Show Us Your Books

Hip hip hooray, it's book lover's day! Ok so maybe I'm a day late, but que sera sera. I actually read quite a bit in December/beginning of January and after several really great reads, I'm  still on a reading roll- huzzah! Here's what I read and what's on deck. 


Do This For Me- Eliza Kennedy: 3 Stars
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. 

I nearly got whiplash from the rate at which this woman goes from seemingly normal to straight up crazypants. After discovering that her husband has cheated on her, she sets about methodically ruining every aspect of his life. Though I found the process of her finding herself and sorting through her emotions and thoughts a bit slow-moving, I liked how well-developed and relatable Raney was and really enjoyed the story as a whole. 

"I don't want to be that woman, Doctor Bogard."
"What woman?"
"You know the woman. The one who's husband betrays her, humiliates her, disrespects her- and she stays. The one we've seen at a thousand press conferences, standing stone-faced as her dearly beloved apologizes to the world for whatever deceitful, depraved thing he did. That's not my story, Doctor. I reject that narrative. But..."

"We are mysteries to ourselves. We don't know anything. And maybe that's okay."


The Deal of a Lifetime: a novella- Fredrik Backman: 4 Stars
library hardback

I'm not a fan of Christmas stories so I was wary of picking this up (what with the Christmas tree on the cover), but it was so short and I wanted to see if I really didn't enjoy Backman's writing style or if I just started A Man Called Ove at the wrong time. I'm happy to say it was the latter. I read this in an hour and it pulled at my Grinchy little heartstrings. 

Little Fires Everywhere- Celeste Ng: 5 Stars

library e-book

This was the first I've read by Celeste Ng, and I finally understand all the hype. Do you know how many books I give 5 Stars to? Approximately 2 per year. Maybe I'm too hard on books?! Anyway, I loved how this story unfolded. I loved the writing style and language. I loved how it tackled a very difficult and realistic issue and the different viewpoints the story was told from. I wish that some of the side stories wrapped up differently, but I understand why they did not. I will definitely be picking up Ng's other novel!

Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs- Beth Ann Fennellly: 2 Stars

library hardback

Meh. I love memoirs, but I only liked 6/52 of these, and 5 of them were the "Married Love" series. Overall I found her completely unrelatable, pretentious, and downright boring, and like she was trying too hard to be funny. I was relieved when it was over and thankful that it was so short. 

Tell The Wolves I'm Home- Carol Rifka Burnt: 4 Stars

So. Many. Feelings. 

It took me a long time after reading to fully process this one. I liked how it described different kinds of love, even if some of them made me slightly uncomfortable. It was heartbreaking and heavy and had so many beautifully written passages, but I didn't feel like I truly connected to or even liked any of the characters other than maybe Finn and Toby.  

"Don't you know? That's the secret. If you always make sure you're exactly the person you hoped to be, if you always make sure you only know the very best people, then you won't care if you die tomorrow." (p 194)

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Also, after some careful consideration, I've decided that I will participate in Erin's 8.0 Challenge. I was on the fence because I don't like being rushed to read a certain number of books within a certain time period, but I also love a challenge! If you're unfamiliar with Erin's Challenge, the details are on Goodreads and Facebook. So far there are 87 participants! Here's what I'm hoping to read this time around.

(5) Freebie: The Invoice- Jonas Karlsson

(10) Starts with "L": Little Fires Everywhere- Celeste Ng

(10) Red Cover: Me Before You- Jojo Moyes

(15) Name of Character in Title: Where'd You Go, Bernadette?- Maria Sempe (currently reading)

(20) Plot Twist from this list: Here Comes The Sun- Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

(20) House/Home in Title: Tell The Wolves I'm Home- Carol Rifka Brunt

(25) Author with Double Initials: The Accidental Life of Greg Millar- Aimee Alexander

(30) Originally Printed in Different Language: The Lioness of Morocco- Julia Drosten

(30) Form of Transportation(road trip): Perfect Days- Raphael Montes

(35) Physical Illness: Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl- Jesse Andrews

Linking up with Steph and Jana!