Mini-Reviews: August Reads

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

I find Katherine Center’s books to be very readable and this one is no exception. There was heart and emotion from the beginning. She did a good job of illustrating all of the different character motivations in a way that made sense and helped the reader to sympathize with them. I’ll say that I wanted more from Tina Buckley’s character…but she came through in the end I guess. 4/5

Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

I’m just not huge into sci fi in general but specifically time travel so this one isn’t really grabbing me…but I’ve got the second one out from the library so I’ll probably at least read that one too? And maybe I’ll power through the rest since I like Vaughan and it’s a short series. 3/5

The Lost Husband by Katherine Center

This is probably about as close as I’ll ever get to wanting to move to a farm out in the country. A lot of things about it sound completely idyllic, but I know deep in my heart that I’m a true city girl. I really liked Libby’s relationship with her kids in this book. Obviously Abby had more of a central role, but I liked Tank as well. I thought Jean seemed a little too good to be true, but I’m not really going to quibble about it. 4/5

Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

It took me way too long to realize that these characters were also in “What You Wish For” and with that in mind, I’m even more blown away by Duncan’s character development. I liked the setting for this book. It ALMOST makes me think I could sign up for something like it and be okay. I didn’t love the conflict involving Windy, but I thought it was handled well by Helen throughout the book. Overall, I liked this book quite a bit and was glad to know readers are able to catch up with the characters in a later book. 4/5

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

For me, this book was just fine. I felt so much secondhand stress over Nora’s finances and also basically every single decision she made. I also found it difficult to keep track of most secondary characters. And what was the deal with her roommate? Why even include her as a character? Overall, it also kind of makes me hate all publishing houses. So there’s that. 3/5

The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center

I can definitely tell this is one of her earlier books because I don’t feel like the relationship between Jenny and Gardner was as developed as I would have liked. I also thought the book took a while to get going. We all knew Dean was going to leave so it was a bit torturous to wait for it to happen. With that being said, the depiction of early motherhood was fresh and felt really authentic. Overall, I still liked this one, just not one of my favorites. 3/5

How to Fake it in Hollywood by Ava Wilder

I felt like this one started with a lot of promise, but it got darker than I expected after a while. I’m not opposed to reading about tough things or relationships, but something about this specific relationship just wasn’t very fun to read. It felt like a toxic relationship and that didn’t resolve itself for me by the end. 3/5

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

I liked Cassie quite a bit as a protagonist and I feel like I learned a lot about firefighters. I would have liked a little more time spent developing her new crew, but that probably would have made the book feel a lot more crowded. I also felt like the ending was wrapped up a little too tidily. What a complaint, right? The ending was too happy! Overall, I still really liked this book and it actually gave me stuff to think about regarding forgiveness, etc. 4/5

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

This book was a little harder to read than some of her other ones. I still really liked it, but it was so hard to read about Maggie’s suffering. I could not even imagine experiencing something like that and her mom drove me absolutely crazy! I did really enjoy the dynamic between Maggie and Kit as they worked to repair their relationship. I appreciate that that was given as much if not more screen time as the romantic relationship. Overall, I really enjoyed it and I feel like it helps me to appreciate my own life more. 4/5

Get Lucky by Katherine Center

I didn’t like this one quite as much as the rest of her books. The main character wasn’t as likable to me—she’s doing this incredibly selfless thing for completely selfish reasons! I also didn’t feel like Sarah and Everett really spent enough time with each other. I know they have a history, but they barely talk throughout the book. Overall, I’m not mad I read it, but I wouldn’t read it again. 3/5

Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center

This book made me feel so stressed! And that ended up being my primary emotion throughout the book. It didn’t make me eager to pick the book back up after putting it down. In the end, I liked it alright. I enjoyed the flashback scenes to Lanie and Peter getting together in college, but I almost wish we had gotten fewer flashbacks of the process and more of their dating and early marriage. 3/5

Set On You by Amy Lea

This one was just okay for me. I think the overall message is supposed to be that we’re more than just our bodies, etc. But at the same time, it doesn’t feel like there was anything more than Scott’s physical attraction to Crystal at least in the beginning. I always like to know WHY our characters like each other and I don’t feel like I got enough of that in this book especially before the “L word” started getting tossed around. 3/5

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Ummm…did the person who designed the cover art even read this book? It’s a completely different tone from the story it contains. But anyway. This book was so good and it made my blood boil in so many different parts. I loved Elizabeth as our protagonist and I also enjoyed getting to know Mad and to an extent Calvin. I can tell you right now, I would not have survived as a woman in the 60s or whenever this book was set. Perhaps I’m simply a product of my time, but man. It would have been torture.

This book was a lot deeper than I thought it was going to be. The cover makes it look like it’s a generic rom com. It’s not. I wouldn’t even classify it as a romance of any kind. This is historical fiction and I think the cover actually goes against everything this book is for. Overall, ignore the cover and read this book because it’s well-written and it features incredibly strong females all around. There are an infinite number of ways for women to be strong, and this book showcases a fair number of them. 5/5

The Change by Kirsten Miller (ARC)

This was the second book in a row that I’ve read with men being horrible and entitled (though this one definitely is worse than Lessons in Chemistry). I think I need something much lighter for my next read haha. This book had a lot of twists, but I enjoyed them. I liked that this story is all about strong women especially at an age when they’re often forgotten and ignored. Things come together slowly, but there are enough pieces for the reader to put things together on their own. The fact that stuff like this actually happens in the real world makes me sick. Overall, I wouldn’t say this read was necessarily ENJOYABLE, but it was well-plotted and I cared about the characters. 4/5

Note: I received a copy free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Talk about a guidebook on how NOT to be a mom… Jokes aside, it really did make me reflect on what kind of a parent I am. My kids are still young, but there are so many ways that we try to impose our will, beliefs, hopes, and dreams onto our children without really thinking about how they are their own people too. Obviously most of us aren’t as bad as Deb was, but we all have the tendency I think. Jennette is open and raw throughout this whole memoir and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch iCarly the same way knowing how miserable she was the entire time. Overall, this book will not be for everyone—I think there are a lot of triggers and there’s a lot of hard material to get through. But it does shine an interesting light on how fame effects child actors. Perhaps without meaning to, Jennette provides an the reader an interesting foil in Miranda. If you can handle the hard stuff, this book is worth a read. 4/5

Mini-Reviews: April Reads

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

This is my second Backman book and I loved it. There’s something about the way he writes that is really enjoyable to me. The characters weren’t completely likable, but that was the whole point. Each character had depth and none of them were what they seemed at first glance. I liked the way that Backman played with expectations. I thought I had everything figured out, but the way he gave the reader just a little bit of information at a time made me realize that I was only thinking what he wanted me to think. Overall, I found this book thought-provoking and emotional with some laugh out loud moments as well. 5/5

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

So many pages. And so many characters and organization names it was hard to keep everything straight. I feel like I still don’t know half of what’s going on and I just read 800 pages of it. Also, I think that last line before the epilogue was supposed to be really epic and impactful but…I haven’t read her other series’s so I think I’m missing something. Anyway, it’s fine. World-building feels clunky. Character motivations aren’t clear. Overall, just too much going on (much too many pages). It’s fine. 3/5

Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier

Honestly, I didn’t hate this. The characters are all terrible and parts of it feel far-fetched, but I’m so far from the world depicted that who can even say what’s plausible? I thought Lyla’s internal struggle throughout was well done. She doesn’t exactly redeem herself, but it was nice to see her being differentiated from Graham and Margo. Demi was an interesting character and I actually liked her narration better than Lyla’s even though Lyla had more of the book. The ending was well-played in its ambiguity. 3/5

To Marry and to Meddle by Martha Waters

A continuation of the series and I think Emily might be my favorite protagonist so far (until Sophie’s book comes out, fingers crossed). I liked her dynamic with Julian as they were both pretty straightforward with each other. It was nothing groundbreaking plot wise, but still enjoyable. I liked the resolution between Julian and his parents as well but wish his siblings had gotten more screen time. There were a couple of moments where a chapter would end with some pressing realization, but then the next chapter would start with “a few days later” and I’m left going “How has this information not come out over the course of a few days?” Minor quibble though. 3.5/5

Cover Story by Susan Rigetti

I ACTUALLY did not see that twist coming. It had me flipping back pages and pages and putting clues together that had been RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE. I felt a little foolish, but in the end I think the twist was masterfully pulled off. I’m not going to say I liked Lora as a character, but she was sympathetic and it was hard not to feel for her as she got taken in by Cat. And I could definitely see all the ways this was inspired by the Anna Delvey story (I’d listened to a podcast about it a while back). Overall, this was a light thriller that, while not scary, definitely had its tense moments. 4/5

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I’ll be honest, I didn’t LOVE Feyre as a character. I always have trouble with protags who find themselves in a new environment and then blatantly disregard everything they’re told/advised by the people who are actually from that environment. Feyre’s actions on Fire Night had me wanting to bang my head against a wall. I liked the tasks element of the book, but it almost felt like it should have been a completely separate book. The reader is rushed through it so the ending feels especially sudden. I also thought the riddle was pretty obvious.

The retelling element of it was interesting…if a bit corny at times (Tamlin showing Feyre the library was completely unnecessary). Honestly, I just started this series after finishing the second Crescent City book because I felt like the last chapter had no impact without me having read this series first. And I didn’t want to be confused in the third book with the inevitable crossover.

Overall, would I recommend this series? Not especially. But I’ll probably continue reading just so I understand context for the third CC book.

Tl;dr – This book is fine. As far as fairytale retellings go, it’s fine. Feyre kind of sucks, but I’m just reading this series for the Crescent City tie in (probably not worth it). 3/5

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

This book is SO LONG and yet very little happens I feel like. I liked getting to meet a new cast of characters, but didn’t feel like we got to know them all that well despite the plethora of pages. Plotwise, I’m left wondering throughout most of this book how much of it was planned from book 1. Are we….are we being gaslighted by SJM? I feel like I did after reading the last Hunger Games book. The end result cheapens all the things that happened previously imo.

Also, she used the word “bark” “barked” “barking” about fifty million times with not a dog in sight. Again, I will continue this series, but just because I know that she’s tying this one together with CC and I feel like I need to have the context.

Also also, that ending re: Lucien is just a big “wut”. 3/5

The No-Show by Beth O’Leary

Honestly, this book was kind of off to a rocky start for me. A lot of time is spent making Joseph Carter seem like a really scummy guy and then when everything is revealed we’re just supposed to let all those feelings go? With that being said, I really did like Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane as characters. They were all really different but equally enjoyable. Which made it hard because it feels like they’re competing with each other throughout the whole book and it’s like you have to pick a favorite (Miranda). Anyway, not exactly what I was hoping for, but better than The Road Trip for sure. 4/5

The Devil’s Music by Nathan Page

Al and Rachel? Yeah, I ship it. This book was less mystery-heavy and starts to dive a little more into the Montague twins’ past. I continued to enjoy the characters and thought it provided a good backdrop for talking about mental health. 4/5

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

More barking (though not as much as in book 2 luckily). And I’m getting really confused about all the “retellings”. Like…now we’re getting Bible retellings? V confusing. But anyway, this series continues to be fine. However, I do not understand why authors keep using the word “bemused” to mean amused. I understand the lexicon changing etc etc. But. Technically “bemused” means confused. AND WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THE WORD “AMUSED” ANYWAY. IT MEANS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY AND THE WORD YOU’RE CHOOSING TO USE MEANS SOMETHING ELSE SO I DON’T GET IT. Anyway. That’s a rant that I have every couple years or so.

I liked that the relationship between the sisters was more heavily emphasized in this book. I’m always here for a good sister relationship. I didn’t love how their dad ended up playing into the story but…it’s whatever. I also don’t love the weird tangled relationships between Mor, Azriel, Elain, and Lucien. Obviously Mor is who she is and can do whatever she wants, but it just feels like unnecessary drama.

Also, what’s up with all of the character names being so similar? I had a heck of a time telling Tamlin, Tarquin, Thesan, and Helion apart. And Hybern is a guy, but also a people? So when Hybern “shows up” I was always confused for a couple pages.

Lastly, these books are fine character and plotwise but I always come away feeling like so many conversations or descriptions or action sequences were too long. This book could easily be trimmed by 200 pages (or more) imo. 3/5

Mini-Reviews: February Reads

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I really wanted to like this one more than I did because I loved the first book (and everything else I’ve read from this author). But this book really doubled down on two things I hate: love triangles involving siblings and bad boys who refuse to call the protagonist anything other than an annoying nickname.

In addition, I felt like the mystery/puzzle aspect was kind of convoluted and hard to follow. I wasn’t always sure what was happening even when the characters were making it seem like the next step was obvious. Not sure if there will be another book after this, but if there is, I’d be pretty on the fence about continuing. 3.5/5

Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano

I liked the first book quite a bit but this one didn’t live up to it. Everything was just SO messy. And while I think that was the point, it was just too much for me. Absolutely nothing went right for Finlay and Vero. Also, part of what I liked about the first book was Finlay juggling being a mom with everything that was going on, but in this book the kids are mostly with other characters off-screen.

Overall, this book was fine for me. I’ll continue with the series and I’ll admit that the twist at the end got me. But I could’ve done with just a little less mess. 3/5

Manu by Kelly Fernandez (ARC)

Kind of confusing at times. I had a hard time telling characters apart, but that could be because my ARC wasn’t finished color-wise. 3/5

On a Night Like This by Lindsey Felk

I’m a little surprised with how much I enjoyed this one? I found Fran to be a very easy character to root for. I wanted so badly for her to get out of her situation with Stew and to do well at this new job! The Crystal Ball sounded insane and I don’t even want to know if the super rich of the world actually have events like that. Also, I was glad for the Below Deck reference because as soon as she got on that yacht I thought “this is like Below Deck”.

Anyway, long story short if you enjoy these British romances featuring 30-something women (Mhairi McFarlane, Giovanna Fletcher, Beth O’Leary) then you’ll like this one too. 4/5

How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur

This book was delightful! If you’re a fan of The Good Place or Modern Love by Aziz Ansari, I’d recommend giving this one a read. And I’d ESPECIALLY recommend the audiobook as it features cameos from the cast of The Good Place and it’s just nice listening to Michael Schur narrate.

This book gives a good overview of several top philosophers and I felt like I came away with a pretty good, basic understanding and of ethics and moral philosophy. It honestly would be pretty interesting to rewatch The Good Place with this new background. Schur tackles some touchy subjects and is pretty obvious about his stance on them (in the context of ethics) so readers with opposing viewpoints may take issues with that.

Overall, I found this book to be very informational while having a liberal dose of humor and some fun anecdotes from Schur’s career. 4/5

19 Best Book Deals for 2/27/20: Maybe Someday, Nimona, The Eyre Affair, and more

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!

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Angelfall by Susan Ee

World After by Susan Ee

End of Days by Susan Ee

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All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn

The Radical Element: 12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes & Other Dauntless Girls edited by Jessica Spotswood

Maybe This Time by Kasie West

The Traitor’s Game by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell

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A Hot Glue Gun Mess: Funny Stories and Pretty Projects by Mr. Kate

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Recommended from this post:

California Winter | November Wrap-Up & TBR Update

This month hasn’t been great blogging wise (you might have noticed) but it’s been pretty good reading wise! I was able to snag some library copies of a couple of my anticipated November releases, so that was awesome. It always feels like I’m slogging through a book that’s taking me too much time, so then I’m surprised when I see how much I’ve actually read in a month.

• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
• Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim [ARC 1/7]
• The Map from Here to There by Emery Lord [ARC 1/7] – Read, review coming
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens [Book Club] – Read, review coming
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Caraval by Stephanie Garber [Book Club] – Read
• Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black – Read, review coming
• The Toll by Neal Shusterman – Read, review coming

Also read/reading:

• Sisters of Shadow and Light by Sara B. Larson [ARC 11/5] – Read and reviewed
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke – Finished Listening
• Inkspell by Cornelia Funke – Currently Listening
• Twenty-One Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks [ARC 11/19] – Read
• Legendary by Stephanie Garber – Read, review coming
• Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks – Read
• Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake – Read, review coming
• The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White [ARC 11/5] – Read and reviewed
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles [Book Club] – Currently Reading
• Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things by Jacqueline Firkins [BT 12/13] – Currently Reading

Books finished this month: 12
Books currently reading: 3

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of November =305
Books added to TBR = 2
Books read/deleted from TBR = 7
Total on TBR now = 300

How did your reading go this month?

22 Best Book Deals for 10/30/19: Spinning Silver, Vampire Academy, Bowie: The Biography, and more

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!

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Coming Clean: A Memoir by Kimberly Rae Miller

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Coraline (Graphic Novel) by Neil Gaiman

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What a crazy summer | August Wrap-Up & TBR Update

I can’t believe August is over already! It seems like we just moved to California last week, but we’ve actually been here for almost three months. As I’ve been seeing everyone’s back-to-school/end of summer vacation social media posts, I’ve realized that we’re in a super interesting time of life where our summer vacation doesn’t really end? We don’t have any kids in school yet and we’re not in school anymore either. The weather will get cooler but like…we’re in California so it’s not going to get that cold. My husband has been working full-time all summer and he’s going to continue to do that…things just aren’t really changing for us like they are for everyone else. We can still go do summery, outside things basically as long as we want. Anyway, unrelated to book things but it was an interesting realization that I had.

• King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (buddy read with Audrey Writes Abroad) – Read and reviewed
• Descendant of the Crane by Joan He – Read and reviewed
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach – Read and reviewed
• Color Me In by Natasha Diaz [ARC] – DNF 43%
• Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford [ARC] – Read and reviewed
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – Read and reviewed
• Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley – Finished listening to #6 and #7, currently listening to #8

Also read/reading:

• Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz – Finished listening
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – Finished listening
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling – Finished listening
• Runaways vol 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell – Finished
• Runaways vol 3: That Was Yesterday by Rainbow Rowell – Finished
• Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills – Read and reviewed
• Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob – Finished

Books finished this month: 14 with 1 DNF
Books currently reading: 1

Well, would you look at that! I actually managed to complete my TBR and then some this month! Way to go me!

A couple other things real quick, I finished my Goodreads Reading Goal this month! I had no idea how this year was going to go (especially with last year being a bit of a dud reading year) so I set my goal to 70. Luckily, I’ve exceeded my expectations! My new goal for the year is 100. Second, I’m working on a TBR weeding project. I’m going alphabetically and I’m trying to just take one letter at a time, figuring out what I want to keep on my TBR and what can go. So you’ll see my TBR count going down significantly and that’s why.

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of August = 469
Books added to TBR = 8
Books read/deleted from TBR = 65
Total on TBR now = 412

How did your reading go this month?

Monday Minis [Mini-Reviews]

This month has been great for me so far reading-wise. I’ve gotten super into the Lumberjanes comics lately (I’m planning on writing a full review on the series when I’m finished). I’ve also been reading some non-fiction and book club picks. Here are some mini-reviews for you on some books that I’ve finished the last couple of months.

Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau

Right off the bat, I’m super aggravated by the way that Andreus’ curse is dangled in front of our faces. They literally never explain what his “curse” is and it sounds like he just as asthma maybe? Which doesn’t actually seem like a big deal…but maybe I’m wrong because, again, THEY NEVER EXPLAIN. Overall, Andreus was such an annoying character. He was just so stupid and I literally don’t think he made a single good choice. Carys was better, but both she and Andreus mentioned how Carys is really good at making deductions and seeing things that others wouldn’t, but we never really see that happen either. Lastly, I would think that the bond between twins is stronger than it’s made out to be in this book. Carys obviously still cares about her twin, but Andreus drops her as soon as humanly possible once the competition starts. Again, he is so stupid. 2/5

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

This is a book that I picked up on a whim at the end of my shift one day. I don’t have a ton to say about it, but I thought it was really interesting and the artwork was beautiful. It’s really amazing how graphic novels can convey so much in one panel when it would take pages in a novel. I liked how the beginning of the book really stuck to the different color schemes to help the reader tell the two timelines apart. As the stories came together, the color schemes did as well and I thought that was really cool. I also really liked the fish ships and the world building in general was just really interesting. From what I could tell, it seems like this world (galaxy? universe?) is only populated by women, so if you’re looking for queer romance, this book is saturated with it. Lastly, I really enjoyed how much depth the secondary and minor characters had. It was surprising, to be honest, I mean even the school bully had this depth that didn’t get totally explored, but was touched on. 4/5

ebook | Hardcover | Paperback

Bonnie & Clyde: The Making of a Legend by Karen Blumenthal

I didn’t know very much about Bonnie and Clyde before reading this book. The author does a really good job throughout helping the reader to see what parts of their story is known as fact, what is believed to be true, and what is complete myth. Newspapers at the time weren’t super concerned with reporting that absolute truth and were more interested in the drama that was inherent with Bonnie and Clyde. A lot of times if something went down and the cops couldn’t figure out who it was, the newspapers would blame Bonnie and Clyde. Another thing I found interesting was that the cops at the time seemed to be SUPER incompetent. There wasn’t really any training. A lot of people just joined the force because they needed a little extra money and their regular work wasn’t cutting it. That’s part of the reason why Bonnie and Clyde were able to evade capture for so long. The last thing I really liked about this book was that the author had panels on each person that Bonnie and Clyde killed. Over time, Bonnie and Clyde have become wildly glamorized, but it’s important to remember that they killed A LOT of people. 4/5

ebook | Hardcover

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I saw a few clips from the movie a while back when it came out, and that kind of turned me off to reading the book. It was just kind of…weird. And I think I remember the other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible were wearing some pretty scandalous outfits? Anyway, I wasn’t really planning on reading this book, but then I did and I’m glad I decided to! This book was creepy and weird in all the best ways. I loved the cat–he was probably my favorite character–and Coraline was not far behind. She was super spunky and also a believable child. I think she had some intelligence and seriousness that made her feel more mature, but it wasn’t unbelievable that a child would act like that. I would have liked a little bit more of a hunt with Coraline looking for the marbles, but the story also felt really tight as it was. I just think it would have made it a little more fun, but I guess it wasn’t really a fun situation to be in. I liked how the story ended too, with part of the other mother making it into Coraline’s world. I think there’s some symbolism there (and throughout the book) that I’m probably missing, but I enjoyed it. I just need to figure out how to get my husband to like the name Coraline now… 4/5

ebook | Hardcover | Paperback

March TBR

I’ve got a few ARCs for this month, so I really need to do better sticking to my TBR in March…fingers crossed.

• The Library Book by Susan Orlean – currently reading
• Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
• Lumberjanes vol 3: A Terrible Plan by Noelle Stevenson
• The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
• Cold Day in the Sun by Sara Biren
• You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn

So there we go, let’s see how I do!

What books are you planning on reading this month? Link your March TBRs in the comments!

Provo Library’s Best Books of 2018 | YA Non-Fiction, Fiction, & Graphic Novels

Every year my local library puts on a “Best Books of…” event and I love it! A lot of the books I’ve already heard of, but I always come away with new books on my TBR! Even though I do work here, I wasn’t part of putting on the event or choosing the books–I was able to just attend as a patron, so that was super fun as well. I made my book club come with me too, so hopefully some of these books will make it into our discussions! Here’s a link for anyone who missed my post on the Adult non-fiction and fiction list.

Bolded books are ones that are on my TBR. Italics are ones I’ve read.

Non-Fiction

• The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
• Capsized!: The Forgotten Story of the SS Eastland Disaster by Patricia Sutton
• Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge
• The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix
• Endurance: My Year in Space and How I Got There by Scott Kelly
• House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery by Liz Rosenberg
• The Pride Guide by Jo Langford
• Mary’s Monster by Lita Judge
• We Are Not Yet Equal by Carol Anderson
• Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson
• Blacklisted!: Hollywood, the Cold War, and the First Amendment by Larry Dane Brimmer

Fiction

• The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston
• A Lite Too Bright by Samuel Miller
• The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
• Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
• A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan
• The Traitor’s Game by Jennifer Nielsen
• The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
• Pride by Ibi Zoboi
• My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
• Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
• Meet Cute by Various Authors
• Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
• Sadie by Courtney Summers
• Dry by Neal Shusterman
• The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
• What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
• Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
• Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
• The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
• The Prophet Calls by Melanie Sumrow
• What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper
• The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson
• The Place Between Breaths by An Na
• And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness
• The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Comics & Graphic Novels

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Anne Frank
• Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
• The Prince & the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
• Sheets by Brenna Thummler
• Illegal by Eoin Colfer
• The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown
• Luisa Now and Then by Carole Maurel
• Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu

Have you read any of these? What young adult books would you add to the list?

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