Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers — 5 stars. I have been told by countless people that I must read this book. The premise didn’t entice me, so I put it off for a long time. I finally grabbed a copy of the book towards the end of March and it was a book I could not put down. Angel has lived a heartbreaking life, being sold into prostitution at seven. She is cold and hard-hearted and doesn’t know how to find her way out. She meets Michael Hosea, a simple farmer, who feels a nudging in his spirit to marry her. Eventually, they do, although Angel has a hard time opening up to him and trusting him. She runs away a few times, but God is relentlessly pursuing her until one day, her defenses fall and she embraces the love she finds in Christ. Each character had something to give to the novel, although my heart was with Angel and Michael more than anyone. They each had their own demons to deal with and I couldn’t help rooting for their love story to make it. It’s a beautiful story about redemption and the relentless pursuit of God. This is a book worth reading. You would not regret it.

Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin — 2 stars. I don’t really know what I was expecting from this book. A no-nonsense approach? Someone to tell me like it is? What I didn’t expect was basically a lecture on why eating animals is the worst thing anyone in the world could ever do, along with some questionable information. (Contrary to what the book says, I don’t have to be a vegetarian to be skinny.) The first quarter of the book was pretty good. The information came fast but it all made sense and I enjoyed the approach the authors took. The rest of the book was all about going vegan. The book was fairly biased and offered no real solution, other than everyone needs to be vegan. Well, sorry. I don’t want to be vegan. While the authors gave some pretty horrifying facts, I don’t think the solution is for everyone to go vegan. I think there is a bigger problem at hand and no other solution was offered. The book was basically a scare tactic rather than a book on how to eat a healthier diet. Unless you are interested in becoming a vegan, I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Son of a Gun by Joanna Wayne — 2 stars. A Harlequin novel. A light, easy read. It wasn’t my favorite book and was heavy on the cheese. The last few chapters had me rolling my eyes, again and again, with the silliness of it all. The premise was enticing, but ultimately, the writing fell flat.

I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella — 5 stars. Sophie Kinsella has been one of my favorite authors for a long time. I devoured her Shopaholic books, even though Becky was a flighty character and could annoy me to no end. And then I started reading her stand-alone books and utterly enjoyed them. Then came “Mini Shoapholic”. Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh. I couldn’t make it past Chapter Five. Kinsella made Becky into a terrible, selfish mother and it was the first Kinsella book I couldn’t finish. I have now forgiven her for that wretched book, because of I’ve Got Your Number. Quintessentially Kinsella, with a quirky yet adorable main character and a plot that made me giggle throughout the book. I was deeply entrenched in the world of Poppy and Sam, rooting for them the whole time. It was a sweet, cute story about a woman who loses her engagement ring and her phone gets stolen on the same day. She sees an abandoned cell phone in a bin in the lobby of the hotel where she lost the ring so she takes it to have a mode of communication if the hotel finds her ring. Only problem? The phone belongs to Sam’s assistant, who has apparently quit her job to become a model. In order to keep the phone, Poppy essentially becomes Sam’s assistant, forwarding emails and learning more and more about this stranger who is becoming a good friend with each new text they send. Chaos ensues as it always does in a Kinsella book, but you just can’t help but fall in love with Poppy. Fans of chick-lit: read this novel. It’s a good one.

Rejoice by Karen Kingsbury — 4 stars. I am slowly making my way through all of Karen Kingsbury’s books. Her books are not for the faint of heart, nor are they happy stories. So far, the Baxter family has dealt with: one of their daughter’s husband being murdered by his ex-lover’s ex-boyfriend, another daughter being diagnosed as HIV positive, their son’s girlfriend’s dad being killed in the 9/11 attacks… and now? Another daughter’s child drowned in a pool. She survives but experiences brain damage and blindness. SERIOUSLY, KAREN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THIS FAMILY? I feel for the Baxters, I really do. They don’t have it easy! There are strong Christian themes presented and I have to say, I like Karen’s no-nonsense approach to writing about faith in a novel. It’s refreshing, but I can see how it would turn other people off. I’m up to the last book of this series and I’m just waiting for another tragedy. And even though I’m a happy-endings type of reader, I still thoroughly enjoy these novels and get so much out of them.

Body Language by Suzanne Brockmann — 3 stars. This book was a lot different than most of the books I’ve read by Suzanne Brockmann. It was a romance and I found out later it was written fourteen years ago. The book mainly showed me how much the author’s writing has improved and matured over the years because this book fell flat for me. The characters were one-dimensional and the plot was boring. It mainly involved two best friends who have feelings for each other but neither wants to make the first move, because they’re scared of ruining their friendship. It wasn’t an original storyline by any means, but it was cute enough to warrant three stars. It’s an easy read, but I can recommend a dozen other Brockmann books before this one.

Divergent by Veronica Roth — 5 stars. This was our #twookclub pick for April and we had a great turnout this month! I really enjoyed the book and yes, it was the first dystopian novel I’ve ever read. (I am one of those rare breeds of readers who hasn’t read The Hunger Games. Don’t shoot!) I’m not a huge dystopian genre fan and I wouldn’t say this novel sold me on the genre but I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I liked the romance between Four and Tris, even though some said it was silly and unnecessary. I thought the plot was fast-moving and interesting, but not enough that I felt like I had to read the next book in the series. Maybe I’ll read Insurgent, maybe not.

Cavanaugh’s Bodyguard by Marie Ferrarella — 2 stars. This was one of those Harlequin romance novels where I never fully grasped who the characters were. It had the potential to be a good story, but the writing fell flat. The meat of the story involved two police detectives who had been partners for a while now and discover they have feeling for each other. Cheesy? Oh, yes. I really can’t find redeeming qualities of the novel, other than it was a quick, light read.

It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips — 4 stars. This was a really cute romance novel, with a lot of depth. The two main characters, Phoebe and Dan, completely captured my heart. Phoebe is a girl who only ever wanted her father’s acceptance but because he refused to give it, she sought it in other things: at first in sleeping around and later with taking her clothes off for nude portraits. Her father, a respected businessman and owner of a football team, was disgusted by her. After his death, she finds out she is the sole owner of the football team — but only if her team wins the AFC Championship Game (highly unlikely). Dan is the head coach for the football team and is not happy this “bimbo” will be a part of the team. The blooming relationship between Dan and Phoebe was sweet and I couldn’t help but root for them. I will say that the ending was super corny and the epilogue was unnecessary. (Aren’t most epilogues, though?) For that reason, it dropped to a 4, but still a really great read.

Books read in 2012: 31
(I am killing my goal of reading 75 books this year. If I keep going at this rate, it’s possible to hit 90 books! What!)

I’m most especially curious to hear what people think of Skinny Bitch, if you’ve read it? What were your thoughts on the book? And, of course, I welcome any opinions on the other books mentioned above! I’d love to hear what you think of any of the books listed!

Happy Good Friday! My plans for Easter include an egg hunt and coloring Easter eggs with my nephew and a sunrise service down at The Pier on Easter Sunday. (And perhaps also devouring a hollow Easter bunny. And by perhaps, I mean definitely.)

Lawman Lover by Lisa Childs — 4 stars. Yes, this is a Harlequin romance novel. You can tell just by the title. (What is it about Harlequin and their silly titles?)  This was actually a pretty good novel, with lots of twists and turns. Of course, it was predictable and you could smell the ending a mile away, but sometimes, I like predictability. I felt Rowe and Macy’s relationship was real and authentic, and I could feel the growth of their relationship as the book progressed. For a Harlequin novel with a crazy premise, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer — 3.5 stars. This book felt very slow-moving and the stylistic approach is one I am not used to. The visuals, drawings, and one-line pages were distracting for me but Oskar’s story and search were the biggest redeeming quality. While some of it felt very contrived, ultimately, I fell in love with this little boy who was so smart and compassionate but also hurt so much inside. I know there was a reason for the secondary plot of his grandparent’s story but for me, that part fell short. In the end, gave it a 3.5 rating because of Oskar and how it picked up towards the end.

Illusion by Frank Peretti — 5 stars. An amazing, outstanding book. A book that gripped me from beginning to end. Full review here.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling — 5 stars. You have no idea how much I enjoyed this book. Mindy Kaling is one of my new favorite people. I already enjoyed her character on The Office, Kelly Kapoor, so immensely so I had a feeling I would love Mindy as well. And yes. Yes, I did. Was it the funniest book I’ve ever read? No, but I don’t think that was the point. My review on Goodreads is long enough, but it’s definitely a book I thoroughly recommend to anyone. Mindy has a way of writing that completely captured my heart.

Hot Stuff by Carly Phillips — 4 stars. I read this book a few years back and it’s a series that’s always stuck with me, so I’m rereading it. It follows a trio of sisters who run a sports PR agency that their uncle (and sole guardian) founded. The first book focuses on Annabelle, the first sister, as she helps former NFL quarterback, Brandon Vaughn market his newest venture: a lodge he’s building in his hometown. Their romance was the central storyline, but there were plenty of different ones thrown in to keep it from becoming too one-sided. Carly Phillips remains one of my favorite romance novelists.

Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad — 3 stars. Look, this book had no waiting on my library’s Kindle page. I know I said I wasn’t going to read another book of Lauren Conrad’s but I did. Admittedly, the writing in the book was a smidge better than the first but the plot was still excruciatingly predictable that literally nothing shocked or surprised me. It was a quick, easy read and requires absolutely no brain power.

Books read in 2012: 22

First of all, I completely stole this post idea from Erin. Full credit to her, but love the simple way but effective way of reviewing books one read throughout the month. And yes, I realize it’s mid-March already. Bear with me.

L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad — 2 stars. I struggled a lot with the rating of this book. On the one hand, the writing was atrocious. The book needed at least ten more rounds of edits, in my (very) humble opinion. But on the other hand? The plot was so intriguing and such a page-turner. Some of it was super silly and the characters were pretty predictable, but at the same time, it was a book I couldn’t stop thinking about when I wasn’t reading it. But I just couldn’t let the terrible writing off the hook. If you can get past the bad writing, it’s an easy, fluffy chick-lit book.

The Admiral’s Bride by Suzanne Brockmann — 5 stars. I finished this book in one day, which is a feat I can rarely do nowadays. (My attention span isn’t to the point where I can sit down for hours and read a book in one sitting.) It was a military-driven romance with strong characters and a crazy plot. I’ve been a Suzanne Brockmann fan for a long time and she never fails to impress me with the way she writes.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein — 5 stars. A fabulous book that researched the history behind the girlie-girl movement (i.e., Barbies, Disney princesses, beauty pageants, sexism in children’s toys, etc.) and the effect it is having on our society. Being single with no children on the horizon, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. Full review here.

Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins — 4 stars. I’ve been a Kristan Higgins fan for a while so I was excited to see this book on my library’s Kindle page. I really enjoyed the book, especially the small-town life and family. The main characters (Posey and Liam) were well-developed but I didn’t feel as if their love story was fully authentic for my tastes. What I do love about Higgins is how real she makes her characters. They are loveable, but also have irritating and complex issues that affect them.

There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones — 4 stars. This was a sweet, sweet YA novel about a girl, Finley, who moves to Ireland for her last year of high school. Two years ago, her brother Will was killed while overseas where he was reporting for a news station. She comes to Ireland to hopefully find her faith again and find closure to her brother’s death. While the book was slow-moving at first, it definitely picked up and became a book I couldn’t put down for anything! A predictable read, but predictable in a good way.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay — 3 stars. This was our #twookclub pick for February and I was excited to read it, after reading tons of great reviews. For me, it felt very slow and I didn’t find Julia’s story very believable or authentic. I loved reading about Sarah’s part and I loved the history in this book, but there was something contrived about Julia that bugged me too much to love the book as others seemed to. (Missed the chat? Here is an edited transcript of it!)

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn — 4 stars. I’m a huge lover of historical romance novels and Julia Quinn has always been one of my favorites. I just started reading her Bridgerton series, which involves the stories of all eight Bridgerton children. The first one involves the fourth child (and first girl) Daphne. She is independent and feisty and sassy. I loved Daphne. She really doesn’t take crap from anybody, not even her husband Simon. She is also a woman who wants to be loved and cherished. I could relate to almost every character in the book. The story was simplistic in nature, but the problems that arose were complex and authentic. I’m excited to read about the other seven siblings!

Books read in 2012: 16