Time for another WWW Wednesday! All credit for this weekly post goes to Sam from Taking on a World of Words. Head on over to the blog here to see what other bloggers are reading!
What am I currently reading? I’m part way into American Royals by Katharine McGee, and so far so good! I’m already sensing all the drama that’s going to unfold, and I can’t wait. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve read anything classified as Young Adult, so I think it’ll be a refreshing change for me. I just downloaded The Other Woman by Sandie Jones on my kindle, and it’ll be my first psychological thriller I think I’ve ever read. We are getting into spooky season, so it seems fitting to read a thriller. I’ll try to read a few more books like this throughout October. What did I recently finish reading? I just finished You, Me, and the Sea by Meg Donohue, and I’ll be posting a review of it soon. It was a great coming-of-age fiction novel, and the story was very moving. I really enjoyed reading it, but the ending just left me feeling like something was missing. I liked the ending, but felt like it was lacking detail. What do I think I’ll read next?I took a trip to the library today to pick up Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, a suspense drama. Excited to dig into this one once I finish up The Other Woman.
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Genre: Historical/Women’s Fiction
Rating (1-5): 4 Length: 290 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Oh the joy of sibling rivalry, something I’m sure all of us are well aware of. There is something about siblings that bring about the worst jealousy in us. As is the case with Ruth & Millie, the sisters that The Wartime Sisters is about. Ruth is the older of the two, and as soon as Millie was born, the resentment began and only grew deeper with time. Throughout the book you see where the majority of this resentment stems from. Ruth overhears conversations about the ‘prettier’ sister, Millie. Or constantly listens to her mother go on and on about how Millie is fit for a prince. As well as Ruth’s dates throughout high school losing interest in her as soon as they meet Millie. Ruth wants nothing more than to separate herself from Millie, and to live somewhere that no one knows of her little sister. She does just that once their parents die, jumping with joy when her husband gets a position far away from Brooklyn, at an armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. The author, Lynda Cohen Loigman, does a great job in making you feel sympathetic for all the characters involved. So where you feel bad for Ruth, and that she had to grow up with the constant comparisons to her sister, you also feel bad for Millie, who never asked to be compared in such a way, and wishes that her sister wasn’t so cold towards her. Millie also held some jealousy of her own towards Ruth, wishing she possessed some of the intellect that her older sister had. The way life sometimes happens, is that the problem you are wanting to avoid most, is the one thrown directly in your path. So when circumstances bring Millie and her son Michael to Springfield to live with Ruth’s family, all the old memories, insecurities, and feelings come rushing back. The estranged sisters each have a secret they are keeping from the other, but what if those secrets are the only thing standing in their way of resolution, and finally developing that sisterly bond? What happens when these secrets are finally out in the open? Will they be there for each other when they need it most? The Wartime Sisters is an emotional, beautiful story about how these two sisters, with the help of friends around them, tackle their biggest secrets, and fight through their resentment in the hopes of developing a relationship with one another that they’ve craved their whole lives. You can read more about The Wartime Sisters at Goodreads here. Happy Reading!
Genre: Christian literature
Rating (1-5): 5 Length: 240 pages Publisher: Zondervan We long for a full life, and that’s what God wants for us, but how do we get there? What does it mean, to fully live? Ann Voskamp has asked herself these questions, and in One Thousand Gifts, she lays out her pursuit to the answers. I think I may be late to the game in reading this wonderful book, but I’m so happy I finally dug into it. Have you ever read something and felt like you were punched in the gut because of how convicting it was? That was me, with this book. Chapter 1 specifcally. What hit me so hard was how Ann addressed that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He has given us, and that is why we are always falling short of this “full life”. That hit me hard, and she had me hooked, thus I kept turning the pages because I needed to know more. Ann Voskamp writes in a very poetic style, which at first was hard for me to follow. Writing in this style is extremely hard and creative, and I was enamored by it. I have nothing but great things to say about this book, and I could go on all day about it, so I’m going to keep this short by highlighting my main takeaways. #1 The key to everything according to Voskamp, is to live a practiced life of gratitude for everything God has given us. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Like thankful for washing the dishes, sort of everything. #2 The pathway to being filled with joy, recognizing God’s grace in your everyday life, and being able to bless others all starts with gratitude towards God. #3 You can never fully get rid of feelings of discontentment. Rather, you need to fill yourself up with a greater feeling; gratitude. #4 By practicing thanksgiving, you start to realize how full your life already is. You start living fully in the moment. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are looking for spiritual development. I've already felt a change in my life, simply by implementing thankfulness into my daily life. Happy Reading!
Genre: General Fiction
Rating (1-5):5 Warnings:Rare profanity Everyone loves Pride & Prejudice (if you don't, well maybe just read it again???), and this is the case with Soniah Kamal. Soniah is a Pakistani-American writer, and she saw ways in which the ideas in Pride & Prejudice translated into the culture of modern day Pakistan. Specifically, the constant pressure for females to be married. You need to be able to cook, clean, make good chai, be skinny, have flawless skin, good fashion sense, etc. to be deemed marriageable. Not married by your early twenties? Be ready to be the new spinster in town then. I have an overwhelming love for Pride & Prejudice. I'll be watching the movie and my husband will ask, "Haven't you watched that 20+ times?" And my response is, "Yes, but it's never enough." Because of this, I absolutely loved reading this novel. I was very impressed with how Soniah fit the story into Pakistani culture, and I learned a lot along the way. Such as their traditions and vocabulary scattered throughout the book. Unmarriageable showcases the lives of the Binat family, most importantly their five daughters. Jena, Alys, Lady, Qitty, and Mari, live a life of their mother "Pinkie" constantly pressuring them to hook a good man for an advantageous marriage. When Fahad Bingles and Valentine Darsee enter their lives, the whirlwind of potential marriage, hope, betrayal, pride, and prejudice enter their lives. The names and the plot that Soniah used follow almost exactly to the original, but it didn't keep the book from being an absolute page-turner. I actually neglected an afternoon of responsibilities because I was so caught up in the story! I highly recommend this one, you will be sure to enjoy it! To read more about Unmarriageable head on over to Goodreads. Happy Reading!
What a wonderful idea I stumbled upon at Taking on a World of Words, a blog by fellow book blogger, Sam! Head on over to the blog and you are destined to find some good recommendations in the comments.
What is WWW Wednesday? It's a weekly blog where you answer three questions: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you'll read next? What am I currently reading? First on the list is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I feel as if I am late to the game in reading this one, but that is mostly because I've never really read non-fiction. I am halfway through this book, and I am blown away by the ideas that Ann brings forth. It is life changing, and the way I view things and my relationship with God is already changing because of it. Can't wait to finish it! Also on my list of currently reading is Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey. I'm definitely branching out of my comfort zone by reading this one, but I'm trying to challenge myself and enjoy different genres. I'm somewhat at a stand still with this one, just because I'm enjoying my other books a little more. However, I'm very intrigued by the idea of exercise's influence on brain development. Most recently I have started The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman. I'm only a few chapters in, so it's hard to give an opinion just yet, but so far it has been promising! What did I finish reading recently? I recently finished reading Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal. This is a retelling of Pride & Prejudice in modern day Pakistan, and I am very torn about how I feel about it! I will be posting a review of it soon. What do I think I'll read next? It's hard to say what I'll read next just because my to be read list is all over the place. Sometimes it has to do with availability at the library, or whether I am in the mood for that particular book. However, I've had my eye on a few Danielle Steel books and might give one of them a go! Feel free to answer the three W's in the comment section below!
Genre: Fiction
Rating (1-5): 3 Characters: 4 Plot: 3 Language: Some vulgarities Woo hoo! I finally finished a book this summer! It's crazy to think that this is actually the truth, but reading took a serious back burner for me this summer. I had a busy summer, and spent a lot of time traveling around with family, and seeing family, and just enjoying the beautiful weather before having to deal with the dreaded cold again. Also, I could not seem to find a book that kept my interest, but thankfully I currently have a few I'm really enjoying. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin, just so happens to be the first of that bunch that I finished! This is the first time I've read an Emily Giffin book, mostly because her content falls under "chick lit" and that's not really my thing. However, I'm trying to branch out and try different types of books, so I gave it a shot. However, for this particular book, I think Giffin was trying to branch out and write something different from her normal repertoire. All We Ever Wanted covers a multitude of relatable topics, such as elitism, racism, privilege, marital troubles, and abuse of women. These are all great topics to have a book revolve around, that I can agree on. But in my opinion, I think Giffin bit off more than she could chew by trying to cover all these issues in one book. The overall reason why I rated this book a 3 was because by trying to tackle all these societal issues within one book, it was only surface level. Instead of having multiple points of view, maybe just having one and really getting to see that character deal with each of these issues would've given the book more depth. The book was still enjoyable, and a real page turner, but it left me feeling like I was grazing the surface. Giffin missed out on a lot of great potential in this one. WOULD I RECOMMEND For book club members, I would recommend this book! It is very thought provoking and I'm sure it would start some great conversations, it even comes with questions in the back of the book! To read more about All We Ever Wanted, head on over to Goodreads. Happy Reading! Number of books read: 6 Genres read: Fantasy, YA Romance Book #1: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness Genre: Fantasy Rating (1-5): 2 Characters: 2 Plot: 2 I'm currently finishing up this trilogy by Deborah Harkness, and figured I might as well get started on the review for the first book in the set. However, if I'm being honest, I really don't want to. I just don't have any great things to say about A Discovery of Witches. The reason I picked up this book at Barnes & Noble, is because I saw it was becoming a TV show. The trailer seemed interesting to me, as well as the synopsis on the back of the book. And now the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover" comes into play, because I WAS FOOLED. This book is 600 pages, a little shy of that, but I'm rounding up. There was absolutely no reason for this book to be that long. Majority of the content in the book was "filler" content in my opinion, seeing as a lot of it had NOTHING to do with the story. I understand that the little details provide insight to the characters, but there is no need to bring up these details over and over again, or to dedicate MULTIPLE chapters to them. At first, Diana seems like an independent woman, who is quite capable of taking care of herself. But once Matthew came into the picture, she went from being capable of standing up for herself, to a damsel in distress who could only be saved by him. She's also an accomplished scholar and seems to have her life very well put together, so I was confused when that transitioned to her lacking any sort of common sense. There were times in the book where I genuinely thought she just wanted to die because of how dumb she was acting. And all of this change happened to a character I was really liking, because a macho man showed up and needed to assert his dominance and control over her life. This brings me to the main reason I disliked this book, because it romanticized a manipulative man, and once again relying on the male character was the only way she was going to survive. It's just a boring narrative and too predictable. Would've been way more entertaining if Diana was the one bossing around Matthew. In all honesty, I prefer The Twilight Saga over these books. To read more about A Discovery of Witches and the rest of the trilogy, head on over to Goodreads. I wouldn't recommend this book or series at all, but if you feel like it interests you, I'm not going to hold you back. Here's to hoping the TV show is better! Book #2-6: The Selection Series by Kiera Cass Genre: YA (Young Adult) Romance/Dystopian Rating (1-5): 5 Characters: 5 Plot: 5 I just love these books. Love them, love them, love them! This is my third time reading this series, and I did that kind of as a pick me up after the other books I read the past two months. After I read a book or series, I always ask myself, "Was there anything missing? Was there anything that could've been better?" With this series, my answer is always, "Yeah, more books please!" And this is why the whole series is getting a 5 star rating from me. The books take you on an emotional roller coaster ride. I laughed out loud, I got angry, and I cried tears of sadness as well as joy. Those are the best books in my opinion, and take a lot of skill to write, so props to Kiera Cass for being an expert in this area. I'm trying to find the best way to describe the overall premise of the book, so here it goes. The Selection Series is based in a dystopian America, where there are castes 1-8. The only people who are in the top caste is the royal family, so they are Ones. People are divided into the remaining castes based on their jobs, and the higher your caste, the better off you are. Families who are Fives or below, really struggle to make ends meet and feed their children, and this is made known since the protagonist, America, is a five. The reason it's called The Selection Series, is because of the selection that takes place. When the royal family has a crown prince "come of age", a girl is selected from each region to compete for his hand in marriage. It isn't like the Hunger Games where you aren't given a choice, rather girls apply and then pray and dream of being selected. Everyone besides America that is, seeing as it's the last thing she wants to do, but applies anyways to appease her mother. America is shocked when she is selected, and once she arrives to the palace, is determined to avoid any sort of situation in which feelings between her and Maxon, the prince, develop. But it's not as easy as she would think to resist the handsome prince's charm. These books are like The Bachelor in book form, but way better. For some of you, I'm sure that's very easy to imagine haha. But after reading the series 3 times, I can vouch for how great they are. I tend to fly through them because they are a lower reading level, and I'm sure that kids in middle school would be able to get through them without any issues. To read more about The Selection Series, head on over to Goodreads. I highly recommend this series, so if you decide to read them, let me know what you think! Happy Reading!Genre: Historical Fiction/Murder Mystery Rating (1-5): 4 Characters:4 Plot:5 The Second Duchess was a great, suspenseful read, that transported you back in time to Renaissance Italy. Barbara of Austria is the second duchess to Alfonso d'Este, and finds herself asking questions about the mysterious death of the first duchess of Ferrara, Lucrezia De' Medici. Her curiosity leads her about the city of Ferrara, asking questions to those close to the first duchesses' death, much to the duke's disliking. Barbara wonders if the duke's disliking to her digging in the past is because of his dislike of her personally, or because he was someone involved in Lucrezia's murder. As she continues to investigate, Barbara's life slowly becomes more and more in danger, and feels like she isn't getting any closer to finding answers. In my opinion, the best part of this book was the plot. It was extremely well written, and the story as a whole was very mysterious. It's told from the point of view of Barbara, but as well as from Lucrezia De' Medici, as she observes the events transpire as a ghost. This added a unique viewpoint to the story, because you're getting to hear two sides to the story. Barbara can only guess what may have happened while the first duchess is alive, but the parts narrated by Lucrezia give you insight to what actually happened. To begin with, this book was a little bit slower for me, and thus took me a little bit longer to get through. But once I got to the halfway point, I was flying through it because of the twists and turns the novel was taking. A lot of shocking reveals, and the character development was great! The one thing I did not like about The Second Duchess, was the overabundance of characters. I understand that when writing a murder mystery, it's good to have a multitude of characters, that way it's not too obvious who the actual culprit is. However, the amount of characters in this book just made it confusing. So many different names were involved, that majority of the time I had to look back to remember the particular character's place in court. I'm just torn about how I feel about this, because I understand that sometimes it's necessary dependent upon the type of novel you are writing, but at the same time, too much is just too much. If it hadn't been for this, I probably would have given the novel a 5 star rating. WOULD I RECOMMEND I gave this book a 4 star rating, so obviously it is one that I recommend, especially if you are a lover of historical fiction! If you decide to read this one, be sure to read the author's note at the end. It is full of information on the people the characters were based off of, and was very interesting! To read more about The Second Duchess, head on over to Goodreads. Happy Reading! Genre: Romance/Thriller Rating (1-5): 2 Characters: Poor Plot: Fair Nicholas Sparks is normally an author you see and think, "this will probably be a good book". You think of the popular love stories like The Notebook, and Dear John, which were both books I really enjoyed. However, this one just didn't do it for me. I couldn't get invested in the characters, and I was somewhat bored halfway through. There are multiple ways where it could have been a better read for me personally. Just because I didn't like this particular book, doesn't mean that others didn't. It has received great reviews on Goodreads, and I'm sure for those people it was a great book. The thoughts I put onto this page are just my personal opinions, which stem from personal preferences in the books I read. One of the great things about books and reading is that multiple people can read the same book, but develop different opinions and views about it. Which ultimately leads to discussions with fellow readers, and learning to respect that everyone has different viewpoints. Now to explain why I just did not like this book. I got 25% of the way in, and it was already turning creepy. I looked at how many pages I had left to read, and thought "how much weirder/creepier is this dude gonna get?". Majority of the book was spent focusing on how Richard is a major stalker, and I feel like a good opportunity to make the book more mysterious was missed out on. It would have been a very thrilling read if Julie didn't know who the stalker was, and if Richard's true character hadn't been revealed until later on. When books are meant to be suspenseful, I just like them better when the answer you're looking for isn't revealed until the last possible moment. But in The Guardian, you have knowledge of Richard's creepiness almost from the beginning, and can pretty much predict what's going to happen. Ultimately, this made the book very boring and made the desire to read it diminish. Another thing that really irked me about this book, was that the characters weren't that good. The best character was probably Singer, the dog. Other than that Julie somewhat bored me, and Nicholas Sparks basically made it known that Mike is a loser. Mike is supposed to be the main love interest, but it is hard to get on board with that when he isn't described in a desirable way what so ever. Then Richard just straight up scared me, which I guess could be considered a good thing, since his character was given enough detail to make me feel that way. I had no emotional attachment to any characters which led to me not really caring about the outcome of the novel. I hate to be a Debbie downer over a book, but my main goal is to give you honest feedback on those that I read. There are going to be books every now and then that I'm not going to like, and I just have to accept that that is a part of the process. WOULD I RECOMMEND Obviously, I did not like this book, and personally wish I had never read it. However, if you are a Nicholas Sparks fan and want to give it a shot, go ahead. Just be prepared for an ending you won't really recover from. To read more about The Guardian, head on over to Goodreads.Happy Reading! Genre: Historical Fiction Rating:5 Characters:Great Plot:Excellent March seems to be the month this year where I keep selecting books I absolutely love. The Huntress was a book I stumbled upon on Instagram, because a lot of users on there were reviewing advance copies they had received, and it was getting great feedback. It was just released on February 18, 2019, so it is a very new release! Kate Quinn seems to be a very popular author in the "bookstagram" world (I'm fairly new to all this, but it seems a lot of people talk about/like her work), and after reading this book I can understand why. It was a thrilling read, that actually took a little longer to read than I anticipated, because I had to keep putting the book down to process all that was happening. I'm not going to go into too much detail in this post, just because if you decide to read this book, I don't want anything to be spoiled! This book can be more of a slow read, just because it is very character driven. However, the characters are very compelling, and you really get pulled into them and their lives, you almost feel like you are old friends with them! The book is told from three points of view, in dual-time periods. The main focus seemed to be Nina Markova, a native of eastern Soviet Russia, who becomes a female night-bomber for the Red Army, who is fearless. You also read from the point of view of Ian Graham, a British war correspondent, who has now tossed aside journalism to hunt down war criminals and bring them to justice. And then there is Jordan McBride, a 17 year old in love with photography, who finds herself skeptical of her new foreign step-mother's story, and if she really is who she is claiming to be. I was skeptical of this novel at first, just because of it being told from different points of view as well as different time periods, and this can easily make it confusing for the reader. However, after reading the book, I understand why it was necessary to write it that way. Jumping between characters and time periods provided the information that was necessary at the time in the story. Revealing just enough information, but not too much, which made me personally stay up way too late because I knew if I kept reading, I would get more clues/information. I loved the way Quinn weaved all the different stories together, and how she would dangle the huntress right under their noses, only to yank her back. It was quite frustrating for me how the antagonist kept slipping away or talking herself out of things. The stories she would weave were so believable, and she was truly a master of deception. The fact that "the huntress" in this book is based off of actual women from Nazi Germany, makes me feel sick. Kate Quinn has an author's note at the end of the novel going over all the research she did, and who some of the characters were based off of. WOULD I RECOMMEND If you are a historical fiction buff, add this to your TBR (to be read) list. It was excellent and a very thrilling read. It has received a lot of praise, and if you read it, you won't be disappointed. To read more about The Huntress head on over to Goodreads. If you are interested in purchasing this book, you can do so on Amazon here, or at Barnes & Noble here. If you decide to read this book, please let me know what you think! Happy Reading! |
AuthorHi, I'm Genny! You can always find me with a book in my hand. Dystopian, Fantasy, and Historical Fiction are among my favorite genres. I hope you enjoy the reviews I provide and can help you pick out your next book! Archives
October 2020
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