On the bookshelf in December
My kindle unlimited subscription is expiring in April & I'm choosing not to renew it, so I'm trying to go through all of the books on my list that are on kindle unlimited before it expires. The Ravenhood series is what I started with.
The first book was actually pretty short & very easy to read. I don't really want to say what it's about because I don't want to spoil anything. There were lots of surprises & little plot twists that kept my attention. However, I will say, this book was VULGAR! I don't know if there's anything worse than rated R, but if there is, this book would be it! Way too many & way too graphic sex scenes. I actually wasn't planning on reading the other two books because it was just so nasty, but then there was a HUGE plot twist right at the end & I have to know what happens. I gave this book three out of five stars. I would've given it four out of five if it weren't for the rated R content. The second book didn’t have near as many sexually graphic scenes & had way more crime scenes, so I enjoyed that! Overall, I felt like it was a bit repetitive & stretched out too long, so I gave it three out of five stars. The third book was more similar to the second book, but had a MASSIVE plot twist towards the end that had my heart racing! I gave this book three out of five stars as well.
The fourth book I read — The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright — was recommended by my grandma. My grandma’s not a “normal grandma”, she’s a “cool grandma” that loves mysteries & thrillers lol! I can only read these types of books while on school breaks when sleep doesn’t matter quite as much — I AM A CHICKEN!!! Anyways, Wright’s style of writing is one where it bounces back & forth between the past & present. The narrative of this book was about a campfire horror story where a 13-year-old girl, Ava Coons, murdered her entire family with an axe. Of course, there were more murders to follow & missing girls, etc. This book had one of the most surprising plot twists I’ve ever read right at the end — I was shook!! I ended up giving this book three out of five stars.
The fifth book I read was The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel. My mom & I were just talking recently about how we are kind of surprised that, for both of us, our favorite genre seems to be historical fiction. It makes a lot of sense though considering we both LOVED this book! The book flip flops back & forth between present day (2019 to be exact) & the World War II era. Some parts were hard to read as the book talks a lot about the resistance. I was completely hooked with this book. So much so that I read it in two days (thank you, Christmas break)! I gave this book five out of five stars. Definitely on my list of top favs for the year!
The sixth book I read was Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano. This book is about one of my biggest fears -- a plane crash. In this book, every passenger dies except one teenage boy, who was on the plane with his family. Of course, society becomes absolutely captivated by the single surviving passenger. The chapters alternate back & forth between scenes on the plane & what the passenger's lives were like at the time, & after the crash. For me, the chapters narrating what passenger's lives were pretty hard to read just because, as the reader, you already know the outcome -- they won't live to see how the rest plays out. If I'm being totally honest, this book was pretty depressing. I found myself wanting to get through it just for the sake of finishing so that I could move on to a new book, but also not wanting to pick it up in the first place because I knew it would be sad! The end of the book offered some good closure which I appreciated. I gave this book three out of five stars.
Have you ever read the whole Bible? I’ve always wanted to & I’ve tried a few times but it’s hard. It’s just so hard to understand! I had heard several people talk about the Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading & Understanding the Entire Bible & wanted to give it a try. Tara-Leigh Cobble walks you through reading the Bible chronologically in one year & she has a podcast that goes along with it. While that all sounds great, I knew that truly reading it every single day was not attainable for me. Yes, I feel guilty saying that. After all, He has done for me, I should be able to spend that much time each day reading His word. However, I know myself & I know I wouldn’t & I also know that getting behind would stress me out & then I’d want to give up completely. Then she wrote a book & I knew this was the answer! I just read it when I can! I try to make it a priority but if it doesn’t happen that day, it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Her summary of what you read is absolutely amazing. I cannot believe how much I’ve learned already!! It’s designed to be read in a year, however if it takes me two, that’s okay! Because reading the entire Bible in two years is better than not at all. If I’m honest, I’ll probably start over once I finish because it’s that good & I’m sure I’ll learn something new each time, because He’s where the joy is!
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