Books: Cookbooks

What I Read November 2020

Ooh boy, this is my third monthly book post in a row. I haven’t been around here much. November has been a weird month, I’ve been very heavily focused on work and don’t have much mental space left for writing or doing much of anything else. There are also so many distractions. It’s interfered a lot with my reading life this month as well. I was back to not picking up very great books and not getting all that into any of them. You can also see that I’m pretty heavily focused on light reads only right now. I don’t want the heavy stuff. Life is heavy enough! Especially going into these dreary, dark, cold days of winter. Anyway, here they are – and be sure to check out the last one on the list – it was really great and a perfect read for December.

The Coffee Recipe Book by Daniel Lancaster
Rating: 4 stars

This was my election day reading material. I picked it up over the summer, but never got around to reading it. I wish I had as there are so many cold summery drink recipes to choose from! I’m very weird about only wanting to drink seasonally flavored drinks in the correct season, so I have a lot to look forward to next summer! Overall, this was a very simplified yet cute book. I learned a few things about the different brewing methods, despite having tried all of them already on my own coffee journey. It was fun to get a little primer from an expert, though. There aren’t any photos in this book, but the illustrations were really nice. I marked quite a few recipes I’m looking forward to try, which is really the main reason I wanted this book in the first place. Most of the recipes require using some form of espresso, but I’ve found a moka pot to be an extremely fool proof and cheap way to make it if you don’t have other options. I got a Nespresso a few months ago, but never use the espresso pods – now I have a reason to!

Empire High Untouchables by Ivy Smoak
Rating: 3 stars

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It’s about a 16 year old girl, Brooklyn, who loses her mother and goes to live with an uncle she barely knows. She is able to attend the most elite private NYC high school because he is a janitor there. Brooklyn immediately develops a crush on Matt, one of “the Untouchables.” But she also falls for the school’s drug dealer, Felix. Matt is a dream – in private, but completely ignores her at school. Felix never acts ashamed of her, but he’s, well, a drug dealer. The story follows Brooklyn as she struggles to go back and forth between each boy, really just desperate for some sort of love after losing her mom. This book drove me CRAZY because Brooklyn was being so stupid about each guy! But I was also really into the story and thoroughly enjoyed it. So if you can get over how ridiculous she is being and all the red flags both boys send out, it’s a fun thing to read.

Empire High Elite by Ivy Smoak
Rating: 4 stars

The first book finished with a crazy cliffhanger. I was so happy that the second book was immediately available because I jumped right in. And head’s up, the second book has an even crazier cliffhanger. Anyway, in this book Brooklyn goes to live with her father, a man she never knew about and is quite the NYC elite, and also possibly a mobster. She’s assigned a bodyguard who is required to watch her 24/7. He also just happens to be super cute and only a couple of years older than her. And guess what? Shock of all shocks, Brooklyn also falls for him. While still having feelings for Matt and Felix. At one point in the book there is also a fourth boy and in about a one day span she either kisses, says she loves, or (JUST) sleeps with all four of them. It’s kind of insane! There is VERY CLEARLY only one guy that is good for her, but Brooklyn is kind of stupid. (lol) Okay, she’s just a grieving and lost teenager whose entire life has been upended twice in a very short amount of time. I liked this book better than the first.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
Rating: 3 stars

I chose this as my November BOTM because it was classified as a romance (the genre I tend to always pick because I’m most likely to want to keep it on my shelf to read again someday) and I loved the cover (always a big draw for me). Unfortunately, it reminded me so much of One Day in December – also a BOTM romance that ultimately disappointed me. I don’t want to read a “romance” where the main characters are going through their whole lives constantly missing each other. What is the appeal in that? Why would that kind of book bring anybody any joy? It’s seriously depressing! Honestly, this book was pretty boring. It took me a whole week to read. I only powered through because I paid for it. But I didn’t particularly like any of it.

Empire High Betrayal by Ivy Smoak
Rating: 3 stars

The third book in this series ended up coming out only days after I finished the second, so I was able to jump back into this weirdly compulsively readable series that I also could not stand. I also didn’t know how to rate these books because I didn’t want to put them down, but they also made me really angry. I truly thought this crazy world where a 16 year old grieving girl draws the intense attention of every guy around her would result in some sort of ultimate lesson to choose the RIGHT guy. The only one who didn’t send her constant red flags for unhealthy relationship ahead. Spoiler – she didn’t choose him. This book was even crazier than the second one. To the point of almost absurdity. And the ending – I was not prepared. I’m not sure I can genuinely recommend these books, at least as an adult reader, because I think they’ll drive you as crazy as they drove me. But if you want an escape, these might be the right choice anyway.

See Me After Class by Meghan Quinn
Rating: 4 stars

Greer is a first year English teacher at a high school in a new town. She immediately rubs Arlo, head of the English department, the wrong way with her unconventional teaching methods. But of course they also have undeniable chemistry. I actually really enjoyed this book because most of the characters were so quirky and fun. I liked reading about a group of teachers who formed a really fantastic friend group with each other. This is the first Meghan Quinn book I’ve read, but I assume that she has books featuring some of the supporting characters because they were all so fleshed out. This is a bit more open door romance than many of the books I read – I’ll actually classify it as a romance in my big spreadsheet for the year. But it had a lot of depth as well. I’ll certainly be reading more Meghan Quinn in the future!

Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett
Rating: 3 stars

Jenn Bennett is an author who wrote a book I loved (Alex, Approximately), so I keep pre-ordering her newest books with the expectation that they’ll hit me in the same emotional way. And so far they’ve all been a disappointment. There is nothing inherently bad or wrong with this book, I just had a really hard time connecting with it. There were a couple individual moments that I absolutely adored, but overall I just could not get that into it. Josie is a teenager whose mom moves her around the east coast every couple of months – until the end of her junior year when they decide to move back to their hometown to take over the family bookstore for a awhile. Josie is able to reunite with her childhood best friend Lucky, but he’s changed – a lot. Through a series of events they finally start talking again and eventually get close. This book was FINE, I just wish it had a bit more going on to really draw me in.

His Beauty by Jack Harbon
Rating: 2.5 stars

Okay, so I really needed a fast palette cleanser after taking what felt like forever to get through my previous book and a lot of stuff going on in real life. So I heard about this new retelling of Beauty and Beast and grabbed it on kindle unlimited. It’s a pretty straight retelling, just without the hope for a curse to be undone and no magical objects that were once people. But Beast is indeed a Beast and they do have sexy times. Which was honestly just so funny and disturbing to me that I didn’t find it sexy at all. It was a fast read, it was entirely predictable, it was surprisingly gory near the end. I don’t really have much of an opinion on it other than that!

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
Rating: 5 stars

This book came out in early October, but I held off on reading it until the holiday season – the day before Thanksgiving (lol). I’m glad I waited. It wasn’t SUPER Christmassy, but it does take place the week before and on Christmas, so it was nice to read going into December. I really enjoyed this one! It was heartwarming and sweet. I was honestly a bit apprehensive because I never am that interested in reading or watching something that is stuck in a time loop. It feels so repetitive. But they did a good job with it here. Maisie does go back in time and repeats a few days over again – but it only happens three times (sorry, that was a spoiler, but maybe it’ll help you be more intrigued if you knew that). The book takes place at a cabin where four families meet and spend Christmas together every single year. It was really sweet how they formed their own large family group and have such close relationships and longstanding traditions despite not spending a lot of time together throughout the year. Maisie is in love with her fellow “kid” (who is now 30), Andrew, and has been for most of her life. When she keeps getting sent back into the past for a redo of Christmas week she finally learns to step out of her comfort zone and become the person she was meant to be. I think this was a really great escape read for this year of all years. I definitely enjoyed it.

What I Read October 2020

November 1st – I’m right on time this month! I was actually going to write this BEFORE the end of the month, but I had one last book to squeeze in last night. October turned out to be a pretty good reading month. After a pretty rough couple of months I finally got my groove back and reading once again became my favorite delight. I have a couple of great recommendations this time around!

Real Fake Love by Pippa Grant
Rating: 3.5 stars

Henri is fresh out of luck at her fifth unsuccessful wedding when she meets Luca, professional baseball player who has sworn off love. She concocts a plan to convince him to teach her how to not fall in love so she won’t have to go through the pain and embarrassment of another failed wedding. This book started out pretty wildly. I honestly couldn’t even get a grip on what was going on because every character was so off their rocker. I’ve never read a Pippa Grant book before, and this is listed as a standalone book, but felt VERY clearly like a book further along on a series and it would have helped to have known about some of the characters before diving into this. It was entertaining, laugh out loud funny at some points, but also utterly ridiculous. Everything did settle down as the book went on and I enjoyed it, I just really dislike reading books where I always feel like I’m missing something.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Rating: 4.5 stars

This was a fresh and unique book – at least compared to most of the books I’ve been reading the last seven months! Seventeen year old Avery is living in her car after her sister’s abusive boyfriend moves back in when she finds out she has inherited a massive fortune from a man she’s never met. The only condition for keeping the inheritance is that she must live in the manor with the rest of his family for a year. That family includes four grandsons, all around the same age as Avery. The reading of the will leaves the grandsons and Avery with letters from the grandfather, each with clues to help solve a riddle – the reason why he chose to leave his fortune to Avery. This book is a series of puzzles to be solved while Avery tries to figure out which brothers to trust and which will turn on her for their own gain. I really loved the storyline because it felt so unique and intriguing. My only complaint is that it all got a bit repetitive at times and I wanted more from the Hawthorne brothers. I would have liked to have dug a little deeper into them so I felt more connected. But other than that, I truly enjoyed this book and am really excited to see that it will have a sequel!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Rating: 3.5 stars

I was really intrigued by synopsis of this book and all the initial rave reviews I saw for it. Addie LaRue makes a deal with the devil to gain a little freedom from her small and predictable life and ends up becoming immortal. The catch being that nobody can remember her after they leave her sight, so she has all the freedom in the world but no ability to make long standing connections. Until around three hundred years later when somebody remembers her. This is the most literary book I’ve read in quite awhile. It started as a great change of pace, but I really lost my enthusiasm for the book about halfway through. It was very long and honestly, not a whole lot happens. Chapters switch back and forth from the present time and different parts of Addie’s life, mostly within the first few years after she gained her immortality. Later in the book I kept really wishing we’d just stick in the present since that’s really all I cared about. I’m pretty surprised by how many people continue to rave about this book being the best they’ve read all year. It just didn’t hit me with that same intensity. My favorite part of any book is character interaction and there isn’t a lot of interaction with a woman who spends over 300 years damned to loneliness. Anyway, it was a very well written book and a long and strung out story, if you’re into that kind of thing. I didn’t dislike it, I was just frustrated with how slow it seemed and how long it took me to finish it.

The Bribe by Willa Nash
Rating: 4.5 stars

Okay, let’s start by saying just how much I hate books with half naked ripped men on the cover when the story itself is not super sexual. It annoys me because it feels like it cheapens a story that was so much more than a gratuitous romance novel. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything wrong with romance – I read quite a few, especially this year when it’s the easiest type of book to concentrate on. This book was a lot more than that, though. Country singer Lucy is on the run after a scary stalker situation in Nashville when she meets Sheriff Duke Evans who wants to know why she gave him a fake name and what she’s really doing in town. I really enjoyed this book. Duke and Lucy were both so NICE. It was really wonderful reading about such pleasant people. There was also a bit of mystery and suspense which made the book that much more readable. I read it very quickly and was so excited to keep picking it up.

The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi
Rating: 5 stars

Kendra Adachi is one of my favorite internet people. I don’t actually listen to her podcast The Lazy Genius very often, but I AM a patreon member of it so I have access to the exclusive Lazy Sisters podcast she does with her sister Hannah. It’s one of my favorite things to listen to every month. Anyway, I preordered Kendra’s book the second she announced it like last year and was really looking forward to reading it. It did take me quite awhile to get through it because I need a lot of time to process new ways to organize my life, but I really, really liked it. She makes great suggestions and strongly encourages you to only focus on what matters TO YOU. Don’t get bogged down with that you think you’re supposed to do, or what everyone else is doing. Stay in your own lane and make your schedule and your space and your choices be what is important to you. She gives plenty of practical tips throughout the book, but also just a lot of food for thought. I highly recommend this book!

Happily Letter After by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward
Rating: 4.5 stars

Sadie is a newspaper columnist who also takes over fulfilling letters to Santa around the holidays. In early summer she receives a random Santa letter from a sweet 10 year old girl who only wants to bring some happiness to her widowed father. Sadie decides to fulfill her simplest wish and ends up very intrigued by Birdie and her dad. And what follows is a heartfelt and just a tiny bit cheesy love story between them all. I enjoyed this book because it was so heartwarming and sweet. It does also have a bit of a Christmas feel, so it would be a great book to read in December. Parts of this story were definitely a little far fetched, but it did make for a fun read. My only complaint is that 10 year old Birdie really read as like a six year old. I was having a hard time seeing her as the age she was supposed to be, which was very distracting.

The Honeysuckle Cookbook by Dzung Lewis
Rating: 3.5 stars

It’s been awhile since I’ve been intrigued by a newly released cookbook so I picked this one up for fresh inspiration. Dzung Lewis is – from what I can gather from her cookbook – a widely known youtube cook, though I have never heard of her or seen a single video. Perhaps if I had I would have enjoyed this cookbook a little more. It was fine, I enjoyed that each recipe had a story behind it. But only about half of the recipes had photos, which is always a disappointment. I’m guessing I marked maybe 25% of the recipes as something I’d be interested in making, but none of them really blew me away. Normally this would be grounds for not keeping the cookbook at all, but I think I’ll try a few of the recipes out before making my final decision.

The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle
Rating: 5 stars

I could not put this book down. It’s the first book in months that I was so intrigued by that I literally spent most of my day sitting my chair reading it. I guess it’s also the first psychological thriller I’ve read in quite some time, so the difference in my normal pandemic reading genre might be partially why I was so intrigued. But I thought it was fantastic. Twins set out on a voyage across the Indian Sea and only one of them survives. She is mistaken as the dead twin, the more favored twin, when she finally lands on shore and decides to play along in both her grief and her desperation to win her father’s inheritance by producing the first grandchild before her five remaining siblings. I really thought this whole story was so twisty and unique. I made the mistake of just looking at the amazon reviews and it seems half of the people loved it, half of the people hated it and were bored to tears. I certainly didn’t find this boring! Anyway, I highly recommend it for a fun and intriguing read!

Love to Hate You by Jo Watson
Rating: 5* stars

I think I’ve finally got my reading groove back! I LOVED this book. It begins with a very steamy scene between strangers – something that usually turns me off in a book. But it was already so intriguing and funny within the first chapter that I had to see what happened next. And then proceeded to read and read and read. I laughed out loud so many times while reading this. I fell completely in love with Ben. It does turn out to be an office romance type of book – but with a boss who is actually kind and wonderful, not a closed off jerk. There were certainly a few more serious underlying complications between their love story, but most of the book was just so cheerful and fun. I will definitely be picking up a copy for my shelves to re-read again and again in the future.

Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert
Rating: 3.5 stars

Conrad and Alden are rivals in a huge card game phenomenon. They play each other often for Gamer Grandpa’s youtube channel and end up with promotional tickets to a huge convention in Vegas. For separate reasons they decide to drive across the country rather than fly and after a series of events it ends up just being the two of them on the trip. As expected, they begin to get to know each other a little better and their rivalry turns into something much sweeter. Overall, this was a very predictable, yet cute book. Basically the two characters just talk and talk and figure out their own feelings. Which I’m fine with – I love character interaction above all else in a story. I didn’t really care about any of the card game stuff, but it didn’t interfere enough in the story to bother me.

What I Read April 2020

Well, it’s taken me almost another whole month to sit down and write this, but I wanted to share what I read in April! March was a terrible month for reading with everything going on in the world, but I was really able to settle in and pick some great books in April. (Everything got real tough again in May, unfortunately!) I was able to finish fourteen books and most of them were pretty fantastic! Light and good escapes from reality.

Ruthless by Deborah Bladon
Rating: 3 stars

First of all, I’m pretty over the boss and assistant trope in romance. I’m not sure how I keep ending up reading them, other than that I’m mostly picking random Kindle Unlimited choices with high ratings when I want a quick escape and SO MANY of them follow this trope. And while this started in a similar vein, I was actually impressed by how original the story felt comparatively. It’s not something that will stick with me, or even something I remember that well days later when I’m writing this review. But..I liked it.

Moment of Truth by Kasie West
Rating: 5* stars

I fell in love with Kasie West’s sweet YA storytelling in P.S. I Like You. I’ve read all of her books since then, but none of them have made the same impact on me – until this one. I’ll admit I was a bit baffled by the original premise – there is a movie star who has a recurring roll as a teenage spy named Heath Hall. And now there is a “fake Heath Hall” who shows up in random places at random times facing all of his fears. This starts as more of a background storyline to the main character Hadley, who is a focused and independent swimmer obsessed with trying to outshine the shadow of her dead brother. This leads to her desperately trying to sleuth out who Fake Heath Hall is after he messed up one of her last swim competitions. There is quite a bit of conjecture as she waffles between a couple of different suspects. And of course she has some wonderful anonymous messages with Fake Heath while also developing some interesting connections in her real life. It was really very reminiscent of P.S. I Like You, but with a different perspective that felt a lot more emotional. It did take me about halfway through the book before I was really into it and didn’t want to put it down. But the second half? It was fantastic. If you love a great YA love story, this one is a kicker. I loved it.

Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese
Rating: 5 stars

This was a unique romance between a hot-headed college athlete and the silent “lumberjack” she’s paired up with for a school assignment. I picked it up blind on the recommendation of a friend and was blown away by how much I loved it. It started out as light and fun and developed into something much deeper. My only complaint is that it felt a bit too long. There was a lot of conflict to overcome later in the book and it felt a bit bogged down. But overall, this was a truly enjoyable read.

Beach Read by Emily Henry
Rating: 5 stars

A romance writer finds herself doubting the possibility of happily ever after when she finds out a disturbing secret at her father’s funeral. She picks up and moves to his secret house in Michigan and realizes she’s now living next door to her college nemesis, a grumpy writer as well. The two of them make a deal to try and break their writers’ block by writing in the opposite person’s genre while spending two days a week with each other doing research. I really enjoyed this book. It had such a quiet beauty about it. The love story was fantastic, but the characters were so REAL. Which isn’t always great in a novel – you want the leading man (or woman) to be everything you’d want a real person to ideally be. But – they have flaws too and you have to learn to accept them just as you would in real life. I do kind of wish this book had a different title because it felt decidedly NOT like a beach read to me. It was a bit more sullen than I anticipated, but I really adored it.

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
Rating: 5 stars

This book was hilarious, sort of unbelievably over the top, a little bit sad, and all kinds of wonderful. I totally loved it. An engaged couple realizes that they’ve lost all desire to marry each other, but instead of mutually breaking apart, they both contrive all types of insane plans to try and drive the other person away. It’s crazy to think anybody would go to the lengths that they did to “win,” but it was wildly entertaining to read about. I had my doubts in the beginning because it all seemed so unbelievable, but I absolutely love how it all came together in the end!

One Moment Please by Amy Daws
Rating: 4 stars

So I came across Amy Daws at Book Bonanza last summer and thought she was hilarious. I’ve since been regularly following her on instagram stories and even though I don’t know her as a person, I think I have a pretty good grasp on her personality and humor. This is the first book of hers that I read and it was REALLY hard for me to not constantly be thinking of Amy saying all the lines that the characters were. I’m realizing this is the downside of getting to know authors – they’re no longer an anonymous presence behind the words and it’s pretty hard for me to disconnect the two and follow the story. But anyway, besides all of that, I really enjoyed this book! I was doubtful at the beginning, but it really grew on me. Two people, a one night stand, an unexpected pregnancy, and trying to make it work on their own terms.

Magnolia Table: Volume 2 by Joanna Gaines
Rating: 3 stars

I absolutely love Joanna Gaines’ first cookbook. While I haven’t made a ton of recipes out of it, the handful that I have made I’ve made again and again because they were so delicious. I adored that cookbook because she shared all of her favorite recipes and the stories behind them, something that I always think makes a cookbook rise above the ones that are basically just churned out for a profit. I expected this cookbook to be just like the first. And while they look the same, she basically says in the introduction that she used all her recipes in the first book and this was just a culmination of some new ideas she and her staff had. Most of the recipes don’t even have any description. Much like the first book I was really interested in some of the breakfast, snack, and dessert recipes, and had almost no interest in the meals and sides. They seem simple or boring or just not something my family would eat. I did make her french toast recipe and it was incredible, so I have high hopes for the rest, I just found the lack of heart in this one a glaring disappointment.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Rating: 5* stars

I was unprepared for how incredible this book was going to be. I haven’t read anything else by Glennon Doyle (and after reading this one it feels kind of pointless to read the earlier memoirs because her life has changed so much). But it was getting such great reviews that I picked it up for my morning reading time. And honestly, it’s just amazing. So empowering for women everywhere. I didn’t always necessarily agree with Glennon, but I also saw SO much of myself in her. Which isn’t always a good thing (lol). I LOVED the super short essay format, each chapter packing a pretty great punch. It gave me so much to think about and consider, especially in terms of family and what that word can mean. This book was amazing. I highly, highly recommend it to all women everywhere.

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica
Rating: 3 stars

Is it just me or do so many psychological thrillers seem to be almost carbon copies of each other? I picked this on a whim – the first intriguing thriller on my kindle when I wanted something in that genre. And it was…okay. None of the characters were likeable. There were plotlines that didn’t get enough attention. The twists were predictable. It just wasn’t that great. It took me forever to read and I didn’t get much satisfaction from it.

Trejo’s Tacos by Danny Trejo
Rating: 5 stars

Now THIS is my favorite kind of cookbook! Colorful and fun with a lot of gorgeous food photos, personalized reasons why the author/chef chose to put these items in his book, versatility and creative freedom with the recipes, and a lot of just really great sounding food. I loved this one! The bulk of this cookbook are master recipes for each kind of meat and then all the different ways he uses them. I definitely look forward to trying these out once I can get into a grocery store after this pandemic and pick out exactly what I need. There were plenty of other recipes that I’m anxious to try as well. The only part I wasn’t that interested in was the cocktail section at the end, just because I don’t drink or make them. Danny doesn’t drink either, so it seemed an odd chapter to add, but I understand the need for something a little different. Overall, I’m very excited about this one and expect to get a lot of use out of it.

The Wrong Bachelor by Alexandra Moody
Rating: 5 stars

I was so surprised to come across a YA book on kindle unlimited that sounded so promising! I needed an escape so I dropped everything to read this book and then proceeded to spend most of the night reading it. That hasn’t happened in forever! This book definitely hit my reading sweet spot. An adorable and swoony PG young adult romance with great dialog and genuinely likeable characters. I thought the storyline itself was really fun too – a high school Bachelor competition to raise money for charity. I was swept up in the story and didn’t want to put it down.

The Wrong Costar by Alexandra Moody
Rating: 4 stars

While I didn’t find this quite as swoonworthy as the first book in the series, I still really enjoyed it. A famous actor is required to join a real high school and their play to get authentic teenage experience. He’s made out to be a Hollywood bad boy, but is really just like everyone else. It was another great YA read!

The Wrong Prim Date by Alexandra Moody
Rating: 4.5 stars

Okay, of the three books in this series, Ethan in this one is by far my favorite love interest. The quiet nerdy singer? Totally who I would go for in high school (and did lol). I absolutely adored him. But this book also made me want to scream at the characters for being so ridiculously stupid for so long. It was really to the point where it was unbelievable. I know this is a common reason why so many people don’t like YA, but I’m normally okay with it. This one was just starting to annoy me. But Ethan.. He was great. 🙂

I Hate You More by Alexandra Moody
Rating: 3 stars

I may have just hit my limit of reading YA romances in a row, especially all by the same author, but I was not particularly fond of this one. Two sworn enemies end up living in the same house and have to come to some sort of truce to survive the year. Compared to the other three books by the author I read this month, this one felt very chaotic and unorganized. I didn’t like the characters very much and it was all very surface driven. Physical attributes always above anything else. But it was still a nice little escape and I was intrigued enough to keep reading.

What I Read January 2020

My reading life is off to a great start this year! I read 18 books in January, with a huge mix of genres and ratings. January was my biggest reading month last year too and now I remember why – it’s too miserable to do basically anything else!

Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson
Rating: 4.5 stars

You probably know by now that my love of epistolary novels is strong. I was especially intrigued by this one, which is a debut novel by a 70 year old author. The entire book is a correspondence between a middle age woman in England and a recently widowed museum curator in Denmark. What begins as a slow and somewhat unexciting exchange of intellectual letters, quietly turns into a beautiful friendship of connection and understanding. It took me a lot longer to read this than I expected and I almost set it aside multiple times in the first half because it wasn’t what I was expecting. But as I continued on, the letters between the two of them brought me to tears multiple times as I reflected on how beautiful a friendship through words alone can be. As all epistolary novels do, I wish this had ended a little differently. But overall, I really enjoyed this beautiful little book.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Rating: 5* stars

I couldn’t put this book down. When I HAD to put it down for a chunk of the day, it’s all I could think about. It’s hard to explain exactly what this book is about without giving away too much, but the idea is that in a “county” at some unknown point in time, there is a rule that all girls are sent away during their 16th year to get rid of their magic. This is the baseline for the story, but it’s also the least explained part, which did get a little frustrating to me. But I got so lost in Tierney’s journey and everything she was experiencing that I was able to gloss over the things that didn’t make as much sense to me. This book reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies. It’s harsh, yet hopeful, devastating, yet beautiful. I’d highly recommend it.

Relish by Lucy Knisley
Rating: 4 stars

I enjoyed this graphic novel all about the love and appreciation of good food. It was fun to read and helped me to look back on my own memorable food experiences over the years. I did sometimes feel like the author/artist had a tiny bit of an agenda as most of book was about her parents in relation to her food experiences, but other than that, it was a good read.

The Skinnytaste Air Fryer Cookbook by Gina Homolka
Rating: 5 stars

I asked for and received an air fryer for Christmas, though I really wasn’t sure what to do with it. Which of course led me back to amazon to order the best looking air fryer cookbook I could find – this one. And I’m SO glad I got it! I’m really excited about this cookbook. It’s relatively small – only 75 recipes – but I want to try almost all of them. And not in the usual “I should try these because they’ll be good for me,” but because THEY LOOK DELICIOUS. I immediately did the tomatillo salsa verde recipe (a weird thing to make for your first time using an air fryer!) and it roasted the vegetables so quickly and so perfectly that I am really excited to try everything else I marked down. As usual, I have no interest in the seafood chapter, but everything else looked fantastic.

Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
Rating: 4 stars

Okay, so this book definitely does not follow the format I usually prefer when it comes to romance. It starts hot and heavy between a boss and intern that hate each other. These days, there is all kinds of ick factor that comes with that sort of relationship, but if you can gloss over how wrong it would be in the REAL world, it was easy to fall into the passion of these characters and how intensely they felt for each other. Christina Lauren is one of my favorite sets of authors, but this is the first erotic novel that I’ve read by them. It was definitely steamy, but the character development was still prominent and kept me glued to the story.

Say Yes by Elle Kennedy
Rating: 3 stars

This novella popped up for free in an email and I decided to read it one night when I was once again putting off reading Love Lettering (up next). It was fine. Predictable. A cute little romp.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
Rating: 3 stars

I wanted to love this novel so badly. A sweet romance that revolves around typography?? It sounded so perfect for me and the reviews were glowing, so I immediately ordered it. Unfortunately, it just was not holding my attention. I read two books in the middle of reading this one. I probably should have DNF’d it, but I bought it and felt responsible for reading it. It was FINE. But, as many reviewers stated, it is also “understated.” And that’s understating it. Overall, I’m just really glad to have finished.

Skinnytaste One & Done by Gina Homolka
Rating: 3 stars

I had such high hopes for this cookbook after loving the Skinnytaste Air Fryer Cookbook I also read through this month. Unfortunately, it just isn’t for me. I should have realized, a cookbook entirely filled with recipes that can be made in just one appliance – the instant pot, skillet, baking sheet, air fryer, etc. That is basically code for meals that are all mixed up together, which is not a type of food that I or my family enjoys most of the time. We like our foods SEPARATE. As a whole, if you like food like that, this is probably a really great cookbook. The photographs are gorgeous and make every recipe look so appealing. But of the 140 recipes, I only marked 24 of them that I’d like to try. One reason is that there were also a TON of seafood recipes, which is a category I’m just never interested in. I do plan on keeping this cookbook around because the ones I marked look great. But it’s definitely never going to be a favorite.

Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
Rating: 5 stars

Both of my kids were reading books by Kate DiCamillo at school recently and they both kept talking about the books – which is highly unusual. I commented that I happened to have a book by her on my shelf – another middle grade novel that I only bought because I was IN LOVE with the cover (I have the Barnes and Noble special edition, which is different than pictured above). Once again, why are middle grade cover artists so AMAZING? Anyway, I was a bit surprised (pleasantly) to open the book and see it’s really a younger “middle grade” book, with a large font and big spacing, so I was able to read the whole thing in an hour or two. I loved it, though! Louisiana was such a likeable character. The entire thing was really sweet, despite being heartbreaking at the same time.

Raising Good Humans by Hunter Clarke-Fields
Rating: 4 stars

This was a really great book about mindful parenting practice that I wish I could have read five or ten years ago. The author’s kids are the same age as mine are now, so most of the examples given are for kids more of the toddler and preschool age. You can still use the advice, but it doesn’t feel quite as applicable for older kids. I definitely resonated with so many of the hard parenting examples given and the author made me want to learn how to meditate to become a more mindful parent – and person. The essential message of the book is to focus on connecting and building a relationship with your child and in turn all of your conflicts will be easier to handle. Great advice, but sometimes very, very hard to implement. The book was interesting and relatable and I read it relatively quickly. I almost never make it through parenting books, so that’s saying something!

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (reread)
Rating: 5* stars

I really wanted to reread this book before reading the second book that was released this month. And I have to say – I loved it just as much the second time! I don’t read a lot of fantasy because it’s easy to get bogged down and confused by all the details, but this series is pretty straightforward. Few characters, a simple directive to break the curse: fall in love. The characters are so likeable, particularly Harper as she really comes into her own in a new land, fighting to save the kingdom when she could have put up a fight at every turn to get back to her family faster. Like all of Brigid Kemmerer’s books, I absolutely loved this.

A Heart so Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
Rating: 5 stars

Okay, I feel like there’s not a ton I can say about this book without giving too much away. I really had no idea what to expect, other than seeing one ARC review months ago suggesting that it was definitely not as good as the first. And…I disagree, for what it’s worth, so maybe don’t let reviews sway you either way. This second book does feel decidedly DIFFERENT than the first book because it’s a lot less about the characters and their relationships (the reason I love the first one so much!) and more about duty and responsibility to the characters’ respective kingdoms. Like so many YA fantasy series, this is where it starts to lose me. I hate reading about battles and war. I just want the relationships! But Grey is such a beloved character and I fell harder for Lia Mara than I did Harper, which really helped me love this book as much as the first, even though it gave me SO much emotional anxiety! I thought this was another amazing book by Kemmerer and I can’t wait to read the third, even though it hasn’t even been announced yet.

Ama by Josef Centeno
Rating: 4.5 stars

It’s no secret that Mexican/Tex Mex food is BY FAR my favorite to both make and eat. Even though I already have tons of cookbooks, I’m always on the lookout for more. This one seemed like a sure bet, so when no one bought it from my wish list this past Christmas I immediately ordered it for myself. And it seems great! I haven’t yet made anything from it, but I marked so many of the recipes. I’m actually most intrigued by all the sauces and salsas at the beginning of the book – much more so than a lot of the meals. I took off half a star because not all the recipes had photos, and many of the recipes called for unique ingredients that definitely aren’t readily available in Wisconsin, especially in wintertime! Kumquats, persimmons? I’m fairly certain I’ve never seen any of those EVER in a store, and I go to a lot of grocery stores. And they’re included in multiple recipes, as an example. But I’m still very excited about the cookbook and plan to use it often.

Love at First Like by Hannah Orenstein
Rating: 2.5 stars

I didn’t like this book. Eliza, owner of her own small jewelry shop in New York, accidentally posts a photo of herself wearing the shop’s most outrageous engagement ring and her sales start skyrocketing. She decides to turn the small mistake into a huge farce, including planning a full out wedding without actually having a groom. She latches herself on to a guy who would be great for her, pretending her feelings are more than they are until he actually proposes and she convinces him to have a shotgun wedding. And then she tells him the truth and shocker – it all falls apart. Honestly, the only part I liked about this book was hearing about the jewelry. It made me REALLY want some new jewelry (lol). Everything else just continued to make me angrier and angrier.

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
Rating: 5 stars

If I got this specific in my ratings, I’d probably really give this a 4.75, but I decided to round up to a 5 since a 5* is MY specific highest potential rating. My reasoning? I almost quit this book so many times in the first 70 pages. I was bored and annoyed with the traumatic but very vague past of the the main character and didn’t find much interest in the story itself – a woman trying to fit in with a group of male firefighters. But around page 70 everything turned and I could not get enough of the book after that. This turned into such a beautiful story of redemption, forgiveness, and ultimately – love above all else. I adored the characters and was so very happy with how everything turned out. It was also a great life lesson kind of book. Overall, if you can power through the beginning, this book is really worth reading.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Rating: 5 stars

This book epitomizes everything I love in a sweet YA romance. Two lovable and realistic teenagers that are faced with plenty of daily problems, but can still find fun and laughter in their relationship with each other. This one was particularly fun because it had a smattering of an anonymous texting friendship as well as a national twitter feud between their family restaurants. There was a lot going on! But I loved the characters so much. It was sweet, very innocent, and absolutely enjoyable.

I Know You Remember by Jennifer Donaldson
Rating: 4 stars

I went into this book blindly, just randomly picking something that looked like it might be a thriller from my plethora of unread books on my kindle. It turned out to be somewhat of a mystery/psychological YA thriller about a teenage girl whose mom died so she moves back to Alaska to live with her dad and new step-mom and step-sister, only to find out that her best friend from childhood is missing. I was definitely pretty lost in the story as it went along, impressed with how dedicated Ruthie was to finding Zahra. But certain things happened – cue the psychological thriller aspect – that I’m not so sure are believable. Overall, it was a solid read that kept my interest.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Rating: 3 stars

I had a really hard time getting into this book, but I can’t explain why. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with it, I just felt very disconnected. Which is kind of weird, because I found it to be super interesting that the main character is a woman who suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic pain, something I also deal with and it’s so rarely talked about and would almost never show up in a romance novel! I liked how that fit into the story and the way the characters interacted and accepted each other, flaws and all. I really enjoyed the male lead, Red. But overall, this book was just an okay read for me.

My Favorite Books of 2019

This has been a fantastic year for reading. It’s always been my favorite thing to do, but I think this year I really prioritized it as THE thing to do whenever I had a spare moment of time. I’ve also found extra joy in tracking a lot of new stats using Book Riot’s Reading Log. This may not interest anyone but me, but I’m definitely going to share all that with you in a minute. 🙂 I am SO happy to be a reader and have this chance to share all of my favorites with you each month! The bookish community is my favorite place to hang out online, researching and finding new books to read is almost as much of a hobby as reading itself, and diving into that perfect book is about the best feeling in the entire world. I pour over these end of the year lists each December, adding more books to my TBR list than I’ll ever have time to actually read. And I’m okay with that, as long as I always have options! Reading is simply THE BEST.

(I should mention that other than number of books read, my stats are SLIGHTLY skewed because I didn’t realize the spreadsheet was going to include my DNF’d books and I can’t delete them without messing up the numbering for everything else, so if you’re actually doing the math, there are 158 books included in my stats. I won’t be marking DNF’s on this tracker in 2020!)

THE STATS:

Books Read: 152

This actually surprised me as I have such a hard time FINISHING the nonfiction books I’m obsessed with buying. Though a large chunk of these are cookbooks, which I decided to start including in my reading this year because I DO read them word for word.

This is the year I became dedicated to actually reading a lot of the print books I already own and love to purchase. My Kindle is amazing, but there’s nothing like having an actual book in your hands. As for audio, I didn’t listen to many, but this is still more than ever before!

Full length novels are definitely my favorite! I had a hard time deciding which of my nonfiction were prose vs. essays, so they should probably be lumped in together since I normally just picked one or the other.

My only issue with this tracking system was how limited the genre classification seemed. I wish there had been a “Thriller” and “Cookbook” option. I definitely steer most toward contemporary fiction, though a lot of those could MAYBE have been also classified as “romance,” but I tried to only mark that if it was a full blown sexy town kind of book. I should also note that Book Riot only gives you lists of your stats, I created these pie charts separately for visual appeal. 🙂

I like normal fiction sized books. I don’t like huge books. Most of the short books were graphic novels and cookbooks.

Some people seem to take pride in how prudely they rate a book and seem happy that the year has come to an end and they’ve only had a handful of 5 star books. I feel like it’s much better to have MOSTLY 4 and 5 star books because it’s proof that you’ve had a great year of reading and you picked wonderful books! I tend to very rarely rate anything less than a 3 if I actually took the time to finish it. And on a separate spreadsheet where I’ve tracked books for the last ten years, I have an addition 5* rating, to indicate the best of the best.

I’m a pretty consistent reader no matter what time of the year it is. Probably always higher in January and December when I’m reading more cookbooks and short Christmas books.

The Books

Okay, okay, enough with the stats, let’s get to the books. I’m going to give you my top 5* fiction – the books that I ADORED, I can remember clearly long after I’ve finished them, they probably made me both laugh and cry, and I’m likely to want to read them again. And because I had so many 5 star fiction books in total, I’ll give you a bonus so they’re not left out! Then I’ll give you my top nonfiction of the year and my top cookbooks. Enjoy!

Top 10 Fiction Books of 2019

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (READ THIS, second book comes out in a few weeks!!)
Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Five Minute Life by Emma Scott
Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec and Andi Arndt
To Night Owl From Dog Fish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer
The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad by Cookie O’Gorman
The Summer of Chasing Dreams by Holly Martin
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Bonus 5 Star Fiction Books of 2019

Eleanor & Grey by Brittainy Cherry
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Aceveda
Savaged by Mia Sheridan
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2019

Everybody, Always by Bob Goff (audio!)
Fail Until You Don’t by Bobby Bones (audio!)
Skinny Liver by Kristin Kirkpatrick
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
The Ministry of Ordinary Places by Shannan Martin
Inheritance by Dani Shapiro
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness (audio!)
Cozy Minimalist Home by Myquillyn Smith
Book Love by Debbie Tung

Top 5 Cookbooks of 2019

Tex Mex Cookbook by Ford Fry
Half Baked Harvest: Super Simple by Tieghan Gerard
Pimento Cheese: The Cookbook by Perre Coleman Magness
The Edible Cookie Dough Cookbook by Olivia Hops
Salt and Straw by Tyler Malek

What I Read December 2019

I think it’s pretty safe to say I won’t finish any more books this month, so I’ll sneak this post in before I do my best books of the year. December was a good reading month! One of my top goals was to read whatever would bring me joy, and I think I did a pretty good job picking them out. I read 18 total books: 1 nonfiction audio, 1 anthology of short Christmas stories, 1 graphic novel, 1 hard copy nonfiction, 4 cookbooks, and 10 fiction books. The majority of the books were really great! I can’t wait to share them with you. 🙂

Everybody, Always by Bob Goff (audiobook)
Rating: 5* stars

I received this book in a swap a few months ago, but hadn’t gotten around to reading it yet. Around the same time I requested the audio version from the library and it became available the week before Thanksgiving when I was way too busy to think about listening. Finally getting back to work on December 2nd I realized I only had one day left before it would be snatched away again, so I decided to listen to the entire 5.5 hour book that day. It was worth it. This book was profound in its message of love everybody, love always, and give your love away as if you are made of it. Bob Goff is filled with so many incredible stories because he lives his life loving everyone around him. He’s funny too! I laughed out loud so many times. I cried too. Honestly, it was quite the whirlwind of a single day’s listen! I am absolutely going to dig into my hard copy now too because I need to highlight probably 60% of his words and figure out how to start living my own life that way. I’m not good at loving people. I’m horrible at accepting interruptions and changes to my schedule and plans. I spend most of my life isolated, rarely going out of my way to connect with others. I think that needs to change. Anyway, I think this would be an incredible book for literally anybody to read or listen to. It has the potential to be life changing.

In the Unlikely Event by L.J. Shen
Rating: 3.5 stars

This was one of those odd books I couldn’t make up my mind how to rate. Two young people fall desperately in love within hours of meeting each other, make a promise to marry each other if fate ever brings them together again, and then don’t see each other for eight years. By then Mal hates Rory with a destructive anger and Rory does not know why. On one hand, I was very sucked into the story and anxious to read it at every opportunity. I haven’t read many books like that in awhile. On the other hand, it infuriates me when the entire conflict in a book could be resolved in a twenty second conversation to fix the misunderstanding that tore them apart. I also thought some of Mal’s behavior and words when he was angry with Rory were unforgivable. And on a personal level, I find it really irritating when intriguing and random details are thrown into a story, but serve no purpose. For example – Rory’s half brother that she just found out about, but also just died, and she doesn’t even give it another thought. If I found out I had a half brother, even if he had died, I’d want to know everything there was to know about him. Or the fact that Mal has five brothers and one sister and only the sister is mentioned again in the story – but not even present. Why give him five brothers if they serve no purpose? Why not two? Something more “normal.” Anyway, I did like the book, but I had a hard time accepting Mal as the great hero in the story.

All Wrapped Up for the Holidays by Colleen Hoover (and others)
Rating: 3

This was a surprise Christmas anthology released by a group of authors, including Colleen Hoover. You can only get it through Book Funnel, but it’s free (for a limited time). I’m not really a fan of short stories, they always leave me wanting more. For this particular collection, most of the stories are about characters from the authors’ previous books, so if you haven’t read those books you might not get a lot out of their Christmas story. I wanted to read this because Colleen Hoover’s Finding Perfect was basically an epic epilogue to her Hopeless and All Your Perfect books. And THAT was amazing. I also enjoyed the first short story in the collection. The third had a crazy amount of characters and I gave up on it. The fourth and fifth were pleasant. Overall, totally worth reading Colleen’s story if you’ve read the other two.

Instant Loss Cookbook by Brittany Williams
Rating: 4 stars

I picked up this cookbook a while ago because it sounded very inspiring. Though I was also a little doubtful of anybody who could lose 125 pounds in a year, just by making all her meals from scratch. After reading through the entire cookbook I still have very mixed feelings about the whole thing. It WAS a good cookbook and her story IS inspiring. But she does mention in a couple of different places that she basically only eats vegetables, with a small grain portion just twice a week. That is NOT a diet I can sustain. It makes me wonder about the authenticity of all the recipes and if she actually uses them for her own meals. She doesn’t do dairy either. I’m never giving up cheese, guys. Anyway, most of the recipes are pretty simple (that was her plan – keep food whole and simple) and many of them require the instant pot. I dug mine out after two years of no use and made her salty potatoes right away. It was probably the easiest recipe in the entire cookbook, but it worked! I’m planning to go through the recipes more thoroughly and work my way through them, mostly to gain comfort in using the instant pot more regularly. Sadly, there were not photos with every recipe, but there were still a lot. I’m always a little discouraged to realize how many new ingredients I’m going to need to make most recipes in a cookbook, but I think it’ll be worth it for these. I’m intrigued!

Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec and Andi Arndt
Rating: 5* stars

This book was so much fun that I read it in a single day! It was the first genuinely funny and sweet book I couldn’t put down in quite awhile. Hoping to gain some confidence in her ability to talk to men, while also helping her own self empowerment, Heidi decides to start a podcast where she reads passages from erotic novels. When she’s not working or doing the podcast, she’s crushing big time on her neighbor Brent and talks about said feelings on every podcast episode. I laughed out loud so hard and for so long multiple times during this book. I really loved it!

Notting Hill in the Snow by Jules Wake
Rating: 4 stars

This was an ultimate cozy Christmas light romance about a single father and his daughter and a woman who warms their hearts. I wasn’t sure in the beginning how much I would like the book – it felt a bit stressful. But it very quickly eased into something so sweet and beautifully holiday driven filled with heartwarming moments. The only reason I knocked it down a star is because I felt Nate could have had a bit more backbone when dealing with the conflict that arose. Overall, though, this book was exactly what I was looking for in this busy Christmas season.

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
Rating: 5* stars

With the exception of a few hours in the middle to sleep, I read this book straight through. Colleen Hoover will never disappoint. Even though she’s always switching up genres and you never know what you’re going to get – you can always rely on the fact that it’s going to be a great story. This book is mostly about the relationship between a mother and daughter, but there is plenty of beautiful romance on the side. It was heartbreaking and beautiful and sweet and touching. I loved it. I love them all, but this was really wonderful.

Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman
Rating: 4 stars

This was a really sweet graphic novel that I read in about half an hour. It’s about a new friendship between two teenage boys, one who is gay and one who isn’t really sure who he is yet. It always amazes me how many emotions can be conveyed in just the simplest drawings and so little dialog. It was so sweet. 🙂 I’m just a bit perturbed to realize it ended on a cliffhanger. It took me so many months to get the first one from the library, now I have to wait again.

Instant Loss by Brittany Williams
Rating: 4 stars

Much like her first cookbook, I found this freshly released book to be highly valuable and filled with encouragement, simple recipes, and a lot of hope that I, too, can change my life around. I really resonate with both of Brittany’s cookbooks because she seems to be focusing on all of the same types of diet changes that I’m also working on. She does use “different” ingredients, but as I build my pantry with those alternatives I’m finding more and more freedom in the food I can eat. No, it’s not what I’ve eaten my whole life, but yes, it DOES taste good and it DOES make me feel better. I’m excited to try a huge chunk of the recipes in this book – mostly the breakfasts, snacks, and basics. The only area I found lacking are the actual dinner ideas. They just look so plain and bland to me. I’m thrilled to have more ideas for breakfast and lunches that I will mostly be eating on my own. But I’ll find sources for flavorful and exciting dinners elsewhere.

Dwelling by Melissa Michaels
Rating: 4 stars

This was a fun and encouraging book that I enjoyed reading, but also felt a bit confused by. Honestly, it felt like a whole lot of rambling and filler for what could have been chopped down into a much more concise and focused message. The extra words and ideas weren’t BAD – and it wasn’t a long book to begin with. But it seemed to lack a real structure that was honestly just a tad confusing! I think to get the most out of this book you need to also be a huge journaler and follow all the prompts on almost every page. While I WANT to be that kind of journaler, I just didn’t have the time for it. I’d definitely consider going through it again at some point in my life, really taking the time to delve deeper. Overall, it was a really good book for introverted homebodies that want to get the most out of their lives through cultivating their homes and priorities.

Technically, You Started It by Lana Wood Johnson
Rating: 4.5 stars

This is a YA epistolary novel told entirely in texts, so you KNOW I was here for it. But this book gave me so much anxiety!! A self proclaimed weird/awkward teenage girl gets a text from a boy in her class and mistakes him for his cousin who has the exact same name. He doesn’t realize she has them confused until it feels too late into their text only friendship to clear things up. As their friendship progresses through words alone he becomes determined to wriggle his way into her actual life, which only confuses her more because she thinks that the real him is the “bad” Martin and doesn’t know how to reconcile how nice he’s being to her when she comes across who she thinks is “text Martin” and he ignores her entirely. Of course this book is entirely predictable, but it still gave me all the teenage angsty feels and I kind of loved it.

Christmas Cliche by Tara Sivec
Rating: 3 stars

This book is a bit ridiculous – but it’s supposed to be, hence the title. I feel like it was trying too hard to be funny, which is a turn off to me. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it definitely wasn’t a must read Christmas book.

The Boss Who Stole Christmas by Jana Aston
Rating: 3.5 stars

It took me about half of this book to decide I liked it. Granted, these fluffy Christmas books I like to read in December are rarely meant to be deep and well developed. But when the characters are so UNDERdeveloped book after book, it gets old really fast. About halfway through it suddenly became funny and sweet, however, and I liked how much Christmas spirit was infused into the plot. It was a fast and cute read.

Beautiful Boards by Maegan Brown
Rating: 4 stars

If you enjoy putting together cheese plates or throwing together easy weekend meals on boards (like me – kids love it!), this is an awesome book with tons of great ideas. The photos are beautiful and very inspirational for creating boards for every meal, party, and occasion. I did find all the words, however, to be a bit excessive. If you REALLY need to be walked through the steps for exact portioning to buy of every single item on the board, you’ll appreciate the directions. I was really more in it for the photos and ideas. The only thing I found to be a bit frustrating is that SO many additions to the platters were specialty items and treats that you could never just randomly find in a regular grocery store. They looked awesome on the author’s platters, but unless you want to devote an excessive amount of time and money to finding those exact items, you probably won’t be able to make the exact boards in the book. But – it’s still great inspiration to be on the lookout for cool little treats to add if lots of board making is in your future!

The Gift of Happiness by Holly Martin
Rating: 4 stars

So every year I get excited about the prospect of reading lighthearted and happy Christmas books in December and every year I tire of them VERY quickly. They’re cute and sweet and predictable, which never holds my interest the way I expect it to. I purposely saved this one to read right on Christmas because Holly Martin is one of my most reliable authors for this type of book. And it WAS good. The characters were so kind and cute, the setting was festive, the plot was interesting. I just wasn’t in the greatest mindset to enjoy it. But still, a very nice Christmas read.

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
Rating: 5 stars

A book about polygamy, when the wives have never met each other or even know each other names? This was the exact unputdownable book I needed on Christmas day when our commitments were finally over and I could spend the entire day reading. I loved it! It was fast paced, interesting, and really messes with your head. I had some apprehension about starting it based on reviews other people have left, but I ended up really enjoying it.

The Forest Feast Mediterranean by Erin Gleeson
Rating: 3.5 stars

If pressed, I’d give this book 5 stars for being the most visually stunning cookbook I’ve ever seen – the reason I purchased it in the first place. But in terms of recipes I’ll actually use, I’d probably give it a 2.5. Mostly because it’s just not what I need right now. I was hoping picking up a vegetarian cookbook would give me a lot of great ideas. And honestly, everything in the book seemed so similar, so simple, and composed of mostly ingredients I either don’t like or can’t eat. Granted, this IS a Mediterranean cookbook, but there are SO many olives, which I won’t touch. Lots of tomatoes, eggplant, feta. A huge chunk of the book is pasta dishes, a type of food I’ve never liked, even if I could still eat white flours. And I’d say almost every recipe that’s not a salad or a pasta is some type of dish served on slices of baguette. Page after page and after page. I’d LOVE this idea if I could still eat baguettes! Obviously I could find some substitutes, but it wouldn’t be the same. Anyway, I maybe shouldn’t have been so trigger happy to actually purchase this book when I had an idea after paging through it wouldn’t contain the types of food I want to eat. But the artistic appeal was too strong! It’s truly the most gorgeous cookbook filled with a variety of photographs, drawings, and appealing fonts. You should find a copy to at least LOOK at if you can!

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
Rating: 4 stars

I decided to end the year reading something pretty disturbing. This is another book that I had a hard time putting down. Though it might be less because it was enthralling, but more because it was so distressing that I couldn’t wait to finish it. I moved this book way up on my TBR list because the second season of You was just released and I wanted to read the book before I watched the show, even though I’ve heard they’re very different. Anyway, much like You, this is a book about a truly terrible person who you can’t help rooting for. I kind of wonder about the state of mind of the author to get so in the head of this messed up serial killer. A lot of crazy things happened in this second installment, I think I liked it more than the first. But I’m very glad to put it behind me!

What I Read November 2019

November has been a weird reading month for me. I started the month with a bang, finishing a book every day or two. Then one book took me ten entire days to complete and threw everything off. The best books I read this month were nonfiction – which is usually the case, so I wish I could force myself to devote more time to them! I also read one cookbook, one re-read, and a lot of lighter romances.

Beard in Mind by Penny Reid
Rating: 4.5 stars

It’s taken me a long time to pick up book four in the Winston Brothers series, even though I thoroughly enjoyed the first three. But the final book in the series just came out and there is SO MUCH hype around it, that I really need to catch up! I have to say that I enjoyed this one a lot. I think I’d been putting it off because we were introduced to Shelly in book three and there wasn’t much appealing about her. But I really grew to love her in this and how hard she struggles to overcome her OCD. My affection for Beau grew as well. The weird thing is that this book takes place at the exact same time as book three and even though there aren’t exactly repeat scenes, I did keep questioning if I’d actually read this installment already or not. Overall, I really enjoyed this one.

The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook by Maya Krampf
Rating: 4 stars

I had a hard time deciding what to rate this cookbook. IF you buy this because you’re on the Keto lifestyle, or looking to start it, this seems like a great resource with a lot of viable recipe options. If you’re like me, just hoping to find some great lower carb recipes, it wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for. I’m not on the Keto diet, nor do I plan to be, so it was a little surprising and maybe disappointing to realize how many substitutes you need to make so many different recipes. And how so many of the recipes are “easy” but it is all 100% made from scratch, which just isn’t always realistic. I’m not going to make my own mayo that’s only good for a week before I use that mayo to make another recipe in the cookbook. I’m not interested in filling my pantry with multiple sugar substitutes. I don’t want to cut out the fruits and vegetables that are apparently the most carb filled, but also the ones I like the most. If my doctor had told me to go on this diet, I’d be more open to trying things, but she didn’t point me in this direction, so I’m not going to worry about it. All that being said, I did still find about 25 recipes that looked fantastic and I’m definitely excited about trying at least a few of them. It helped me to think of ways to make some of my favorite dishes more low carb and a better fit for my own needs. The whole cookbook was well written, colorful, with a beautiful photograph for every recipe. Even if I might not use it all the time, or even follow all the keto substitutions, I plan on keeping it on my shelves for inspiration.

Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover (re-read)
Rating: 3.5 stars

I re-read this novella because Colleen Hoover announced she’s releasing a new novella around Thanksgiving and you need to read this one first. I first read it over five years ago and didn’t have any recollection of it. I just went back and saw that I gave it 5 stars the first time around, but I’m sticking with 3.5 for the re-read. I think the reason for the lower rating is that Daniel did not appeal to me as much this time around. He’s too charismatic, too over the top charming. I don’t trust people like that (lol). Overall, it’s a short and interesting story, but once the plot came back to me I just felt such doom around the whole thing it was hard to enjoy. Colleen also said her upcoming novella will connect Finding Cinderella to All Your Perfects – if you’ve read both the connection seems like it will be very obvious! I like what she’s doing tying things together, but it’s also a little confusing. If she wasn’t my favorite author, I wouldn’t have the energy to try and keep track of everything the way I have. It’s the main reason I don’t often read series of books. Just figuring out what book comes next is too much work!

Atomic Habits by James Clear
Rating: 5 stars

I found this to be an incredibly approachable book about making small daily habit changes that compound and really transform your life. Every chapter was short, interesting, filled with examples, and not loaded with science that makes my brain glaze over. Much like Eat That Frog, which I read in September, I was happily surprised to realize that I’m actually doing many of the habit tricks the author writes about. It’s a great reinforcing message that I’m on the right track and should continue in that direction. While this book isn’t specifically about losing weight or getting healthier, I found that so many of the chapters also applied to those types of habits, which is exactly what I needed as I’m making many changes to my lifestyle right now. It did take me over two months to get through this because I have the hardest time in the world picking up self help books. But – it was worth it. I highly recommend.

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
Rating: 4 stars

In this book a husband and wife who have grown rapidly apart in their three year marriage are on the brink of divorce. Desperate to save the relationship, but not sure how to do it, a group of Gavin’s guy friends secretly bring him into their bromance book club – a club where they read romance novels to learn how to better their own relationships. I preordered this book IMMEDIATELY after author Avery Flynn was raving about it at Book Bonanza this summer. I was anxiously awaiting it, hoping it would live up to all my expectations. And it was good! But reading a book about a failing marriage brings on a lot of more complex emotions than a fresh new romance between strangers or friends or even enemies. While some of the things that happened in this book were a bit unbelievable, it WAS believable that a marriage could fall apart in the ways that theirs had. My only pet peeve was that their twins couldn’t have been more than two, or just turned three, yet were talking and acting like and going to school as if they were at least 5 or 6. It seemed like a glaring oversight that kept bothering me. But overall, this was a sweet story about a man who made some mistakes, but was willing to do anything possible to win his wife back before it was too late.

No Judgements by Meg Cabot
Rating: 3.5 stars

I really should have learned my lesson by now about listening to fiction on audio. It’s NEVER going to hit me the same way that reading the word on a page will. (I have the opposite learning style when it comes to nonfiction books, however.) I listened to this book while I was driving all over North Carolina in my rental car. So I can definitely say that I was paying attention this time around! But the author’s deeper “male voice” for the main lead, Drew, was such a turn off to me. I think if I had read this in a book without connecting the character to that bizarrely female yet gruffish voice, I would have liked him and the romantic aspect of the story a whole lot more. But these are my issues and really no reflection on the book itself. Anyway, if you want to read about being stuck on a tiny island in Key West during and after a hurricane when most of the islanders have evacuated, this is for you. It never gets too serious – there are a lot of happy endings, which I’m sure is a very glossed over concept compared to the reality of hurricane aftermath. I was surprised by how much of this book is about animals and pets. I liked that everyone was such an animal lover. Overall, it was a pleasant listen while driving around, but I think I probably would have loved if had I read it on paper instead.

Be My Fantasy by Alisha Rai
Rating: 4 stars

Okay, sometimes you just need a good straightforward romance. I read this while I was in North Carolina and my brain was completely overwhelmed by the writing conference I was at. I needed a book that didn’t require a ton of extra thinking. Alisha Rai is a really good writer, though, who can write something steamy that still has meaning and depth with a lot of character development. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not AGAINST romance, it’s just not something I can read all the time – unless it feels justified. This was a nice one.

Stay My Fantasy by Alisha Rai
Rating : 4 stars

I should point out that both of these books were actually novellas. But reading them back to back made it feel like a complete book. The second installment was less about the steam and more about the relationship. I enjoyed it. I read the entire thing while I was at the airport and on a plane.

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
Rating: 3 stars

I heard so many great things about this book and I’ve loved all the other books the author has written (that I’ve read), so I thought this was going to be a winner. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t that into it. I did enjoy learning more about another aspect of history I knew absolutely nothing about – Sepetys is great about exposing all those untold stories. But this book felt very slow and disjointed to me. The chapters were SO short – normally something I love in a book, but because it jumped around to so many different characters, it felt like I had to step back and refocus every other page. I was much happier with part two of the book (which was only about 1/4 of the book or less), but I felt the actual ending was really lacking the closure I was anticipating. Overall, a well told story, but did not draw me in the way her other books have. As a side note, it took me TEN DAYS to read this book. That’s practically unheard of. If it had been any other author I probably would have dnf-d it.

Stud Muffin by Jiffy Kate
Rating: 3.5 stars

My overall opinion about this book is that it was a nice read. The characters were very nice to each other. The book was enjoyable and sweet, but I also wasn’t highly invested in it. I liked that as the second book about the Donner Bakery this one actually had some baking elements in it. Not many! But it was still a fun little quirk.

Someone to Kiss My Scars by Brooke Skipstone
Rating: 3 stars

Let me start out by saying that this is not a good book to read around the holidays (I read it over Thanksgiving) or if you’ve had any kind of sexual or physical abuse. Trigger warnings galore. The quick synopsis is that a teenage boy who had his memory essentially erased through shock therapy begins seeing other people’s worst memories when he’s in proximity to them. He can’t stop seeing the memory until he writes it down, so he’s spending almost the entire story writing down the awful memories of people he comes in contact with. It’s a downer, you guys. I was intrigued enough to power through and read it quickly, but it was also a little over the top. It kind of felt like an excuse to just describe all kinds of horrific sexual acts done to children. I’m not NOT recommending it, but I think it’s probably something I could have done without.

Skinny Liver by Kristin Kirkpatrick
Rating: 5* stars

This was EXACTLY the book I needed to read this month. After a lot of uncertainty and fear around a liver biopsy I had a couple of weeks ago, I really needed something concrete to read and help me understand what was going on with my body. Doctors will never have enough time to fully tell me all I need to know, so I’m really happy I purchased this book. It was understandable, relatable, encouraging, and filled with useful advice and plans to turn your life around and start taking better care of your liver – before it’s too late. The last part of the book contains a bunch of healthy yet tasty recipes. Overall, I think this book would be incredibly useful for anybody to read. I never knew any of this stuff about my liver! But if you’re having any kind of liver issues – GET IT. Don’t hesitate.

What I Read October 2019

October was NOT a great month for reading. I only finished nine books (my fewest of any month yet this year), and two of those were short audiobooks and one was a cookbook. Besides the cookbook – which was amazing – all of the books were only 3, 3.5, or 4 stars. Solidly “good, nice books.” None of them were books that will be particularly memorable or something I’m interested in rereading in the future. Not that being re-readable is necessary for a book to be GREAT – but I’m in a place in my life right now where I really just want to escape and be entertained and excited to jump back into the story every chance I get. I haven’t had many books like that all year. Which is eternally frustrating! I’m disappointed that in my birthday month, when I wanted to make reading one of my highest priorities, I had such a hard time getting excited about any of these. But – here goes.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Rating: 4 stars

Jane Eyre is a book I really wanted to read this month as I delved into my seasonal reading pile. I’ve never been a fan of classics, but had a distinct feeling that this might have been the only one I actually enjoyed reading in school. I found the most beautiful copy of it when I was out shopping day and couldn’t resist (see photo!). But then my library audiobook of it just happened to come in on October 1st and since I was up super early working I decided to go ahead and listen to it instead. It’s only about two and a half hours long! I still can’t figure out how that’s possible when the book is so thick and the internet says it should take approximately 12 hours to read. At any rate! The narration of this was perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed it – that coming from someone who can never, ever pay attention to fiction on audio. Though to be fair – short works for small attention spans! I listened to the entire book in a single morning and really did fall in love with the story. I found it a bit unbelievable how quickly Jane and Rochester fall in love, but he seemed like a much more likeable character than when I read this in college (at the time the 20 year age difference was probably really appalling!). If you’re looking for a short classic audio to pick up, this would really be a good one.

The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon
Rating: 4 stars

Amy Harmon’s Making Faces is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I also recently read her book What the Wind Knows and loved it. She writes beautiful sweeping stories that really draw you in and make you feel so deeply for the characters. When I heard she was releasing this book, however, centering around Norse mythology, I was really hesitant to pick it up. It did not sound at all interesting to me. But after seeing all the floods of five star reviews I gave it a shot. And like always – a beautifully written story. But I also felt like the plot ebbed and flowed a bit more than it should have. I was so interested and suddenly I didn’t really know or care about what was going on. Near the end of the book when the action really gets intense, I honestly had no clue what was happening. I loved the characters, though, and they really make the story sing. I liked the book a lot, but it also took me FOREVER to read, which is a pretty indicator that it can never be a five star book for me.

Baking Me Crazy by Karla Sorensen
Rating: 4 stars

There has been a lot of hype for Penny Reid fans about this series of Smartypants Romance books where other authors wrote stories about other characters in the Green Valley/Winston Brothers world. This was the first to release in the next two months and I hope to read all of them, soon after release date to keep up with all the online discussions. I was excited about this one because it’s supposed to be about the bakery and a baker. Though if you’re looking for a book where baking is featured highly, this is not it. Joss is a paraplegic who gets a job in the Donner Bakery. Her best friend Levi has been secretly in love with her for the last five years since the day he met her and she told him she was only ready to have a friend. This friends to lovers romance is sweet and tender and I enjoyed it. But I also found myself mildly bored by it in parts. Though that’s probably more my own fault than the book’s as I seem to be having an extremely hard time getting through them this month! Overall, it was a strong start to this unique series of books and I’m excited to check out more of them as they are released.

The Whisper Man by Alex North
Rating: 3.5 stars

This is the first “creepy” seasonal book I finally made myself pick up this month. I was a little apprehensive about reading it because I don’t like horror and I don’t like books about terrible things happening to kids. But it had a lot of great reviews so I read it anyway. And…it wasn’t what I was expecting. I was almost relieved that the creepy/horror factor was honestly so minimal, I don’t know why so many people were making such a fuss about it. It really wasn’t even much of a thriller. More of a high stakes yet mild mystery novel. Overall, the book is much more about the complexity of relationships between fathers and sons. I enjoyed that part too – especially because I felt like I could relate to the main character, Tom, and how disconnected he sometimes felt from his six year old son, Jake. Overall, it was a good story. I just couldn’t muster up a ton of excitement over it. Again, like every book this month, it took me SO long to finish.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Lefanu
Rating: 4 stars

Okay, this is cheating a little bit, because I listened to a theatrical audio retelling of this book rather than listening to the actual text – though a friend said they were very similar. I was hoping to add another scary title to my October book list, and this was about two hours long – perfect for a morning at my sewing machine. And I liked it! I guess I’ve never read any class vampire fiction before now, but I was amazed at how may similarities this novella had to the tv show Vampire Diaries. For that reason alone I was kind of tickled by the entire story. I also enjoyed listening to it as Rose Leslie and David Tennant were the two main actors in the audio version. Who wouldn’t want to listen to them?! I guess I don’t have much else to say about it, other than that I enjoyed it. It wasn’t scary, but I can see how it might have been if read in the era it was written.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Rating: 3.5 stars

I wasn’t very great about recording my books and reviews immediately after finishing a book this month. The completion of this one almost escaped my attention entirely. I remember enjoying it, but it was apparently also quite forgettable. I’m always up for a book about people who love books and that aspect of this story was fun. But I had a hard time distinguishing what the book was really supposed to be about when there seemed to be so many main focuses. I LOVED the storyline of her new eccentric family members. And I was disappointed that a love interest was thrown in, but had very little to do with the story as a whole. Overall, it was a good book. Just definitely not a favorite.

Weight Expectations by M.E. Carter
Rating: 3 stars

Here’s another book written in Penny Reid’s fictional world, by a different author. This book overlapped with Penny’s Knitting in the City series – of which I’ve only read one book and didn’t particularly care for. But there were a lot of great early reviews for this one, so I was excited about reading it. Unfortunately, it really kind of fell flat. The entire book is about a man who is the epitome of health and obsessed with keeping himself in great shape so he can enjoy mindless one night stands with total bimbos. Until he meets Rian, an overweight woman whose doctor just told her she better get healthy if she wants to stay alive. This came at about the exact same time my doctor basically told me the same thing, so at the beginning of the book I really enjoyed Rian’s journey of starting to work out and finding new ways to eat healthier. But then it just took over everything and I got so tired of reading the same redundant plotlines again and again. I probably should have DNF’d the book, but I feel oddly loyal to this series of Smartypants Romances and think I need to read and finish them all. It definitely wasn’t a favorite, though.

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
Rating: 4 stars

Earlier this year Christina Lauren released the book The Unhoneymooners and it was immediately one of my all time favorite swoony books. Snappy dialog, intense chemistry, and a lot of laughs. I was really hoping this book would be in a similar vein – and it’s not. So if you’re looking for pure fun, you won’t find it here. But you will find a sweet and forgiving love story between two flawed and hurt characters. They meet while they are young for a very brief but intense connection on a London vacation. Then one turns against the other and they don’t see each other for another 14 years when life brings them back together. I wasn’t enthralled by this book, but I had to remind myself that not every romance needs to also be a romantic comedy. With that in mind, it was a solid 4 star story.

Half Baked Harvest Super Simple by Tieghan Gerard
Rating: 5* stars

Half Baked Harvest is my all time favorite food blog. You are guaranteed to find the most amazing, creative, flavor bomb filled recipes – and incredible photographs to go with them. I make recipes I’ve taken from that blog more than any other – they’re fantastic. A year or two ago, Tieghan released her first cookbook and I of course immediately bought it. I went through it – and then it went on the shelf. I’m not sure I’ve ever made a single recipe from it. She makes a ton of great food, but a lot of it is fairly complicated with a ton of ingredients – it’s kind of intimidating when you just need a quick meal for your family. I was a little more apprehensive about her second cookbook, but bought it as well. And I’m so glad I did! This cookbook is incredible. I bookmarked almost every single recipe. Everything looks delicious and still maybe a bit more complicated than most “simple” cookbooks, I think it’ll be worth my time and effort. I’m almost a little overwhelmed at how many things look tasty that I don’t know where to begin in checking them off. My only complaint is that she uses her favorite ingredients in a lot of recipes. If it’s a flavor you don’t like or an ingredient you don’t have access to, it’s a bit of a turnoff. For example, she uses a lot of basil and pesto – flavors I can’t stand. She also uses a lot of burrata cheese – something I have only ever seen at Trader Joe’s (an hour away in the most inconvenient of locations) – and I go to a lot of different grocery stores! Every time she uses burrata in one of her blog recipes I wonder how SHE has access to it in her rural mountain area! But I’m sure there are plenty of substitutions you could make to create the perfect meal for your family. I’m extremely excited about working my way through this cookbook and finding some new favorites!

What I Read September 2019

Whew, I am really dragging my feet on finishing up my September blog posts! I don’t always feel that inspired to write about the tv shows and movies (so redundant most of the time), but I love writing about books! I finally have a chunk of time and no excuses, so it’s time to get this done!

I read 13 books in September. In August, my goal was to read 15 books which was supposed to make me prioritize reading at every opportunity, but really just sent me trying to find the shortest and fastest way to accomplish that goal. Number goals for something so important to me – not a good idea! Well, except for my Goodreads yearly challenge of 100 books which I’m definitely always going to meet, so it doesn’t stress me out. Anyway, in September I just wanted to pick the books that called to me and enjoy them. So it’s kind of surprising I still finished so many, but two were on audio (!), one was a cookbook, one was a super short graphic novel, and one was a re-read. All of which were pretty speedy. Most of the books were pretty middle of the road this month, but a few stood out as being more than worth your time.

Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy (audiobook)
Rating: 4.5 stars

I spent so much time deliberating on what my 100th book of the year should be and then I spontaneously picked up this audiobook and listened to it in a day, beating out the fiction book I so carefully picked out for the occasion. It was so worth it, though! I really, really loved this book. As someone who almost never listens to audiobooks because I have such a hard time paying attention (why are podcasts so much easier?!), I had no problems staying intensely focused on this book. It helps that it’s less than 3 hours long! I’ve had the physical copy of this book on my shelf for YEARS and probably never would have gotten around to actually reading it, so I’m really glad I chose to get it on audio (one of the very few interesting “available now” options from the library). Brian Tracy laid this book out so simply and straight to the point, making it both personable, relatable, and interesting. My only problem with the book is that it’s very much geared toward people with typical white collar office jobs – and it’s not marketed that way. I had to spend a lot of time trying to translate everything he said into how it could apply to me in my personal life and my work from home running an entire business by myself life. It’s also always a sore point to me when someone says the answer to some of your problems is to delegate, delegate, delegate. They never takes into consideration that other people could be delegating to you, and what do you do then?? Delegation just isn’t an option either when you run everything on your own. At any rate, I found all the principles in this book invaluable. I was actually quite pleased to know that so many of the ideas are actually instinctual to me, I just don’t often follow them. I’m excited to put what I’ve learned into practice and see how much it will change my life!

God-Shaped Hole by Tiffanie Debartolo
Rating: 3 stars

I had such high expectations for this book. It was featured at Book Bonanza with some raving endorsements from Colleen Hoover, so it’s the only book I outright bought when I was there. And…I didn’t really like it. It’s hard to read a book that you know from page one it will not have a happy ending. Where is the joy in that? I also thought the main character’s instant connection and silly obsessions with each other was kind of sickening. I mean, it was just so ooey gooey and unrealistic to me. I can’t stand most of the weird quirks people have. The writing is great and I obviously enjoyed it enough to see it through. But it was not what I was hoping for.

To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer
Rating: 5* stars

This is the first middle grade book I’ve read in my adult life (granted, there haven’t been many) that I absolutely adored. You all know I’m a total sucker for epistolary novels – books made up entirely of letters and emails. That, and a handful of great reviews, are the reason I picked this up at a recent Barnes and Noble sale (gotta love those special editions). It’s the story of two 12 year old girls who find out that their gay dads are long distance dating each other and they come up with a plan to break them up. The more they write, however, the more curious they become about the other and reluctantly start forming a friendship. Their letters to each other reminded me so much of my own longest standing friendship, that is almost entirely conducted through emails at this point in our lives. The whole thing just made me so happy. I was emotionally invested in ways that surprised me. I was crying near the end. It was just such a beautiful book about friendship and family. I suggested it to Caden as soon as I was done and he actually really loved it too. It’s not the typical book he’d pick up on his own, so I was impressed he couldn’t seem to put it down. Highly, highly recommend!

Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke
Rating: 3.5 stars

In this book a girl who got kicked out of her senior year of high school (for attempting suicide) decides to take classes at the local community college to get her diploma. In order to have a place to live, and to give herself a true fresh start, she applies and gets in a local reality tv show competition where she lives in a house with a group of people and the last one in the house at the end wins a small scholarship and a car. This book was somewhat unique because the entire thing is told through Jane’s journal entries. But she still plays out conversations that she has with everyone, so it doesn’t feel exactly like a journal. But you also feel distanced from everything that is actually happening, and that bothered me a bit. I was definitely intrigued enough to want to read as often as possible, but at the same time – it wasn’t really the most exciting of books. I wish I could have felt a deeper connection to all the other characters. I did enjoy it, it just won’t be very memorable in the long run. (Case in point, writing this a few weeks after reading it, I had NO recollection what it was about until I re-read my summary (which I write immediately after I finish books and save up for this end of the month post, in case you were wondering!))

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
Rating: 4 stars

This is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale – which really meant nothing to me because I’ve never even heard of that tale before. Twelve daughters are seemingly cursed as one by one they die under mysterious circumstances. The eight remaining sisters decide to put aside their mourning clothes after years of wearing black and being forced to stay inside their castle in order to go to magical balls every night, dancing through shoes and shoes. The story is told from sixth daughter, Annaleigh’s view. Overall, I thought this was a really interesting and well written book. There were a few minor things that bothered me – for example, we never learned half of the sisters’ ages, including Annaleigh’s. It seemed like details worth mentioning. I’m also not accustomed to reading fairy tales and was confused as to what sort of time period this took place in and wondered why there were ghosts, magic, gods, etc. It felt like an odd mix of fantasy elements that didn’t exactly go together. Things did get a little crazy and hard to follow at the end, but I really liked Annaleigh and the friendship bond between the sisters, which is what compelled me to stay up late every night trying to fit in one more chapter. It was a good book!

Antoni in the Kitchen by Antoni Porowski
Rating: 4 stars

I’m a little obsessed with Queer Eye right now and jumped at the chance to buy Antoni’s new cookbook. And overall, I liked it! I enjoyed learning a little bit more about Antoni’s life, as he’s notoriously known as the most private of the group. I did find it a little amusing that there just might be more photos of Antoni walking or shopping or just standing and staring at things than there are of the food. Though most of the recipes do have a photo as well, which I always appreciate. For MY tastes, this isn’t the type of cookbook I’d generally keep around. A lot of Polish flavors, a lot of pastas, a lot of seafood. I only bookmarked a couple of main dishes I could actually see myself making at some point. But the appetizers and sides really appealed to me. This is definitely a HEALTHY cookbook. And to be honest, I don’t often refer to those types of cookbooks when I’m searching for dinner ideas. But all of Antoni’s recipes were simple, intriguing, and looked tasty enough that I’d be willing to give them a shot. I still don’t see myself using the cookbook all the time, but I’m excited to experiment with many of the vegetable ideas – I’m sure anything than our typical throw bags of raw carrots and peppers on the table every night would be an improvement!

Frankly in Love by David Yoon
Rating: 3 stars

It took me forever to finish this book. Which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad book – it just was not what I was expecting or hoping for. One of the things that kept distracting me probably more than it should have was wondering why certain words were spelled differently and why the formatting was always switching up. It didn’t MAKE SENSE to me, and it kept catching me off guard and upset the flow of the story. This YA “love story” is very, very much about what it means to be Korean-American with parents who only want you to associate with other Koreans. It made me sad to see what a limited relationship the kids could have with the parents who barely spoke any English. Why did the parents not teach Korean to their children? I guess what I’m saying with this review is that there were so many things that kept distracting me that I never really felt invested in the actual story. It was okay. But I regret buying it ahead of time with the expectation it was going to be amazing. I’m just a sucker for unique books (blue edging) and pretty covers.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (re-read)
Rating: 4.5 stars

I first read this book in 2013 and also gave it a 4.5 star rating. It’s been so long that I really didn’t remember the story at all. I found a special edition of it at Half Priced Books earlier this year and picked it up with the intention of re-reading it before I planned on re-reading Carry On before the release of Wayward Son this month. And I’m really glad I did! What struck me most about this re-read is how similar in personality Cath and I are. With the exception of writing fanfiction, we’re almost identical, especially with how I was as a freshman in college. It was a bit unnerving! I liked watching her grow over her first year and enjoyed all the supporting characters. Levi is just so loveable! Except for that one scene – you know what I’m talking about. That one part of the story is basically the reason this book is knocked half a star down. It felt inauthentic to his character and was never really explained or justified, which bothered me. I do kind of wish there was LESS fanfiction in this book because it had the opposite effect I was hoping for and now I’m less excited about re-reading Carry On because I already feel like I got my fill of Simon and Baz in Fangirl. But overall, a really great book. Rainbow Rowell is so fantastic at writing characters!

Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
Rating: 4 stars

This book was really getting a lot of buzz recently in my facebook book club as a wonderful book to read in fall. Because I’ve recently fallen in love with similar books, I bought the duel volume and gave it a shot. I will definitely admit that reading a book written in 1907 was initially really hard for me. Contemporary books are my wheelhouse. But once I got into the rhythm of things, I really enjoyed this short book revolving around the love of books, adventure, and finding joy in your life no matter what age you are. It did take me three days to read a 152 page book, which felt a little ridiculous. But it was sweet and amusing and can definitely see myself picking it up for a re-read in falls to come.

Big Sexy Love by Kirsty Greenwood
Rating: 4 stars

Need a laugh out loud feel good break from the more serious books you’ve been reading? This is your remedy. While I didn’t ADORE it, this was still very funny, sweet, and a little sad. And contrary to what the title makes you believe, it’s really not about romantic love. The main character’s naivety was a little over the top and ridiculous at times, but it made for some crazy storyline. I enjoyed this book a lot.

The Worrier’s Guide to Life by Gemma Correll
Rating: 3 stars

This was one of a handful of graphic novels recommended on a book list of being great for adults. I ended up requesting all of them from the library and then once again lost interest in actually looking at the graphic novels. But I had a brief break between books and picked up this one – the shortest of the pile. It was a FAST read. Maybe 20 minutes? It was amusing. I think the illustrations would have been funnier seen on their own instead of in a compilation. It wasn’t an actual story, but individual full page drawings of different things people worry about. I wasn’t exactly in the greatest headspace when I read this, so I found it to be a little bit more depressing that it was intended to be. But I laughed as well.

Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness (audiobook)
Rating: 5 stars

I’m going to insist that you listen to this particular book on audio. I can’t imagine possibly getting such an authentic experience without listening to Jonathan read his own words. What a life story! It’s another example of how you can see a certain side of someone, but honestly have NO CLUE what they’ve been through in their life. I loved getting this deeper look into Jonathan’s past and all the pain and trauma he has overcome to be the person he is today. I also just had to laugh so many times – he has SUCH personality. The book itself was about six hours on audio and I listened to it over the course of three days. I was interested and captive throughout the whole thing. I highly recommend reading his story. The only downside is that he writes very little about Queer Eye. But I can understand the decision since it’s still something he’s currently involved with. I would love to get a more in depth behind the scenes look of their group dynamic at some point, though!

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore
Rating: 5 stars

Historical fiction is NOT my genre. I was hesitant to get this as my most recent BOTM pick, but it sounded the most intriguing and I’ll usually choose the book that sounds the most romantic out of the limited five choices each month (because those are the books I’m most likely to want to keep around and re-read at some point). And shockingly, this was filled with fun and laughter and sassy comebacks and steamy encounters. It was NOT the prim and proper, dry tale of stuffy relationships that I think of when historical fiction comes to mind. I loved that so much of this book focused on the character interactions instead of the plot (women’s suffrage in the late 19th century England). I love character interaction. Anyway, I plowed through this in two days and would definitely recommend it.

What I Read July 2019

It was a pretty good reading month! One delicious cookbook, one amazing nonfiction book that I think all women should be required to read, one beautiful book of poetry, three five star fiction picks, and a few good to okay reads. It was a nice variety! I’m excited to share them with you tonight.

Before I jump in, though, I just wanted to clarify my rating system again. I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the last few months and have decided to become a lot more forgiving in what I’ll rate a book. It’s really become clear to me how much ratings and positive reviews affect the success of a book and I don’t want to be part of a negative group of people that brings a book down unless I genuinely hated it. As a small business owner who depends on high ratings to draw in more customers, I would be devastated if the people who bought my dolls left me anything less than a 5 star review when I put so much of my time, heart, and soul into my creations. The same is true for authors – or at least the majority of them. So I want to be a little more willing to look past parts of a storyline that maybe just didn’t agree with me and give a book a rating I think it probably deserves. As always, I reserve the special 5* rating for the books I absolutely adore because they touched my heart, made me laugh, made me cry, and I’d definitely read them again. If I really loved a book I’ll give it a 5. If I liked a book and didn’t find anything significantly wrong with it I’ll give it a 4. If I thought a book was just okay, but I didn’t have a problem finishing it, I’ll give it a 3. If I hated a book, but still finished it, I’ll give it a 2. And that’s really as low as I’ll go. I feel like some people (I pay a lot of attention to reviews, particularly those of people I follow on goodreads and on podcasts and facebook) take pride in how harshly they judge the books they read. And I don’t want to be that kind of person. Authors are real people and they deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the very hard work that goes into not only writing, but publishing their written words.

Pimento Cheese: The Cookbook by Perre Coleman Magness
Rating: 5* stars

This may very well be my favorite specialty cookbook of all time. I was absolutely tickled to randomly come across it at Half Priced Books. A whole cookbook about pimento cheese?! Incredible! I LOVE pimento cheese. Growing up in Wisconsin, it’s definitely not a thing around here. I’d never even heard of it until I tried The Pioneer Woman’s recipe on peppers (it’s delish) just a couple of years ago. I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. I also recently tried the recipe from The Happy Cookbook and loved it with all the spicy extras. But this cookbook! I marked down almost every single recipe as being something I wanted to try. Just the number of variations alone is exciting. But all the additional ways you can use the cheese really sounded great. I immediately gathered a bunch of smoked cheeses I had open in the fridge to create the Smoky Bacon Pimento Cheese – and proceeded to scarf down a ton of it on fresh farmers market bread. Another huge draw is that I believe every single recipe had a beautiful accompanying photo – the best part of any cookbook. Honestly, I am so very excited to use this cookbook again and again. Highly recommend if you love pimento (or any) cheese as much as me!

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon
Rating: 4 stars

Amy Harmon is another Book Bonanza author, so her books have been on my radar a lot in the last year. Even though her book Making Faces is one of the best books I’ve ever read, I kept dismissing this newest release because it’s historical fiction – a genre I tend to avoid unless a book is getting a massive amount of buzz. I finally got around to reading the description and realized it was set in Ireland, my favorite place in the world, and decided to give it a shot. Overall – a beautiful and well written story with a tiny bit of fantasy around unexplained time travel. Where the book lost me, however, was how in depth it got about the political climate in Ireland around 1921. I can’t stand reading about politics. Apparently even in my beloved Ireland. It’s definitely essential to the story, but just wasn’t for me. It took me a pretty long time to finish this, but I loved the sweeping saga of love and family and staying connected throughout time.

Loving Mr. Daniels by Brittainy C. Cherry
Rating: 3 stars

I was on a roll with teacher/student romances last month – and this is another Book Bonanza author – so I picked it up. The difference with this book compared to the ones I read last month is that this was a romance between a high school teacher and high school student. Most definitely off limits – not just frowned upon. I had very mixed feelings on it. Ashlyn is a 19 year old senior whose twin sister just died and she’s sent to live with her estranged father and his new family. On the train to her new life she meets Daniel and they have an instant connection. Until they realize he’s her teacher. I really struggled with finding things to like about Ashlyn. Yes, she was grieving and grief makes you act in unpredictable and perhaps childish ways. But she was so snotty! And Daniel. Yes, he seemed like an adorable hero with plenty of his own grief – way more than anybody should have to live with at that young of an age. But I couldn’t get past how little he tried to protect both Ashlyn and himself with their forbidden romance. Basically the only thing I liked about this book was the new family. I loved them. So overall – not that great of a book.

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
Rating: 3.5 stars

More mixed emotions on this one. I read it very quickly, but I had some serious issues trying see Elouise as anything more than a crazy annoying child that is obsessed with making the world bend to her wishes. But the story was packed with summer nostalgia of working a high school job in a small town. I did find it a bit unbelievable that so many of the high schoolers in such a tiny town were so fluid in their gender identification. MAYBE that’s how things are now – but I kind of doubt it. It just made everything a bit too convenient. At any rate, as annoying as Lou was, I really adored how everything came together in the end.

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
Rating: 5 stars

If you’re looking for a truly realistic love story between two amazingly written characters, this is it. I loved Josh and Kristen so much. They meet through their best friends, Kristen hires Josh to help her out with some carpentry for her business, and they become the greatest of friends. They both long for something deeper, but know it can never happen – Josh wants kids and Kristen’s about to get a hysterectomy. I admit I was a little bit surprised at just how much Kristen’s periods and bleeding issues featured in the book, but I appreciated how true to life that actually was. Not some steamy romance where everyday things like that just somehow don’t exist. I was definitely frustrated that the entire thing keeping them apart could have been figured out if Kristen had just STOPPED KEEPING HER SECRET. It’s infuriating sometimes when a single sentence could clear up everything. But then you probably wouldn’t have a book. Anyway, this story is shockingly emotional, but I loved it so much.

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
Rating: 4 stars

I really enjoyed this nuanced look into the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. This is the first book I’ve read by Sally Hepworth and it was so well done. The subtleties of the family dynamic and relationships felt so realistic. The book itself goes back and forth in time from the perspective of both Diana and Lucy. I believe this book is marketed as a psychological thriller, but you won’t be getting any insane twists and turns. It’s just interesting enough to keep you reading. I really enjoyed it.

Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
Rating: 4.5 stars

As you might know, I really struggle with nonfiction books. I WANT to read them. I can’t stop finding and buying more that sound life changingly incredible. But if they’re not abundantly interesting, relatable, and easy to read – I barely ever get past the first chapter or two. This started as one of those books, but I kept hearing so much buzz that I didn’t want to give up on it. And I’m so glad I didn’t! This felt like the kind of reading every woman alive should be given. It discussed stress and adequate rest, and well, burnout, better than anything I have ever read before. There were so many visualizations in the book that helped me understand things that have only ever been vague concepts before. BUT, there is also a lot of science in this book. That’s the point – using science to prove these concepts. And I don’t like reading about sciency things. Fortunately, there was enough other stuff to keep me intrigued. And while it did take me two months to finish, I’m so very glad I did.

The Summer of Chasing Dreams by Holly Martin
Rating: 5* stars

This was the perfect happily ever after book to read on a stormy summer day with nothing else to do. I loved it so much! Cover designer Eva is bequeathed a large sum of money after her mother’s death and she decides to use it to take a round the world trip, checking things off a list of her mom’s dreams. She books everything through a company that will provide an escort to keep her safe and on task during her travels. By a twist of fate she ends up traveling with Danish hunk, Thor, who she feels an immediate spark with. And together they travel the world. I wasn’t expecting so much exciting adventure in the pages of this book. It was such a joy to read. I’ve loved all of Holly Martin’s books and this one was especially sweet with such wonderfully endearing characters! It was a perfect summer romance.

A Love Letter from the Girls Who Feel Everything by Brittainy C. Cherry and Kandi Steiner
Rating: 4 stars

Brittainy Cherry has been on my radar as another Book Bonanza author (they’ve really taken over my reading life the last few months!) and author of Loving Mr. Daniels which I read earlier this month. I was intrigued by this slim book of poetry – different from both author’s romance novels. I read it in a single very short sitting and probably would have benefited from picking it up time to time for a more impactful reading experience. But I’m antsy to up my book totals for this month and was happy to read it all at once! Anyway, I still struggle with much like Rupi Kaur’s poetry, a single sentence can be given a few line breaks and then it becomes a worthwhile publishable poem. I read poetry VERY rarely, and if it makes an impact that’s all that should count, right? But sometimes it just feels a little too easy. At any rate, I really enjoyed these poems. I couldn’t relate to many of them because they were very obviously about past relationships and men who have hurt them. But the universal feeling of betrayal and rejection is widespread and I could definitely appreciate the emotion behind them. If you do like Rupi Kaur’s poetry, I think these would be a great book to pick up with a similar writing style!

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
Rating: 2 stars

I did not like this book. Let me save you the trouble of picking it up and tell you that the entire book is about fighting the logistics of dating a super famous British boy bander. With a lot of struggle thrown in because the heroine is twice his age and mom of a tween girl who idolizes the band members. I kept reading because I somehow expected something to change and the book wouldn’t literally be a same reiteration of the same idea paragraph after paragraph, chapter after chapter. I was actually about to DNF around 40% when something intriguing happened, but it was barely ever brought up again. I did not like Solene. She felt entitled and lived a life of luxury to begin with that was so far from most people’s reality. I liked Hayes, but I didn’t feel like he was genuinely given that much personality. I wish I hadn’t wasted five days of my reading time finishing this book.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Rating: 5 stars

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how much I would like this book. I don’t particularly like reading about teenage moms because the assumption is that they really don’t have their lives together and the whole book will revolve around that particular struggle. I picked it up anyway because it’s about food and a love of cooking and that line of story will always pull me in. And honestly, I loved this book. It was genuinely inspirational how together and positive the character Emoni was. I fell in love with her unconventional little family and her supportive friends. Her take on motherhood and being there for her daughter while still finishing high school, working, and participating in a rigorous culinary arts course kind of put me to shame! It was a beautiful book and I’m so glad I picked it up.