I am so happy to have two books off of my to-read shelf at home this past month. I currently sit at 30 books to-read from my personal library. I don’t tend to reread books, so these are all books that I bought or were bought as gifts for me brand new that are sitting on my to-read shelf. I am still working on my to-read Goodreads shelf, which currently stores 700 books. I know that I cannot read all of those and I might not be interested in them anymore. I have been slowly going through it book by book, page by page and have found that some of them I have read and just forgot to switch it from to-read to read. Others, I am no longer interested in. I think I have currently combed through 120 titles to keep on my shelf. I am happy to have two physical books out of the way that I did very much enjoy.
Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I don’t read that many adult books. I have been sticking to the YA novels, because I really love reading most of them. However, I have been getting into adult books lately and this one was the best mix of YA and Adult together. The book occurs in flashbacks from middle school and high school and goes back into the reality of being in your 30s. It was a quirky book with so many layers to it. It is very much a coming of age story and you get to play detective to see why two best friends from high school drifted about over one event in their lives. I did not see it coming and I don’t want to spoil it. This book goes DEEP without giving you all of the details. I won’t say that I was invested in any of the characters. The book doesn’t go deep enough for that. It just skims the surface of every character and no one really has that much dimension. It was still an enjoyable book and I do recommend it for those days that you just want to read a book without feeling guilty about it being chick lit.
The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wow. It only took me 16 days to read this book. I was obsessed with reading it. From the first chapter, Dessen hooked me right in and her familiar story arc didn’t seem old and tired. I really enjoyed the characters and how the story flowed. I stopped watching Netflix, because I enjoyed this story more. It takes a really good book for me to chose it over my current obsession Lost Girl. I could relate to the main character Em with her daddy issues. I have a similar tale with my own biological dad. It might have been the familiarity that got me hooked, but it was the way Dessen made her main character so human that kept me reading. She didn’t state every few pages that Em was “beautiful” or “smart”. It is implied in the way she goes about finding solutions and her attitude towards her brother. Dessen doesn’t need a “beautiful” man character that all the boys in the book flock to. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much. Em is such a real girl, a real character that I didn’t feel like anything was forced about her. Yes, there were some cringe worthy moments that I wished she would have reacted differently, but it made her more real that she didn’t react in the most ideal way. She is for sure one of the more reserved characters in Dessen’s novels.
I am unsure of how many books I will be reading in the future with school occupying a lot of my spare time. I think I will either be reading or watching my shows on Netflix and only binge watching my Youtube shows once a week. Youtube has been a major time suck recently and I need to cut down on it. I have never been obsessed with social media before and Youtube seems to be the one that I enjoy most. If I cut down on that time, I believe that I will be able to read a book a month. I am also subscribed to Audible now and I am enjoying the last book in the Meg Cabot series Airhead as I walk on my manual treadmill. Combining reading and exercise is keeping me motivated to workout at least twice if not three times a week at 30 minute intervals. I am already looking through my to-read list for the next book that I should listen to. $14.99 a month is not that expensive for an audiobook if it is also your exercise program.
With Love,
Home Sweet Phoenix Cove 