On the bookshelf in May

The first book I read was Hold My Girl by Charlene Carr — it was the book chosen for the monthly book club I’m a part of. I have SO MANY FEELINGS about this book. It is about a fertility clinic scandal. One of the employees at the clinic comes forward & shares that she switched some of the eggs on purpose. The dilemma becomes: who does baby Rose belong to / who is entitled to a relationship with her? I am a very black & white person & man oh man the content of this book is straight grey. Many of you probably know that I am adopted by my dad, so I’m a firm believer in the idea that sharing DNA with someone doesn’t necessarily make them a parent. This book really tested my beliefs & at times I felt very conflicted. Obviously my story is VERY different than this kind of story, but it did remind me how thankful I am that my parents have always allowed open communication about how our family came to be. I gave this book three out of five stars.

The second book I read was Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey. I was looking for some easy breezy beach reads for my cruise & this was the first one I started with. Two * almost * middle-aged women’s paths cross. Deep friendships & sparks of romance ensue. Gray is a thirty four year old single mom to a 9 year old named Wagner. She’s currently going through a divorce with her ex-husband Greg who decided to marry one of their coworkers. Gray’s path crossed with forty year old Diana at a photo printing shop. Both women have quite a bit of drama in their lives, & areas that need examining. Like most books that fall under this category, it was pretty predictable & cheesy. I gave this book two out of five stars.

The third book I read was The Sixth Wedding (28 Summers #1.5) by Elin Hilderbrand. This book was super short, like I read it in a couple of hours. I read the first book three years ago & really enjoyed it (here’s the review), but because it was so long ago, I only vaguely remembered the characters & their stories so I was pretty confused. I gave this book two out of five stars, but I’m assuming my review would’ve been higher had I read it right after the first one.

The fourth book I read was Family Reunion by Nancy Thayer. I’m a bit conflicted in my review of this book because there were parts that I really liked & then parts that I absolutely couldn’t stand — like to the point I didn’t want to keep reading. The book is mostly about young adult, Ari, who just graduated from college. She was engaged to Peter, but realized she wasn’t truly in love with him, so she broke things off (admirable). From my perspective, her mom, Alicia, is TOXIC & it was just like “allowed”? I don’t really know any other way to describe it. Some of the things Alicia would say to Ari left my jaw on the floor. I feel like a book is the perfect place for a main character to stand up for themselves to their mom? I don’t know. Alicia’s relationship with her daughter (& all of the other characters in the book for that matter) just left a bad taste in my mouth & really clouded my opinion of the whole book. Like most beach reads, there are big plot twists & the solutions aren’t super realistic. I gave this book two out of five stars.

The fifth book I read was Golden Hills by Jennifer Weiner. This book was super short, like I read it all in one hour. It was cute & sweet & the ending tied it up nicely in a bow. I’m a sucker for a story when the main character learns a heard lesson, but you’re not sure how it’s all going to end up. Because it was so short though, there wasn’t a ton of depth & it was just one quick scenario. I gave this book two out of five stars.

The sixth book I read was The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea. Wowza! Where to even begin?! I love a good thriller, but I can only read them during the summer in case I get too scared & can’t sleep during the school year LOL! Main character, Livia Cutty’s sister has been missing for over a year. There is another girl, Megan McDonald, who went missing on the same night from the same beach party as Livia’s sister, Nicole. The big kicker: Megan escaped after a few weeks of being held, but nobody has seen or heard anything about Nicole. Coincidence or connection? I started out really enjoying this book because Livia is a pathologist & I listen to a true crime podcast where one of the girls is a pathologist. Long story short: I was familiar with a lot of the terms that were used in this book thanks to that podcast! Close to halfway through the book, things took a really strange turn & I told my mom I wasn’t enjoying the book & that she didn’t need to read it. Woah was I wrong!!! I feel like I’m very good at predicting what’s coming next in books, especially thrillers. Sometimes it’s just flat obvious. This one was so NOT obvious! I stayed up until 3am finishing this book because it was that good & I was that hooked after the plot twist. Dare I say this was the best psychological thriller I’ve ever read? I gave this book five out of five stars.

The seventh book I read was The Exception to the Rule (The Improbable Meet-Cute #1) by Christina Lauren. Another super short read, but so cute! A random guy tries to email his teacher about an assignment, but ends up emailing a girl. The two chat via email every year on Valentine’s Day for YEARS before eventually meeting up, because duh, it’s a rom-com. Cute, short, a bit funny, & predictable. I liked it! I gave this book three out of five stars.

books I purchased this month:

books recommended by all of you this month:

My heart was so full heading into the 2023 Christmas season! I finished up reading the entire Bible. Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading & Understanding the Entire Bible was such a great resource that helped me better understand what I was reading & how it applies to my life! It was amazing to me how much was familiar & how much I didn’t know I was missing. Having a better understanding of the Bible & being in the word every day has brought so much peace into my life! If you’ve been feeling the pull to read your Bible more, I highly recommend Bible recap to help you on your journey. I’m excited to start over & eager to see what new things I will pick up on & learn.

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