MARCH WRAP UP
Writers & Lovers
- AUTHOR: Lily King
- TOPIC: Novel
I am still left with the feeling of being unsure if I liked it or not. It was like waiting and waiting to see what going to happen…and than boom! In a couple of chapters it’s allover and the protagonist’s life totally changes 360 degrees all of a sudden.
So I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Though it was a nice read of two days.
Casey just lost love and her mom, and is lost. Struggling to pay her college debts because she refused to use her golf scholarship. Trying to write a novel since six years. And working at a restaurant to survive. Than she meets Silas, and than Oliver. Silas, a writer, interested, but troubled, so much so that he leaves town suddenly before their date. And Oliver, also a writer but mature and with two kids in tow. When Silas reappears, Casey is faced with a decision to make. And while her life finally starts to go in the right direction ( new job as a teacher, her novel finally published ), in love she will take the most dangerous decision and follow her heart.
When You Read This
- AUTHOR: Mary Adkins
- TOPIC: Novel
I absolutely loved it.
Written in a style that it’s quiet unique ( texts, emails, blogs ), it will leave you laughing and crying at the same time.
Due to the nature of the way it’s written in, it was such an easy wonderful read. And it just made sense. Loved!
Iris finds out she has cancer and has little to live. She leaves behind a printed copy of her blog to her boss-cum-friend Smith, whose life is falling apart between childhood dramas, a failing business and a gambling addiction. But even from the grave, Iris manages to spread love and connect people. And that’s how Smith meets Jade, Iris sister. And somehow they heal one another from their losses and grief, uncovering Iris desire of opening a bakery, opening to each other about their hopes and dreams, fighting over Iris’s blog publication, and trying not to kill Carl ( Smith’s nosy intern )…Who despite being barely tolerable, will help magic happen.
Ordinary People
- AUTHOR: Diana Evans
- TOPIC: Novel
I struggled with this one. Very slow start and a very weird ending that leaves you with a number of question marks, one of them being: surely this can’t be the end? But not in a good way. Not in a “I am looking forward to a sequel” kind of way. More in a “I’m glad it’s over and it’s weird this is the end”. A story of relationship, of losing yourself into marriage and kids and responsibilities, of wanting more for yourself but not knowing how to, on guilt and cheating, and arguing and feeling not enough. The hot topics were there, but the narration was heavy, the tale of two couples and their kids interwoven somehow without a clear purpose. I was just left confused and unfortunately didn’t enjoy the read at all.
You Are Not Alone
- AUTHOR: G. Hendricks & S. Pekkanen
- TOPIC: Novel
Finally a great read after two consecutive DNF that literally left me heartbroken. There is nothing worse than starting a book you want to love, and end up being so disconnected from it that you can’t bring yourself to read it. I read hundreds of books before but that was a first time.
So when I picked up this one, and couldn’t put it down, I felt relieved. Like the world was right again 😂
It was an intriguing suspence-filled tale that kept me glued to it so much so that I finished it in two days.
Abuse, friendship, women sticking together, and the best part: you have no idea who is the person and the reason behind everything until the last pages.
Loved it!
Shay needs a new life, apartment, job, love. One day on her way to work on the subway, she witnesses a suicide that shakes her life and leaves a deep mark inside of her. While on a quest to find more about the victim, she crosses path with Cassandra and Jane, a sister power couple who have everything Shay wants: career, beauty, fame, confidence. In surprising ways, they demonstrate an interest in her and take her under her wings, amazingly fixing everything in her life that was wrong: new job, new house, new looks. But Shay is a data analyst by trade, and when she starts to add things up, she realizes that the sisters know so many things about her she never disclosed. Finding herself in the middle of a murder case where she is being set up as the killer, thanks to her analysis she will discover the truth behind the murder and the suicide she witnessed, and the real reason why she was pulled into it. The two sisters weren’t so angelic after all, spending most of their lives making others pay for wrongs bestowed unto them.
Highly recommend!!
The Starless Sea
- AUTHOR: Erin Morgenstern
- TOPIC: Novel
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My first DNF ever. No matter how much I loved her other book, I couldn’t pass the mark of 200 pages. And even that was a torture.
Instagram Power
- AUTHOR: Jason Miller
- TOPIC: Social Media
This was a work related read.
With my new job, I need to use Instagram more than ever before, and I was looking for some insights to learn and develop my knowledge about the platform. I am always better at reading a real book than on line articles. Though this edition is a 2019 one, and ever since a lot of new features have been developed, it was still a very good read and helped me a lot to highlight some key things I was missing or didn’t know of.
Firefly Lane
- AUTHOR: Kristin Hannah
- TOPIC: Novel
My first book by this author and for sure not the last. I didn’t watch the series yet and now I find myself equally intrigued to, and worried in case it doesn’t match what I read!
Don’t know if anyone felt the same but the story gave me flashbacks to The movie “Miss you already”: friends since forever, living two totally different lives and being two totally different characters, but no matter what, seem to be made from the same soul split into two, unable to stay away from each other for two long. A story of coming to age, growing up, career, love, kids, fights, understanding, support, sacrifice but most importantly: friendship above all else.
I am leaving the summary vague on purpose, as it’s up to you to find out the whole story.
Loved and recommend!!
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue
- AUTHOR: V.E Schwab
- TOPIC: Novel
A super well deserved 5 star for this amazing book. A big hit in the last months that I couldn’t wait to read, and now all the fuss about it is clear to me. A true masterpiece.
Thrilling, mysterious, filled with suspence and with an plot that keeps you glued to the pages. Absolutely loved it.
Adeline is about to be married away, but she cannot imagine her life tied up. She is thirsty for freedom and life. So on the day of her wedding she escapes to the woods and pleads for a way out…but she is too late and as darkness takes over the day, her plea is granted by the god of darkness: a deal, to get her freedom. The price: her soul when she gets enough of it. And a curse, that she will discover over time and keep her company for centuries: she will never grow old and no one will ever remember her. Year after year she wonders through life and cities not being able to own anything, form a bond, or create something of her own. Only visited by the dark god on her deal anniversary, forming with him a twisted bond of rivalry and stubbornness. After 300 years, she stumbles upon Henry in NYC. And he remembers her. Sees her. And it’s not an illusion, it’s for real, so real they form a relationship neither of them expected. But soon enough they will realize why this was at all possible: he also made a deal with the dark god. A much shorter one, meaning that soon the god will come back for his payment. That is when Adeline will have to make a choice, that will change everyone’s destiny forever.
The Flat Share
- AUTHOR: Beth O’Leary
- TOPIC: Novel
Praise for this so-talked about book that I couldn’t wait to read. And I do understand the excitement now, because it was awesome! Written in a witty way that I just adore, it was funny and romantic and a total delight. So much so that I finished it in one day because I couldn’t put it down.
Can’t wait to read all of your other books, because this one was just epic!
A heartbroken and now single Tiffany needs to find a new place, and the only option she can afford is a strange arrangement: share a flat, and a bed, with someone who will be using the flat when she is not there. Leon, working nights at a hospice, needs the extra money to get his brother out of jail. They don’t meet for months, exchanging post-it notes to communicate, and unknowingly get close thanks to this correspondence, till one day they finally meet in person in the most awkward of ways. And it’s instant chemistry which neither of them seem to be wanting to admit. Tiffany gets her best friend Gerty to help Leon with his brother case, and just when everything seems to go well, Tiffany’s boyfriend reappears in her life, stalking her and begging for her to come back, causing her a shock so big that she is unable to let go fully with Leon. Just when her career is skyrocketing, her ex pulls the biggest attacks of all, threatening to ruin everything in her life. A story of love, friendship, abuse, second chances, and hope. Read it, you will love it!!
The Paris Library
- AUTHOR: Janet Skeslien Charles
- TOPIC: Novel
I truly loved the book, finished it basically in one sitting, as the narrative took me back to WW2 in Paris, thanks to the intensity of the description and the love for books that I share with the main character. I was only a bit disappointed with the ending, otherwise it was a great book and would still recommend.
Odile gets her dream job: librarian at the American Library in Paris. Her policeman father is not thrilled, and keeps inviting suitors to Sunday lunch to find a potential husband. The fourteenth candidate, Paul, it’s the good one, and she enjoys her growing romance while living her best life at the library, surrounded by inspiring people coming from different journeys of life. Everything will change once war disrupts Paris, but that won’t hold back the library from staying open, delivering books to soldiers at the front or readers that can’t make it to get books themselves. The library becomes a symbol of hope. One act of jealousy towards her best friend will truly ruin everything, forcing her to leave her recently wedded Paul, marry Buck and flee to America to start new. Here, forty years after, she meets lonely neighbors teenager Lily, and forms a special connection especially when Lily loses her mother. The two ladies have more in common than they think, and when a misunderstanding from the past seems to break their affection forever, they will both learn the greatest lessons in life.
The Vanishing Half
- AUTHOR: Brit Bennett
- TOPIC: Novel
Both while reading it and now that it’s finished, I still cannot make my mind up about this book. Did I love it or not? For sure, the second half was much more interesting than the first one, and it didn’t really catch me, otherwise I would have finished it much quicker. It has not been one of those “I can’t put down” reads. I really wanted to read it as I have heard so much about it, but maybe it’s simply not my style.
Twins Desiree and Stella disappear from a small town out out New Orleans. But truth is, they escaped, leaving behind a life of many tragedies and poverty, shadowed by their skin color. They get by working here and there until Stella leaves Desiree behind without so much of an explanation, chasing “the whites life”, at which she succeeds, marrying well and having a daughter, Kennedy. Not so lucky, Desiree also needs to escape a violent husband, and finds herself back in her hometown with her daughter Jude, reconnecting with her mother and with her first love, Early. Only a twist of fate brings the twins daughters on the same path, with Jude trying to uncover a past everyone else seems to hide from or not know at all. And even a brief reconciliation won’t be enough to bring the twins back together again.
Such A Fun Age
- AUTHOR: Kiley Reid
- TOPIC: Novel
I heardf so much about this novel and was looking forward to it. Read in one day and though the story was good, it didn’t leave me wowed to be honest.
I liked it, but didn’t adore it.
Emira is baby sitting part time for a well-off family. One evening, she is asked to help out late at night as an emergency to look after their daughter, Briar, for a short while. They go to the closest shop, and Emira is stopped by a security guard and accused of stealing the child. Only because she is afro-American. One man, Kelley, vídeos the encounter and offers Emira a copy of the video to seek out justice but she refuses. They later ob meet again and start a relationship. Alix, Briar’s mother, becomes obsessed with Emira and trying to make it up to her, and when she invites her over for Thanksgiving and Kelley shows up with her, she recognizes in him the guy who broke her heart in high school. Alix and Kelley fight their way to gain Emira’s sole love and attention, Alix pushing her to leave him and Kelley pushing her to leave her job. When the video of the store incident leaks out, Emira is faced with a decision to make, that will eventually force her to leave behind the only people she had ever loved.
Layla
- AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover
- TOPIC: Novel
Colleen, you did it again! What a masterpiece ❤️
I love everything she writes, every book seems better than the one before. The unexpected turns and twists of the plot kept me glued to the pages, so much so that I read half the book last night in one sitting because I simply couldn’t wait anymore to find out what happens next. I must have gasped “omg” at least 100 times. Absolutely adored it!
Leeds, an unfulfilled musician, meets Layla at a B&B where her sister is getting married while playing the gig. It’s love st first sight. Though it makes no sense to him, she can’t let her go and when he offers her to move in with him, she does. Layla pushed Leeds to pursue a solo career, and just when life seems too perfect to be true, someone from his past shows up and tragically changes all their lives forever. In an attempt to recover themselves and their relationship, Leeds decides to bring Layla back to where they first met. But she is not the same person he fell in love with. Matters complicate further when another guest of the B&B, Willow, makes her appearance in bizarre circumstances, forming a relationship with Leeds that goes beyond understanding. Though he knows he is neglecting Layla, Leeds cannot stop his interest in Willow and the pull he feels towards her: she feels so familiar and right, like he needs to help her. Forced to make a decision between saving Layla or Willow, unexpected circumstances will make it almost impossible to choose without affecting everyone’s future.
I know the summary is cryptic, but it’s intentionally so…I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise for you. Just read it.
The Guest List
- AUTHOR: Lucy Foley
- TOPIC: Thriller
This book it’s not my usual genre but really liked it and now totally understand the hype about.
@lucyfoleyauthor keeps you glued page after page wondering: who did it? And this is exactly what you need for a thriller.
A wedding is about to take place in a remote island between Jules and Will, both too good looking and famous for their own good. There is a small list of guests that will be staying overnight at the estate prior to the celebration: and everyone is hiding something. Everyone has a secret, and the groom is the connection between them all. When the scream of a waitress claiming to have seen a body interrupts the wedding celebrations, it won’t be until the very last pages that you will discover who the body belongs to. And who did it. You will be kept on the edge until the very last wondering and scheming. But it will leave you speechless when you will find out.
Loved it. Highly recommend!!
Books & Mon 