Happy Monday, friends! We’re in the home stretch of 2018, and I’m in a weird place where I can’t believe this year is almost over while also realizing just how damn long this year was. It’s been a heavy year, and I’m not sorry to say goodbye to it.
This week, I finished two books and abandoned one. I’ve read 124 books for the year, and I’d love to end the year with 130. That’s only six books in four weeks – a doable goal for me.
Books Finished
Title: The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
Author: Ian Morgan Cron, Suzanne Stabile
Genre: Nonfiction, Self-Help
Published: 2016
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ★★★★☆
Plot Summary: Ian Morgan Cron takes readers on a journey through the nine types of the Enneagram, a personality framework.
My Thoughts: I took my time with this book, reading one chapter a day, so it took me around two weeks to read it. I think that was the perfect way to consume this book, though. While I pretty much figured out my type in the introductory chapter, I read through each chapter of the types to make sure I was on the right track. I could see myself in some of the other types, most definitely, but once I got to my type’s chapter, I had to keep setting down the book because it was too real. There were sentences and paragraphs that explained me so well it was nearly painful. Ha. I’m planning to write a full post on my type and what it means for me going forward this week, so stay tuned! I highly recommend picking up this book if you’re a personality nerd like I am. (I will caution that it’s written from a Christian perspective, but it’s easy to skim the sections that are faith-based.)
Title: Starry Night
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: 2013
Format: Library e-book
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Plot Summary: Carrie must score an interview with notoriously reclusive author Finn Dalton in order to move away from writing the society page for her newspaper and into more serious topics. When she finds him, she finds a charismatic, lovable man and realizes she’s going to have to choose between her heart and her career.
My Thoughts: This was a sweet enough romance. It was a little on the cheesy side, especially towards the end. And I’m not sure how to say this without it sounding weird, but I was a little disappointed there wasn’t more, erm, action in the novel. There were some chaste kissing scenes, but that was about it. Maybe this is normal for Debbie Macomber, but man, I like a little sizzle with my romance. 😉 Still, it was a cute, Christmassy read to kick off my holiday romance binge.
Book Abandoned
Happily Ever Ninja by Penny Reid – I abandoned this contemporary romance at 62% because the plot was way too far-fetched for me to believe. Mind you, I often have to suspend a fair amount of belief when it comes to romance novels, but this one was so far out in left field. There was also a global conspiracy plot involving oil that was boring as hell, and it just wasn’t keeping my attention. Oh, but honestly the main reason I abandoned this novel was Greg, the hero, who was a straight-up asshole with very few redeeming qualities. There are enough assholes IRL; I don’t need to read about them in my romances.
What I’m Reading This Week
- Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – Oh, this book is bringing me so much joy. It’s delightful and fun and wacky, and the characters are so ridiculous (and pretty unlikeable, but that’s not bothering me so much). I still have a lot of the book left to read (I’m around 40% finished with it), but so far so good.
- Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin – This is my nonfiction audiobook pick for December. I have heard amazing things, and I’m preparing myself for an onslaught of emotions. I may have to really pace myself between chapters, more so than I usually do for audiobooks, but I know it will be worth it.
- A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole – I’ll be starting this contemporary romance sometime this week, in between pages of Nine Perfect Strangers. It had such a fun premise, and I can’t wait to give it a try.
What are you reading?
I think I’m going to pick up The Road Back to You as I’m a personality geek as well. Have you read Anne Bogel’s book, “Reading People”? If not, you should pick it up! It summarizes a bunch of different personality frameworks and while I didn’t learn a ton of new things, it was still a fun read and she did a great job explaining the different between T and F of Myers Briggs. I’m a T and I feel like people think of T’s as cold. But she says T/F doesn’t have to do with whether a person’s heart is warm or cold. Instead it describes their decision-making process. I took a screen shot of the passage about T/F and sent it to a group of friends who are also obsessed with personality tests and they all agreed it was the best explanation they’ve seen!
Anyways, now that I’ve gone off on that tangent I’ll talk about what I”m reading! I finished 9 Perfect Strangers last week and I felt kind of ‘meh’ about it. I gave it 3 stars because it was a fast read but I didn’t love the book. I didn’t like her last book either so I think maybe she’s just not for me anymore? I couldn’t get over the unlikability of the characters and it felt like a lot of ‘rich people problems’. But I’m glad you are liking it! Last week I tried reading “A Confederacy of Dunces” at my husband’s prodding. He’s been telling me to read it for so long and I finally agreed to as he agreed to read “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” which is one of my all-time favorite books. But I just HATED the book so much. I gave it 100 pages and it wasn’t growing on me so I gave up. It’s a Pulitzer winner so clearly it was well-liked by some people but man I was hating it! Now I’m reading a memoir by Kimberly Williams-Paisley about losing her mom to dementia. It’s a heavy read but really well-written. I missed my bus stop this morning because I was so into the book, I didn’t realize we were already downtown!