October was a doozy in the book world, folks. I read FOURTEEN books {to be fair, some were super short} and they ran the gamut. We've got self-help books, thrillers, romance, books with a social impact...like I said, it's all over the place!
You've Been Volunteered by Laurie Gelman - I read Class Mom not that long ago, even though it's been out for a few years and was happy to hear there was a sequel out. We've jumped 3 years in the timeline and Jen is class mom again for her son's 3rd grade class. Hilarity ensues. I think I might have liked this one even better? It was very fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez - I can't remember where I saw this recommended but the reviews on Amazon were great, so I was excited to read it. This follows Kristen and Josh who are Maid of Honor/Best Man in a wedding. They are attracted to each other but, of course, there are complications. I liked that this jumped back and forth from Kristen and Josh's perspectives and I enjoyed the story. It wasn't perfect, but I really liked it. The one loose thread that was bothering me {about a secondary character} is getting resolved in a sequel - yay!
The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie - I used to read a lot by Jennifer Crusie and haven't in a few years. My mom got this for me at Goodwill and it was more of a short story, and it was very predictable/cheesy. If you like a very predictable romance, go for this one. If you don't, you won't be happy, ha.
Until You and Miracles by Judith McNaught - Until You follows the brother from Whitney, My Love and was a great historical romance. Miracles followed a friend and was a short story and was fine, ha. If you like romance, these are great. Again, if you don't, move along. {grin}
The Explosive Child by Ross Greene - I'm going to be writing a separate post about this book, but it has been a super eye-opening book for interacting with Trent, and I really think the strategy could apply for all parents.
Lies She Told by Cate Holahan - Another Book of the Month book I borrowed from Karin - psychological thriller about an author whose book she is currently writing starts to blend in with her real life. I saw half of the twists coming - I liked that every other chapter was the 'fictional' story but then again that made it harder to fully engage with either story.
My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris - I chose this specifically for the book challenge - this was a Victorian era Choose Your Own adventure romance-y type book. Super short since I just did it once but fun! The writing was cheesy but it was totally on-purpose and I thought that made it even more fun - making fun of itself. Allison did it too and enjoyed it - and we had different endings ha! If I hadn't had so many other books checked out from the e-library I would have wanted to run through it again to see where I would have ended up!
Prince Charming and Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins - I reserved American Royals which is about America if George Washington had become King - set in present day with the current monarchy. [Which this really bothers me because GW didn't have any biological kids, so who would have been his heir???] Since it wasn't available, this was recommended for me - it's about the prince and princesses had Scotland had its own monarchy. It was 100% YA. Prince Charming is about the younger sister of an American who is engaged to the heir to the throne of Scotland. Honestly I was a little bit annoyed by it but decided to read HRH because the lead was one of the princesses and is a lesbian - always trying to get out of my comfort zone by taking baby steps ha. I'm pretty sure there has to be another one because their is 1 more prince...I'm sure I'll read it but I wouldn't say these were the best.
The Residence by Kate Andersen Brower - Natasha recommended this, and it was so fascinating. It's a look inside the White House and the lives of the staff who work there. It felt a little bit gossipy - it was easy to tell who the favorite and least favorite families were - but also very respectful of the positions of the staff. I really enjoyed getting to see this side of the White House I never thought about. It ended while the Obamas were in the White House, and I definitely wish we could have gotten a peak of what the staff think of the Trumps ha!
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo - HOLY COW. I have had this book on reserve for 7 months {ever since Emily reviewed it} and it was 1000% worth the wait. This book has changed my perspective on life in so many ways. It was totally eye opening about white privilege and the role I'm playing {even passively} to perpetuate the problems we have with racism in our country. Every white person in America NEEDS to read this book. It was very uncomfortable to read at times, and I'm still conflicted on some of the takeaways, but it is really making me do some work to help our culture and especially my children's reality. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!!
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas - This wasn't quite a sequel to The Hate U Give, but it was set in the same neighborhood. It follows an up-and-coming girl rapper, Bri, and what she goes through in her poverty and gang-stricken neighborhood as she tries to make it big - it was SO good. It was also a really great read AFTER reading White Fragility - love that my holds came in like that - I definitely would have thought about the characters differently had I read this before White Fragility. Angie Thomas' next book will take place in the same neighborhood, so I can't wait to read it too!
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes - And I ended the month with a typical, cute chick lit romance novel. Evvie's husband died on the day she was planning to leave him. She's now stuck in a cycle of guilt - not grief - and can't really move on. She lets a baseball pitcher whose arm gave out rent a room from her...and you can guess what happened. I definitely got annoyed at Evvie at times because I thought she was falling on her sword a little too much, but I really liked the banter and chemistry between the 2 characters, and this was a light easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed!
What have you read lately?
2 comments:
I’ve been 6th on the waitlist FOREVER for “you’ve been volunteered” so it has to be available any day now right? Very looking forward to reading it especially with yours and Natasha’s good review. I’m very excited to read your post on The Explosive Child. Self-help (or in this case, parenting-help) books are so fascinating but sometimes it’s hard to get through the whole book so your spark notes version will be great to read. I’m so glad you liked/learned from White Fragility like I did; I agree it has a lot of uncomfortable moments (me: “oh I’ve done THAT”) but it’s so important.
The Friend Zone looks good! and the one where you get to pick your ending! I haven't had time to read anything and our BC book isn't at the library so blah!
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