What I’ve Been Reading Lately

This past month’s reads have been a mixed bag. Some books were by my favorite authors so I knew I would love them, a few were entertaining and a couple were just not that good. #brutalhonesty Here are all the books I’ve recently read (and click here for all of my past book reviews):

1. Winter Garden – I am a huge Kristin Hannah fan and loved The Nightingale and The Great Alone, so I knew I was going to love this book. And I did. To be honest, it wasn’t as good as her two other books I have read, but still an absolutely beautiful novel. Meredith and Nina are sisters that live two very different lives, but are forced to come together after the death of their father to help care for their mother. But that care isn’t easy because their mother doesn’t welcome their attention. Their father’s dying wish was for them to get to know their mother’s life story so they could better understand her. And once they finally know her entire story, it changes all of their lives forever.

2. My Favorite Half-Night Stand – A cute, feel-good romantic novel with super lovable characters. It was a bit slow at the start, but once I got into the story I loved it! Millie and Reid are friends as well as co-workers that begin to have feelings for one another. In an effort to try and decide if they really should be together, they both fill out online dating profiles to see what else is out there. The story has some cute twists and turns and is an easy read.

3. My Absolute Darling – While I enjoyed many of the books I read these past few weeks, this was an absolute no. I simply could not get into it and ultimately had to quit halfway through. I was so disappointed because it had won so many awards so I had really high hopes.

4. A Million Junes – I loved so much about this book, but there is a supernatural/magic aspect to the story that can get a bit annoying at times. June and Saul are teenagers from the same town, but their families do NOT get along and both have been forbidden to ever be near each other. When they meet at a local fair one night, they try to stay away but slowly feel drawn towards one another. They set off to find out why their families don’t get along and what caused the riff hundreds of years ago.

5. The Thousandth Floor – This is a young adult read about a futuristic society in NYC in the year 2118. I normally like young adult novels, but this was just ok in my opinion. It’s a trilogy and after reading this one, I sadly won’t be reading any of the other books in the series.

6. Daisy Jones & the Six – When I saw that this was the same author that wrote one of my favorite books of all time, I knew I had to read this as well. Taylor Jenkins Reid does an amazing job at giving her books such emotional depth and I feel so many things while reading them. This particular book was not as good as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but nonetheless I loved it. It’s about a fictitious rock band that became famous in the 70’s and all the trials and tribulations that they went through. It’s a different kind of story setup because it’s written as interviews of all the band members years later, which can be a bit hard to follow because there are so many different characters. However, I quickly learned their names and didn’t have any issue following the story.

7. An Unwanted Guest – I LOVE thrillers and mystery novels, but this one felt a little bit like I was reading a game of Clue. Do you guys remember that board game? It is one of my favorites to play, but not necessarily to read. The story takes place at a quaint Inn in the Catskills and guests become stranded there after a bad ice storm closes the roads and disables all the power. One of the guests is murdered that first night and subsequently 4 other guests get killed over the next two days. Because they have no power or way to contact the police, everyone is scared that they will be next. I did finish the book because I wanted to know who was the killer, but there are much better thriller books out there to read that will keep your attention.