Mini Review| Young Adult

A lot has been going on these last few weeks (I will review all that later this month), and I’ve neglected reading. Luckily, this last week or so, I finished three books then I realized that I have failed to review any of the books I’ve read all year. Instead of reviewing each and every one individually, I figured I’ll mesh these reviews together via genre, at least as much as possible and share my quick thoughts. Enjoy! 🙂

 

 

 

The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody      Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jessica Brody is one of my favorite Young Adult authors. Her characters are so funny and witty and Ryn was no exception. And yet, I found her a bit annoying, no, frustrating. It’s understandable that after a tough loss, one would feel the need to get away, but she was just too stubborn at first and held onto things when she shouldn’t have for far too long. Still, I loved the story and thought it was well-written.

Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed      Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think this was a very important topic of Islamophobia to read, and although I think it sugar-coated the issues a bit, or maybe brushed over them, I still thought it was very well-written. The romance was cute and I thought that Maya Aziz was a strong and smart young lady with her head on straight. It was a quick and enjoyable read and I hope more books such as these get published.

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway      Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is my first Robin Benway book and after reading this, I learned that this one the National Book Award and for damn good reason. This story was so beautifully written. It was heart-breaking, it was thought-provoking, it was funny and it had a major family dynamic that I appreciated. I cried, I laughed and I loved everything about this book. This is one the reasons why I read YA Contemporary. Some stories hit you right in the feels.

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Mini Review| Contemporary Romance

A lot has been going on these last few weeks (I will review all that later this month), and I’ve neglected reading. Luckily, this last week or so, I finished three books then I realized that I have failed to review any of the books I’ve read all year. Instead of reviewing each and every one individually, I figured I’ll mesh these reviews together via genre, at least as much as possible and share my quick thoughts. Enjoy! 🙂

My Enemy Next Door by Nicole London and Whitney G

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Quick Thoughts: I am generally a big fan of Whitney G’s work, but this one fell little flat to me. Overall, the story was cute, I loved the characters even though I didn’t feel like I could relate to them, I did like the chemistry they had. I just think that there wasn’t enough detail for me. The story wrapped up too quickly for me, I think if there was a little more to their connection, I probably would have loved it even more. Still, a funny and quick read.

 

 

Over Us, Over You by Whitney G.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Quick Thoughts: Another Whitney G book! Like I said, I love her writing, and I don’t know if it’s because she’s working on multiple books at once, but again, this one was another bland read. This one was a much sweeter read for me. It has so much potential to have better developed and in depth characters, but it was just another one of those typical romance stories. It was funny, as all her books are, but it got a little too cheesy for me at some points. But as always, I wpuld definitely recommend her books just for the witty dialogue alone.

 

 

Sex, Not Love by Vi Keeland

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Quick Thoughts: My first 5-star rating of the year! Well, it’s in between 4.75 and full on 5-stars but either way, I LOVE THIS BOOK! It was romantic, sweet, made me tear up, hilarious, sexy, steamy, everything I can ask for in a contemporary romance and more. Vi Keeland quickly became one of my go-to authors and this is the reason why. *sighs*

 

 

Gentleman Nine by Penelope Ward

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Quick Thoughts: Other than a kind-of-maybe-slight-almost there love triangle, I enjoyed every bit of this book. The dialogue never was once cheesy to me, which is a first for me because romance novels seem to always have at least one cringe-worthy moment. I was laughing out loud at work at some points and I loved Amber. She was smart, funny and having just had her heart broken, seemed to handle herself really well. And I think Channing just became my new book boyfriend 🙂

Review| Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Summary: After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other’s sentences. However, a trip to the doctor projects they will live another 68 years together and panic sets in. They never expected “until death do us part” to mean seven decades.

In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring. But in their pursuit to execute Project Surprise Me, mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that start to threaten the very foundation of their unshakable bond. When a scandal from the past is revealed that question some important untold truths, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all.

NOTE: I did receive an e-book copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thoughts: This is the first official Sophie Kinsella book that I’ve read and, to be honest, I was hoping to like it more. I have actually bought a lot of her books but for some reason haven’t gotten around to them. She comes highly recommended by a couple of BookTubers that I follow and decided I wanted to give this one try first. It was right up my alley, as the main character, Sylvie, has been married to her husband, Dan, for ten years and since my partner and I just celebrated eight years together, I figured this would be relatable. It really wasn’t.

For the most part, Sylvie and Dan are happy married and happily in love, but after being told by a therapist that he sees them together for another 68 years, realization of what feels like an eternity sets in and they panic. I personally didn’t understand that part, but didn’t think too much of it. Sylvie suggests that they start “surprising” each other, as a way to keep the spark alive. After a few silly surprises, Sylvie realizes that there may be something deeper with Dan than she might have guessed. He seems distant and she is scared that he may be pulling away from her because of the thought of spending such a long time together.

I personally couldn’t relate to the story for the most part, and maybe because I was expecting a fluffy chick-lit, the plot caught me off guard and the surprise twist just was a little too bland for me. I just didn’t care for it. I enjoyed the book, but it took me a while to get through it simply because I was bored through the beginning. I don’t see the problem of spending the rest of my life with my husband, if anything, that’s the point of marriage. Getting married means you KNOW you’re vowing to spend however long together, through sickness and health.

Overall, the book was funny, and I did enjoy Kinsella’s writing and will continue to read her books, I have actually started an audiobook of “I’ve Got Your Number”. So I’m not letting this one stop me from her other work. This one may not have been my cup of tea, but it was still full of comedy and I do recommend it if you’re looking for a sweet story to read.

 

 

Book Blogger Hop #2

About Book Blogger Hop

BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Billy at Ramblings From A Coffee Addicted Writer. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end on Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog. This week’s question was submitted by Eli @ The Book Supplier)

Question for the week of 2/24 – 3/2 – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BOOKS WITH MULTIPLE NARRATORS?

I don’t really care. It can get a little tiring after a while. For example, I’ve read quite a few books with at least two narrators so far this year and while I’m generally okay with it, after about the third book, I was a little worn out. I don’t have a preference either way and most times I like to switch it up every once in a while but reading too much of the same thing can get monotonous.

I know that I’ve also read some really good books where I would have preferred it be only one narrator, or even multiple narrators, just because I wanted to hear more of their thoughts or the thoughts of the other character.

What about you guys? Do you prefer either way or do both work for you?

 

R.

 

Weekly Update #1

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having an amazing week! It’s Friday and I decided I wanted to update you on what I’ve been reading and doing.

As far as books go, I have been reading the young adult A Totally 80’s Romance series from Addison Moore. I’m now on the second book in the series and I’m really enjoying it. Of all the decades in the last century, the 80s is by far my least favorite… besides the music, of course (which is what I grew up on thanks to my dad). But because my husband grew up in that era, he has brainwashed me and therefor I have become somewhat curious. They’re all companion novels and can be read as standalones, but I like to read them in order. They’re really cute and really funny (I could have sworn the “valley girl” talk started in the 90s because of Clueless but apparently not) and addicting. Although I’m not done with the series yet, I would definitely recommend these books for anyone looking for a good book to get them out of a reading slump or just want to enjoy a cute romance novel.

Currently, I am also listening to Amy Schumer’s The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo. I’m more than halfway through it and it is so good! I was expecting more comedy than there is, but I love this side to Amy. She’s very open and honest and I love how vulnerable she made herself seem in her memoir. I haven’t listen to an audiobook in sooo long but I got free credit on Audible so I figured I would take advantage and get some that I have been wanting to read for a while. The reason why I love the book so much, I think, is because it’s being read by the actual person who wrote it, which got me thinking that I think I would prefer listening to a biography more than Fiction or other genres because the experience of an audiobook is so much more personal when the person of which the book is about is actually reading it to you, the listener. This is just my opinion. I just started getting into audiobooks, so I’m sure I will change my mind the more I ease into it. I mean, I told myself I would never read on a tablet/eReader and now that’s all I read. I told myself I would never listen to audiobooks because I love sports radio and music too much, now look at me– that’s all I’ve been listening to!

But seriously, I love the convenience of an audiobook. I’ve been listening to it on the way to and from work/home, picking up my kids, during my lunch breaks at work… I will say though, had I been reading it, I probably would have been done with it by now, but that’s because I’m a very fast reader so I can’t complain too much about the pace of the reader.

Anyway, other than that, this week has been pretty mellow. Valentine’s day came and went like any other day in my household. Besides a very sweet surprise from my husband who brought flowers to my job and a nice and delicious dinner later that day, it was pretty calm. I’m not a Valentine’s day person (excuse me if I believe that because my birthday is in February, the month is all about ME) but my husband and I had just celebrated our anniversary (seven years strong, babyyy!) along with me and my son’s birthday so Valentine’s day is not exactly a holiday we’re particularly concerned about.

But so far February has been beautiful and mildly rainy and 2017 is off to a great start. What are you guys currently reading? Any fun plans for the weekend?

R.

Book Haul #1

I have been obsessed with classic literature lately. Not to read but to buy. Collect, actually. Hoard, if you will. I don’t have a valid reason as to this obsession other than I have an unhealthy addiction to buying books.

Or maybe because last year (and this year) I set a new year’s resolution/goal to read more classics only to come up short. Like, by a lot. This year I’m trying harder but finding it rather difficult to get through just one of those books. I’ll get through a chapter and get bored because it’s either too slow or I can’t follow and thus a reading slump immerses. I guess I want to challenge myself and I’m hoping to eventually find a good old classic work of fiction that will motivate me to read more of them, and I’ve somehow tricked myself into thinking that by buying multiple of these books that something will spark. So far, no go.

But I have found myself at yard sales, garage sales, used book stores and even swap meets digging through old books and used books and picking up random books- books I’ve read as ebooks but don’t have a physical copy, ebooks I’ve bought but haven’t read and don’t have a physical copy, books I’ve been meaning to pick up but forgotten over time, books I’ve seen across the book community but didn’t want to pay full price for, etc. etc. I’ve had good luck in finding some treasures and some I just bought on a whim. This usually happens to me around this time of the year: my birthday comes around and I go crazy with the book buying and then Spring rolls around and I’m stuck with an even larger To Be Read pile than I started the year off with and I overwhelm myself and in turn it causes up to months long reading slump that can be really hard to come out of, and I know, I do this to myself. I have no one to blame. My poor boyfriend really has no say because he’s addicted to video games like I am with my books. We each have our vices.

Anyway, here’so the proof of how bad I have it:

I think that’s 65 books just these first six weeks of 2017. I want to say that I’m done for a while, but I’m really not. Maybe I’ll stop buying in huge bulks and focus on new releases but I prefer to wait a little bit to read reviews. Other than a handful of auto-buy authors, I steer clear from new books because I’ve been let down more often than not due to the book not meeting my expectations (a.k.a “the hype”).

Anyway, I have a few books on my Kindle that I’m reading, plus my first audio book (in a very long time) that I’m really enjoying, so not one of those books in either of those pictures is on my immediate “to read” list. But tell me, what are you guys reading? Are any of you on Goodreads? Let me know what books you think I should read. Or what books you’re looking forward to this year?

Thank you for stopping by, hope you guys stick around 🙂 happy reading!

R.