whatcha readin'? {goal 35::books 21-25}

Another Monday,
another catch up on books read
so far this year.

And…I know my goal was 30
but…spoiler alert…I HAVE HIT 30 ALREADY!! Yay me!!!!
so for funsies,
I am trying to do a challenge
I saw online #TenBeforeTheEnd
and have picked 10 titles that I am going to
try to finish before the end of 2022.

and as promised, here are books 21-25:

21. Cilka’s Journey - Heather Morris
♥♥♥♥♥5 out of 5
So good but so sad,
and tragic and frustrating
and horrifying.

22. The Paris Apartment - Lisa Foley
♥♥♥♥4 out of 5
Interesting…I liked the setting…
twisty-turny….quick read

23. The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Hahn
♥♥♥♥4 out of 5
I like books about Belly and Conrad and Jeremiah…
don’t judge me. :D

24. Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Reilly
♥♥♥♥4 out of 5
Notes I wrote after reading it:
sad & horrifying & hopeful

25. Beautiful World, Where Are You? - Sally Rooney
♥♥♥♥4 out of 5
No notes written but I know I set the book aside
as one that I don’t want to give away
because I feel I will read it again…

whatcha readin'? {goal 35:: books 15-20}

I have had a weird mix
of books this year….
I seem to rotate between
desolate, heartbreaking
war torn loss and incomprehensible cruelty
to
fluffy and light,
fun and silly,
romantic young adult books….

My brain is mystery even to me.

Here are 5 more reads so far this year.
And honestly….all I might tell you is if I liked it or not…
because my brain ALSO sees no need
to retain ANY information about a book (or movie)
after I finish it…or sometimes, while I am reading it.

(Again, my brain=mystery)

16. The Exiles - Christina Baker Kline ♥♥♥♥♥
Heartbreaking. Brutal. Cruel

17. To All The Boys I Loved Before - Jenny Han ♥♥♥♥
Light. Airy. Fluffy. Sweet. Romantic.
Made me incredibly happy :)
The Netflix version…not so much.

18. The Last Story of Mina Lee - Nancy Jooyoun Kim ♥♥♥
19. PS I Still Love You - Jenny Han ♥♥♥♥
PS….I still love this series. Enough to read another one right away….heh.

20. We Begin At The End - Chris Whitaker ♥♥♥♥♥
Note I had written to myself after finishing this book:
I had zero expectations of this 2.00 book I bought
at a convenience store but it brought me to my knees
sobbing on my deck.

whatcha readin'? {goal 35::book 11-15}

It is has been a very long time
since I talked about any books that I have read…
so I am going to share a bunch right now
to try to get caught up.

The Book of Longings: ♥♥♥♥
I love Sue Monk Kidd. Love.
This story did not disappoint
even though it is somewhat
religion based which is not always
my thing for whatever reason.
But I enjoyed this.

The Book Thief: ♥♥♥♥♥
This I loved.
In an all encompassing laugh out loud
cry ugly tears kind of way.

The Dictionary of Lost Words: ♥♥♥♥♥
I love words. Like….love words…
so this book was like magic.
Inspired by actual events,
it is so interesting to read about
how the dictionary came about…
with nuances as well as to how
women did or didn’t play a part in the
creation…

The Vanished Days: ♥♥♥♥♥
The note I wrote in my book list
after reading this was,
”I frigging loved this from start to finish.”
:)
And I did….it was vast and pretty and
gritty all at once and reminded me
of Diana Gabaldon’s books.
I would definitely read more of hers.

Magpie: ♥♥♥♥
This was a pretty good
fast pace summer read
full of twists and turns…
I enjoyed it

Stay tuned for next week
when I will share 5 more
and we get into my odd shift
into YA novels….heh.
Don’t judge me. :D

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'? {goal 35::book 9}

Oh, how I loved this book.

Once again, I really wasn’t expecting anything.
I don’t even know where I got this one…
and I had just bought like 3 new books
but saw this one sitting on my end table
(where it has sat for about a year
untouched
in full view)
and for some reason,
the blue-green cover suddenly caught my attention.

And it kept my attention.

The writing was beautiful, lyrical, sensory
and full of evocative imagery…
I realized after that this was a Reese book club pick
and then I was like yeah, I can see that.
I always love the books they pick.

Anyway, it was a beautiful read.
I was sad to see it come to an end.

Definitely 5♥♥♥♥♥’s out of 5
NEXT UP:: SISTER STARDUST - JANE GREEN