Search Results for: Last chance library

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (2.12.25)

Good Material by Dolly Alderton (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Spotify • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: After Andy’s long-term girlfriend Jen breaks up with him, he is heartbroken and adrift. As he pieces together their past, he may finally learn that love stories have more than one ending.

I would give the first 90% of this book 1.5 stars and the final 10% of the book 5 stars. This book is mainly about Andy pining after his ex-girlfriend and doing increasingly weird things to try to figure out where their relationship went wrong (very weird: meeting with a therapist to pretend to be Jen to see what kind of advice the therapist would give him). The last chapters of the book switch to Jen’s perspective and oh, that’s when things got so interesting! I loved being in Jen’s head and learning more about what she was thinking in the days and weeks leading up to the breakup and her reasons for the breakup. I could wholly relate to Jen and I wanted more from her. I don’t know why the author decided to spend 300+ pages in the head of a sad white male comedian who was just so bland. At the very least, she could have made him slightly funny but we didn’t even get any good jokes out of him! Ugh. I don’t know if this was a gender-switching sort of thing (instead of the man being the one to break up with the woman and the woman being heartbroken, we get the male perspective), but it just didn’t work for me. (2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.)

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (★★★☆☆)

E-Book • Library • Contemporary Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: Two estranged exes, Theo and Kit, accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they’re over each other—except their old feelings refuse to stay in the past.

This is a steamy, steamy book, my friends. Please steer clear if you don’t love open-door romances because this book had a little bit of everything: straight sex, gay sex, sex toys, threesomes… whew. This is a book about finding yourself after a lifetime of feeling less than perfect. It’s also a book of second-chance love and taking the brave act of putting your heart back into the hands of someone who hurt you deeply. The book is split into two sections: the first half of the European tour, which we get from Theo’s perspective, and the second half from Kit’s perspective. I enjoyed being in Kit’s head much more than Theo’s, and perhaps that’s because they finally admitted their feelings for one another. Before they did that, this book was a straight-up orgy of them hooking up with random people every night and trying to one-up the other. It was fairly exhausting! But once they came together as a couple, swoon. I just loved everything about it! I also could have done without all of the long descriptions of food and wine and the places they were visiting, but I imagine that is a huge highlight for other people. I just find all of that pretty boring so I skimmed a lot of it. All in all, not my favorite romance but a solid one.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (★★★★★)

Print • Owned • YA • 2020

Short synopsis: After their father dies in a plane crash, Camino in the Dominican Republic and Yahaira in New York discover they are sisters, forcing them to navigate grief, family secrets, and their newfound connection.

This was a novel-in-verse, which is what Elizabeth Acevedo is known for. I’ve read another book by her (The Poet X – also 5 stars) and I am just consistently impressed with the way she’s able to create a complex, compelling narrative through poetry. There was so much happening in this book – grief and poverty and lies and trauma and queerness and culture and love – and somehow this author weaves all of it together in such a beautiful way. These two young girls are navigating the hardest loss of their lives (their father) without knowing that they are sisters, and when they do learn about each other and begin the tentative work of exploring a new relationship together, it’s magical. I just loved this book from beginning to end.

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Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.9.24)

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Thriller • 2024

Short synopsis: Frank Szatowski is stunned when his estranged daughter invites him to her wedding, only to discover she’s marrying into a wealthy tech family, and he must navigate his discomfort and uncover unsettling secrets while trying to reconnect with her.

I’ve been on the record that Jason Rekulak’s novel, Hidden Pictures, is one of the worst thrillers I’ve read (although everyone raves about it). But I wanted to give him a second chance when everyone was raving about this novel. And I just need to accept that Rekulak’s writing is not for me. While this novel wasn’t quite as bad as Hidden Pictures, it still wasn’t very good with a deeply unsatisfying ending. Parts of this novel were appropriately creepy (as anything involving a billionaire family and a destination wedding at their property would be!) and I was definitely turning pages quickly to find out what was really happening with this odd family. And it was a shocking reveal, so I’ll give the author props for that! But once the reveal happened, the plot fizzled for me. The pacing of the novel slowed down and I couldn’t see where the author was going with the ending. I also found just about everyone in the novel (even Frank) to be wholly unlikable and that made it hard to find anyone to root for. A lackluster thriller, in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Little Free Library) • Contemporary Romance • 2021

Short synopsis: Olive Smith, a Ph.D. candidate who doesn’t believe in love, pretends to date her arrogant professor, Adam Carlsen, so that her best friend Anh will feel comfortable dating Jeremy, a guy Olive dated for a few weeks. (Anh doesn’t want to break girlcode to date Jeremy, but Olive has zero feelings for him.) But as their fake relationship deepens, Olive unexpectedly falls for Adam, complicating her career and heart.

For some reason, this very popular romance hasn’t been on my TBR list because I thought it had very mixed reviews. (It has a 4.1 star rating with 1.5 million reviews, so I was mistaken!) I saw it in a Little Free Library earlier this year so I picked it up for myself. And I was delighted by it! It was so much fun and smart and I just adored the relationship between Olive and Adam. It was a bit of the grumpy/sunshine trope because, as a professor, Adam is not very well-liked by his students because he’s a bit brusque in his critiques. And Olive is a happy-go-lucky Ph.D. student who breaks down his walls. I loved the friendships in this novel (including the male friendships!) and also really enjoyed how the author explored demisexuality and how everyone’s sex drives can be different. I just really enjoyed this novel. It was a satisfying romance.

Humor Me by Cat Shook (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2024

Short synopsis: Presley Fry, a jaded assistant at the Late Night Show, finds solace in the stand-up comedy world but struggles with her mother’s loss. When her late mother’s best friend, Susan, introduces her to her son Lawrence, Presley is forced to confront her emotional walls, discovering that laughter and unexpected connections may offer healing and new possibilities.

This book is essentially a love letter to New York City. It should also be a love letter for therapy because omg does Presley Fry need therapy more than any character I’ve ever met. This girl is depressed to the max, and she needs to deal with her grief, her avoidant attachment style, and her traumatic childhood with a licensed therapist. Instead, Presley does not get therapy. She deals with her grief with an unhealthy attachment to a coworker, throwing herself into her work, and avoiding any semblance of healthy friendship. I wanted so much more from Presley, but she was very hard to like and I think the author did a disservice with her character. Read this book if you love NYC and stand-up comedy, but not if you’re looking for character growth. (2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.)

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Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (10.30.24)

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (★★☆☆☆)

Print • Owned (indie bookstore) • Mystery • 2023

Short synopsis: When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth.

Oh, I just really didn’t like this novel. A part of me is wondering if we even need the continuation of this series. (And there’s a third book coming out!) Everything I adored about Molly in the first book just felt trite and over-the-top in this novel. The novel dipped back and forth in time: present day where an author dies at an event at the hotel Molly works at, and then the past where Molly is a child and her grandma is working as a maid for a very rich family. This rich family felt like caricatures. They had no nuance to them and I struggle to understand where all of their money came from because the main occupation of the husband in this family is not one that lends itself to incredible wealth. Like, they had a whole room of silver! That kind of wealthy. All in all, this was a rather lackluster mystery, which is such a disappointment since the first book was one of my favorite reads of the year.

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Barnes & Noble) • Contemporary Romance • 2024

Short synopsis: Estranged exes Georgia and Eli must stick close together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters in this swoony and steamy second-chance romance.

I adored Jessica Joyce’s first novel, You with a View, and I was happy to get my hands on her second novel. While I didn’t love it as much as YWAV, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. The FMC, Georgia, was a tough character to like at times, and I struggled to feel invested in her. She is someone who has a hard time asking for help and depending on people, and that has led her to doing everything for everyone else to keep their love and attention. (She is very much an unhealthy Enneagram 2, I think.) Eli, on the other hand, is a man who has missed out on a lot in life because of his addiction to work and success. Both of them have a lot of work to do on themselves (and they do–by the end of the novel, both of them are in therapy!) but they also find themselves drawn back together while trying to make sure their best friend’s wedding goes off without a hitch. I loved their sweet second-chance romance and they way they slowly but surely found their way back to each other. Also, I really loved the way the author took us on a journey of their past relationship without delving into past-and-present chapters. It was nestled into the story in a very natural way, and it was so refreshingly different than other books I’ve been reading lately. This was a wonderful romance and after two great books, Jessica Joyce has become an autobuy author for me!

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Library • Mystery • 2024

Short synopsis: Finlay Donovan and her nanny Vero head to Atlantic City for a rescue mission that quickly spirals out of control. When a loan shark they’re trying to negotiate with turns up dead, the duo must dodge police, exes, and family while searching for Vero’s boyfriend and stolen car.

I was looking for a light-hearted audiobook to listen to right after dealing with the hurricane madness, and the fourth book in the Finlay Donovan series was exactly what I needed! Are these books realistic in any way? Absolutely not. But are they fun to read? They sure are. I always love the ride-or-die friendship between Finlay and Vero, and the budding relationship between Finlay and her hot detective was icing on the cake. I found the mystery at the heart of this novel fairly easy to follow along with and it came to a very satisfying conclusion. I will also say that I gasped out loud at the last sentence of the book so needless to say, I need the fifth book to come out soon. (Okay, I checked: book five comes out in March!)

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Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (9.16.24)

At First Spite by Olivia Dade (★★★★★)

Print • Library • Contemporary Romance • 2024

Short synopsis: After her fiancé ends their engagement, Athena Greydon moves into the narrow Spite House she bought for him, only to find herself living next to the very man who convinced her fiancé to leave her—Matthew, her fiancé’s brother. While she initially plots petty revenge, her growing attraction to Matthew complicates her plans.

Oh my goodness, I just loved this sweet romance! It reminded me of an Abby Jimenez novel as it dealt with some heavy themes (including depression) but also had such a sweet love story at the center of the novel. I truly couldn’t get enough of Athena and Matthew. They had an instant chemistry that crackled off the pages. Athena battles depression in this novel and the author described her mental illness with such a deft hand that I found myself tearing up for Athena. She’s a woman in her 30s who has struggled to find where she fits, especially as it relates to her career, and it really touched me. I will say that I didn’t love the petty revenge part of the novel (I just honestly can’t with adults being petty like that, it drives me crazy), but others may find it hysterical. YMMV! All in all, though, this was a delightful romance!

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (★★★★★)

Print • Book of the Month • Mystery • 2024

Short synopsis: In August 1975, 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from her family’s summer camp, mirroring her brother’s disappearance 14 years earlier. As a frantic search begins, the story unravels the dark secrets of the Van Laar family and the community intertwined with their legacy.

Everyone is raving about this novel, so I went into it with high expectations. Good news: It did not disappoint! I was enthralled with it from the first pages until the end, and I loved every minute I spent with this book. It may be a contender for my overall favorite book of the year! This story had a lot of people to keep track of and a lot of intermingling storylines and while sometimes I had to reorient myself with who I was reading about (is this the counselor or the mom or the investigator?!), it didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the book. The last 150 pages I read in a single day, using every little break I could to sit down and read a few pages. I even came home from the gym and plopped right down on my couch to finish the book because I had to know how it all turned out. I think Liz Moore is incredibly skilled at writing these complex mysteries, making you care so much for characters and sit with a nearly 500-page book that you can’t put down! I loved the setting, the characters, the overall plot… everything about this book was perfection!

A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Library • Mystery • 2023

Short synopsis: Charlotte Holmes is offered a chance to reclaim a normal life by recovering a lost dossier for the crown. However, her mission aboard the RMS Provence is complicated by a murder, forcing her to avoid detection to keep her secret identity intact.

This is the seventh book in the Lady Holmes mystery series where Sherry Thomas reimagines Sherlock Holmes as a woman. I didn’t even realize she had released two more books in the series until someone on my Goodreads timeline reviewed this book. What a delightful discovery! I always enjoy my time with Charlotte and her people, and this one was especially fun as it took place on a ship and involved Charlotte donning a disguise to avoid detection. I found it difficult to keep track of all the different characters, which may have been due to the audiobook and not paying attention as closely as I should have. Eventually, though, I started to make sense of who was who and why they were important to the story. All in all, it was another great novel in this continuing series and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book!

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Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (7.29.24)

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg (★★★★★)

Audiobook • Library • Nonfiction • 2024

Short synopsis: Supercommunicators are people who can steer a conversation to a successful conclusion. They are able to talk about difficult topics without giving offense. They know how to make others feel at ease and share what they think. They’re brilliant facilitators and decision-guiders. In this groundbreaking book, Charles Duhigg unravels the secrets of the supercommunicators to reveal the art – and the science – of successful communication. Above all, he reveals the techniques we can all master to successfully connect with others, however tricky the circumstances.

Man, I loved this book. Communication is something that is a huge struggle for me. Sometimes it feels like my brain just completely shuts off when I’m trying to make conversation with people, especially strangers. I wrack my brain for questions to ask people and usually nothing comes to mind. In this book, Charles Duhigg combines real-life examples of people getting others to listen to them (everything from a CIA operative to members of a jury) with statistics and helpful advice on how to be better at steering a conversation. One of the main takeaways I got from this book is how to ask better questions. Rather than asking, “What do you do for work?” ask, “What’s your favorite thing about your job?” Or rather than asking, “How are you?” ask, “What’s something that made you smile today?” Also, supercommunicators are not only great listeners but also share about their lives to build an honest connection with people. I think what I learned the most about supercommunicators is that they are people who are genuinely curious about the world and the people around them and have a kind, empathetic nature to them. While I don’t think I’ll become a supercommunicator now that I’ve read this book (that’s just not my personality—social anxiety makes it very hard to be as open as I want to be!), I do think it’s given me some good tips and tricks to take with me into the real world.

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez (★★★★★)

E-Book • Library • Contemporary Romance • 2022

Short synopsis: Alexis Montgomery, an doctor in line to become the next chief of emergency surgery, finds her world turned upside down after meeting Daniel Grant. He lives in a small town three hours from where she lives, but in the one night they spend together, they have undeniable chemistry. Torn between her family’s expectations to become a world-renowned surgeon and the joy she finds with Daniel in his tight-knit town, Alexis faces a difficult choice between her old life and a new, simpler happiness.

This is the first book in Abby Jimenez’s Part of Your World series and the last one I read (I read them out of order and I don’t think that mattered much). I loved it. I think I would put this one smack dab in the middle (Yours Truly will forever be my favorite since one of the characters had social anxiety). There are triggers to be aware of in this book, specifically intimate partner violence, so please be mindful of that. I think the way Jimenez portrayed IPV was really well done and got to the heart of why it can be so hard for people to leave a relationship. I also just really, really loved the chemistry between Daniel and Alexis. They were so damn cute together and I got a little annoyed at the way Alexis continued to push Daniel away because she was so tied to her life at her hospital. And maybe that’s because I’ve seen how happy they are together in the subsequent books in the series, so I just wanted her to grab that happy ending as soon as possible! The way everything unfolded in the end, though, was perfect and made the most sense for the two of them. Anyway, Abby Jimenez is back in my good graces (I hated her first series, The Friend Zone, and had sworn off her books until everyone started raving about this series) and is probably an auto-buy author for me now.

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (book swap) • Thriller • 2022

Short synopsis: In this psychological thriller, a woman named Millie takes a job with the affluent Winchester family, hoping for a fresh start and a chance to reinvent herself. But the more she gets to know about the Winchesters, the more unsettled she becomes. Why does her small attic room only lock from the outside? And why are there scratches on the doorframe?

The Housemaid is a thriller that’s been everywhere and it has a super high Goodreads rating (4.3 with over a million ratings!) I was excited to finally dive in, but I have to be honest: I was very ready to abandon this book after the first 50 pages because it made me feel so icky. The way Mrs. Winchester treated Millie was so abhorrent that it just didn’t make me feel good. But I kept pushing through because so many people raved about this book and I had to know what the hype was about. And oh boy… did I discover it. By the time to first big twist comes around, I was completely sucked in and couldn’t put this thriller down for anything. It was sensational! I understand now why it’s such a highly rated book, and I’m glad I finally gave it a chance.

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