It’s Book Day!
If you’re like me and love to read, you might be feeling as excited as Foster in this video from last week’s VBS performance (see him jumping there in the center – lol). But, if you’re not that into reading, I’m sorry. Please check back in later this week for a fun giveaway and I promise not to mention books again … until next month when I have a bunch more to share with everyone. 😉
As you probably know, I read (and listen via the Libby and Audible apps) many books and I love to share my thoughts with you guys every month. If you’re curious and want to check out previous posts, you can start by clicking here to view last month’s Four Points Mom & Books post.
This month I again read six books somehow. I was a bit surprised to realize I read that many when I started counting because I don’t feel like like I’ve had my nose in a book all month. But I did. I guess these long summer days are allowing me a bit more “me time.” I’ll take it!
The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
Karin Slaughter is one of my new favorite authors, and she did not disappoint with The Good Daughter. Two sisters are held at gunpoint in their home twenty years ago, and how they react to this traumatic event in the moment haunts them the rest of their lives. Flash forward to present day and the daughters are brought back together as another act of violence that rocks their home town.
I cannot rave enough about this book. Karin Slaughter does a wonderful job of creating broken characters, giving insight into the depth a tragedy can impact someone for their rest of their lives. I enjoyed getting the story from both sisters’ perspectives and how the author traveled back to the initial tragic event throughout the book to slowly uncover what actually happened that night and further explain the nuances of each sister’s personalities twenty years later.
Read this book! It’s not necessarily a fun beach/ summer read, but if you’re like me it will be one that you can’t put down. I imagine you’ll find it on my best of 2018 book list because it’s that good!
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
I have another GREAT book to tell you about – I love it when that happens. 🙂 I’m back with another Celeste Ng book. You may remember that I reviewed Little Fires Everywhere a few months ago. Everything I Never Told You is almost as good as Little Fires Everywhere, in my opinion.
The book starts with the Lee family waking up to find daughter, Lydia, gone. Each chapter is told from the perspective of the four family members, including Lydia, and you learn how much they aren’t telling each other and how wrong they each are about their assumptions of what’s going on with the other family members.
This is definitely not an upbeat page-turner, but I did enjoy it and recommend it. Celeste Ng does a great job of creating characters with multiple layers, and if you liked Little Fires Everywhere you’ll like this one too.
The Party by Elizabeth Day
I had high hopes for The Party after reading this summary: “A cleverly built tour of intrigue, THE PARTY reads like a novelistic board game of Clue, taking us through the various half-truths and lies its characters weave, as the past and present collide in a way that its protagonists could never have anticipated.” However, I just never got that into it. A few of my friends read it and really enjoyed it, but not me. I don’t want to give much of it away, but I just kept waiting for a big reveal or the A-HA moment. I personally didn’t feel like that ever happened. However, I want to emphasize that many of my friends did enjoy the book. So, you might like it. I didn’t. :/
Happily Ali After by Ali Wentworth
After the disappointing read of The Party, I needed a funny, uplifting book and this one did the trick. Somehow I had never heard of Ali Wentworth until I saw a review of one of her other books last month. I added a few of her books to my hold list, and this one popped up as available right as I finished The Party. Thank goodness! Happily Ali After is hysterical!
Ali Wentworth is a comedic actress who has been in several movies and tv shows over the past two decades. I can’t say I recall seeing her in any of the ones that show up in IMDB, but it is an impressive list. She’s also married to George Stephanopoulos (think Good Morning America and ABC). I enjoyed her humorous take on life and hearing her stories. She’s a mom and she gets it. I now realize how much we all enjoy hearing other moms commiserate over the same things we’re experiencing. And when the other mom is as funny as Ali Wentworth, it’s even better.
If you’re looking for a quick, light read I recommend Happily Ali After. I’ve already put a few of her other books on my “to-read” list!
The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond
This was a very unique and interesting book. It wasn’t at all what I expected, and I’m still racking my brain to figure out what I feel about it. Alice and Jake invite one of Alice’s famous clients to their wedding and he surprisingly accepts the invitation and shows up. They spend time with him that evening and soon receive an invitation inviting them to join the Marriage Pact. Newlyweds Alice and Jake know marriage will be difficult and are looking for a way to prove to the themselves and each other that they want their marriage to last. The join the “pact” and so it begins.
As you can imagine, the pact is pretty much a cult and once they’re in there’s no easy way out. This book mostly creeped me out wondering if this or something similar truly does exist at such a large scale. Like I said, it’s very interesting and unlike anything else I’ve read. For that reason, I recommend it. But, it’s not a wholehearted recommendation … if that makes any sense.
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
Alright, you’ve seen Janet Evanovich show up before in my reviews. She’s who I turn to when none of the books I have on hold are available at the library and I just want an entertaining short read. The Stephanie Plum novels are great in that once you’ve read the first book and get to know the main character, you can pretty much pick up any other one in the series and dive in. It was a cute read and helped me get through a few workouts. 🙂
Alright, have you read any of these books? Do you have any I should add to my to-read list! And don’t forget to follow me on GoodReads to see what else I’m reading.
If you want to check out my previous reviews, you can always enter books in the search bar above. Or, you can just click on January, February, March, April, or May to check out my 2018 reviews. Plus, you can see ALL the books I’ve remembered to track on my GoodReads page.
