whatcha readin'? 2019 {book 14::goal 25}

I wanted to love this book.

I really did.

If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time,
you probably know that I like books like this…
I like how to’s and suggestions and lists and motivation.

What I did like:
♥ her no-nonsense suck it up deal with it this-is-up-to-you-to-change attitude.
I like people who are little bit tough love.
somedays. somedays…I want to throat punch them.
It’s a fine line.

♥ Her references to the wizard of oz and Dorothy

♥ That she talked about the struggle of quitting diet coke…
Uh….yeah…I get that (as I pop a can in the freezer just now so I can have it before bed).

♥ Her red converse sneakers

♥ She’s kinda adorable.

What I didn’t like:

• It was a little too religion based for me.
  This was not her fault…it was an oversight of mine.
  I didn’t realize when I got it that this was a large part of where
  she was coming from. And I am not against religion…it’s just…
  not my thing…

• That was pretty much it….I mean…some of it is a little cliched..
  but no more than any other book in this type of genre that I have read.
  I went into it expecting that to some degree.

All in all…I enjoyed the book. I felt like I got something out of it.
If I feel I have to take notes while reading something, then…that
feels like a worthwhile read to me and I definitely did take notes while
reading this. I do recommend it. Just go into it with an open mind.

3.5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: WHERE THE PAST BEGINS - AMY TAN

whatcha readin'? 2019 {book 13::goal 25}

here’s a secret
that’s not really a secret…
i love fairy tales.

and this felt like a fairy tale to me.

a little girl lost and abandoned,
secrets kept and whispered and wondered about…
a mystery,
a book of fairy tales,
a hidden garden, walled away from the rest of the world…

oh, i loved this book.

i will warn you though…i had to make notes at one point
of who was who and how this person knew that person
and so on and so forth. :)

5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: GIRL WASH YOUR FACE - RACHEL HOLLIS

whatcha readin'? 2019 {book 12::goal 25}

i finished this
quite a while ago
and when i was done
i didn’t give it 5 hearts…
i gave it
5 broken hearts.

i made a note in my phone
as i was reading this…
it said:
i am reading it.
and it is very good.
but i cannot say i am enjoying it.
so sad. so fucking sad.

and that is still how i feel.

the story was harrowing and yet
somewhat hopeful
and the descriptions
so vivid, it made me feel ill
and unable to sleep…
i often catch myself thinking
who could do this,
who could be this monstrous,
this inhuman
and then i think
of the gradual descent,
the blurring of lines…
of lost morals and the absence kindness or empathy…
of misplaced hatred and fear…of the power of propaganda…
of children kept in cages
and i wonder
how backwards
we are willing to let ourselves slide
and honestly
that keeps me awake at night, too
wondering if we have
learned
nothing.

5 out of 5 broken ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN - KATE MORTON

whatcha readin'? 2019 {book 11::goal 25}

I really didn’t know a lot about this book
when I picked it up.
It had gotten a lot of attention on blogs
and websites so I thought I would give it a shot….
I don’t want to say that I enjoyed this book
because that feels wrong…
it didn’t feel like a book that you were meant to enjoy…
it seems more like something
that should anger you, surprise you, make you think,
make you want to change things,
make you grateful for the things that you take for granted
in your own life…
and, in that sense, it was very effective.

It is unfortunate that a book like this has to be written
and it’s equally unfortunate that there are so many
real life examples of exactly the type of scenario
that happens in this story.

4 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s
NEXT UP: THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ - HEATHER MORRIS

whatcha readin'? 2019 {book 10::goal 25}

I debated on how many hearts
to give this book.

The writing was pretty good but,
occasionally, in places,
it felt forced…
like…too much…
it reminded me of how I loved books like
VC Andrews and SE Hinton when I was a teenager
but, now, the writing makes me
cringe
just a little…
it’s just trying a tiny bit too hard.

But…the story totally carried me along
and held me til the end.

In the end, I gave it

4 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s
NEXT UP: THE HATE YOU GIVE - ANGIE THOMAS