whatcha readin - 2023 {goal 40 - book 2 and 3...kinda}

Not gonna lie
so far 2023 has been a rough year
for me
as far as reading goes.

First I struggled with the
extremely annoying not scary at all
Frankenstein.

And then I just couldn’t seem to settle.
It’s just been slow going…
I blame my daughter and that we
started watching Sons of Anarchy and
even though I say JUST ONE
every night,
it is never
JUST ONE.

(and Jax. I blame the cuteness of Jax. Heh)

So anywayyyyyyyyyyyyy,
I read The House in the Pines
but for the moment my opinion must
remain classified information
because I read it as part of a
very small teeny tiny book club
and I don’t want to give anything away.

So instead, we’ll skip to
The Art of Racing in the Rain
which so many people told me to read and
raved about it and I was dubious
cause it was the story from the point of view
of a dog
and I was kinda like well….I mean….
how good could that be?

So frigging good.

Note I wrote while reading this book:
"For a little bit I kinda hated this story
because it was so good
and broke my heart so much.”

So there you go.
Those who told me to read this were right to do so.
And now I have become one of those people
telling YOU go read it.
(and I have a copy to trade or sell if you want)
:)

5♥♥♥♥’s out of 5
NEXT UP:: LOVE AND GELATO - JENNA EVANS WELCH

whatcha readin'? {goal 35::book 10}

I can’t lie.
I bought this book for the
title alone….
it just made me happy
in a David Bowie kinda way…

But it was a good read…
biographical fiction that is
based loosely on the life of Talitha Getty
who was beautiful and interesting
and slightly tragic and sad…

It took me a little bit to get into it…
at first, it felt like one of those
”trying too hard” kinda books…
but it grew on me.

4♥♥♥♥’s out of 5
NEXT UP:: BOOK OF LONGINGS - SUE MONK KIDD

whatcha readin'? 2021 {goal 35 - book 1}

Surprisingly, I think this may have been the very
first Nora Roberts book I have ever read.
I worked at three different bookstores when I was younger.
so am very familiar with Nora Roberts
but, honestly, I had never given her a chance.

But I was given this book in a “trade” that I did
with a friend and was pleasantly surprised.

I liked the characters, the story pulled me in…
it was a little light, a little gruesome, a little predictable
but also a little surprising.

I enjoyed it. And would read a Nora Roberts again
should one happen to cross my path.

4 ♥’s out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: UNPLUG - A Simple Guide to Meditation for Busy Skeptics and Modern Soul Seekers
Suze Yalof Schwartz

whatcha readin'? 2020 {book 13::goal 30}

The note I had written to myself
after finishing this book
was
”I didn’t hate it but
I didn’t love it.
I spent a lot of time not really
understanding it.”

There were parts of it I liked,
I like coming of age books normally
but I felt little to no connection to the characters…
it was like everyone was
brushing up against everyone
but no real connections
other than Alison & Kate.

This book is up for grabs if you
have a book you want to trade for it….
though I realize I haven’t “sold” it very well, heehee.
But you may connect with it
more than I did!

3 ♥’s out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: THE PERFECT MOTHER - AIMEE MALLOY

whatcha readin'? 2020 {book 12::goal 30}

I am reading, I swear.

Just not as fast or as much as I normally do.
I am spending a lot of time in the yard,
cutting grass, planning a garden…
and the bulk of my reading right now
comes from a text book
about quantum computing and binary representation
and other stuff that
occasionally makes my brain feel like smushy-mush.

I read Waiting for Joe
in May…and made a note in my phone about it after
that actually just kind of caught me by surprise:

“It was…meh.
Sad & depressing like a cold rainy day
where the sun
never comes out.
A bleak existence.
A sad set of lives."

And then I gave it 2.5 hearts.

I’m not sure that it was the writing that bothered me
as much as it was the subject…
sad, hopeless, bleak, lonely.
And maybe that is just too much for me
right now.

Maybe, right now,
I just want sunshine and unicorns
and candy colored rainbows.

I’m a grown-up.
It’s my prerogative.
:)

(But…in the book’s defense,
normally, as soon as I finish a book
my brain seems to delete it from my memory bank.
But, the characters seemed to have
stayed with me for this one…
so I guess that says something.)

Also…I am starting something new…
I have decided I am not keeping as many books anymore.
So, for some of these, like this one,
if you want to read it
and have a book you would like to trade….
hit me up.
:)

2.5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: HISTORY LESSON FOR GIRLS - AURELIE SHEEHAN