What I’ve Read the Past Couple Months
Of course, these are my reviews and opinions, and everyone has their own thoughts and ideas about what makes a good or bad book, which is why the world has no shortage of books! Everyone enjoys something different. But these are my thoughts, in my little corner of the world! Thanks for humoring me and reading along.
I’d love to hear from you in the comments about anything you’ve read lately and what you thought - the good, the bad, the ugly, and the DNFs!
The last time I did a book review update was this one. Check it out in case you missed it!
Into The Blue by Emma Brodie. 5/5 stars! This book quickly became the pre-release "it book" for summer reading lists, and I remember in the spring the bookfluencers all talking about it. And it became a Reese's Book Club book, and it's One of the Best Books of the Year on Amazon with nearly 140,000 Goodreads reviews. Normally when a book is so hyped, I cringe because it can almost never live up. But this did. It was so good!
I also was worried because I don't like sci-fi, galaxy talk or anything of that nature (for example Atmosphere was my max) and the cover of this book as well as some nonspoiler reviews focus on that and I was worried. But worry not, this is a SLOW BURN love story first and foremost.
It's got friends to lovers (enemies? to lovers even at points), second chance (and then some) romance, forced proximity, all the tropes that made for an excellent, long, drawn out love story spanning 13+ years.
Make no mistake, this book is long at 433 pages or 15+ hours of listening length. Julia Whelan, the GOAT, narrates it flawlessly and I wouldn't expect anything less from the best audiobook narrator of our time. I listen at 1.8-2.2x speed depending on the book and even still, this was a solid 8 hours for me. I probably walked 50k steps during this book, not kidding, and I adored it.
I had never read anything by this author and her writing was incredible. At times Noah made me so mad, I was so frustrated by him, but I also loved him so much. AJ is every girl, every girl who's wondered what the guy you have a crush on is thinking and why or what is going through his head. I'd say go into this book to be entertained thoroughly and if you've ever been an actor or wanted to be, I think you'll enjoy it just that much more.
This is where this post starts to remind me of my recent post about books I DNF’ed. Check it out to avoid my true duds. Not trying to be negative, just honest!
Hollywood Ending by John Green. 3/5 stars and that is ONLY because Julia Whelan narrates it and took the beginning and end of the book; the middle is narrated by a guy who was umm...no Julia Whelan.
This is a new release, my book club picked it, and the author John Green also wrote Everything is Tuberculosis which got a culty following and tons of press earlier this year. I think I’d prefer to read about TB than his Hollywood book.
We have two Hollywood actors, brought together to make a movie, and there’s chemistry and secrets.
The book began for me, eerily similar to Into The Blue (see above), also narrated by Julia Whelan, also about two actors, and chemistry, and some secrets and unraveling. That book is a Reese’s Book Club book and if you’re going to pick between Hollywood and Into the Blue, pick Into The Blue! It was so much better, despite having similar premises, storyline in parts, and the same narrator!
Abby Offsides by Anna McCallie. 3/5 stars - for what it is - because it’s not much in the way of substance. But before you think it’s going to be a steamy sizzler, it’s not and the author wrote the “steamy” scenes pretty closed door.
If you follow me for book reviews, you may recall that I really don't enjoy traditional romance-fiction, rom-com type books, or anything with a meet-cute because they're….just boring and predictable but a book influencer gave it a great review and it’s been on my TBR for months. It’s fine, and it happens to currently be $1.99 on Kindle! So if you like a this vibe of book you may like it more than I did.
The premise here is that woman gets cheated on by her fiance, calls off the wedding, and decides to start over. She moves from New York to England on a one-way ticket for a fresh start and her job is working for a football (soccer) team in PR or social media, and she's surrounded by hot, athletic, buff soccer players. You can see where this is going. There is one little fact about the leading man he forgot to disclose. I’ll leave it at that!
ACOTAR (A Court of Thorn and Roses) Book 1 by Sarah J. Maas. was my first and it will be my last. I hate to rate it with stars because there are people for whom this series, these worlds, these books are their literal everything and I don’t want to yuck their yum.
It took me 10 years to read the first book in this cult favorite, ultra popular fantasy series but it's just not for me.
I finally caved because Book 6 just came out and Book 7 comes out January 12. So I thought ok maybe I can jump onto a bandwagon. But no, it's a no for me because I don't want fake things, worlds, people transforming into part-animal, and while there is a love story that unfolds, I feel zero sense of any pull to want to continue.
Because in order to get the love story part, I had to endure all that weirdness and fantasy. When it comes down to it, I am far too analytical, critical, and very rooted in the world we live in and I don't relate - and don't care, don't have time for, and don't want to spend my limited free time on books or stories that just don't grab me. And so it's clear, I am not a fantasy reader!
Give me all the thrillers and mysteries, historical fiction, fiction, erotic weird, autobiographies and memoirs, and nonfiction instead!
Currently Reading
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. This is a book my book club picked but it has been on my TBR because I like historical fiction.
What had scared me off was the 640 pages or nearly 29 hours of listening at normal speed! This is a case where 1 Audible credit is TOTALLY worth it! It’s 1 credit whether the book is 5 hours or 29 hours.
It reminds me of anything Kristin Hannah. Long.
However, I’m listening at 2x speed and got it down to a “mere” 15 hours. I’m about an hour in and so far, I like it. I like it more than anything else I’ve read or listened to in awhile. I’m barely into it but the premise is that the Calamity Club is formed by a group of orphan girls in an orphanage in Mississippi in 1933.
I like that there are multiple narrators, although so far I’ve only heard one girl’s voice, and she’s nailing 12 year old girl vibes without sounding like an actress pretending to be a child with a weird, cringey, fake-kid voice. You know that voice, and no way anyone can do 15 or 29 hours of that.
The writing it witty and funny and I have a feeling I’m really going to get into this one. It is giving Briar Club by Kate Quinn vibes which is currently FREE so grab it!
And here’s my review on the Briar Club which was a total 5-star read for me!
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