whatcha readin' 2019? {book 5::goal 25}

a while ago, i read jess kidd’s
first book
”himself”
and i broke my own rule for the
first and only time ever
and wrote about a book i was reading
BEFORE
i had even finished it….
raved about it actually.

this is her second book
and it totally did not disappoint…
mysterious and gothic,
saints and stories,
characters that just draw you in so hard
you wish they were real
so that you could go visit them…

i 110% recommend this book.
i was sad to see it end.

oh! and she has a new book coming out this month!!!

5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥'s

NEXT UP:  THERE ARE NO GROWN UPS HERE - PAMELA DRUCKER

whatcha readin' 2019 {book 4::goal 25}

Years ago, I read Writing Down the Bones
by Natalie Goldberg and it pushed me to write
more than I have in a long time.

I had hoped that this book, The Great Spring,
was going to have the same effect on me
but instead
it was more of a collection of short stories/essays…
which, honestly, is never my thing.

So….meh.
Nothing against the book…
just…
not my thing.

3 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s
NEXT UP: MR FLOOD’S LAST RESORT - JESS KIDD

whatcha readin' 2019 {book 3::goal 25}

I just realized I have never actually read
Still Alice…
I had only seen the movie.

But now that I have read Every Note Played,
I think I would like to read Still Alice as well.

I was a little prepared for this book,
but still,
totally not prepared for this book.

I mean, I knew what it was about
but, I really wasn’t that familiar with ALS
and what it does to a person.

What a heartbreaking, terrifying disease.

And she writes about it in a way
that makes you really understand
the scope of its entirety,
of its paralyzing progression…
I felt constricted and panicky just reading about it,
I cannot imagine what
it must be like to be living with it
or watching a loved one deal with it.

That said, it was a beautifully written book
and well worth the read….
just, keep some kleenex handy.

5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s
NEXT UP: THE GREAT SPRING - NATALIE GOLDBERG

whatcha readin' 2019 {book 2::goal 25}

I really didn’t know what to expect from this book.

I really only picked it up because
it was available to me.

But I was totally and pleasantly surprised
at how much I actually go out of this.

(Mostly, due to timing, you know with the stupid separation and all…)

But, all in all, I did find it helpful and interesting
(and also very amusing which is incredibly important).
There was a whole section on the phenomenon
and mystery of online dating
which, as you might know, I have been dipping my toe
into (very, very tentatively, because really…it’s a scary place out there).

And sometimes, it’s just nice to read something
that you can relate to
and, if all you can get out of it is a sense that you
are not alone…that there are other people out there stumbling around
in the dating world trying to avoid fake profiles
and offers of unwanted photos and forced small talk/awkward silences…
then that is probably good enough.

I know it made me feel better.

4 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s
NEXT UP: EVERY NOTE PLAYED - LISA GENOVA

whatcha readin' 2019 {book 1::goal 25}

I loved the first two books in this set…
I don’t really want to say series because,
although they are related, they are very distantly related,
like 4th cousins 3 times removed that heard of each other
but just vaguely….

You really can read these independent of each other…
but it’s better to read them as they were written even
just for the timeline…but
do you have to read them all to know what happened
with the earlier characters? Yeah…not so much.
Did I need to re-read 2 one thousand page books
before I started this one?
Definitely not.
But they are good books and I did enjoy re-reading them.

However, I do wonder it might have been overkill.

I found myself a little irritated and wanting to be done
of the third book. I don’t think it was the writing or the
characters, I think I had just been in Kingsbridge for
too long and should have taken a light-quick-read-book-break in the middle maybe.

Which makes me feel a little bad about
only giving this one
3.5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s.

But…not bad enough to change it.

NEXT UP: MODERN ROMANCE - AZIZ ANSARI