said, I still enjoyed it overall and would recommend if you want an easy, fun, somewhat predictable vacation read!

Homecoming by Kate Morton

On Christmas Eve 1959, a terrible family tragedy is discovered at a country estate in Australia; the whole town gets swept up in the ensuing murder investigation that is never conclusively resolved. Nearly 60 years later, struggling freelance writer Jess is returning to Australia after hearing the news that her beloved grandmother, Nora Turner-Bridges, has fallen very ill. When Jess discovers a true crime novel in Nora’s belongings, she learns of the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959 and her own family’s shocking connection to it. Her journalist instinct immediately kicks in and Jess sets out to discover more about this family and what exactly happened all those years ago.

Listen, if Kate Morton writes it, I want to read it. She is my favorite author (dare I say: ever?) and I just adore getting swept up in her books. This one was no exception! The story is a slow burn mystery intricately woven over the course of three generations and despite featuring many different characters, it was easy for me to follow along. The book is hefty at 500+ pages, but I was spellbound and just wanted to keep reading and reading and watch everything unfold. I will say, with every book of hers I read, I get this hard to describe sense. I recently discovered there is a German word for longing called “sehnsucht” and according to Wikipedia, “some psychologists use the word to represent thoughts and feelings about all facets of life that are unfinished or imperfect, paired with a yearning for ideal alternative experiences.” This is a good way to describe how Kate Morton books make me feel. I’m captivated, I’m satisfied, yet I always have this sense of bittersweet longing for alternate plotlines. But isn’t that how history is? If one thing changed, maybe so much would change. If we only had this answer or this person’s motivation or personal feelings or could see the full chain of events, we would understand so much more. It’s how real life is and how looking back on history is, so I believe it’s also how well-written historical fiction should be. Kate Morton is just the best at it in my opinion. I loved this book and wish I could read it for the first time again just to experience it all once more.

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes

Following the death of her never-married great aunt Dot, Laurie heads back to her hometown in Maine to clear out Dot’s cottage and get things ready to sell. When clearing out an old trunk, she finds a wooden duck tucked underneath some quilts and has more questions than answers. Why does Dot have this duck? What are the markings on the bottom? Why was it tucked away like a secret? Laurie enlists the help of her best friend, June, and her first love, Nick, to figure out the story behind the duck. It seems to be turning into an uninteresting dead end . . . until the duck disappears under unusual circumstances. Now Laurie must band together an eclectic bunch of people to try and get the duck back and solve the mystery of it’s importance in Dot’s life.

Laurie is an almost-forty, plus-sized woman who has consciously decided that she does not want to get married or have children. (I include plus-sized because the author definitely wants that to be known about her. I found it odd how many times her specific clothing size of 18 is mentioned.) Kudos to the author for breaking out of the mold and portraying a woman who wants an alternate type of happy ever after. I love the goal to represent an empowered woman who makes choices that don’t fit the mainstream societal narrative, but the problem for me was that I didn’t find Laurie to be altogether likeable. What was meant to come across as strong and independent felt more like stubborn and selfish at times, and her preferences for independence get really repetitive. The cast of side characters is interesting and adds a layer of fun, but I was very underwhelmed by her rekindled (and underdeveloped) relationship with Nick. Their whole romance just fell flat for me. The duck caper was initially cute but eventually silly; I found myself bored with the slow-moving storyline and skimmed quite a bit. Overall, it’s a fine read but after really enjoying the author’s other book, Evvie Drake Starts Over, I was ultimately let down by this one.

What have you been reading lately?

June 2023 Book Reviews

Happy Friday and happy Book Review Day! It’s coming a little late this month since we spent the first week of July on family vacation. This is worth mentioning because between our trip to Prague in early June and our trip to Virginia last week, plus my recent resignation from my work-from-home job, I’ve been in an easy-breezy, relaxed and vacation-oriented state of mind which has definitely played into my reading preferences.

In June I read six books and for once, they were all the same genre. I was just really in the mood for light, fun, summer love and each book I read happens to fall into the romance or rom-com genre. I would also say that each book has about the same steam and language rating – they all have 1-2 open door scenes and moderate language. I didn’t plan for them all to be so similar, but that’s just how this month went! While they all fall into the same category, they were not at all the same book and my feelings on them widely varied so let’s get into the nitty-gritty!

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Poppy and Alex are best friends and total opposites. While they haven’t lived in the same place since graduating, they always reconnect in the summer when they spend one week together on vacation. It has always been a highlight of the year, until two years ago when things got messy and ruined everything. Poppy is desperate to get her life back on track and she knows the last time she was truly happy was on vacation with Alex, so she invites him on vacation again. She knows this week will make or break their friendship forever – and it’s time to finally address what has been hidden in the heart of this relationship all this time.

The thing about Emily Henry’s book titles is that they can be kind of misleading. I felt this way after reading Beach Read and I felt the same thing reading this book. It’s not a terrible thing, it just doesn’t always prepare me mentally for what I’m actually going to read and can throw me for a bit of a loop. I expected this book to involve a lot of different people, but in reality it focused mostly on Poppy and Alex and the different versions of themselves as they grow and change over the years. The plot jumps back and forth between the present vacation and the ten previous vacations; while I did like the alternating timelines, I felt all the back and forth made for a very slow start and took me a while to get invested in the story and characters. Eventually I did get invested and really wanted to root for Alex and Poppy, although I have to say I liked Alex more than Poppy. Their friendship and more-than-friendship was believable and I enjoyed the friends-to-lovers trope – overall I think this is a fairly solid romance read!

Talk Boo k ish to Me by Kate Bromley

Kara is a successful romance author in a bit of a rut. She is frantic for inspiration for her latest novel and when her college sweetheart and first love unexpectedly shows up in her best friend’s wedding party, she realizes this unfortunate event might actually have a plus side. Ryan is infuriating and Kara has no interest in starting things up again, but she can’t deny that her creative spark lights up when he’s around. When he needs a place to stay before the wedding, Kara offers her place. The close proximity is guaranteed to help her write the best novel, but will it also inspire her to take another chance on love?

One of my children accidentally signed me up for a free trial of Kindle Unlimited so I decided to take advantage and download some random titles for our trip. This was one of the suggested titles and sounded interesting but unfortunately was a big miss for me. At one point Kara lists out the “formula” she uses for her novels. It’s amusing in the funny-because-it’s-true kind of way – she just described the plotline of every single Hallmark holiday movie – but the thing is, the book itself felt like the author was trying to plug things into that formula and it just didn’t hit for me. Kate and Ryan felt a little forced but the book was still falling into a “not my favorite but still an okay read” category UNTIL the absolute worst plot twist. I hated it so much. It’s a nonnegotiable for me and problematic in so many ways. The book simply could never recover afterwards (and I was so unsatisfied by how the side characters reacted!) and I just lightly skimmed the rest. I’m not going to get into spoilers, but you can find them online if you want. I hate to give low ratings, but I’d just skip this one altogether.

Chance of a Lifetime Series (Beginner’s Luck, Luck of the Draw, Best of Luck) by Kate Clayborn

Kit, Zoe, and Greer are three best friends who impulsively buy a lottery ticket and hit the jackpot. Each woman has different hopes and dreams for her future and each one sees the money as a chance to finally reach them. For Kit, she dreams of home and stability and pours her money into buying a fixer upper. Zoe dreams of forgiveness and the money allows her to finally quit her heartless job and start righting past wrongs. Greer dreams of freedom and uses the money to finally get her college degree. While the three friends are chasing dreams and supporting one another, they all also find love in unexpected ways.

You can read any of these as standalones but I think the whole series is enjoyable and am choosing to review all three books together since they’re fairly similar in style and my feelings towards them all are the same. I love a series like this: each book focuses on one woman but there is a ton of overlap (and even sometimes foreshadowing) in characters and plot lines. It just allows you to really get a feel for the town, the relationships, and the quirky little details that make you feel like part of the story. I enjoyed the strong female characters – each one was navigating a new stage of life and growing more into herself but still knew who she was and what she wanted. They’re pretty predictable but there’s good character development and no plot seems too ridiculous or far-fetched. The women and their love interests are all likeable, the relationship dynamics are fun and believable, the plots are sweet and lighthearted without being too cheesy, and it’s just an enjoyable series. These are perfect for when you want to cozy up with a glass of wine and a moderately steamy comfort read!

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Briana Ortiz’s life feels like it’s going backwards. She just got divorced, had to move back into her childhood home, and has been on a string of bad dates that have made her lose faith that she’ll ever find love again. Worst of all, her brother’s health is declining and though she’s an ER physician, she can’t help him in the way he really needs because she isn’t a match to donate a kidney. On top of all that, the new doctor at work, Jacob Maddox, is a total jerk and might even steal the promotion she wants. It all feels hopeless . . . until Jacob sends her a letter. A really good letter. A letter that makes her realize he’s much more than her first impression, and he might actually be the answer to everything.

It’s no secret I love Abby Jimenez. Different from the Chance of a Lifetime series I just talked about, her books create a little world where there are small overlaps and little mentions of other stories, but they’re all really standalone novels. There are Easter eggs in the novels like the mention of a painting or a YouTube video that if you read all the books you pick up on how these characters all exist in the same universe – it’s just a fun little crossover treat when I spot them! I first met Briana as Alexis’s best friend in Part of Your World; she’s a little involved in that book and Alexis is a little involved here. I really liked Briana as a main character and I loved Jacob. Their witty banter was delightful and I loved watching their relationship develop. The side characters are almost all family members and I adored the entire dynamic; it felt like an ensemble cast family movie dinner scene every time they were all together. I absolutely devoured this book and didn’t want to put it down! In a month where I enjoyed multiple books, this was my favorite and I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a good rom-com!

Do you find yourself reaching for lighter reads in summer too? As always, if you have great recommendations, feel free to leave them in the comments!

May 2023 Book Reviews

Sometimes I just get in moods where all I want to do is read, and this month one of those moods hit me. I think it was the combination of warmer weather, school ending, and just the general energy and time-to-relax vibe that the beginning of summer brings that made me want to make time for as much reading as possible.

I managed to squeeze in six books this month and I’m excited to talk about them all so let’s get right to it!

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

You know how in made-for-TV holiday movies, the plot is always some version of a Serious Big City Person^TM traveling to a quaint small town and falling in love with both the charming area and the Wholesome Small Town Person^TM? This book is what happens to the Career-Oriented Significant Other in the City^TMthey leave behind.

Nora is a NYC-based literary agent who keeps getting dumped when her boyfriends travel to small towns and fall in love with the quiet, slower-paced life (and the baker/florist/owner of a Christmas tree farm they meet there). But Nora doesn’t want the small town life. She wants lively and bustling, not country and quaint. When her younger sister Libby begs for a girls-only getaway to the small town that inspired Nora’s client’s bestseller, Nora reluctantly agrees. Libby creates a small town bucket list for a transformative experience like the heroine in the book, but with each item checked off the list, Nora pines more and more for life back in the city. The only person she runs into that seems to feel the same way is Charlie Lastra, an editor that Nora has encountered before in NYC. It turns out Charlie is originally from this tiny town and while they might not have had the greatest first (or second) impressions, Charlie and Nora can’t seem to help running into one another again and again. Is it possible for them both to actually find happiness? And if so…where?

This book is both filled with tropes and written as a parody of tropes, which I found to be a clever and delightful mix. I loved that Nora didn’t apologize for who she was and stayed true to her actual self throughout the story. I relished Nora and Charlie’s chemistry and felt like both characters were written in such a realistic, layered way. Their banter is amazing, their romantic development is believable, and they just seem to fully get one another and accept the whole person. I mean really, isn’t that the best formula for a fun rom-com? The only part that felt a little forced was the “enemies” part; it’s such a strong word and didn’t feel quite right. It was more like…unpleasant initial encounters? Regardless, this was a winner for me and I smiled so many times while reading. It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s warm and fuzzy, it’s satisfying, it’s just right. It pokes a little fun at tropey romance while also embracing tropey romance and that in a nutshell is how I also feel about tropey romance, so I found it very refreshing and entertaining. If tropes aren’t your thing, stay away, but if you can hang with them, I highly recommend this one!

Rated R for steam and language.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Bee Königswasser is a brilliant, purple-haired neuroscientist who just landed a career-making lead position in a joint NIH/NASA backed project. It is a dream project in every sense except one: the co-leader of the project is none other than NASA engineer Levi Ward. Sure, he’s fairly dreamy himself, but their paths have already crossed back in grad school and Levi made it clear at the time that he had no interest whatsoever in working with Bee. Nevertheless, she isn’t going to let her nemesis ruin this chance of a lifetime . . . unless, of course, it’s already being ruined since her equipment hasn’t shown up and her emails are going unanswered and she’s dangerously close to getting kicked off this project. She needs Levi, her sworn scientific enemy, to get in her corner – but as she gets to know him more and more she realizes he may have already been there all along.

I happened to find this book at a Little Free Library while we were strolling the streets of New Orleans and just had to grab it. I started reading it practically right away, as we found a bar with an outdoor patio a few blocks away where Justin could watch playoff basketball and I could start reading. #fate

This ended up being a great choice for a light vacation read – perfect for reading at the bar, at the pool, lounging in the hotel, etc. If you’re going to do a rom com with only one character’s point of view, you have to make their inner thoughts entertaining and Bee’s are humorous and quirky and full of personality. I really like that Ali Hazelwood writes about women in STEM and not just in a fluffy, it’s a blip on the radar of the plot line kind of way – Bee’s love of science and career in academia is central to the entire plot. She’s an approachable, fun main character to root for! I also liked Levi as a solid male lead with a softer side. I do have a few critiques that keep this from being a runaway hit for me. First of all, I read The Love Hypothesis by this same author and honestly, the books are very similar in plot, characters, conflicts, etc. so it felt a little like deja vu. There is also absolutely nothing surprising – not to say there aren’t “twists” but there is not a single one I didn’t guess immediately. I don’t think that’s just because it was similar to The Love Hypothesis, I think it’s just because they’re all very obvious. The misunderstanding trope is not my favorite one (it always feels so juvenile!) but once that finally got out of the way, I appreciated Bee and Levi’s dynamic. All that being said, I still enjoyed this read because I didn’t expect too much from it. I didn’t need a twisty book full of surprises; I was in vacation mode and wanted fun, light, and easy to fly through so this one was very satisfying for me!

Rated R for steam and language.

Tell Me More: Stories about the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say by Kelly Corrigan

“It’s a crazy idea: trying to name the phrases that make love and connection possible. But that’s just what Kelly Corrigan has set out to do here. In her New York Times bestselling memoirs, Corrigan distilled our core relationships to their essences, showcasing a warm, easy storytelling style. Now, in Tell Me More, she’s back with a deeply personal, unfailingly honest, and often hilarious examination of the essential phrases that turn the wheel of life.” – Description taken from Goodreads

This book is small but mighty. Over the course of twelve short story-style chapters, the author shares personal recollections of various experiences relating to phrases like “I Don’t Know,” “Good Enough,” “I Was Wrong,” and “It’s Like This.” It’s incredibly compelling, yet easy to digest. Some chapters are long and some are short, but they’re all standalone in a way that makes it easy to set the book down in between chapters so you have time to process and think if you want (which I did!) I want to re-read the “I love you” chapter again and again and again. I cried reading the “Onward” chapter. Each chapter feels a little bit like you’re sitting down to lunch with the author or lingering on the porch with a glass of wine just talking about family and failure and triumph and life. It’s deep and thought-provoking and relatable and funny. I texted my friend afterwards to tell her to put it on her TBR list and said: “It’s a good one for when you want to read something but just can’t decide what, or if you don’t want to settle in to a big book, or if you need a quick win after either a dud or a book that was long and took a lot of energy.” I highly recommend it.

Rated PG-13 for strong language

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

The Finlay Donovan series follows a divorced mom of two who is struggling as a writer . . . until she’s overheard describing the plot of her next book and inadvertently gets hired as a contract killer. In this book of the series, Finlay and her nanny Vero sign up to attend a citizen’s police academy – it’s the perfect place to get inspiration for her latest book deadline, try to learn the identity of a real contract killer, and provide a safety net from the mob boss who landed in jail thanks to them.

To be honest, this story felt dragged out and really didn’t move the overall plotline along much. So much happened, and yet nothing much happened in terms of providing any answers from the previous books. Like the second book, this one very much felt like a middle book to me. I do love Vero and I loved the entertaining little side plot with her friend Javi (and wanted way more of it!) That fun dynamic aside, I think I’m over this series. The books are comical but in an I Love Lucy kind of way where it’s slap-sticky and over the top. I found it charming and fun in book one and was willing to suspend some reality, but book two and three don’t have the same magic. Nonstop zany shenanigans that somehow perfectly work out every time have grown stale for me. This one picks up right where book two left off, but since I read that over a year ago it was hard to remember the plotlines and all. the. characters. (there are so many!) It’s possible I would have enjoyed it more if I jumped right in from book two. I read it quickly, skimmed a bit when I grew tired of the plot, and just kind of felt meh at the end. Fans of the first two books will likely enjoy this one, as it’s very similar, but for me the magic has faded and I’ll only be reading the 4th book if I’m sure it is the final one and everything will wrap up. If you do try this series, just know that the books are not standalones at all and you’ll need to read them all in order to have any sort of idea of what’s going on.

Rated PG-13 for mild language and a mostly closed door scene.

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

The Stockton family is living off a tremendous amount of generational wealth in the fruit streets neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. Darley is the oldest; she married for love but may have bargained away too much and lost some of herself in the process. Sasha married into the family and is struggling to feel like she belongs -not only within the family itself but within the museum they call a home that she now lives in. Georgiana is the youngest and at 26, she still has a lot of growing up to do, both romantically and with the direction she wants her life to take. Told in alternating POV chapters, we take a deep dive into the inner workings of this family and see how wealth, love, and class weave together throughout all their lives.

This book is a slow burn, character-driven novel so if you’re looking for a fast-paced plot or a lot of things going on, this is probably not going to be a satisfying read for you. I found it fascinating though! Because chapters alternate between the three Stockton women it’s a fairly easy one to set down and pick up when you want, although I kept wanting to read one more chapter, one more chapter. The characters have just enough growth and development to keep them from being truly unlikeable, but they’re absolutely portrayed in a way that feels deeply human and personal. In a family, you see the best and worst parts of each other and that’s what this book gives us a glimpse into. This family is relatable in ways, out-of-touch in others. They can be selfish, but they’re also loyal. The dynamics within the family feel both familiar and strange. As I read, I would be frustrated one minute, then laughing the next minute. I found some characters to be more redeemable than others, but ultimately thought the book felt satisfying. It just feels like real life in the 1% and I enjoyed this intimate, escapist look into a wealthy, WASPy family.

The Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle

Alex is a social media influencer who wakes up from a drunken night celebrating one million followers only to realize she’s going viral for the worst reason: a vicious rant was posted to her account last night and toxic, threatening comments start pouring in. Alarmed and confused (can she actually remember writing that post??) she reaches out to her assistant AC to help with damage control but AC has vanished without a trace. Now police are showing up asking questions, online comments from trolls are never-ending with threats that are becoming too real, and worst of all, a dead body is discovered on Alex’s property. Through it all, AC is still missing and it begs the question: who exactly did Alex trust with the most personal details of her life?

The premise of this book was enticing to me because honestly, this is the best and worst of social media. Alex has shared inspiration and found success, but in just one post, it all crashes down and hatred and vitriol spread like wildfire. On top of all that, her assistant is gone and her husband may be keeping secrets from her – it has all the components of a great domestic thriller. I will say, the characters aren’t particularly likeable so it’s hard to know exactly who to root for through the alternately narrated chapters, but it’s still a compulsive read. I devoured it up until the last maybe 20% but things kind of unraveled from there and not in a good way. I guessed a few of the twists and the ones I didn’t felt off to me for reasons I can’t elaborate on because I don’t want to spoil anything. Unfortunately, I ultimately was pretty unsatisfied with the ending. Ugh – I hate when that happens! It took this from a “definitely recommend” to a “pretty decent” thriller. Meh.

April 2023 Book Reviews

Today we have a rare Tuesday blog post! Due to our trip to New Orleans, I didn’t blog at all last week and so the month started without my usual book review post. I’m remedying that right now! Let’s dive in to the three books I read last month:

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

With a thriving hand-lettering business and an exciting opportunity to advance her career even farther, Meg should be at the top of her game. Unfortunately, she’s suffering from a bad case of creative block and needs new inspiration fast. Enter Reid, a brilliant, pattern-noticing former client of Meg’s who shows up a year after his failed wedding with a question for Meg: how did she know the marriage was doomed and why did she hide a word of warning in their wedding program? Meg is shocked that he discovered her secret talent but now that he knows . . . he might be the right person to help her with her creative block. She asks him to tour NYC looking for inspiration in hand lettered signs and he agrees. Soon they are exploring the city together and getting to know one another in ways they didn’t anticipate, and the signs they find just might be pointing them towards one another.

I chose this book because a few months ago I read Love at First by this author and really enjoyed it. I had high hopes for another win but this one didn’t quite live up to same standard I had from the other book. On the plus side, I really liked Meg and Reid’s relationship. Their dynamic felt pretty genuine and there are some sweet, romantic moments that make their slow burn relationship easy to root for. That being said, the whole concept of Meg seeing in letters and Reid seeing in numbers is a central part of the book but it felt a little forced. Would a brilliant numbers guy really agree to play a letter scavenger hunt game with someone who is essentially a stranger? I got tired of all the lettering details as Meg works and thinks. We are in Meg’s head so much and there are a lot of bits where she “sees” in lettering (example: “You don’t like New York?” “I hate New York.” It almost makes me recoil, the way he’s said this. Bold, sans serif. No caps, but italics for the hate.) Asides like that happen frequently throughout the book and they just didn’t quite work for me. It was just too much time in her head and too much lettering content for me. It wasn’t a complete miss, I did enjoy the relationship and I could let go of some of the less believable parts, so overall I would give it a B rating (and also an R rating for a couple steamy open door scenes).

The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren

Imagine Chip and Joanna Gaines, who gained tremendous popularity as a married couple doing home renovations on HGTV, actually can’t stand each other. All the lovey-dovey married life moments you see, all the books you read, all the interviews they do – it’s all for show. Literally. All for a show. And now imagine that Joanna isn’t actually designing most of what you see, but her underappreciated assistant is. That is pretty much the premise of this book. Melissa and Rusty Tripp are renovation + design gurus who actually have a lot of problems in their married life, despite working to promote their new book on marriage. Carey has been Melissa’s assistant for years and desperately needs the health insurance that comes with the job; James was told his new position as Rusty’s assistant would put his engineering degree to use but so far, it hasn’t panned out that way. Carey and James are tasked with traveling with Melissa and Rusty on their new book tour to make sure they appear to be the happily married couple they’re portraying to the public. While they don’t appear to have anything in common initially, Carey and James find that working together towards the shared goal of a successful book tour reveals they actually are pretty compatible after all.

I’ve read a decent amount of Christina Lauren (an author duo) over the years; usually I enjoy their books but unfortunately, this one ranks near the bottom for me. Melissa and Rusty are pretty unlikeable and their behavior throughout the book is incredibly frustrating to read. I felt like so much time was spent on the main conflict of making the book tour successful and we focused too much on the Melissa/Rusty drama – bottom line is, not enough space was given to Carey and James. While I liked them as characters, I didn’t have a ton of investment in them as a couple; their relationship was rushed and underdeveloped. Maybe I also had a bad taste in my mouth because I actually am a big fan of Chip and Joanna Gaines and so I didn’t like reading about a similar famous couple who was so fraudulent. Overall, this book didn’t meet the expectations I had for a Christina Lauren novel and I just didn’t love the characters much so this one was a miss for me. And for those who are interested, I’d give it a PG-13, leaning R rating for some language and steam, although it’s less than some of their other books.

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

Martha Friel just turned forty, and by the end of the first chapter, her husband has left her. Because, as the front jacket explains: “There’s something wrong with Martha, and has been for a long time. When she was seventeen, a little bomb went off in her brain and she was never the same. But countless doctors, endless therapy, and every kind of drug later, she still doesn’t know what’s wrong, why she spends her days unable to get out of bed and alienates both strangers and her loved ones with casually cruel remarks.” The rest of the book follows this summary from Goodreads: “By the time Martha finds out what is wrong, it doesn’t really matter anymore. It is too late to get the only thing she has ever wanted. Or maybe it will turn out that you can stop loving someone and start again from nothing – if you can find something else to want.”

Martha knows she is self-sabotaging. She knows she is hurting other people. And yet, she finds it impossible to stop herself. She has regrets, but cannot control her emotions and outbursts. Sometimes she feels good and happy and enjoys life. Other times, she cannot even bring herself to get out of bed. As a character, she’s both likeable and unlikeable. You empathize with her and also get very frustrated by her. You’re proud of her and disappointed in her. And isn’t that just like real life? We are all complex, we all have highs and lows, and we all have redeeming qualities and things we wish we could take back. With Martha, this is taken to the next level because of her battle with an undiagnosed mental illness. This book seemed to realistically portray what it might be like to not only live with a mental illness, but to love someone who struggles with one. The effects of mental illness reach many many people. It’s difficult to say I enjoyed this book because the subject matter was so heavy and it’s both sad and difficult to read at times, but I do think it’s incredibly well written and absolutely worth reading. I read it for my book club and we had an excellent discussion afterwards; it’s definitely one you’ll want to process with someone if you can. If this has the potential to be a hard topic for you, you may want to read the trigger warnings for the book first, but overall, I do recommend this one!

As the weather warms up, my book reading mood is feeling sunnier too. I think May is going to be full of lighter reads and I’m excited for that – if you have any great recs please send them my way. And as always, I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading lately!

March 2023 Book Reviews

Hello and Happy Last Day of March! You know what that means – time for another monthly book review!

I read four books this month and they were about as varied as it gets: fantasy/romance, domestic thriller, biography of a Founding Father, and a sourcebook for eco-conscious living. It was an unusual mix for sure! Let’s dive in.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

As an orphan and a witch, Mika is very used to being on her own. Apart from a rare gathering with other witches here and there, she mostly keeps to herself and moves around a lot. Then one day, a mysterious invitation is sent to her: there are three young witches in need of training in a house in the English countryside. Would Mika consider coming to be their teacher? Intrigued, she arrives at Nowhere House where she finds an eclectic bunch of unrelated people who have formed their own little family within the safe haven of the estate. It’s possibly reckless and dangerous to have so many witches living in one spot, but Mika can’t help but feel like she’s finally found a place to belong…even if there are a few people who don’t seem entirely welcoming (like the handsome but cranky librarian, Jamie).

My library always has a little display of books based on a theme and during February there were a variety of love stories. I saw this one on display, thought the cover was cute, and decided to check it out. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for the book kind of dwindled from there. I found this one hard to get into, and I couldn’t get invested in the characters or the conflict. To be completely honest, the writing felt simplistic and tried too hard; it was fairly tame and sweet and then would have a random swear word or sexual reference that felt really jarring. The lone steamy scene felt weird and out of place, particularly because Mika and Jamie did not have very believable chemistry. Their sunshine-meets-grumpy dynamic felt forced to me and I cringed through a lot of their interactions. I liked the idea of the diverse, quirky cast of characters, but none of them had much depth and I found myself wishing for a lot more character development. I don’t mean to bash this book – it was a Goodreads Choice Awards for Fantasy in 2022 so apparently a lot of people like it! I think if you’re in the mood for a cutesy, if predictable, story that has a magical cottagecore vibe and doesn’t require a lot of effort, you might like this one. It was just a big miss for me. [Here’s an example of how reading is so subjective: This book, which I did not at all enjoy, has a higher Goodreads rating than Love at First, which I read last month and adored so much that it made my top recommendations list. Not every book is going to resonate with every reader so take all reviews, mine included, with a grain of salt].

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

From Goodreads: Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.

Ooopph – a description like that sucked me right in! This book is a rotating-narrator look at the people in a neighborhood: Tom, the handsome headmaster of the local school who everyone seems infatuated by, Jenna, the teenaged girl who doesn’t trust him or the ramblings of her paranoid mother, Joey, the lonely woman who recently got married but is unsatisfied with her life, and Freddie, Tom’s son who keeps track of it all through secret photos and spying. I loved this one! It was twisty, turny, compulsive, and binge-worthy. I could not put it down! The pace was perfect: just when I felt like we had been going off of unanswered questions too long and felt the need for dots to start connecting, revelations started happening. My brain was swirling around various possibilities and while I did guess some of the twists (and the killer!) in advance, there were plenty of twists that I did not see coming. There is a strong believability factor in this book, which makes it a great domestic thriller – you can just imagine a neighborhood like this where people are watching each other’s comings and goings. It wasn’t jumpy or gory so it’s an excellent choice in thriller if you don’t like actually being scared while reading. I highly recommend!

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff

This biography was chosen by an online book club I’m a part of and while I do really enjoy history and learning about important people and events, this is probably not a book I would have chosen on my own. That being said, I am glad I read it! It’s FULL of information about Samuel Adams and before this I knew nothing. Now that I know just how much he contributed to the Revolutionary War, I’m actually shocked that the only thing I knew before reading was his name (and honestly, I really only knew that because of the beer company). I found it fascinating to see how Adams contributed to the ideas that led to mindset shifts and ultimately led to revolution – without his efforts I truly think things would have looked totally different. He was an absolutely critical Founding Father! As much as I did gain from reading, I also have to say this book was a hard read. The vocabulary is high-level, the sentences are long and intricate, and I found myself having to reread paragraphs to be able to understand. It’s definitely a more challenging read than other biographies I’ve read so just be aware of that if you’re interested in reading it.

Remodelista: The Low Impact Home: A Sourcebook for Stylish, Eco-Conscious Living by Margot Guralnick & Fan Winston

From Goodreads: Low-impact living is about making thoughtful, eco-friendly choices in your home. But being sustainable doesn’t have to mean sacrificing style. That’s where Remodelista comes in. In this comprehensive guide, they decode the secrets to creating a home that’s good for the planet—and totally livable.

This was another book I saw on display at my local library and I was immediately intrigued. I spent the next couple weeks casually reading section by section when I had some leisure time here and there. I really enjoyed flipping through and got lots of inspiration! I will say, the actual interiors weren’t as inspiring to me as the tips and suggestions for more eco-conscious living, but I took lots of notes on things that interested me as I was reading and I have many things I want to implement within my own home over time. If you’ve been here awhile, you likely know that sustainability is very important to me and I found this book to have TONS of good information. I actually want to have my own copy as something to refer back to and use as a sourcebook in the future so I’ll be on the lookout for a secondhand copy 😉 If you’re interested in sustainable living, this is a great resource!

What have you been reading lately?