Genre: Adult

Blog Tour Review: Broken Homes and Gardens

Posted September 2, 2015 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

This book was such a pleasant surprise! I’ve never seen the movie When Harry Met Sally – I know, shame on me – but judging from the plot I read online, this book does a pretty good job of lining up with that! Joanna and Malcolm are two longtime friends who spend years dancing around the fact that they should probably stop being dummies and get together. The story was incredibly quiet and character-driven, which I couldn’t help but enjoy. Looking back on the actual plot, not much happens – but not in a bad way at all. I like reading stories where the characters feel real and are just kind of going through their regular lives. There weren’t huge areas of drama or angst, which was refreshing. I loved Joanna and found myself relating to her a lot. She struggled with what to do for a career and never felt like she was good enough in any one area to make a career of it. She constantly referenced people’s lives in movies and the whole book had that kind of dreamy I-wish-my-life-was-like-that way. I don’t know how to explain it, but I think this would be a wonderful rom com movie. I loved Malcolm and shipped them from the start. I could see the chemistry from the very first night and Joanna’s reservations about ruining their friendship were pretty silly to me. They were on-and-off friends over the years – living together, writing back and forth long distance, not speaking… I […]

Review: Maybe in Another Life

Posted August 28, 2015 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

To be totally honest, it’s going to be hard to explain just how much I loved and appreciated this book. I absolutely could not stop reading. I say that about a lot of books, but I had to pull myself away multiple times because I was determined to stretch the wonderfulness out into more than just one huge sitting. It’s the kind of book where you really want to savor every word and write down every single line in a quote notebook. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of parallel universe books, especially if they’re in the form of a decision that splits the book in two. You get to see how the two alternate worlds play out as a result of that choice and see how the book ends. Did the decision eventually lead to the same end result? Or did things turn out totally different in both worlds? This is such a fascinating concept to me: the idea of fate and destiny vs. decisions impacting outcomes. Is everything pre-planned? Will we always end up in the same spot regardless of our choices? Or does each individual choice impact us in some way, creating an alternate universe (or millions of them) where each decision is played out in a completely different way? I’ll probably write a deeper dive into this at some point because I feel like I talk about it so much. But, moral of the story is: I knew this book was going to become a favorite […]

Review: The One That Got Away

Posted May 28, 2015 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I’ve started to get really picky about how and when I buy books. I’ve been focusing on buying books that I’ve already read and loved, because I don’t like the idea of owning a book and not loving it. I don’t often buy books unless I think for sure that I’m going to love it or if its in a series I’ve been reading and I want all of them. ANYWAYS, this book had been teasing me at Target for a couple of different trips and I couldn’t resist picking up a copy. I’m obsessed with the cover, it had some great reviews, and it just seemed like a book I’d love. I’m so, so glad I bought a copy. The first line of this book immediately told me I’d love it: “Every woman has one. That name you Google at two o’clock in the morning. That intoxicating connection that somehow never solidified into anything real; that particular memory you still visit every now and then, for that guaranteed hit of pure, sugar-packed dopamine. It’s that story that starts with ‘There was this one time’ and ends, reluctantly, with ‘but I guess…’” I loved Sarina’s voice right away. I could tell that she was going to be funny and unique, and that she would make me love this book no matter what happened. Unlike some readers, I really wasn’t nervous about the relationship in the book. I don’t mind books where there’s cheating or falling in love with someone else […]

Review: Station Eleven

Posted April 22, 2015 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

I’m very glad that I reduced my Goodreads challenge as I was reading this one, because I certainly ended up taking my time with it. It’s one of those books, for me, where it takes me a lot of effort to actually pick it up and start reading. I was never really in the mood for it, but it was completely engrossing and interesting once I did pick it up. I had a similar experience with To Kill A Mockingbird, and I ended up loving that one by the time I finished. It’s just one of things where the book is kind of hard compared to what you usually read so you want to take your time with it. At least that’s how my experience was! I probably won’t be able to say too much on this one because it’s really quite hard to explain what this book is about and how I feel about it. I was convinced I was going to be the black sheep and almost DNF’ed it a few times, but those feelings passed once I really got going. I absolutely love books where the stories are all intertwining and the characters don’t really know it. In this case, the story spans over time (pre- and post-apocalypse) and covers numerous characters. The cast of characters was so interesting to me because the book was narrated from a third person omniscient point of view. You could get into anyone’s head and the chapters and sections of the book alternated around […]

Review: Nowhere But Home

Posted April 6, 2015 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

I have no idea how to review this book. I wasn’t really able take notes during this one, but just wrote down a few different words that I couldn’t forget: Poetic. Sad. Beautiful. Unique. Interesting. Amazing characters. It’s a book that usually wouldn’t be on my radar at all, aside from the gorgeous cover. I’m really picky about books and their subjects, and I’m even MORE picky with adult books. I honestly can’t even tell you what I look for in women’s fiction; usually there’s just a spark of something that interests me in the synopsis. The synopsis for Nowhere But Home is certainly interesting, but not my cup of tea. Following Hannah’s blog has brought a lot more adult titles to my attention, and Liza Palmer’s books were promptly added to my TBR. In fact, her review is actually a lot more coherent than mine is going to be, so I recommend reading that. After finishing Nowhere But Home, I took a reading break for a day. I wasn’t ready to part with the characters or the story. I felt like the next book I read would pale in comparison, and I didn’t want to ruin my next book because of this massive book hangover. This is a book I wanted to crawl inside and stay in forever. “It’s what we’re all trying to do, right? Remember a time that was better. Re-create a moment of that memory as we let the crisp Coke bubble down our throats. Riding bikes on […]

Review: Landline

Posted March 4, 2015 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

I feel like this past month has been full of books that I wasn’t sure how to rate, and this was no exception throughout most of the book. The ending REALLY sealed the deal for me (in a good way). I don’t think I have too much to say here, so I’ll break it down short and sweet. This book just felt so real: the feelings, the thoughts, the reactions. It reminds you that all relationships take work. You can’t take things for granted. There were lots of little lessons that make the reader really understand how things just can slip away undetected until you don’t even know how you arrived at where you are. Rainbow Rowell’s writing + the narrator = perfect. Highly recommend the audio version. The ending of the book brought a major smile to my face. I wasn’t sure how I felt about things for a while, because of all the reasons below, but I think the ending totally made up for all of it. Adorable. There were SO MANY great quotes. Some of my favorites are scattered around the post! I really didn’t even like the characters… that seems like an awful big negative, eh? Well, throughout the whole book, Georgie made decisions and said things that just made her seem so selfish and self-destructive. She constantly took Neal for granted, worked too much, and just didn’t seem to care about any dreams but her own. Neal was totally too good for her… and […]

Holiday Review: Coming Home for Christmas

Posted December 22, 2014 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

I’m going to try a new kind of review occasionally, where I make notes as I read and use them as a quick review of the book! Here’s my first go at this. I’m seeing a lot of similarities between this book and the previous Christmas book I’ve read by Jenny Hale. The main characters have similar personalities, are dealing with somewhat similar situations with the love interest, the love interests have similar personalities to each other, etc. I like it though; she’s really mastered this kind of story. It’s interesting reading this book AFTER A Christmas to Remember, because Allie and Robert were featured in that book and it takes place after this one. It’s nice to know where they’re headed actually. There was a slight difference that just came up… I won’t spoil anything too much, but be warned it could be heading into somewhat-love-triangle territory. I actually feel like I’m reading about the same main character in some ways. In ACTR, the narrator was incredibly self-conscious and anxious, which annoyed me a lot, but she still (eventually) stuck up for herself and just told her employer exactly what she was thinking. Allie, in this book, is not really anxious or self-conscious, but goes through the same things with her employer – she calls him on his bullshit. I like it, because they’re strong and just do what they want, but I can’t help feeling like it’s a little too similar to me. The love triangle situation is […]

Holiday Review: A Christmas to Remember

Posted December 12, 2014 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

I have a feeling my review for this book is going to be a jumbled mess of feels because that’s essentially what A Christmas to Remember gave me. There was one major thing that REALLY bugged me throughout the book, but the end result / everything else throughout the book was just so damn PERFECT that I have to give this a great rating and recommendation. Let me get out of the way quickly what bugged me about the book. The main character, Carrie, was an anxious mess. This was FINE. I’ve just never experienced a book where the MC is so incredibly self-conscious, anxious, nervous, and unsure of herself. People out there certainly have these thoughts, so it was definitely a different but realistic perspective for me. I also sensed that there would be some major character growth throughout the story as a result. She’s spent her whole life as a nanny, which she loves, but she’s put her social/romantic life on hold as a result. She spends the vast majority of the book weighing the pros and cons of EVERYTHING, changing her mind a million times, and contradicting herself a lot. She would say how she needed to stop nannying to move on with her life, then one chapter later she would say that she loved it too much to stop, and then she’d be back on planning to quit. There was constant back-and-forth in her head. It got annoying, but I think it just went along with […]

Review: Big Little Lies

Posted October 10, 2014 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I generally don’t read adult books because I relate better to young adult books. (By the way, you can expect a discussion post on this exact topic within the next few weeks!) This book was certainly a perfect example of that. The main characters in this book are all parents of kids in kindergarten, who were dealing with domestic abuse, ex-spouses, being a single parent, and schoolyard politics. It was difficult for me to completely relate to the characters but I did find it pretty interesting. Frankly books with such a grim outlook on adulthood are not normally fun for me. At least with young adult books dealing with heavier topics I can be happy I’m through with that point in my life. I’m not married yet, I don’t have kids, and I certainly don’t want to think about the potential of divorce or domestic abuse in my life! REGARDLESS, this book was overall an enjoyable read for me. The story follows Madeline, Jane, and Celeste as they deal with all of the aforementioned issues. The book is written in chapters from each of their perspectives with little police interviews intermixed (more on the writing style later). The book begins with the understanding that a parent dies at the school’s upcoming trivia night, and then backtracks through the months leading up to the trivia night. The story itself was surprisingly funny, considering it dealt with some pretty heavy issues. I loved each of the characters, flaws and all. Liane Moriarty’s […]

Review: There’s Cake in my Future

Posted August 31, 2014 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Review: When I saw this book at Barnes & Noble for less than $5, I knew I needed to have it. I haven’t read a lot of adult fiction books lately, but this one was a nice break from the YA. The plot summary sounds so unique and interesting. A bride-to-be, Nicole, organizes a cake pull for her friends at her bridal shower. She rigs it so that the girls receive exactly the charms they’d be best suited for: the engagement ring for Mel, whose boyfriend of six years STILL hasn’t asked to marry him; the red hot chili pepper for Seema, who has been in love with her best friend Scott for a long time; and the shovel for Nicole, who needs some luck in finding a new job and getting her career back on track. When each person accidentally picks the wrong charm, each person at the shower finds their fortune coming true. What is Mel going to do with a chili pepper charm when she doesn’t need any hot lovin’ in her life? She already has a boyfriend. What is Seema’s life going to be like now that she has the shovel? Her career is already in a good place. How does Nic feel about the baby carriage, when she doesn’t feel ready to be a mother yet? This book alternates between the perspectives of all three women as their lives begin to change. I didn’t really feel super attached to the characters and didn’t feel like the […]