Beach Read Book Review

Beach Read Book Review

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

14 comments

BOOK REVIEW: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Release Date: May 19th, 2020

Genre: Romance / Fiction

Published by: Berkley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 My Goodreads Rating

BOOK BLURB: 

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really. 

💛

MY THOUGHTS:

Every once in a while we're lucky enough to find a book that makes us fall in love with the characters and reminds us that LOVE is beautiful...even when the world feels pretty shitty.

I fell in love with this book.  

I could not put it down.

I actually ran out of post-it notes to mark the passages that I want to go back to!

But how could I not love it?  Let me give you 5 reasons to love this book:

1. January is a hopeless romantic and Gus is a "life is shit" kind of guy. But not everyone is just one thing, is it? And as they start knowing each other, the layers start coming off, and they might discover that they are not so different after all...
2. January writes romance novels and she believes that Gus thinks his writing is superior...
3. The sarcasm...oh, that twisted humor and endless eye rolls that make sparks fly...
4. Everyone has secrets, even the people we've loved all our lives...
5. Finally, the love scenes, they were not so steamy, but were perfectly written.

🎧

Which song would I pair this book with?  COMING AROUND AGAIN by Carly Simon 

"I know nothing stays the same

But if you're willing to play the game

It's coming around again

So don't mind if I fall apart

There's more room in a broken heart

And I believe in love

But what else can I do

I'm so in love with you"

I do hope you get to read this book, and when you do, please let me know what you thought of it!

Happy reading!

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2020 Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag

2020 Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag

Sunday, July 5, 2020

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Can you believe it's July already?  

Honestly, there's nothing I would like more than press the reset button and re-install 2020, because the version we downloaded is definitely bugged...but when nothing seems to be working, books offer comfort and the option to escape reality!

I only see one way to sum up the first 6 months of 2020: I read 41 books and I am on target to hit my year-end goal of 80 books (I read 83 books in 2019)!

So, without further ado, let's look at the #MIDYEARBOOKFREAKOUTTAG  

BEST BOOK you've read so far in 2020?

After falling in love with The Night Circus, I couldn't wait to read The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. 

Click here to view my full review of this Masterpiece.  

❤❤❤❤❤

BEST SEQUEL you've read so far in 2020?

That would be Blue Lily, Lily Blue (book 3 of The Raven Cycle) by Maggie Stiefvater!  

If you haven't read this series, I suggest you order your copies now!

❤❤❤❤❤

NEW RELEASE you haven't read yet but want to?  

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin is sitting on my shelf and I'm planning on reading it in July.  

I have very high expectations for this book!

❤❤❤❤❤

Most ANTICIPATED RELEASE for the second half of 2020?

There are 2 books coming out in September that I already pre-ordered and can't wait to get my hands on: 

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 

and

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

❤❤❤❤❤

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT?

Hmmm, I have to confess that I DNF'ed Crave by Tracy Wolff.  

It just didn't do it for me :-(

❤❤❤❤❤

BIGGEST SURPRISE?

One debut book that was a total surprise to me was Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas! 

I read it without high expectations and yet, this book was a solid 5 stars!

❤❤❤❤❤

Favorite NEW to you AUTHOR?

After reading both The Simple Wild and Wild at Heart,  K.A. Tucker quickly became a favorite!

❤❤❤❤❤

Newest FICTIONAL CRUSH?

Hunt Athalar from House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. 

I mean, who wouldn't fall for the notorious fallen angel? 

❤❤❤❤❤

Newest FAVORITE CHARACTER?

Twelve-year-old Edward Adler! 

I got very emotional when followed Edward on his coming-of-age journey from feeling like he didn’t deserve to survive to understanding that he is a survivor!!!  From learning to put away his guilt of being alive to deciding to do something to honor the people that didn’t make it.⁠

❤❤❤❤❤

Book that made you CRY?

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle made me cry at the end and I wasn't sure if I was happy or sad with the ending...how did that happen?

❤❤❤❤❤

Book that made you HAPPY?

Little Wonders was a breath of fresh air. It was funny and SO real!

❤❤❤❤❤

Favorite Book-To-Movie ADAPTATION you saw this year?

I haven't really been watching lots of TV lately, and even though I haven't watched it yet, I can't wait for Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo TV series to release on Netflix!

❤❤❤❤❤

Favorite REVIEW you've written this year?

Pretty much the same answer as last year's book tag, I like every review I write.  

I do it because I enjoy it, so it's not an obligation, it's my opinion.  I'm not sure I can choose a favorite, except the one review that got chosen by Penguin Books, which was How to Stop Time by Matt Haig.

❤❤❤❤❤

Most BEAUTIFUL BOOK you've bought so far this year?

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo is just stunning!

❤❤❤❤❤

What BOOKS do you need to READ by the end of this year?

That might be the toughest question of all!!!

Honestly, I'm like a kid in a toy store and want to read all the books...

❤❤❤❤❤

There you have it.  

I'm not going to tag anyone so feel free to #TAG yourself, and let me know if any of these books made to your list as well! 

✌🏼

“Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.” 

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Choose to be an ALLY

Choose to be an ALLY

Sunday, June 7, 2020

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The recent events have left me thinking of
“how can I help?"
“what should I be doing?”
…and I came to the conclusion that one of the most important things we can all do right now is to take some time to listen and absorb the stories and messages coming from the Black community.

Donate if you can, but most importantly,  LISTEN, LEARN and UNDERSTAND.  Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but when you do them, apologize.  Stop undermining people's feelings.  I admit that I have been guilty of telling people something to the effect of "I'm not racist, I'm a minority too", which I've just come to realize is the wrong thing to say, and for that, I apologize.
I have a long journey ahead of me, but I'd like to think that this path will make me a better ally.  As Ibram X. Kendi mentions in his book How to be an AntiRacist:
“The good news is that racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. We can be a racist one minute and an antiracist the next. What we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment, determines what -- not who -- we are.”

There are a lot of resources out there, and it's up to us to do the work,  so here's a list that has been helping me better myself in this process:

1. Self-educate with audiobooks about racism and antiracism, and amplify Black voices.  Libro.fm has curated a playlist of “How to Be an Antiracist”.  https://libro.fm/playlists/required-reading
2. The audiobook version of Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning is now available for free on Spotify.
3. The NY Times has put together a list of children’s books that can help explain racism and protests to your kids. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/parenting/kids-books-racism-protest.html
4. The book White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo is sold out right now, but you can listen to her chat with Jonathan Capehart on his podcast, Cape Up: https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/cape-up/the-author-of-white-fragility-doesnt-think-most-white-people-care-about-racial-injustice/
5. Buy, read and promote the fiction books by POC.  Nic Stone, Jason Reynolds, Kiley Reid, N.K. Jemisin, Tomi Adeyemi, Angie Thomas and Uzodinma Iweala, just to name a few.
6. Be more selective of the companies you choose to support on social media.  Several #Bookstagrammers have dropped their support of BookOutlet due to their comments on #BlackLivesMatters movement.

Finally, the 2 images on this blog post are just some of the books that my #bookstagram friends and I are reading this week...

"I want to live in a world where no man’s life is valued more or less than another’s. I have been reading recommended works of Black authors and have joined community readalongs to listen, to learn, unpack my privilege, to hold myself accountable in supporting change." - Nikki @saturday_nite_reader

Please drop your suggestions and any other resources to add to my list in the comments section below.  

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9 Book Pairings to Enhance Your Reading

9 Book Pairings to Enhance Your Reading

Friday, May 22, 2020

9 comments

A Guest Post by Karen Geiger

My 5th grader is required to write a book report every week, and one of the recurring questions is, “Does this book remind you of another book you have read?” Suffice it to say, making connections between books is something we are taught to do from a young age. These days, I love creating both obvious and not-so-obvious pairings between books I’ve read. Here are 9 of my concoctions, visualized!

Writers & Lovers by Lily King 
Normal People by Sally Rooney
You would think Writers & Lovers is a book about present-day millennials, but it takes place in the 1990s. 31-year-old Casey Peabody is facing the aggravation of early adulthood, just as Connell and Marianne do in Normal People. They suffer from the consequences of foolish choices, missed connections, and crippling indecision. In between wanting to yell at them, you will recognize yourself in their vulnerabilities.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid 
Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin Kiley Reid and Laura Hankin have each written searing, satirical accounts of wealthy Manhattan mommies behaving badly. These privileged moms are juxtaposed by their younger hired help – an African-American nanny in Such a Fun Age, and a singer turned playgroup musician in Happy & You Know It. When the moms try to befriend their employees, be prepared for all hell to break loose.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 
The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe
The first person male narration immediately connected The Dutch House and The Knockout Queen for me. In both stories, the narrators are outcast from their homes as young boys. They then spend their formative years pining (non-romantically) after females that have protected them. Patchett and Thorpe have created utterly unique characters with unconventional yet compelling relationships.

Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb 
Listen to the Marriage by John Jay Osborn 
It turns out that witnessing the dialogue between psychotherapists and their patients is a surprisingly effective narrative device. Lori Gottlieb is a practicing psychotherapist who shares the journey of four real-life patients, while Listen to the Marriage is the fictional account of a separated couple’s experience with therapy. There are universal truths inside these pages that will make you realize you probably need therapy, too.

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo 
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell Russell’s fictional account of a 15-year-old girl groomed by her 42-year-old teacher is highly reminiscent of Taddeo’s true account of 17-year-old Maggie's story in Three Women. Neither victim can come to terms with what they’ve experienced, as they grapple with how the most formative relationships of their lives could constitute abuse. Both stories are at once shocking and palpable.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata Untamed by Glennon Doyle
This is probably my most unconventional pairing, but it rings so true for me. Untamed is a powerful anthem to women: to dismantle the world’s expectations of us and begin reclaiming who we are truly meant to be. Convenience Store Woman is the story of Keiko, who never quite fits in and struggles to conform….until she delightfully decides to live her quirky, unabashed truth.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong 
How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones Both Vuong and Jones take a deep dive into intersectionality, with coming of age stories of young gay men of color. What makes them distinct is their language. Vuong is a poet whose lyricism is lush, layered, and at times inscrutable. Jones delivers a more straight-forward narrative with language that is refreshingly unadorned, yet no less profound.

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes 
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
The Giver of Stars and The Henna Artist give new meaning to The Resistance: we are not the first, nor will we be the last. Both books feature fierce, unapologetic feminists who fight the patriarchy in 1930s Kentucky and 1950s India respectively. Moyes’ Alice Wright and Joshi’s Lakshmi Shastri are downright modern in their insistence on charting their own paths regarding marriage, motherhood, and career.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah 
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens Educated by Tara Westover
Three stories of young women facing harsh circumstances – on the Alaskan frontier, the marshlands of the North Carolina coast, and a survivalist’s compound in rural Idaho. The sense of place in each story provides an immersive backdrop for each woman’s transformative journey. You will be transfixed as they break through devastating cycles of violence, mental illness, and isolation.

Bio: Karen Geiger is a technology executive by day and a voracious reader by night. She resides in the Bay Area, California with her husband, two young boys, and a Labradoodle. She shares book musings and reviews on Instagram at @kindlepics.

Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think of Karen's Book Pairings! 

Do you have pairings of your own?  

Do tell.

📚

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In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

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AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

Release Date: March 10th, 2020

Genre: Romance/Fiction/Contemporary

Published by Simon & Schuster Audio

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My Goodreads Rating 

BOOK BLURB:

Perfect for fans of Me Before You and One Day—a striking, powerful, and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who experiences an astonishing vision that could change her life forever.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.

But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.

After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.

MY THOUGHTS:

What if you wake up one day, 5 years in the future, and your life is totally different?  Different apartment.  Different fiancee.  How did this happen?⁠

Well, grab a copy of In Five Years and you're in for a ride! It's a love story, but don't jump into any conclusions, because the real love story is about a lifelong friendship and all the memories built throughout the years...the love of NYC, the love of bagels, the beach house, all the summers spent together, the careers they chose, and the promise of forever.⁠

Dannie and Bella have the kind of friendship you last saw on the movie "Beaches" (I know, that's an oldie) and I think I too, longed for that feeling.
OMG, so many feelings!

I liked this audiobook SO much that I now want a physical copy for my personal library!

“You mistake love. You think it has to have a future in order to matter, but it doesn't. It's the only thing that does not need to become at all. It matters only insofar as it exists. Here. Now. Love doesn't require a future.”⁠

⁠⁠🎧Thank you @librofm & @atriabooks #ALCprogram for the gifted listening copy!

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Social Distancing and April 2020 Monthly Wrap-Up

Social Distancing and April 2020 Monthly Wrap-Up

Thursday, April 30, 2020

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8 GREAT BOOKS WE READ WHILE SOCIAL DISTANCING 

April 2020 was the first full month while social distancing and #stayathome time.  It took a lot of adjusting to this new reality of working from home, virtual classes, virtual book club meetings, video conferencing, grocery deliveries (if you're lucky to get a time slot)...all of this while dealing with the uncertainty and anxiety of what's to come.

I had enough time to binge watch a few shows on Netflix and Amazon, but mostly, I wanted to catch up with my reading 📚

Here are the books I read in April and feel free to click on the links to see my full reviews:

🙌🏼FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH

     

     Crescent City - House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

❤️BOOKS I LOVED

     A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

     Wild at Heart by K.A.Tucker

     The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves

🤩BOOKS I LIKED

     

     Verity by Colleen Hoover

     The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

     The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

👌🏼BOOK THAT WAS JUST OK

     

     Reborn Yesterday by Tessa Bailey

What about you?  

Any favorite books and/or TV shows?  

Please share in the comments section!

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Travel through books when social distancing

Travel through books when social distancing

Saturday, April 11, 2020

9 comments

#SocialDistancing messed up your travel plans?  Mine too, but instead of moping around the house feeling sorry for myself, I embraced a different attitude and so far, have "travelled" to  the following places without leaving my house:

1. Travelled to Vietnam for a bike ride (The Red Lotus) only to come back to NYC and face a biological threat - sounds familiar?
2. Drove to Fell, NY to stay in a haunted motel (The Sun Down Motel) and help solve a series of cold cases.
3. Went back to NYC to experience what true friendship is when faced with the most difficult time (In Five Years).
4. Was summoned to The London ShadowHunters Institute to slay some demons (Chain of Gold).
5. Flew back to Coney Island, to work in a funeral home and fall in love with a vampire Prince (Reborn Yesterday).
6. Transported myself to Crescent City to live in The House of Earth and Blood, hang out with a Fallen Angel and become a legend.
7. After all that I needed to relax, so I went to live in Alaska, near Anchorage with a sky cowboy, a goat, a raccoon and a grumpy neighbor (Wild at Heart).

Where have your books taken you to lately? Did you learn anything about the places? 

Books give you somewhere to go when you have to stay where you are - and that can lead you to a wonderful adventure...C'mon, tell me when was the last time you slayed a demon or talked to a ghost?

And, right now, you have the chance to get the new and old releases for free:

• Scribd.com is giving 30 days free, no credit card, no commitment.  Download e-books, audiobooks, podcasts and magazines.
• Libro.fm gives you the chance to support a local bookstore of your choice.  Enjoy the first month free and feel good about supporting a local store.
• Hoopla lets you borrow digital movies, music, eBooks and more, 24/7 with your library card.  That's a game changer!
• If you are an Amazon Prime member, you already have access to Prime Reading which includes a selection of more than 1,000 books and magazines.  Best of all, dozens of Prime Reading books are available with Audible narration — so you can listen while you are busy cooking, gardening or just relaxing.

With all of these free options, you have no excuse! Grab a book in the format of your choice and Happy Reading!  Who knows? Maybe you and I will meet at some distance land conquering kingdoms! LOL.

🗡👑

“That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet."― Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

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