My cats love books as much as I do <3
I always read more in the very early and latter parts of the year. I live in the Caribbean so I cant blame it on the cold cozy weather, it just always happens that way. I’m currently really in a reading mood and so after fairly slow June, July and August recaps, I have a doozy today because I managed to read 10 books since my last post.
Anyway, these are the books Ive been reading lately:
Loved it:
The lies we told ~ Camilla Way
I could not stop reading this book!!! It was just the level of creepy I like in my psychological thrillers. It’s told from the perspective of Clara, whose boyfriend Luke disappears suddenly in present day and Beth, who is raising a sociopathic child (reminded me of a movie I watched years ago called child of rage) in 1986 (though her story advances to present day as well). When the stories combine, it was pure gold.
This was the kinda story that had me pushing aside responsibilities to finish reading it. I don’t give away 5 stars but this deserved it.
5/5 stars
Goodreads link here
City of Girls ~ Elizabeth Gilbert
So I really just love Gilbert’s writing. She is a great writer and I challenge anyone to show me differently. Something about her prose captures me every time.
That aside I loved the story. Told in epistolary form, by an elderly woman named Vivian who recounts the years of her life spent in New York to the daughter of the love of her life. It reminded me a bit of Evelyn Hugo (but not really). I chuckled our loud at times, was furious at others (betrayal is rampant in this book and Vivian’s stupidity at times was beyond comprehension), and was sad for quite a bit of it but this emotional roller coaster is why I love Elizabeth gilbert.
I also fell in love with the characters in the story even though they were from a time and circumstance than I do not relate to.
Nothing groundbreaking happened. It was a life story and I loved it.
4/5 stars
Goodreads link here
Someday, someday maybe ~ Lauren Graham
A romantic comedy/drama film in book form. That’s how i’d describe this book. I laughed out loud several times and i loved all the quirky bits – like the Filofax excerpts.
Overall I think Graham did a good job with this debut.
I didn’t mind the similarities between Franny and Lorelai – all the reviews I read mentioned it – but I really wish Franny would have developed a bit more. Also .. that ending. Really didn’t care for the ending. Still, id recommend this one for a quick, cute, cozy read.
4/5 stars
Goodreads link here
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ~ J.K. Rowling
Well that was emotional. I Loved this 800+ page brick of a book. I liked the earlier books in the series a lot but I really love these latter ones where Harry, Ron and Hermione are growing up. In this book we get angst filled Harry (probably PTSD Harry if we’re honest), we see secret groups and societies forming and reconvening, lots of politics with the Wizarding world having its fair share of political corruption and there’s just a general sense of foreboding throughout the book. I loved it. I love that this book kinda sets you up for the war you know is coming. This is also the first book where one of the main characters has a real crush and I’m a sucker for romance. Even if I wasn’t really feeling the whole Harry and Cho thing.
Also I think it’s the first time I’ve actually felt rage against a character. Delores Umbridge was spectacularly written and I disliked every inch of her.
5/5 stars
Goodreads link here
Liked it:
Roomies ~ Christina Lauren
I’ve read better by CL for sure and I’ve read quite a few CL books st this point. This one was … meh.
It follows Holland who marries (for convenience) an Irish guitarist she admired from a distance after seeing him play in the subway – so he can get a job playing as a guitarist for a band (all of this is in the blurb so not a spoiler).
My main gripe with this book is how unbelievable it is. Yeah yeah it’s a book but the immigration story (fraud) was interesting but not believable and I could not suspend my disbelief enough / no writing is good enough to convince me that a random guitarist who has played in a few shows got that popular. Not convinced.
3/5 stars
Goodreads link here
Behind the beautiful forevers: life, death and hope in a Mumbai undercity ~ Katherine Boo
I went to Hyderabad and Mumbai India in 2011 while in law school for a week. The biggest thing I noticed was the stark contrast between the rich and the poor (something I’d read about a few years earlier when doing an Indian literature course in college). This book solidified all of it.
It read like fiction but it was based on true events. It’s the story of families living in an Indian slum and how they survived (or didn’t) the daily crises and the corruption rampant in the slum village. The main story followed a father and son who were incarcerated for murder on the lies of fellow slum dwellers. It was clear throughout the book that desperation and poverty at least in this case, brought out the worst in humanity. Sad book, but I do like to read these books. It keeps me grounded – people all over the world go through issues we never think of and sometimes it’s good to put a mirror to those issues.
3.5/5 stars
Goodreads link here
Fix her up ~ Tessa Bailey
Cute, sweet and steamy. I love cutesy romance novels. The book told the story of Georgie and Travis her older brothers friend who, at the beginning, saw her as his friends little sister.
Nothing mind blowing happened but I liked it. I don’t agree with many of the criticisms (this book had mixed reviews for sure). I mean, I didn’t love Travis (he wasn’t the nicest and was a downer half the time). Also I really didn’t like how often he called her ‘my friends little sister’ and ‘babygirl’. Otherwise though, it was cute.
3.5/5 stars
Goodreads link here
Bossypants ~ Tina Fey
I’ve read this before. Was better the first time and only read it because it’s short and fit the challenge. In a nutshell it’s Tina Fey’s life story.
3.5/5 stars
Goodreads link here
Not my vibe:
Eileen ~ Ottessa Moshfegh
A couple of chapters in, I knew this was not the book a lot of people would love but also thought I would enjoy it. It’s the story of Eileen, who wears her dead mothers clothes, lives in a dirty house with her alcoholic father, cares little about personal hygiene, is dealing with an eating disorder and hates her life. The story is told but an older Eileen recounting her life at the age of 24 living in Massachusetts.
My problem is that I thought something was going to happen in the book. And nothing did happen.
Ok. That was unfair of me; I will rephrase. Nothing happened until the last few chapters and then, the action was anticlimactic at best. I did like that the writing was blunt yet emotive and I honestly didn’t mind Eileen’s character, I just wish the story had more of a, well, story.
All that said, this book was shortlisted for the Booker prize though so what do I know …
2/5 stars
Goodreads link here
I also read A wrinkle in time by Madeleine L’engle this month. It’s not my typical read (middle grade) and I only read it for the challenge. I rated it 4 stars for what it was, but didn’t feel to write a review.
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