November Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

 1. Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane - This was a really quick read and it kept me turning pages to know how it would all unfold.  I'm glad I was able to get this as an early release from Book of the Month.  Lila was a character with flaws but I still liked her and felt for her situation.

2. This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens - This was a cute, feel-good romance.  It was light and fun, with emotion as well.  I liked both main characters, Minnie and Quinn, and rooted for them to be together.  The premise of them being born on the same day at the same hospital was intriguing.  They both had complicated family relationships that developed throughout the book.  I liked Minnie's friends, such as Leila, and the rest of her bakery crew.

3. The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman - This was a fun, atmospheric read in Italy, with some family secrets in the forefront.  While there were some romantic aspects to the story, this was more of a book about Emilia "finding herself."  Poppy was a wonderful character, with an interesting back story.  She was a kind and caring person.  I also liked the character that Lucy developed into as the book progressed.

4. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson - I started this book in September and read it gradually over a couple of months.  I found it to be an interesting book, but as it was a meaty nonfiction packed with history and information, it took time to read it.  Wilkerson had a very readable writing style that flowed well and kept the story interesting without feeling bogged down in details, while still providing many enlightening details.  She interweaved both personal stories and historical stories into the narrative.  Her history ranged from recent history that I remember from the news to much less recent history that I hadn't heard of.  Her thesis is interesting, and I don't agree with all parts of it and everything in the book, but I think it is a worthwhile read.

5. Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy - This was a quick thriller with engaging twists and interesting characters.  I flew through this book in a couple of days.  It definitely had a surprising and a bit misleading turn that it took after Part 1.

October Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

 1. Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo - I picked this as an October BOTM selection, and it was a very quick read that I flew through in a bit over a day.  This was a sweet romance that also had some serious themes about culture and family.  I enjoyed Azere as a main character and Rafael as her love interest.  Azere had a good support system in place, which was helpful to her during her pregnancy.  I enjoyed every moment of reading this book, and this was a strong debut.  I will definitely look forward to reading whatever Jane Igharo writes in the future.

2. Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell - This was an interesting domestic drama/suspense story, and my third book by Lisa Jewell.  I think my favorite book by her is Then She Was Gone but this was also very good.  I was intrigued throughout and had to keep reading because I wanted answers about what was going on and how everything connected.  I felt for Saffyre and her struggles, and I didn't really like Owen particularly much.  This was a quick read, even if it took me a bit longer due to reading it during a work week.

3. Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand - I started this one on a Friday and read the rest of it that Saturday.  It was a nice, enjoyable third return to the world of Irene, Huck, Ayers, Maia, Baker, Cash, and others.  I enjoyed reading all of their drama and was satisfied with this conclusion to the series.  

4. The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle - This was an interesting and mostly fun thriller.  The premise was a bit absurd, with the main conflict being an inheritance that was dependent on which child could have a baby first.  Once Iris started taking over Summer's life, I wondered when she would eventually be found out.  The conclusion and twist at the end were shocking.

5. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - This was a powerful and moving story while also being a comedy about people making some idiotic decisions.  The story and characters were a bit quirky, but lovable, even if some of them were annoying.  I loved how everything fell together by the end, even if you didn't know where the story was going right away.  There were so many connections and kind moments shared between the people in the story.

September Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

 1. Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden - This was my first September BOTM that I read, and I thought it was a really good and unique read.  I liked how it included so many aspects of Native American culture and was written by a Native author.  I haven't read other books by or about Native people anytime recently.  The mystery was complex and interesting.  I enjoyed the thought-provoking aspects of the book and the complicated relationship that Virgil had with his ex-girlfriend, Marie.

2. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - This was a June BOTM but I didn't add it to my box until September.  At first, this story was a bit slow, and I wasn't sure I would love it, but the more I read, the more invested I became, and I ended up loving this book.  It was a powerful, multigenerational family saga about two twin sisters, and the daughters that they had.  Many characters made questionable decisions, yet I loved all of them anyway.

3. Beartown by Fredrik Backman - This is my first Backman book, and I look forward to reading the next in this series, as well as likely getting Anxious People as a BOTM add-on next month.  My favorite characters in this book were probably Maya and Ana and their friendship.  But this book is chock-full of both great characters and awful ones, and Backman portrays all of them so deeply.  There were several parts throughout the book that made me angry, as I wanted justice to be served.  It painted a picture of a very insular, small-town, sports community.

4. Well Played by Jen DeLuca - This was a fun, worthy follow-up to Well Met.  I enjoyed getting to see some characters from the first book, as well as getting to know Stacey better.  The romance was cute, even if sometimes hampered by miscommunication issues.  I enjoyed getting to return to the Renaissance Faire setting from Well Met.  This series has a fun, small-town feel.

5. The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya - This was a great memoir written by a woman who has been through many awful things during war in Africa and became a refugee in the United States.  Clemantine and her sister, Claire, are both so strong.  I liked how the story alternated between her time as a refugee in various African countries and her time in the United States.

August Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

New Reads:

1. The Night Swim by Megan Goldin - This was my first August Book of the Month that I read.  It was an interesting mystery with an important topic.  There were interweaving stories from the past and present, with unexpected connections.  I enjoyed the "true" crime podcast aspect of the story.  I have never listened to one personally, but they sound interesting.  I liked Rachel and the investigative work that she did.  As someone who enjoys a good legal thriller, I liked the courtroom and trial aspect of the book.  I felt for Kelly and what she had to go through having to testify.

2. The Comeback by Ella Berman - This was a powerful story about Grace, who became famous at 14 years old, and then suddenly disappeared from the spotlight for a year when she was 22.  I thought this book did a good job at really delving into her emotions and how she had been manipulated by a director from a young age.  One of my favorite parts of the book was her relationship with her teenage sister, Esme.  It was well developed and complex, and they clearly really cared about each other.

3. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - This was an interesting sci-fi story that used multiverse theory, similar to Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, though the overall premise of this story was a lot different from that one.  There were many complicated characters in this book, including ones who had different personalities on different worlds.  One of the characters that was particularly complicated was Nik Nik, blood emperor in Earth Zero.  Cara had many varying relationships with him across worlds.

4. The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan - At first this book was a slow burn, but once I got more invested in the characters, I really cared about them and loved the book.  I felt for Cassidy and Merry the most.  I went back and forth on my feelings for Rose, sometimes really liking her and other times being really mad at her.  I didn't care for Yumi very much.  This book showed the behind the scenes of a fictional pop music group and showed how relentless the scene was for them, from fans to stalkers to the paparazzi and gossip magazines printing sometimes false information.  I felt sad for Cassidy and wished that she had been able to find happiness with people who loved her.

5. All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban - This book had very One of Us is Lying vibes, but I think I liked the twist in this one better.  I was shocked by it.  This book made me care about some characters and strongly dislike others within the span of its pages.  It had a tense plotline where I had to know who was responsible for putting them in the room, so I just kept reading until I was done.

6. Missoula by Jon Krakauer - The author of this book is an acclaimed author and journalist, and while this is my first book by him, it will certainly not be my last.  Krakauer paints an alarming picture in this book of a justice system that oftentimes failed victims of sexual assault.  While this book specifically focuses on the University of Montana, the issues in it could have occurred at many college campuses.  This book is relevant to today's culture and is readable and well-researched.

7. The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner - This would have been a heartbreaking fictional story, but it being a memoir made it even more impactful and sad to read.  I felt deeply for everything Ruth and her siblings went through in their childhood, and very strongly disliked the stepfather, Lane.  I wished Ruth's mother had done more to get them out of the situation they were in.  Ruth is clearly a strong person, and I was glad she was eventually able to make a good life for herself and her siblings.  The story ended hopefully, but there were many sad parts before.

July Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

New Reads:

1. You and Me and Us by Alison Hammer - This was a very poignant and heartbreaking read.  You know from the beginning that the story doesn't have a happy ending, and it deals heavily with terminal illness.  It was largely a story of mother and daughter, Alexis and CeCe, building up a relationship when they had not been close for many years.  Faced with losing the man and father that they both loved, they had to figure out how to live their lives, as painful as it was.  This is a sad story that still has hope and I really loved it.

2. What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter - This was a cute and fun YA book.  I spent a lot of the book wondering when Halle's double life as Kels would be revealed to Nash.  I figured it would probably lead to unnecessary drama that could have been avoided by just telling him earlier.  I still liked the book a lot despite the lack of communication and drama.  The romance was cute and the friendships were fun, and I loved Halle's relationship with her little brother Ollie.

3. Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein - While labeled as a romance, this book was really more of a contemporary novel that had a romance.  The romance was second to the main story about Avery growing back into herself again and training hopeful Olympic gymnast Hallie.  To me, the best part of the story was the relationship between Avery and Hallie and how much Avery cared about her and her success and was able to find meaning in life again through training her.  I thought Ryan and Avery's relationship was good overall, but it wasn't my favorite part of the book.  He definitely made some mistakes throughout but showed he was a good guy later on in the book.  I really enjoyed this book.

4. The Shadows by Alex North - This was a good mystery with several twists that were shocking.  One was really the most shocking since I had been misled by the book into thinking something different was the case.  I liked getting to read Amanda Beck's perspective again, and I also liked Paul as a character.  This book includes both the present and Paul's past days in high school when the original crime occurred.  This mystery kept the pages turning.

5. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne - This book was a powerful story that took place from 1945 to 2015, covering Cyril Avery's entire life.  It took some time for me to really get into this book, but once I was sucked in, the 500-plus pages went by quickly.  Cyril dealt with a lot over the course of his life.  This book was ultimately about all types of love - between spouses, lovers, friends, family, adoptive family, etc.  All of the characters and their relationships were treated with care, and the characters all felt complicated and real.

6. Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford - I don't read much nonfiction (this is my first one of this year) and this is the first memoir that I have read in a long time and it definitely makes me want to go and read more memoirs.  I was so sad for young Lacy in this story and what she went through.  Her school failed absolutely failed her by sweeping her sexual assault completely under the rug, despite being mandated reporters.  Lacy seems like a really strong person, and I am glad she was able to tell her story now.  Her story was heartbreaking in many moments, from her assault, to the bullying that occurred afterwards, as well as physical repercussions of what had been done to her.  I think this should be required reading by anyone who works in a secondary school setting.  Aside from being important, this book is also in general one of the best books that I've read recently.  Lacy tells her story in a compelling way that pretty much reads like fiction, and I had to remind myself that this was a true story.

7. What You Wish For by Katherine Center - This was a sweet read with good characters and a positive message.  It dealt with some pretty serious issues, so I wouldn't call it a "light" read.  I really did not like Duncan at first, but once I understood him, I liked him a lot more.  Sam was a good character to read as well.  She was a school librarian who put her heart into the job.  She was definitely dealing with some baggage from her past dealing with her family, which led to some of her present insecurities.

8. Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka - I always enjoy a good Roxane Weary mystery, so I enjoyed this book.  The mystery in it was very complicated, with a lot of key players to keep track of.  I was definitely not expecting all of it.  I didn't agree with a couple of political views expressed by characters, but this didn't detract from my liking of the book.  I am hoping that there will be more books about Roxane in the future, since there have been new revelations regarding her family and relationships that I would like to know more about.

9. The Girls by Abigail Pesta - A book I read earlier this month, Head Over Heels, contained a fictionalized version of parts of this story in it, which was the decades-long abuse of gymnasts and other athletes by Olympic doctor, Larry Nassar.  This book is a well-researched piece on that, and many of the women affected by it.  It was horrifying to read how far his reach extended into a community, and how many lives he hurt.  The coaching by John Geddert was also touched upon, and it is terrible to read how abusive he was to his athletes.

10. Unbelievable by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong - This book, despite being nonfiction, read like a novel, telling the story from several different perspectives.  One of these was from police detectives, making that portion of the story seem like a police procedural.  It was a sad story for Marie especially, who was not believed by police about something horrible that had happened to her and instead was charged with falsely reporting the crime.  It was great to get to see justice unfold later though, and for her to finally be backed up for the fact that she wasn't lying.

11. Know My Name by Chanel Miller - This is a powerful and emotional memoir written by the victim in the Brock Turner case.  I remember hearing about this case at the time.  This was well-written.  Chanel did a great job conveying her story and what she felt throughout.  I appreciate her strength in writing this book, and imagine that it couldn't have been easy to write.

12. What Made Maddy Run by Kate Fagan - This was a heartbreaking book.  I remember hearing about Madison's story during my senior year of high school.  The author treats the hard topics in this book with sensitivity, and the ideas she expressed about social media were important and relevant.  I could have done without some of the interlude chapters about the author's life, but some parts of those were interesting.

13. I Have the Right To by Chessy Prout - This was a powerful memoir.  It was interesting to read this book in the same month as Notes on a Silencing, since both books were about St. Paul's School, but focused on stories that were over 20 years apart.  It was sad to see the lack of progress that had been made in the school culture since Lacy (Notes) went there.  It was nice to see Chessy speak out after what she went through.  She seems like a great person.  The best part of the book was how supportive her family was, including her little sister who didn't really understand what was going on with Chessy for parts of the book.

14. Forever Liesl by Charmian Carr - As someone who has always loved The Sound of Music, I enjoyed reading this story by the actress who played Liesl.  It was warm and she looks back fondly on her memories from the movie.  I enjoyed getting to hear some behind-the-scenes things, and hearing how she and the "von Trapp children" really did become like a family.

15. Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner - This was a fun and quick read that sucked me into the story and the characters.  I enjoyed the dynamics between the characters.  I especially liked Emma and how much she worked at her job and cared.  There were many little things that she did that showed that.  The behind-the-scenes of a show and interactions with paparazzi were interesting to read as well.  Despite being a cute, fun read, there were also some serious issues presented as well, and many scenes were emotional.

16. She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey - This was an interesting read of investigative journalism.  I enjoyed seeing what was involved in the process of finding sources, fact checking, and getting sources to go on the record.  It is clear that a lot of work goes into one news article.  There were some powerful stories in here.

June Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

This was a good reading month.  I read 10 new books and reread 4 old favorites.  I enjoyed many of my new books, especially the BOTM selections that I read.

New Reads:

1. The Guest List by Lucy Foley - This mystery had a unique setup, as you know from the beginning that someone ends up being killed, but you do not know who.  So you are both trying to figure the whodunnit and the who-was-it-done-to.  Secrets abound at this wedding.  Every character has unexpected connections, and many of them are not good people.  I did not like the ushers and their dangerous antics.  My favorite character was probably Olivia, as I felt bad for her and her backstory.  I also liked Hannah.  I thought this was a quick read, though the mystery was a slow burn with a lot of learning secrets from the past.

2. Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner - I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did.  I thought this would be a light, fun summery read, but it also made me feel many things as well.  This book showed a true love and care toward its characters.  Drue was complicated, and not always a good person, but felt very human and real.  I loved Daphne and her relationships with Darshi and Nick and her family.  There was a mystery in this story starting 1/3-1/2 of the way through, but this story was ultimately about friendship, family, and love.

3. A Burning by Megha Majumdar - This was a good read overall, though sad.  I felt bad for Jivan who did nothing wrong but was used as a scapegoat because the government thought she was a terrorist and the people wanted to see someone punished for it.  This showed a complete lack of true justice.  Then there was her former teacher, PT Sir, who sold out to a political party morally in exchange for power.  He did some despicable things during this book.  The final character was Lovely, who wanted to be an actress, and valued that goal over the truth.  There were no happy endings to be found in this sad book.

4. In Five Years by Rebecca Serle - At its core, this story is a book about friendship and the love that is found there.  There is some romance but it is secondary to the friendship, and is more about how people change when together over time.  Dannie is pragmatic and meticulous and a hard-working lawyer.  She knows how she expects life to go for her and has a clear plan laid out, but things happen that she does not expect.  I loved the friendship between Dannie and Bella, even though there were many very sad parts due to what they went through together.  This book developed the characters well and showed love for them.

5. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager - This is Riley Sager's 4th book, and I am not sure yet where it falls in my ranking of his books.  It was definitely a good one though.  The setup of the book was really interesting, alternating between Maggie in the present day and her dad's infamous book about their short time in Baneberry Hall.  The setting was atmospheric, centering around an old house full of secrets, similar to his previous book, Lock Every Door, which centered in a hotel.  The secrets held in this house were numerous.  I liked Maggie as a character and didn't want anything bad to happen to her.  Her relationships with her parents were complex, especially due to the fact that she thought they were lying to her for years.

6. The Last Flight by Julie Clark - This book was a thriller that was also an emotional and powerful read about two women in tough situations who just wanted out of them.  I liked the setup of the story, with alternating perspectives between Claire in the present and Eva in the past.  This kept the suspense high because I was learning about Eva's backstory and Claire's current issues.  I felt for Claire's situation with her husband, Rory, and how much she wanted out.  And while Eva's situation was slightly more a result of some decisions, I also felt for her circumstances growing up and how they had led to that point.  And the last page twist was very surprising.  I enjoyed reading about the relationships that these two women both had found with the people in their lives that really did care about them.  This was a great book!

7. One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London - This book was basically exactly the Bachelorette in book form, with all of the drama that the show includes.  It was interesting to see how some situations were clearly set up by the producers for maximum drama, which makes sense since it is a reality TV show.  I enjoyed getting to see the relationships, and I can say that the romance in this book worked out the way I wanted it to.  There were several a couple of good guys though, as well as many not-so-good ones.  Bea is an interesting main character as well, and I felt for her many times when people hurt her during the show.

8. 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand - This book is probably my favorite Hilderbrand so far.  This was a beautiful and sometimes painful, unconventional love story.  I loved Mallory and Jake, as well as the many peripheral characters in their lives.  This story carries you through many years (28) of their lives, following triumphs, disappointments, and heartbreaks.  The relationships are all complicated and human.  I wished for there to be a different outcome, but this story was bittersweet.

9. One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus - This was a quick read dealing with some real issues between the characters.  I cared about the three narrators - Maeve, Phoebe, and Knox - and their relationships with each other and other people.  There were actually quite a few emotional scenes within this mystery.  The mystery was intriguing as well, with an unexpected ending.

10. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware - I got this as an August 2019 BOTM selection and I finally got around to actually reading and finishing it this month.  I had started it twice before, but it wasn't grabbing me at those times.  Now I'm not sure why because this time I was invested in the book right away and finished it within a little over 24 hours.  Something that this book does really well is building up an atmosphere and tension, making the reader see how Rowan felt at the Heatherbrae House.  Ware drops tidbits about potentially shady things about the house that leave the reader suspicious about what could be going on there.  It was an interesting read, and I felt for Rowan's struggles.

Rereads:

1. Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center - I still find this book to be a cute and great read.  I love Cassie's character and her relationships, both romantic and otherwise.

2. The Holdout by Graham Moore - This is just a really great book, both times that I've read it.  It's a fast paced legal thriller that also makes you care about the characters.

3. Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler - Something that I did not really remember from originally reading this book was how emotional of a story it was.  This was a romance, but a lot of the story was about Lizzie's grief from losing her parents and juggling becoming a guardian to her brothers.

4. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus - I reread this one after reading the 2nd book in the companion series.  I think I liked the 2nd one better, but this was still a good book.

May Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

May was my best reading month of the year so far numerically.  I read 13 books total, 11 new reads and 2 rereads.  I ordered my May BOTM box and read all 3 books from that box before the end of the month.  I've continued to catch up on old books on my shelf, as well as getting some newer ones.


New Reads:

1. Ask Again Yes by Mary Beth Keane - I finally read this June 2019 Book of the Month pick.  This was a great story spanning the lives of two families over many years.  They dealt with a lot of tough things, including one major precipitating event.  Kate and Peter and their love story felt very real and nuanced.  No person in this book was perfect, and it did a good job at showing shades of gray instead of making some characters "good" and some "bad."

2. A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight - This was a May BOTM, and I finished it on May 3rd, after receiving the box on May 2nd, which should show how quickly I flew through this book.  Between this book and The Holdout, I think I have realized that legal thrillers are exactly my cup of tea.  Both of those books are some of the best books that I have read this year.  This story had so many twists and turns that I was not expecting.  There were so many moments when I thought "wait, what?" as the story turned in a new direction.  Lizzie was a great main character and a great lawyer.  It is fascinating to read both her investigative process and to read her thoughts on her own marriage.  So many characters in this book were hiding fascinating secrets.  I loved this book.

3. Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin - This was another one of my May BOTM choices.  It was a delightfully fun and drama-filled read that did deal with some real issues.  These characters felt fully developed.  My favorite were Claire and Amara and the friendship that forms between these two.  There is a small side mystery with an unexpected conclusion.  Some characters are hiding secrets that take a while to come out and they are all very interesting.  It was a quick, fun read, and I definitely would say it was worth the read.

4. The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe - This was, in a way, a strange book, though it was a quick read.  I liked the first half of the book better, before the main "incident" occurs.  I didn't like many of these characters decisions and the violence that occurred.  Before the "incident", I liked the characters more.  This was a tough read about characters dealing with tough things.  Bunny and Michael were both fully developed, complicated human beings.

5. An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena - This book was a quick and engaging "locked room" mystery.  I spent most of the book trying to guess which character I trusted the least, and my opinion kept changing throughout the book.  I never correctly guessed the actual murderer, so this book was surprising in a good way.  I liked learning all of the different character backstories.  This book takes a little bit to get going at first as you're introduced to a bunch of characters, but within a few chapters, it is easy to keep the different characters straight.  I think the characters that I cared the most about were Gwen and Riley and especially what Riley had been through.

6. Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight - I picked this book up after loving A Good Marriage which I read earlier this month.  In my opinion, I liked A Good Marriage a little better, but this was still a solidly good thriller and a quick read.  This book was one part YA book, one part a mother dealing with her grief, and one part the mother trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her daughter.  The mystery portions were intriguing and twisty.  There were several things/people that I didn't trust.  Amelia's portion of the story included private school secret societies, which were fascinating and reminiscent of the Puffs in Gilmore Girls.  There was a lot of drama and a fair dose of not knowing who was really Amelia's friend and who was her "frenemy."  This book was quick, engaging, and kept me guessing.  It was definitely worth the read.

7. Derailed by Mary Keliikoa - This was an interesting private investigator mystery with twists and turns.  I predicted one small plot point and was pretty happy with myself for that, but I did not predict the result of the mystery.  Kelly is a good strong character.  This story focuses mostly on the mystery but also a bit on her personal life.  She is recently divorced from Jeff and has an 8-year-old daughter, Mitz, who is deaf.  She clearly loves her daughter a lot.  I was not a fan of Jeff but I could understand why he was worried about his daughter.  I didn't think he was fair to Kelly, though.  Kelly also has a potential budding relationship with a police officer named Kyle who was kind.

8. Beneath the Ashes by Dea Poirier - This was an interesting and quick read of a mystery.  It was a bit of an emotional read, since I was really invested in Claire's life and relationships as well as the case.  While I can't go into specifics, there was a particular character death during the course of the case that occurred that I was not expecting and was sad about it.  This particular character was a really good person who didn't deserve that ending.  Seeing Claire react to that death was the part of the book that hurt the most to read.  I'm hoping for more Claire Calderwood books in the future, as I will definitely be reading them.

9. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid - While The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo will likely forever be my favorite book by this author, I loved this one a lot too.  I started this book in the past and didn't finish it, and now I'm not sure why I wasn't into it then, because I flew through this one in one day.  Sam was my favorite of the two main male characters.  This book was poignant and emotional, which seems to be a bit of a Taylor Jenkins Reid specialty.  There were definitely parts that hurt to read and made me sad for Emma and her struggles.  I also really enjoyed seeing how the relationship between Emma and her sister, Marie, had developed through the years.

10. The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon - This was my 3rd May BOTM pick that I have successfully read during May.  This was definitely not my favorite romance book that I have read, and I wish I had felt more of an emotional connection to the characters.  But it was a fun read, even though I didn't understand everything about Samiah's job and programming.  I enjoyed the relationship between Daniel and Samiah.  Overall, they were cute together, but there was one major red flag.  I didn't like how Daniel was lying to Samiah throughout the beginning of the relationship due to his job.  I enjoyed the friendship between Samiah, Taylor, and London, and would have liked to see more of that in the book.  That premise of the three of them meeting each other was fun, so I wish there would have been a bit more of a focus on it.

11. This is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf - This was a very quick read of a mystery, and the second that I've read by this author.  It was told partly in the present and partly in the past, and from varying perspectives.  I liked both Maggie and Eve, and wished Eve had a different ending.  Nola was a crazy character to read about.  She came across as a sociopath and did a lot of strange things.  There were several suspicious characters in this book that I didn't know if I could trust, from Eve's controlling ex-boyfriend to the older neighbor having a relationship with Maggie.  I liked Maggie a lot, and she did a lot of things that could be potentially risky to her baby that was pregnant with, which was concerning, but she was a good person, and I enjoyed reading her perspective.

Rereads:

1. A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum - This was just as good and engaging and powerful of a book as the first time I read it.  It was sad, but a good story about a culture that is not my own culture.

2. Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson - This was such a powerful story of friendship.  It is almost 500 pages but flies by quickly.  I didn't remember all the details from my first reading of it last year.

April Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

New Reads:

1. Beach Read by Emily Henry - I devoured this book within a day of receiving it in my April Book of the Month box. This was a completely enjoyable and emotional romantic story.  I loved January and Gus and their love story.  Even more than the love story itself, I loved the slow burn of really getting to know the characters as people and fall in love with them.

2. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare - This is a powerful story with a very strong main character.  I disliked many of the characters for their treatment of Adunni, who was a great person who just wanted to get an education.  It made me think a lot about how students in the US often don't value education and take it for granted.  It was an eye-opening read to culture in Nigeria and especially opened my eyes to the underage labor and child marriage that occurs.  There were so many parts of this book that I hoped were not based in any truth, though I'm sure they were.

3. The Widow by Fiona Barton - I can't say I enjoyed a story as disturbing as this one, but it was an interesting and compellingly readable one.  I had to keep reading to know what had happened.  This book contains one of the most despicable characters that I have encountered in a story.  I wanted justice to be served to him.  This story was one part police procedural, one part reporter chasing a story, and another part delving into the mind of a widow whose former husband may have done something terrible.  My favorite part of the story was probably the police procedural for how interesting the case was but I really liked all of it.

4. The Child by Fiona Barton - I read this book directly after The Widow, so it was interesting to read two of an author's books back-to-back.  I would say that I definitely liked this one better than The Widow, which was also a book that I liked a lot.  I found the characters in this one to be overall more likely.  Kate the reporter has a much larger role in this story than in the first book.  Emma's story was heart-wrenching and I cared about her character.

5. The Whisper Man by Alex North - For some reason, I had started this book a couple of times without finishing it due to getting busy while reading it.  Luckily, this time I actually finished it and it was a very good story.  There was one plot twist about the relationship between certain characters that caught me completely off guard.  This was a story about a really frightening villain as well as some very human characters.

6. When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald - I wasn't sure about this book from the first chapter, but it ended up being a good, quirky read.  There were a lot of awful characters in this book who did not good things, but Zelda was a good character.  This was a solid read, which I would say I didn't fully love, but I definitely liked it.

7. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen - Somehow I read the first book by this writing duo last.  This story drew me in and even once I thought I knew all the twists, the book threw some more at me.  There was even one in the last 2 pages.  I appreciated that this book kept me guessing the whole time.  As is often the case in domestic thrillers, the characters were hard to like and manipulative, though I did really feel for the narrator, Vanessa.

8. Next Girl to Die by Dea Poirier - I bought this book last year and accidentally managed to leave it unread on my shelf for nearly a year.  Now that I've read it, I don't know why I did that, because this book was amazing.  This was an engaging mystery with a detective main character that I cared about.  Claire was a great main character with a personal connection to these cases that made it more emotional.  I definitely want to read more books with her in the starring role, so I will be getting the second book in this series soon.  The mystery was complex and well-done.  I enjoyed the side romance between Claire and another character as well.

Rereads:

1. Meet Cute by Helena Hunting - This book was just as cute and full of heart the second time around.

2. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager - This reread has cemented that this is my favorite Riley Sager book so far, with The Last Time I Lied in a close second.  I'm super excited to read Home Before Dark once it comes out this summer.

3. Well Met by Jen DeLuca - This book is a fun read.  I'm excited to read the next two in the series.  I hope Stacey's book, Well Played, is a Book of the Month pick this fall.

March Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

New Reads:

1. Hour of the Assassin by Matthew Quirk - I got this book on a whim from Book of the Month.  I wasn't sure if I would like a political thriller, but I really liked this one a lot.  I was invested in this one pretty quickly.  The action picks up right away and doesn't let up for the whole book.  This book had a healthy dose of politics and secret conspiracies.

2. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver - This was my second book by Josie Silver.  I liked both of her books, though maybe I slightly preferred One Day in December.  This was an emotional read.  I preferred the Awake sections over the Asleep sections.

3. A Good Neighborhood by Therese Ann Fowler - This was a sad book that really puts you through an emotional wringer.  Brad is probably one of my least favorite characters that I have read.  I was mad at him throughout many of his actions in this book.  I would have liked a different ending than the one in the book.  It was a very good and powerful book, though sad.

4. The Broken Girls by Simone St. James - I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to reading my copy of this book, because wow, it was so good.  I'm not sure which Simone St. James book I prefer of the two I've read, this one or The Sun Down Motel.  I may have to reread The Sun Down Motel to figure that out.  I loved all the main girl characters in both timelines.


Rereads:

1. The Winter Sister by Megan Collins
2. The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

February Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

1. The Other People by CJ Tudor - I can't really talk about most of this book due to not wanting to give away anything.  I will say that it is full of twists and turns that I never saw coming, and even once I thought everything had unraveled, there was still more to come.

2. The Holdout by Graham Moore - This is the best book of the year so far, which may not be saying much since it's only the 7th that I've read this year, but it is also the best book in general that I have read in a while.  I got it from Book of the Month, and as soon as I saw it on there, I knew I had to buy it.  As soon as the box arrived, I devoured this book in a 24-hour time span.  I had to know how both mysteries would play out and I fell in love with the story and the characters in these pages.  I don't want to say too much about the story itself because so much of it is delightfully revealed within the pages, and I would not want to give too much away.  But all I can say is, do not hesitate to pick up this book.

3. Good Girls Lie by JT Ellison - This was such an interesting mystery in a boarding school setting.  It had many twists and turns throughout.  I was definitely not expecting the main twist.

4. Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes by Kathleen West - This was a really quick and engaging read that showed the lives of a teacher and a helicopter parent.  Julia was a bit over-the-top, but I enjoyed reading about her.  I could somewhat agree with some complaints about Isobel, but at the same time, the people complaining went about a lot of things in the wrong way.  And I loved that her students cared about her and were supporting and defending her.

5. You Are Not Alone by Greek Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen - This was a twisty read full of people that I wasn't ever sure I could trust.  There was obviously some shady stuff going on, but it took time for the specifics of that to all be revealed.

January Wrap-Up and Mini Reviews

I read five books during January.  4 out of the 5 were picks from my Book of the Month subscription.

1. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger - I got this book from Book of the Month a few months ago, and finally got around to reading it after it was one of the 5 finalists for Book of the Year.  It definitely is deserving of that.  It is an adventure tale with wonderful characters and a lot of heart.  It is reminiscent of classic "journey" books such as Huckleberry Finn.  The book tackles some serious issues, especially the poor treatment of Native Americans in the 1930s, and it does this with sensitivity.

2. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James - This was one of my Book of the Month picks for January, and once I was invested in it, I had trouble putting it down.  It was interesting to see the way the mystery unfolded in the two different timelines.  I loved both of the main characters, Carly and Viv.

3. The Reckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood - This was an interesting story told from many different perspectives.  Gentry was a lovable hero, a man with autism who thought he was a knight.  He cared about Zee so much, and his relationship with her was well developed.  The characters in this book went through a lot of tough trials, and this book didn't shy away from some more difficult topics.

4. The Map From Here to There by Emery Lord - It was great to be reunited with the whole gang from the first book in this one.  A lot of problems in the book could have been solved with better communication but it is understandable that it wasn't that simple for them.  They were still the lovable characters from the first book, but dealing with the stress of their senior year of high school.

5. Recursion by Blake Crouch - The science behind this book is complex quantum physics, and I don't think I fully understood all of it, but this was still a fascinating and interesting read.  I had no idea how everything was going to resolve since it got very crazy.