Happy Monday, my friends. My goal for this month is to keep my weekends relatively plan-less so I can focus on writing and NaNoWriMo. I wrote 9,000+ words so I’m well ahead of where I need to be at this point in the month. Yay! Other weekend happenings: a gym date with a friend, football with the fam, and lots of snuggling with my kitties. A perfect weekend. 🙂
It’s been a while since I’ve done a reading recap so I have five books here to review. I’m keeping my reviews short and sweet since there are a lot of them:
Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner (★★★★☆)
I loved this story of two people meeting and reconnecting at specific times in their lives, starting when they were both kids and met while in the ER and following them through high school, college, and beyond. The characters were so flawed and frustrating, but that’s what Weiner does best: writing characters you want to both root for and shake for all the bad decisions they make. Definitely one of the better books by her!
The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham (★★★☆☆)
This was October’s book club pick and I liked it. It’s a domestic thriller about two women who are pregnant at the same time and strike up an unlikely friendship when they are both close to their due dates. And… that’s all I can really say! Anything else would be a spoiler. 🙂 I think this book is great for people who are tired of thrillers that try so hard to be “the next Gone Girl” because it didn’t try to squeeze in twist after twist, which I appreciated.
The Fearless King by Katee Robert (★★★★☆)
Another winner from Katee Robert! I really enjoy her newer stuff as she allows herself to go a little darker with the characters and the plot. In this novel, Journey goes to Frank, who is essentially an enemy of her family, for protection when her father shows back up in town. Her father was abusive to Journey and her siblings and will stop at nothing to gain control over his company again. It’s a bit twisted and I was frustrated by Journey in the first half, but she ultimately finds her backbone, redeems herself, and, oh yeah, falls in love with Frank. Of course!
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen (★★★☆☆)
I’ve had this book on my Kindle for a while and I was excited to finally pick it up to read. I’ve heard great things about Sarah Addison Allen and this book in particular. And it was… just okay. I loved the magical realism elements of this story (like the woman who bakes real emotion into her baked goods) but the plot itself was lacking in substance for me. I was left wanting more, and that’s never a good feeling when you finish a book.
Wrapped Up in You by Jill Shalvis (★★★☆☆)
Jill Shalvis is an auto-buy author for me, as I love her contemporary romances so very much. I pre-ordered this novel months ago and it downloaded to my Kindle sometime in early October. It was a sweet romance, following the story of Ivy who is trying to set down some roots after a lifetime of instability, and Kel who is on leave from his job as a cop and trying to figure out what’s next for him. While the romance felt a bit lackluster and much of the story felt meandering, I still enjoyed it. The ending was perfection!
What I’m reading this week…
> Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I can’t believe it has taken me this long to read Homegoing. It’s been a book on my “must read right this minute” TBR, but there are a lot of books on that TBR of mine, ha. I’m halfway done and loving every single minute I spend with this novel.
> The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare. My first Tessa Dare romance! Can you believe it? This novel is the first in a series, following a duke whose fiance broke off their engagement after he was viciously scarred in an accident, and who proposes marriage to a seamstress because he needs to sire an heir immediately.
> The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I’m starting this book when I finish Homegoing and I’m a little apprehensive about it. I loved The Handmaid’s Tale (gave it five stars) and I was super excited when Atwood announced this novel, but I’ve heard lots of mixed reviews so I’m going in with my expectations low.
What are you reading this week?
I am glad you are loving Homegoing. That is a book that stayed with me. Love it so so much and it really showed how the sins of slavery impact many generations going forward. I can’t believe the author of that book was in her 20s, and I think it was a debut, too? Impressive!
I’m reading the RHE books, searching for Sunday. It’s nice to hear a person of faith questioning things and finding a resolution. I hate knowing that she is not in this world anymore, though. I am probably as disconnected from my faith as I have ever been right now for no particular reason… I can’t write about it on my blog as my mom is a reader and she is super duper catholic. I am not giving up on the church but I’m super picky about which parish I will go to and the one I like best (where we got married) is so not convenient as it’s in the downtown area so a good 20 minute drive. There is a church close to us where Paul got baptized, but we had an issue with the pastor on the day of Paul’s baptism… he wouldn’t give Phil communion because he didn’t think he was catholic – he’s not a practicing catholic but is catholic. it was a huge embarrassment for Phil as he went up to communion and the priest shook his head at him when he put his hands out to receive communion. After mass/the baptism when we were taking pictures, he said something like, ‘wait, are you catholic? I thought you weren’t and that’s why I didn’t give you communion. He offered to give it to him then but Phil was like – forget it man. So it basically ruined the baptism experience as Phil had his arms crossed the entire baptism as he was just fuming. I had suspected that the priest didn’t like Phil and that confirmed it. Phil is a doubter and had made some of his doubts known before we got married so I think the priest did not like that. Meanwhile the priest at the church where we got married loves Phil and when Phil expressed some of his doubts/questions to him, he said it was totally natural to have those questions and that he’d be happy to talk with us anytime. Also, we read in the local paper that the priest that refused communion to Phil fired a teacher in the school he oversees because that teacher showed a video in class that featured a same-sex marriage couple. Whatever he/she was showing wasn’t about same-sex marriage but a same-sex marriage person was presenting some material and the priest said that was a violation of Catholic beliefs. eye roll. Anyways, I’m ranting here but you get the point about me being at a bit of a crossroad with my faith. I’m still a believer but I feel a bit disenchanted by things right now so it’s nice to read RHE’s book and feel like someone else feels the way I do.
I am curious to hear what you think of The Testaments because I have heard mixed reviews too!
It’s so nice to hear about a thriller that is not trying to have a million different twists. Yay!
I am reading The Pearl that Broke Its Shell, which I know was so so for you, but is SO MUCH better than what I was trying to read, so I am enjoying it 🙂
Congrats on doing so well with your word count! woot woot!