Book Reviews
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The Summer Slump
Every year, I give myself a healthy, attainable reading goal. Some years it’s easier than others, but I typically can get through fifty to sixty books in a year, so I always hit it. And every year, like clockwork, I hit a Summer Slump. Like, I can barely get through one or two books a month kind of slump. And not even good ones! We’re nearing the end of August now, and I’m shifting into soup mode, and I am ready, ready, ready to get OUT of this meh reading period! I’m BARELY keeping up with my reading goal. I’m usually a few books ahead by this time, and Storygraph…
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A Really Sappy and Slightly Obsessive Book Review – Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
I don’t want to jump the gun by saying this in April, but I may have already read my favorite book of the year. Funny Story by Emily Henry isn’t out yet (and I didn’t snag an ARC), so this verdict could change in a few weeks when I bask in the goodness of an inevitably gushy and devastatingly gorgeous romance, but there is already a very strong, very different contender for Favorite Read of 2024. My Storygraph review of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is “BRB FORCING THIS BOOK DOWN THE THROATS OF EVERYONE I’VE EVER KNOWN,” and since I finished the book on January 12th, I’ve mostly…
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The Most Annoying Writer You Know: A Preliminary, Non-Sponsored Freewrite Alpha Review
Hi!! Writing you this review from my Alpha itself, while I’m watching Groundhog Day. This is a very important day for my college friends and me. But that’s not what this post is about. This is about this very fun writing tool I got for myself in an attempt to become someone who actually finishes her writing projects. Now, many moons ago, in one of my first posts on this website, I wrote about all the things I love about handwriting drafts as opposed to typing them on the computer. I am very much a pro-handwriter. I love it, and it’s really the main reason I have finished as many…
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The Worst People You’ll Ever Meet – A The Secret History Reread
“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.” I read The Secret History by Donna Tartt in 2019. I’d read The Goldfinch in college and made it half of my personality. I started working for the studio releasing the film (I have other thoughts about that), and wondered why on earth I hadn’t read Tartt’s other work yet. So I did, and I once again became a changed person. I felt like I had soaked up The Secret History like a sponge. I thought I remembered all the important details. I assumed I…
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If Carrie Underwood’s discography was a book: As Good As Dead Book Review
Last year, when I was in a big reading slump, I “picked up” a book (for my kindle) that my booksta pals had been hyping up a bit. A few had read it, and they’d given some great feedback on it. I’d been struggling to find something new (meaning: not a re-read) to get me out of my head. The book in question was A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and holy shit, did it get me to crawl out of my slump. As soon as I’d finished the sequel, Good Girl, Bad Blood (which I reviewed here on the blog), I pre-ordered the third installment, As Good As Dead,…
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To Sophomore Slump or To Not Sophomore Slump
Don’t you love when you pick up a book and it’s *chef’s kiss* golden? The characters, the story, the tone. It’s everything. And then you get to the end and you find out…oh my god, there’s a SEQUEL? So you, of course, pick it up immediately, and it’s just…meh. It’s not the same. It’s hardly what you’d hoped for, and it doesn’t bring you the same kind of joy the first one sparked in you. It’s disappointing to say the least. And part of the blame belongs on you. You have your expectations on the moon, and you’re still riding the high the first one gave you. It’s not fully…
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April Wrap Up
Holy cow, April was a big reading month! I mean, we’re all stuck inside, so I’m not sure what I was expecting. But this particular April, I actually reached my reading goal for the whole YEAR! Read nine books in the last thirty days. Yes, I have a lot of rereads, but there’s only so much you can do when you’re a nostalgic person. I’ll preface my list by saying that, yes, I’ve been really motivated to read and write and be creative during this time, but I know many people who aren’t feeling that way. The days of lockdown, safe-at-home orders, and COVID-19 are strange for us all, and…
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February Recap–Better Late Than Never!
A tad late on this, but can you blame me? March has been wild! Stay safe and inside everyone. Better to read, my dears. This February, I got through three books. Compared to the folks on my bookstagram? Not fabulous. But for my 20 Books in 2020 goal? We’re on the right track. At this rate, I’ll reach my goal by August! No promises I can keep it up, but I’m going to do my best. And besides, it’s about quality, not quantity! I had some pretty damn enjoyable reads for February. Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews—4/5 stars While not the most action-packed, juicy memoir,…
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Favorite Read of 2019
Happy New Year! It’s been a long one for sure, and I’m very excited to get started on my 2020 reads. New year, new playlists, movies, books, podcasts. I read twenty books in 2019, eight more than my goal, and for the most part, it was a very good reading year. I genuinely enjoyed almost every one I read. I’m pretty easy to please, though, I’ve only ever DNF-ed maybe three books in my life. This year, there was one book in particular that I loved more than any other: The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I read The Goldfinch a few years ago, and it held up to be…
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Book Review: Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
I’m not one to get caught up in too many book trends. I tried it once with The Fault in Our Stars, and I let the hype cloud my judgment about the book. Yes, I cried and I loved Gus and Hazel, but I burned out so quickly I didn’t even see the movie when it came out. To this day, I still haven’t seen it. Disclaimer, I do still like John Green’s storytelling and Turtles All the Way Down is top of my reading list. Anyway, I decided then that I wasn’t going to get sucked into big reading trends. That is, until Big Little Lies. There was something…