Let’s talk about books, baby

Dudes, I’m obsessed with Goodreads. I ask questions about books on there, I update my progress, I set goals, I find books to read, I get stoked when I can switch a book from “currently reading” to “finished.” It’s the most underrated social network IMO. The one thing I don’t do is leave detailed reviews. It’s never been my thing, but I do like talking about books sooo I’m going to stick to my noncommittal, 5-second review technique on this roundup of books I’ve consumed since the last time I did this (it’s been a while—check out my old book posts here, here, here, here). And if you wanna discuss any of them specifically, let me know in the comments. I still have a LOT of unanswered questions on a few of them.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie — I hadn’t read the story this one was based off of, but it won the women’s prize for fiction in 2018, so I gave it a read. It started out kind of confusing and convoluted, but things started to come together and I couldn’t put it down until I was done and then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s about an immigrant family and it’s not a happy story. LMK if you read it. Would still very much like to talk through this one with somebody. 

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones — NO. Just no. Do not recommend. Except I do because I want someone else to read it so we can discuss all the GD plot holes in it. WHY IS NO ONE ELSE OUTRAGED ABOUT THIS? The Reese Witherspoon book club really let me down with this one.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur — This extremely popular book of poems has been all over Instagram forever, but I finally read it on a plane and welled up many times. It’s deep, beautiful, graphic, all the feels.

Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington — If you’ve ever wondered how much is too much booze (idk about you, but for me it’s a huge part of work events, friend outings, celebrations, and even taking the edge off when I’m reaaal down) this is an interesting take on being sober without BEING sober. 

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman — Meh. I listened on audiobook and kept dazing off. I finished it, but I think I only absorbed like 70% of it. 

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens — I loved everything about this book, from the descriptions of the swamp to the untamed spirit of the main character to the mystery to the love story. 

One Day in December by Josie Silver — lol. I read this over Christmas break and even though it’s extremely cheesy and cliche and ripped right out of the plot of Love Actually, it was v enjoyable and still gave me feels at the end.

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum — This was the cutest. I’m a sucker for High School stories. Makes me nostalgic, and this one was quite well done and pretty light hearted (which is necessary sometimes, man). 

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls by Emily Carpenter — Blah. I think this one had a lot of potential but the author was just too afraid to actually make anything happen. I was super drawn in at first (I love when there’s a bit of magic wound into an otherwise regular-degular story) but I was let down over and over again. 

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson — I used to read and look up to The Bloggess so much back in the early days of blogging, so it was really fun to finally get to this one. Jenny reads the audiobook and she’s a mess in the best way possible (I really love when people come from quirky families, I can’t imagine why).

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han — I mean we all loved the first one, right? This one’s equally cute. If you haven’t watched “To All The Boys I Loved Before” on Netflix, get on it. 

Egomaniac by Vi Keeland — On a very different, filthy note… I signed up for the Audible romance package? I have no idea. Anyway, that’s where this one came from and it’s not a good story by any means, but if you’re just trying to get steamy, do it. 

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid — Basically the rom-com version of The Butterfly Effect. Meh. 

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn — Was I the last person to read this? There’s a show for it now and I couldn’t get through the first episode. This book is dark (sometimes unnecessarily so) but such a captivating mystery. My only complaint is how EVERYTHING is revealed in the last few pages. Seems like she was just over it and wanted to be done.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng — It took me a long time to remember what this book was about. I feel like that’s a bad sign. 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas — This one broke my heart over and over again. I had to take several breaks while reading it. It’s really well written in an easy-to-understand, high school level but so important, especially for people who have never experienced and may not understand police brutality.

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman — I have questions about this one. I was definitely intrigued and wanted to solve the mystery, but it all just seemed so unprobable. And I didn’t really like any of the characters… ¯_(ツ)_/¯

The Wife Between Us by Greer Henkricks — which is a pen-name because two women wrote this book together and it shows. I have many questions on this one as well, but like they probably do too? 

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate — This is a novel diving into the corruption in high profile adoption agencies that *actually* happened. It made me so angry, but I also loved the story. Highly recommend.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls — Also highly recommend this one. I had no idea it was a true story until the end because it’s SO INSANE. I was thoroughly entertained (and as usual a bit heartbroken) throughout. You just have to read it. 

How Not to Die by Michael Greger — Apparently eating animals is killing us? Idk, I was into it enough to try being vegan for a couple weeks and my stomach was SO pissed off. Still interesting to read and learn about all the case studies where many diseases have literally been cured with plants. If nothing else it encouraged me to eat A LOT more veggies.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell — Very interesting and upsetting. This is a true neuroscience/psychology book that gives insight into everything from facial expressions that give you away to tunnel vision that results in shooting an innocent person many times. 

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover — I was entertained and heartbroken. This one definitely left that ughhhh why though? feeling.