Happy Monday! It’s hard to believe that Christmas is next week and the end of 2019 is the week after. Time flies! I had a pretty good weekend – met one friend’s fur-baby and another friend’s actual baby, and had a lovely Saturday night shopping with my mom. It’s going to be a crazy week at work, but I think I’m ready for what awaits me. We’ll see!
Last week, I finished four books so it was a most excellent reading week for me. Here are my reviews:
Books Finished
1) Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore (★★★☆☆) – A fun historical romance novel, Bringing Down the Duke takes place in the late 1800s and follows the story of Annabelle, a woman who is 25 and unmarried and joins the first female group to attend the University of Oxford. She ends up joining a suffragist society and encountering the Duke of Montgomery on the street, and then again, at his home when the Duke’s brother invited the society to come there for a party. It’s an inventive plot that I really enjoyed. The reason I only gave it three stars, however, is because I just didn’t believe in the romance. The characters felt two-dimensional and their encounters always left me wanting more. Still, a good debut and I’m excited to read the next book in the series!
2) The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger (★★★☆☆) – I struggled between two and three stars for this novel, ultimately settling on three. It’s about a group of parents who are trying to get their 11-year-old kids accepted at a new magnet school opening up in their town that’s solely for gifted students. It definitely gave me Big Little Lies vibes, but my biggest problem with the novel is just how awful all of the characters were, especially to each other. It seemed like every relationship was a toxic and contentious one, especially the friendship between the four mothers that the story revolves around. Even still, it was an interesting look into how far parents will go for their children (and for appearance), even more so with everything that happened with the college admissions scandal.
3) Runaway Groom by Lauren Layne (★★★★★) – This book was so much fun! It’s perfect for fans of The Bachelor – and even for those who aren’t (like me, ha). Ellie joins Jilted, a dating reality TV show where a man who has two failed engagements under his belt tries to find love. Unlike The Bachelor, though, which ends with a proposal, this show ends with a wedding. Gage, a successful movie star, isn’t thrilled about being on Jilted but he agrees to be on it because he doesn’t have much going on in between films. He doesn’t expect to meet someone like Ellie, someone who isn’t trying to be over-the-top with her attention and even seems to visibly dislike Gage. Which, of course, makes her all that more intriguing to him. Their love story was so sweet and fun, and I really, really love the way it ended. A perfect romance!
4) Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Ann Fowler (★★★★☆) – As you might expect from the title, this novel explored the life of Zelda Fitzgerald, who was married to F. Scott Fitzgerald. She married him when she was barely 18, against her parents’ wishes, and their marriage was a wild ride. Scott was a difficult person to be married to and all Zelda wanted was to establish her independence. She wanted to be someone more than Scott’s wife, but that’s just not how the world worked in that time. I loved Zelda’s character so much. She was fierce and feisty with a heart of gold. This novel felt tedious at times (as novels exploring the entire life of one person tend to be for me), but I’m really glad I read it if only to get a fuller picture of who Zelda Fitzgerald was.
What I’m Reading Now
1) Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan – Y’all, this book is so damn good. I thought it would be freaky, considering she has a psychotic break with no prior history of mental illness, but it’s really not. It’s fascinating and so well-written.
2) Lennon Reborn by Scarlett Cole – This final novel in Cole’s Preload series follows the member of the band I know the least about and seems to be the most contentious. Lennon is the band’s drummer and the youngest of the group, and he really breaks my heart. This novel is his redemption story and I’m loving it so far.
Up Next
1) The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny, on audio – My hold for the physical copy of this book came in this week, but I didn’t have time to pick it up at the library. The e-book has a wait but the audiobook was available for immediate download, so I’m going to try this series on audio for the first time ever! (Amber raves about the series on audio, so I’m excited to give it a try!)
2) Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner – I’ll be diving into Weiner’s latest sometime this week. It has pretty good reviews from trusted sources, so I’m crossing my fingers it’s a good one for me as well!
3) Well Met by Jen DeLuca – A cute romance that’s getting a lot of positive buzz! I’m excited to sit down with this novel right after I finish Lennon Reborn.
What are you reading right now?
The Gifted School sounds like a tough read. I was actually in the minority in not liking Big Little Lies. I don’t like it when she alludes to something ‘big’ happening for like 9/10 of the book. It feel manipulative and overly dramatic. And then I could not relate to the parental relationships. Sounds like I should skip The Gifted School, too. Over the weekend I finished 2 books – The Nickel Boys (heartbreaking but really good) and Red, White and Royal Blue (delightful). Now I am starting my 100th (!!!!) book – The Gown. I am really enjoying it so far and had a hard time putting it down last night! I’m so surprised I will read at least 100 books this year. This has by far been my biggest reading year which I’m really proud of! I had several people tell me I’d read way less after having a child but I actually read even more. I think it’s because I crave a quiet past time that is just for me, and it’s easy to fit reading in at any time!
I have heard SO MANY good things about Brain on Fire. I need to prioritize reading that one!
I feel like I had Brain on Fire and sent it back because I didn’t have time to read it. I did watch the movie though, which is what made me want to read the book! I am curious to hear what you think!
I am reading A Man Called Ove (almost done!) and Talking to Strangers. 🙂 I have two novels in the queue!