Nope. Did not enjoy this one. I've been looking forward to getting my hands on it for a while now. It has a 4.29 star rating on Goodreads..and so many 5 star reviews I just knew I would love it.
Did not happen. I had to get through over 3/4 of this book before I didn't have to force myself to read it. At 80% I finally got interested in what was happening. By the end I was mostly just glad it was over. I did like the ending, so that's good.

Unpopular opinion, but I think this one is much better than the first! I loved how the main character's world expanded as we learned more about her. New and interesting characters are introduced. New powers are discovered. It's been a long time since I rated a book with 5 stars, but I'm considering it with this book. It has all the elements that I love. Definitely hard to put down.

My 87th book of the year. 📚
Really good start to a series! Hoping it continues to be a fun ride. I'm going to be trying the second book as soon as I can get it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

In my quest to find a great series to tackle on audio..the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson kept coming up as a recommendation. Only on chapter 16, but I'm really liking this!
Eta: final review- 4 stars
I'll be using my monthly audible credits towards the next two books. This was a fun listen.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 This book brings up a LOT. I found it hard to set aside. Maybe because I have sisters and know how complicated those relationships are.
All I know is, I was trying to finish this book while enjoying a snack and I got so emotional, I couldn't swallow and gave up on eating. 😅 Had to grab a tissue. My heart was in my throat. This would be a great for a book club discussion!

An excellent read! I was expecting a thriller but I'd say it was more like a family drama with a twist. I loved Fern. Reading her perspective on situations made me laugh out loud quite a few times. Her observations were on point about the things people do and say and expect of each other. I was rooting for her and Wally the whole time.

If you are a fan of Bridgerton, you'll like this. A lot. It gives all the feels that the Bridgerton tv series gives! Lisa Kleypas can write a good romance.🔥This is the first in a series of seven books. I'm jumping into the next one. Overdrive has all of them, which is a nice bonus. I'm invested now in seeing how all the characters get matched up.

A 4 star rating from me! I kept putting off reading this because I really don't like this cover. 😅 It did keep me engaged from the get go, and I wanted to know how it all ended. The characters weren't exactly likeable, and there's a lot of dying happening, but it was a quick entertaining read.

This would be a great book to read around Halloween! Plenty of creepy and rather scary elements in this one. A 14 year old girl may possessed by a demon (or perhaps is schizophrenic who knows) and the family decides to have a TV show taped in their home showing her behaviors and filming the exorcism. We see much of this through her 8 yr sister's point of view.
I like the elements of using a podcast to go over events, and the unexpected twists.

This series is so good! It is fascinating to read about what these midwives accomplished in the 1950s-60s in London's East End slums. I'm astonished at the bravery and strength that these women have. Not only the midwives (which I love, each one is so unique and interesting in their own ways) but the women who gave birth under alarming conditions. Women are amazing.
Enjoyed finding out how each of the main character's lives turned out at the end

This book is in the same vein as "A Man Called Ove" but with notable differences. I really enjoyed this story of an 84 yr old man and his life's journey. Loneliness becomes a part of daily life, he has noone but his cat. He's lost loved ones, becoming disconnected from the world and not really wanting to change that. He's accepted it. Life has a funny way of messing that up for him. He finds friendships, love, community. He starts to live again. ❤

Another book tok recommendation! After about 40% of the book, I was struggling to even continue with this one. It was getting boring. I wasn't into it at all. One of the most unreliable narrators ever, and I was questioning what was really even happening here. Then...then it got interesting.
I really enjoyed the 2nd half of the book. I liked the ending, never would of guessed that's how things would of played out! Not realistic but good.

A party. Crowded. In a mansion on a beach. So many people. Each with a story of their own.
How did they come to be at this party, on this particular night?
How and why was the fire going to start? Who was going to survive the night?

Reid puts together a great story. Knowing about the fire from the beginning makes it feel like you are watching a car crash before your eyes. You don't want to see anyone get hurt, but you can't look away.

Maybe I should make my to-do lists say "read all day and do the bare minimum adulting tasks" and then I'll feel really satisfied for accomplishing exactly that.

This was a really good book! It has great reviews and I can see why. It's perfect for escaping into. Nothing really heavy and everything ends up okay in the end. Perfect for a weekend read.

Enjoyable on audio! Kept me coming back for more.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I feel like at least 1/2 of the books I try as audiobooks do not go over as well as they would of if I read them. This was one of the good ones!

💯

This was an extremely tough book to read. Don‘t get me wrong, it IS good. Just hard to keep going back to, as it was tragic. The amount of neglect and psychological damage this child had to suffer through led to her making some awful choices.
#booktok #booktokrec

Currently deep into The Poppy War world and not wanting to come out...

Sure hope that the 2nd and 3rd books are as good as this one is!! 🤞

Wow.
A story about the brotherhood, friendship, and love between 4 young men going through the trials and tribulations of the "education" they received while attending South Carolina Military Institute. The Citadel. The story is told through the eyes of one of the men, Will McLean..he despises the Institute. We learn why.
Engrossing, descriptive, and heartbreaking.

Calling all podcast lovers-
What are your favorite book podcasts? Which ones are you addicted to? Which would you highly recommend checking out?
I'm currently only listening to two podcasts religiously, neither one are about books. Although one of my current reads (The Lords of Discipline) is Monica's favorite book of all time (Monica from the ArmChair Expert podcast).
I'd like to start listening to a podcast all about my favorite past time.

Pretty good psychological thriller! Entertaining on audio. The narrator did a really good job.

The book is about a secret group of mothers that join forces. Each woman has suffered through the agony of the death of their children. They come together to take revenge on the people who are at fault for their deaths. There is some twists as the story progresses and you learn there is more to this group of women than meets the eye.

I discovered Sarah Dessen's books 10 years ago and became obsessed. Reading as many as I could get my hands on. After all this time, I came across a Dessen book I hadn't read yet and decided it'd be interesting to see if I still liked her style.
Oh she's a fantastic author! If you like Colleen Hoover, you're going to like her. This particular book is so good, I had a hard time setting it aside. I loved her characters. Especially Whitney.❤
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Well that was a weird ending!
I feel like I'm the last one to read this as often as I see it on book lists and book tok. It wasn't as good as I was anticipating. But never would of imagined how it ended.😳
It was a slow burn with some odd twists. Interesting read!

Ooooh, so good. So good! My first enjoyable read of the year. Love when you discover a book that reminds you why you love reading so much.
#currentread

Guess this shows how rarely I give 5 stars. Only 4 books out of 167. Here's my top picks for the year!

My goal for 2021 was to read less than 2020. I read 243 books in 2020, and wanted to diverse my activities a bit this year. I listened to more music, podcasts, and sometimes just enjoyed silence. I learned I don‘t always need to be accomplishing something. I don't need to rush through a book in order to get to the next one. It's nice just to be in the moment.
Though I feel like I still did a good job of enjoying my love of books!
Happy New Year!

Great words for inspiration as we enter into a new year! 💛

"Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard, or too sad when you've got a Christmas tree in the living room."
~Nora Roberts

Merry Christmas to all of my Litsy friends! ?❤

Interesting book on how to deal with your inner voice and manage the anxiety that comes from being your own worst critic. I rate self-help books by how much new practical information I learn from it. A lot of them tend to repeat common knowledge. Or are fluff and you learn nothing other than the author is self-righteous and kind of annoying. This one is actually useful. For example- talk to yourself in third person. Sounds funny, but works!

"Did you know people get rich off of sadness? I want to meet the millionaire of American sadness. I want to look him in the eye, shake his hand, and say, 'it's been an honor to serve my country."

The title of this book made me want to read it more than anything. It's such beautiful writing, containing more meaning in some sentences than most books have in their entirety.
?❤

I had high expectations for this book. I've heard from many who say this is one of their most favorite books of all time. So I was disappointed at how the first half was. So sad. Such terrible things happened. But with such surprisingly funny lines sprinkled throughout. As the story continues to unfold, those funny moments increase. I really did enjoy the writing and how things ended up.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love the title of this! The story itself was just okay. I think I had high expectations because I really liked some of her other books.
My favorite parts deal with Willow/her music and Sam/her computer games. They are so creative and talented. I wish I had that kind of skill with something. I did like the ending. All the loose ends were neatly tied with a bow. 🎁

Mary Stone has quite the fan base. I've never read one of her books, and while this is the first in the Autumn series it seems like you need to read the Winter series to really get into this. I couldn't get past the Autumn and Winter names being just a 'coincidence'. Not a big murder mystery fan. It was an okay read. I liked the psychological insight into the minds of the serial killers. Just not my thing overall.

A book like this is what we need from time to time to gently remind us to keep going.

"The best thing about rock bottom is the rock part. You discover the solid bit of you. The bit that can't be broken down further. The thing that you might sentimentally call a soul. At our lowest we find the solid ground of our foundation. And we can build ourselves anew."

#WonderousWednesday @Eggs

1. Family gatherings - 3 of them this year 🎄🎁

2. Patrick Rothfuss, Colleen Hoover, Jodi Picoult

3. A Calendar of Anxious Salmon 🗓🎏😟

Thanks for the tag @Trashcanman
I'll tag @Cathythoughts @Brooke_H @JenReadsAlot

Really good audiobook! Recommend. I did not see that playing out like it did. Everything became connected and the ending was satisfying to say the least.

A fun and easy read - a romance between a bookstore owner and a woman who is an author. Two book loving women who find love unexpectedly. All the characters were so likeable! I have been reading some really heavy and/or emotional books so this was exactly the way to "cleanse the palate" and give my heartstrings some relief.

"They seemed angry that I‘d made myself vulnerable, more than the fact that he‘d acted on my vulnerability."

Powerful and eye-opening memoir about sexual assault and a survivor whose words inspired changes in California law.
Chanel Miller shows us the power of words. Owning her story and walking us through how she found a way to heal. How she found her strength.

The audiobook is narrated by the author.

Ever watch the show Parenthood? That is this book. I'm part of a big family and what this book does is show you the seperate lives of a great many people that also are entwined together because they are family. I loved it. I could read it forever. I like and dislike many things about some of the characters but that's real. People are multifaceted and that's what makes this realistic. I enjoyed how the book was written. Very well done family saga.

I had to give this a minute before I started liking it. My kids are grown, so I was thinking 20 years ago some of these stories he tells would of hit home harder. But then there came the times I laughed out loud. Surprisingly loud. The waiting for luggage story, the puke in the friend's ear story, the bunny in the refrigerator box...I really do like this guy! It's short, entertaining, and at times quite poignant.

This is the sort of book that is much better when you read it rather than listening to the audiobook version. I started it out on audible, then switched to the ebook. I didn't like the narrators. They made the story seem shallow for some reason.
As soon as I started the ebook I was hooked. Couldn't put it down! Did not expect a few of those twists, especially at the very end.
4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Is this book on anyone's radar yet? It's SO good. If you're into science and space and love a good narrator check it out! I love the guy who reads this, he's one of the best (in my opinion) - it's on audible. He sounds like Tom Hanks. Some of the science talk is going over my head, but the storyline is excellent and has me hooked.

I think this book helped me get out of a reading funk. I was hoping for more and wanted to keep going on the Oona ride.
Every New Year's eve at midnight (Starting at 19) she time travels to a different year in her life. So lets say she might be 25, but wakes up in her 51 yr old body. It was disorienting at first, but as you learn more about her life it becomes enjoyable. Oona grows with wisdom and begins to look at the time she has in a new way.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very good book!

"I know life well enough to know you can‘t count on things staying around or standing still, no matter how much you want them to. You can‘t stop people from dying. You can‘t stop them from going away. You can‘t stop yourself from going away either. I know myself well enough to know that no one else can keep you awake or keep you from sleeping."
?❤

Would I recommend this book?
No.
I finished it, but it felt like a punishment. I have no idea why it is included in The New York Times Book Review's "100 Notable Books" ??

My first Emily Henry book, and won't be my last. The phrase "gave me all the feels" is a perfect way to describe it.
I'm betting that if you like Colleen Hoover, you'll like this one.
I wish I could come up with quick and witty responses like Poppy. I love her sense of humor! Such a sweet and pure relationship between her and Alex.
4.5 stars

I really really liked this one. 🤩

“Everything always works out in the end. And if it didn‘t work out yet, then it isn‘t the end.”

I absolutely adored this book! I identified some of my own personality traits in quirky bookish Nora, loved the crazy fun family she discovered she was a part of, and honestly was sad when I finished it. So cute and funny.
4.5 stars

Good book! About life and love and death..one of those that makes you laugh and cry. It was a sweet book. Lenni is a 17 yr old girl and Margot is an 83 yr old woman. Together, their lives span 100 years and they have a goal of creating 100 paintings of their different life experiences. I love their friendship. Heartwarming, though it did make me tear up..it left me with an appreciation of what being human and what living life truly is about.❤