On the bookshelf in November & December
So so thankful that I'm done reading only study guides + flash cards & can finally enjoy books again! I was busy trying to finish up my finals for my grad classes so I only read a couple of books in November & December so I thought I might as well combine them for one post. Let's dive in, shall we?
First up is A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks. Nicholas Sparks is the real OG when it comes to love stories so I figured going into this one that that's what I would get. But it wouldn't be a Nicholas Sparks novel if there wasn't loss & grieving & drama. There's actually quite a bit of mystery in this one so I don't want to talk about it too much or I'll end up giving something away. I really connected with & loved one of the main characters, Sarah, but honestly didn't love Miles, who is another main character. Also, I didn't love the ending of this book. I believe in justice & accountability so I struggled with the undeserved grace that was offered in the last pages of this book. I tried to put myself into the character's situations & think about how my feelings might change based on a different perspective, but I just had a hard time agreeing with it still. Have any of you read this book? What're your thoughts?
Next up is Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline. I have so many thoughts after reading this book that I just don't even hardly know where to begin. First of all, this book was all about tragedy & pretty much every "worst case scenario" situation that could ever possibly be imagined happened in this book. Things just kept getting worse. It was honestly pretty depressing to read just because there was so much horror & life struggles taking place. The book follows four main characters: David Hybrinski, Julian Browne, Allie Garvey, & Sasha Barrow. For the first half ish of the book, all four characters are fifteen years old, attend the same high school & live in the same fancy housing development. The second half ish of the book follows the characters around twenty years later to see where they're at in life. While they were in high school, they become intertwined when a horrifying accident happens that mentally scars each of them for life. There is a bit of mystery & thrill as you try to figure things out & you learn more details. Overall, I gave this book three out of five stars because some details / scenarios seemed very far fetched or unrealistic, & there was a lot of repetition as far as the characters replaying what happened. Just a warning, the book references death, mental illness & suicide frequently & occasionally has gory details.
Just looking at this picture makes me miss my Christmas decorations! There's just something so cozy & warm about the Christmas season & I think that's part of why I love the decorations so much. My house always feels so empty when I take them all down.
Anyways, back to books. I also read The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver. If I'm being completely honest, I totally fell victim to the "don't judge a book by its cover" situation with this one. I remember picking it up in Target all because I thought the cover was cute & it seemed like a love story. Well "cute" would not be a word that I would use to describe this book after reading it. It was raw & honestly a bit depressing. My heart was truly aching for the main character, Lydia Bird (I know, surprise surprise) as she navigates through her deep & intense feelings of unimaginable grief & loss. The second half of the book, Lydia begins to really rediscover who she is as an individual person after the ending of her long term relationship. This idea is something I can very much relate to. Overall I was glad that I read it, but I did give it three out of five stars just because the majority of the book made me feel sad & hopeless. That's not really how I like to feel when I read books, specifically romance novels lol.
Next up was Ask Again, Yes. I've read so many different reviews on this book so when I picked it up I was super curious as to what I was going to think about it. For the first third of the book, I was incredibly invested in the some of the main character's lives -- specifically Kate & Peter. As some of you know, I'm a middle school counselor & I really love reading books that pull on my heart strings in that way. Learning / reading about young people's struggles offers me exposure & an opportunity for better understanding. So at first, I loved it. But then about halfway through, I realized that I wasn't really feeling that way anymore. The book revealed some secrets that, if I'm being honest, made me feel disappointed in some of the characters which was just kind of a turn off for me. & I felt like the middle chunk of the book focused more on these characters than the ones in the beginning that I fell in love with. The last third of the book kind of mushes all of the characters together. Overall, it was a very interesting book. I have the tendency to want more for people than they want for themselves, or to see a lot of potential that they never live up to. That kind of happened in this book & honestly it was a little bit disappointing. I appreciated that the book addressed real problems & wasn't all butterflies & rainbows, but I needed some goodness to come out of it. & honestly, my review of this book might be totally different if I would've read it in the summer or not in the middle of the holidays during a pandemic. Who knows. I gave this book four out of five stars in the end.
One of the books I read while at my parent's house for Christmas Break was The Day The World Came To Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede. I was five years old when the tragedies of 9/11 happened (I'm a baby, I know), so I don't really remember much besides learning about it in school as I grew up. This book was pretty intriguing to read because it was written about the passengers on all of the planes who had to be diverted to other locations due to the American airways being closed. If I'm being truly honest, the idea of all of these other people who were impacted had never crossed my mind. In the end, I was glad that I read this book, however, I found it somewhat challenging to remember all of the character's names & keep them all straight. Also, it seemed to drag on & I felt like I was reading in slow motion because there really just wasn't that much going on. In general, it was a wonderful reminder of the ever-flowing grace & kindness that humans are capable of offering one another. I gave this book three out of five stars.
I got a kindle paperwhite for Christmas & I would be lying if I said I wasn't totally & completely obsessed with this new gadget! The last couple of years I've started to rediscover my love of reading, especially fiction. But let me tell ya, reading isn't a cheap hobby! I loved the idea of holding a physical book in my hand so I was kind of nervous that I wasn't going to like reading from a kindle, but I actually really do! One of the main things I noticed is that I easily got lost in it -- in the stories & the characters. Also, I have baby hands & the kindle is way more comfortable & easy to hold than a physical book.
The second book I read while at my parent's house was The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. I'm sure you can kind of guess what this book is about just based off of the title. An area of my life that I think needs a little more attention is slowing down. This book is all about that! I absolutely LOVED the first half. I felt like the author was vulnerable & honest & had some really really solid points. The second half was a little too "preachy" for me. This is why I tend to not love self-help type books. It was a pretty quick read & overall it planted a lot of idea seeds in my mind about how I can be intentional about slowing down & using that time specifically to connect with God.
Have you ever heard of the “goodreads” app? It’s a free app that lets you track your reading progress, rate books you’ve read, keep a list of your want-to-read books, set yearly reading goals & follow along with what your friends are reading as well! It even gives you suggestions based off of your ratings & the types of books you read. We both really like it. You should check it out!
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past book reviews...
We've been doing book reviews for awhile now & we've read some really good ones! You can click here to go to the 'book' section of our blog & scroll through them. ;)
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