Happy Monday, friends, and happy May! I am officially counting down until the end of school and am beside myself with excitement over being out. That being said, and speaking of summer, I read some great books in April, and you may want to add one or two to your to-be-read list. I'll jump right in with the five books that I read this month. You can click on each picture to be taken to a link on Amazon, in case you want to check any of these books out for yourself.
I left off with a Colleen Hoover book that I read for the second time last month, so I continued with the sequel this month. It Starts With Us was AMAZING!
The second book I read this month was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.
I know that so many of you loved this book, and while I did enjoy the octopus part of the story, I just did not love it and was kind of irritated that it took the whole book to get to the story. I know! I know you're probably shocked at my reaction to this, but it's true. The beautiful part of the book that I loved was the main character—an octopus named Marcellus who formed a lovely relationship with Tova, the lady who came in each night to clean the aquarium. Marcellus becomes a friend to Tova and the new young man who comes in to work to take her place when she injures herself. He links these two unlikely people together in a way that is so beautiful, and I don't want to give any more away.
It was a good book, don't get me wrong, and I enjoyed the story. I just don't see what all the hype was about. Every once in a while, I have the opposite reaction to a book that everyone loves, much like the book Daisy Jones and The Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I liked Remarkably Bright Creatures SO MUCH BETTER than that other terrible book. I hated the TJR book so much that I quit at 80% of the way through, because I couldn't take one more page. Also, because of that very reason, I refuse to watch the show on Prime. I digress.
I read Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center and loved it.
This was a great book! Helen is newly divorced at 32, and her younger brother Duncan convinces her to sign up for the ultimate wilderness adventure. He failed to tell her that he also signed his best friend up, and the two of them are forced to drive there together, much to her dismay. She learns a lot about herself on this trip, though, and her brother. Helen learns things like how to be brave when you're scared to death, and that life does go on after devastation. I love this author, friends. She never disappoints!
The fourth book I read was If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin.
Does anyone else love contemporary teen romance novels? Just me? This is a book about Autumn and Finn, best friends from as long ago as each could remember. It's a twisty tale about how their lives changed and circumstances forced them to grow apart. It's a sweet, sweet story that had an unexpected ending. I could totally see this become a series, much like the Prime Show series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on the books by Jenny Han.
Lastly, I read Mad Honey by Jodi Piccoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan.
Ugh. This book. It started out so great! I don't even want to tell you about it, honestly. I will just let you go and check out the link for yourself, but just know that the description is very misleading, and what the book ended up being mostly about is not even mentioned in the summary of the book. Let's just say I found out lots of cool things about beekeeping and honey, like how it's a natural cough suppressant and remedy to ease a sore throat...but I also learned a LOT about something else very controversial that I did not want to know anything about. That being said, I kept reading the book to find out how it all ended, but I can't say that I would recommend it, since it's very much against what I know and believe. Does that make sense? Just go read some reviews and you'll understand.
All in all, it was a good month of reading! Tell me what you've read lately that I need to know about! I'd love to hear your suggestions. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.
I’m raising my hand…I love teen novels! 😂 It sounds like I need to check that one out!
ReplyDeleteI’m one of those that loved Remarkably Bright Creatures, but I can see how it wouldn’t be for everyone. That’s the beauty of a book! I loved the octopus’s relationship with Tova, but I guess what blew me away was that I thought I had figured out the ending before I did, and had it all wrong! But I did enjoy it so much.
Now, the Jodi Piccoult book has me freaked out. But, I trust that if it wasn’t a book for you, it probably isn’t for me, either. But I am intrigued to go read some reviews to see what it’s all about. I’m so nosey like that! 🫣😂
Great reviews!
I loved Remarkably, but I feel the same about Daisy Jones the book. Couldn't get into it. TJR's earlier books were really good but then with Evelyn - meh and Dasiy - nope. I also think your mood/stage matters when you read a book. I was in the state of mind for Remarkably!
ReplyDeleteMandy, I love what you said about the beauty of books. The cool thing is that I learned something in each of the books I read- even the one I liked and the other one that I was mad about. I've been eating a spoon of honey each night before bed to make my cough go away!
ReplyDeleteI totally get it- go read the reviews. I would do the same!
Amy, I agree about the mood you're in when you read a book. I expected something very different from that book, although I don't know what that was. I guess I was intrigued enough that I felt I had to read it, and I've even read another cool story about an octopus since I finished Remarkably. It was an article about a naughty octopus acting up at night! So there was definitely some truth to what we read about Marcellus and octopuses in general and how they are able to do more than we realize. Pretty cool, huh?
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you have had a pretty good month of reading. I just finished book 4 of a series by Alana Terry and then started book 5. I'm also reading Beth Moore's new book. Hope you have a great week at school.
ReplyDeleteI did, Cathy! Those sound good as well!
ReplyDeleteI read some of the 1 star reviews on the Mad Honey book and this is so typical of the times right now. Every single show we've tried to watch lately has an agenda and personally I'm about to turn the tv off and unsubscribe from any and every show trying to shove things down my throat.
ReplyDeleteI think the description of the book is very misleading, as far as the subject matter. But again, it's a deceptive topic and they don't want the reader making a choice for themselves.
That one would have gone in the trash.
But I will take a spoon full of honey with my ongoing cough :) Thanks for sharing these reviews!
I love teen fiction too and will have to check that one out! I think I've read all the others you mentioned and enjoyed them well enough. While reading Remarkably I kept thinking of the story one of our local aquarium workers was telling us about their octopus and how it took them installing a video recorder to find out he was sneaking out his cage at night and "sampling" some of their other displays!
ReplyDeleteDebbie- I KNOW! I was so irritated, because by the time it was mentioned, I was like 60% through the book and totally invested. Other than that one thing, it was an excellent read! I am glad I kept with it, I just skimmed over all the things I didn't need to know, but I've been taking honey for a week now and it really does help! But you are so right- this is just one more sneaky way to get an agenda in. Another one is through TV, and I have quit so many shows because of it! It's why I watch and rewatch all my faves, because they were made in the days when that didn't happen. UGH.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, you should! I really enjoyed the book. That is HILARIOUS! Who knew this about octopuses?! I know that I didn't before reading this book. They're so clever! That's what I thought the book was named for, by the way.
ReplyDelete