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Speed Book Reviews : The Nightingale House and The Night Swim

So I am taking an idea from the beauty community and going to try and do speed reviews for books I read. Sometimes I just don’t have a lot to say about a book but still want to share the few thoughts I have.

Let’s see how this works. Let me know down in the comments if this is something you want to see more of.

The Nightingale House – – Steve French

This reminded me sooo much of Home Before Dark by Riley Sager! Both are haunted house stories with a family tragedy at the center of the story. Both have dual timelines and both are pretty fast paced in the story telling as well.

I liked this one because it stayed on the path of paranormal and haunted house. If you read Home Before Dark, you will know what I mean. I think the latter was better written than this one though. I felt this to be pretty mediocre writing, but it didn’t take away from the story. But if you are looking for something so completely well written with words you wouldn’t use yourself, this isn’t going to be for you. 

Overall it was a pretty quick read that kept me interested. Is it the greatest thing ever? No. But not much has hit that mark for me lately. I will probably check out his other book sometime int he future. 

3.5 Stars

The Night Swim – – Megan Goldin

My overall feelings, It’s fine. 

This isn’t a ground breaking mystery/thriller. It is actually pretty slow paced, which generally is not my favorite in this genre. The topic though is pretty tough and if you have hard time with books surrounding rape and rape culture, then I would skip this one.

What I did like about this is the dual timeline. I am a fan of that along with multiple perspectives. I thought it was done pretty well. I also like that this book alternated with podcast episodes. However, I just couldn’t get behind the name of the podcast. So generic and unoriginal and I would expect more from an author. 

The writing was fine for me. I hate to keep using this term but it was just okay. Too wordy and descriptive in spots that didn’t need to be. I listened to the audiobook so I picked up on it more. And to be honest, I was not the biggest fan of the audiobook. 

Overall, it a good read. I don’t know if I will go and rush to pick up her next book, but maybe.

3 Stars 

Those are the two books I finished in the past week. Have you read either of these? Thoughts? Let me know!

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2020 TBR Update : Complete Fail (so far)

Back in January, I made a post of the 12 books I wanted to read before this year was over. If they were still unread, I had no choice but to unhaul them because they have been on my TBR for too long.

Here is the update on that.

Out of the 12 books, I have read 4 thus far.

A Man Called Ove

I really enjoyed this one. I listened to this on audio during my time off of work because of COVID. I laughed, I shed some tears, I enjoyed it.

4 Stars

The Goldfinch

This tome took me quite awhile to get through, but I finally finished this it. I started it in May I believe and finally finished it in July. I listed to this on audio and the narration was great. The story itself I am unsure about. This is something I may come back to in the future.

3.5 Stars

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart

This is quite embarrassing, but I don’t really remember much from this book. I do remember reading it pretty quickly and not hating it, which is something that I tend to do with YA. It was fine? Probably not something I will keep on my shelves to reread in the future.

3 Stars

The Nightingale

I don’t know why it took my so long to pick this book up. I loved it. It was so good. I listened to this on audio and I could not stop listening. I don’t know why I was afraid to read this. I love historical fiction and I loved The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, so this was a no brainer.

5 Stars

I did end up unhauling 3 books without reading them.

The Girl with all the Gifts

All My Puny Sorrows

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

To be honest, I just was not feeling these anymore. 2 of them I started reading but couldn’t get in to. The other I lost complete interest in.

That leaves me with 5 books that I either have to read or unhaul.

A Darker Shade of Magic

I have had this entire series soooo long. It was one of those purchases I made because of Booktube. I think I am going to pick this up on audio to help ease the anxiety of reading this. Sounds so weird but I am anxious because fantasy is sometimes hard for me. But maybe it will surprise me.

The Blinds

I am pretty sure this is my very first Book of the Month choice. And I have yet to read this. I have no excuse for this one since mystery/thriller is my preferred genre.

The Dragon Republic

This is a little different situation than the others. I have only had this book for about a year. But I do want to get to it since (surprisingly) I enjoyed The Poppy War.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel

I think I purchased this one because it was compared to The Night Circus. I do not know how accurate that is, but I still want to try it.

I Let You Go

Another one I have no excuse for not reading. This is terrible considering I have 3 books from this author, all unread.

I have 4 months to get through these 5 books. I am going to focus and get it done. I am thinking I am going to use audiobooks to help me out here. 3 of them I am very much interested in reading so I don’t know what y problem is.

Let me know down in the comments which book you would read first! Any that I should just unhaul all together? Let’s chat in the comments.

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Last Year I Was Reading…

This meme was created by ReadingMaria.

It is super easy to participate in. All you have to do is:

Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to.

Current Read

The Most Fun We Ever Had – – Claire Lombardo

I am 31% through this and I am enjoying it. This story follows the Sorenson Family, which consists of Marilyn and David and their four daughters; Wendy, Violet, Liza and Grace. This is a long winded story that follows a (slightly) dysfunctional family, which is pretty much right up my alley. At over 500 pages, it spans quite a bit of time, and I love a story like that. It is a bit more dense than other books I have been reading, but it is engaging and I want to keep picking it up; it’s just taking me a bit more time to read.

Last year I was reading

The Death of Mrs. Westaway – – Ruth Ware

Mystery/Thrillers are my favorite to read, so not surprised that is what I was reading this time last year. I read this on audio and while it was good, it wasn’t my favorite. To be honest, I haven’t picked up another Ruth Ware since this one.

Comparisons

They are different because what I am currently reading is slow paced and pretty straight forward while last years read is fast paced with twists and turns. Both I am a fan of.

They are similar in that both involve families and the drama/problems/situations that these large families get into. Again, both of which I like.

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Book Review : Catherine House

Catherine House – – Elisabeth Thomas

Honestly, I have no idea how I feel about this book. I think I was expecting one thing, and it turned out to be something completely different, but I am not mad about it.

The writing is not particularly ground breaking. It’s fine. Easy to read and not confusing. But overall, I am not really sure what was going on and what exactly happened. There was a theme that stayed throughout the book of heavy drinking (even during classes) and sex and all nighters and things that happen in college, but here were 10xs worse, or more involved. I thought that was going to play out with the outcome of the story but it didn’t. Which confused me on why it was there so heavily in the first place.

I originally thought this was a dark academia novel. And it was, for most of it. But then it started dipping into the Sci-Fi genre and stayed there until the end of the book. Which again, I don’t hate it.

I found the characters to be one dimensional with no growth. They all seemed to mesh together, which could just be how they were suppose to be because they are in this school that is very weird and pretty much drains everything out of the students. I didn’t hate the main character Ines. I think she could have been developed a little bit more. She had the start of an interesting background but that story never really took off. And I think it could have explained her actions and her character a lot more with just a bit more depth.

This is from a debut author, and even though I think you can tell that, I don’t think this book was bad. It had the makings to be really good. I just think it fell flat in parts.

My review is all over the place, but so are my feelings with this book. I found myself wanting to pick the book up and when I did, it would take nothing to read 100 pages in no time. I finished the last 100 pages before bed last night. I think my biggest issue with the book is I am just not sure what it is suppose to be about and what is it really. This may be a book I come back to in the future. I will also most definitely read from this author again. There is something there that caught my attention and I want to see where it goes and what else she has to offer.

3.5 Stars

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Weekend Reads : 8/15/2020

It is finally my weekend!

I am so ready to dive in to some books the next two days. My boyfriend is helping a friend move and it looks to be rainy so the couch is where I will be. Here is what I have in store for the next few days.

The Most Fun We Ever Had – Claire Lombardo

I am very much looking forward to reading this and I think I am going to enjoy it. I love long, lengthy deep dives into family drama and this looks to have that. At over 500 pages and a family of 4 sibling girls, I think this going to be right up my alley. I originally had heard about this book from the Book Riot podcast and it immediately caught my attention and I knew I needed to read it. The time has come and I am here for it.

The Splendid and the Vile – Erik Larson

This is my slow but steady book. I have this marked out to finish so many chapters a week, taking me about 2 months to read this. I love all things history and love reading both fiction and non-fiction historical books. This follows Winston Churchill in his first year as Prime Minister. It is a dense book, but interesting so far. This is a book that I can only read a chapter or two a night before I feel weighed down by it. I am a little behind on my own schedule with this, and hope to finish up the 6 chapters I have left for this weeks section.

I am still not feeling like listening to an audiobook right now which is a bummer because I was so in to them only a few months ago. I think once I get caught up on The Currently Reading podcast, I’ll feel like picking up an audiobook again.

What do you have planned for this weekend? Enjoying some reading or spending it outdoors for these last weeks of summer? Let’s chat in the comments!

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Weekend Reads : 8/8/202

And I am back.

I took a weekend off of reading because I am starting to feel slumpy. To be honest, I am still feeling this way, but I have so many books I want to read, that I am trying to push through.

Over the weekend I was able to finish one book and managed to get over halfway through another.

Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I have a dedicate review up for this HERE, but in short, this just wasn’t for me, and I am disappointed in that. I was very much looking forward to reading this and wanted to love it, but I was bored throughout the whole thing. I did just hear the news that it is being adapted and I will most likely watch the adaptation. Maybe I will appreciate it more that way.

If you want to hear my full thoughts, check out my review.

Catherine House – – Elisabeth Thomas

I was hoping to have this one done before my weekend was over, but it just didn’t happen. I did manage to get halfway through though, and will have it done for sure by the start of my next weekend. My initial thoughts are that it’s fine? I am rather confused on my own feelings. I hope I sort them out when I finish this book. I am finding it easy to read, and I am picking it up. I just don’t know what is really going on. I was expecting a dark academia book, which it kind of is but I am also getting sci-fi vibes from it.

I’ll reserve my full thoughts for when I finish it.

A pretty uneventful reading weekend if you ask me. I am definitely struggling right now with picking up books, especially audiobooks. Hopefully I find myself out of it soon.

Tell me your thoughts if you read these books? Am I the only one who found Mexican Gothic to be a little lackluster? What about Catherine House? I want to hear what you think!

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Last Year I Was Reading…

This meme was created by ReadingMaria.

It is super easy to participate in. All you have to do is:

Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to.

Current Read

Catherine House – – Elisabeth Thomas

I am just about 100 pages into this and I must say, I am intrigued. The book does not have a very good rating on Goodreads, but honestly that doesn’t really bother me. I am not sure what this book is about, except I heard a reviewer say it was really weird. I like weird, and I am in the mood to read weird, so I requested it from the library. I should have this book finished by the time this post goes up, so it should be featured in my Weekend Reads post on Friday.

Last Year I Was Reading…

Fix Her Up – – Tessa Bailey

I do not read a lot of adult sexy time books, so I decided to give it a try. I picked this one up on audio, and while it was a good time, it was not my favorite in this genre that I have read. I haven’t continued in this series and I am not sure that I will. Since reading this, I have read some others in this genre that I like more.

Comparisons

These books could not be further away from each other in terms of genres. Catherine House is a mystery/thriller by a debut author. From the little bit that I have read, I think it is going to be quite dark and gothic. Fix Her Up is a romance written by a seasoned author with an extensive backlist of titles. It had some serious aspects to it but it was pretty light for the most part.

I am really trying to expand my reading by picking up books that don’t fit my typical genres. So far, it has been working out for me. I look forward to finding new books that I enjoy that I would have otherwise missed because I was living in my little box.

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Book Review : Mexican Gothic

WARNING

Unpopular opinion ahead.

When I saw the cover of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, I was like what is this and how do I get my hands on it? Then I started reading and watching reviews of the book and everything sounded so promising. I am always in the mood for a good horror book and this (seemed) to fit that. I have to say I was underwhelmed by this book.

By no means is this a bad book. It’s not. It just didn’t work for me. I found it to be very slow. Nothing was happening and nothing was holding my attention. I found that when I put it down, I didn’t want to come back to it. This 300 page book took me the full 2 week loan to read it. And I’m pretty sure my Overdrive loan expired and I still had about 40 pages left to read. (As long as you don’t exit out of the ebook, the library won’t take it back). This may be because it was more of a gothic horror. I generally am a thriller reader and prefer fast paced.

When I finally got to the climax and the twist so to speak, I was left a little, like really? That is what is going on here? I didn’t see it coming, but I also didn’t care for it. To be honest, I came very close to DNFing it at that point, because I just didn’t care for the reveal at all.

I knew going in to this, that it was going to be slow moving. I just didn’t realize it was going to be this slow. It took almost 70% for it to finally move along, and like I said, the reveal was very meh and frankly confusing to me. I personally didn’t think the buildup and the first 60-70% was worth the ending for me.

Overall, this was a big disappointment for me. It was just okay. Nothing to go out and recommend in my opinion. However, I think if this author writes another book in the horror genre, I will probably give it a try. We will see.

Did you read Mexican Gothic? What are your thoughts? I know I am in the minority on this one! I tried to really like it, but in the end I struggled to get through it.

2.5 Stars

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Weekend Reads : 7/25/2020

I went a little nuts at my library the past 2 weeks. I had a few books on hold and I browsed around a bit too. I want to work my way through as many of these as I can before they are due. I am hoping to read at least two of these this weekend.

Home Before Dark – – Riley Sager

I look forward to a book from Riley Sager every July. Luckily I got on my library’s hold list somewhat early and didn’t have to wait too long. This one seems to be right up my alley. I love haunted house stories and I am hoping this is a hit. I was not a fan of Lock Every Door but I do have high hopes for this one.

He Started It – – Samantha Downing

I am giving this author another shot because her debut novel My Lovely Wife was not my favorite, but I saw potential. So I am reading this to see if she is an author for me.

I don’t know a whole lot about this except it involves siblings recreating a road trip in order to receive their inheritance from their grandfather. As it is Samantha Downing, I am expecting something thrilling and fast to get through.

Wonderland – – Zoje Stage

I have a theme going on here; reading books from authors I previously disliked. I read and was meh about Baby Teeth. But again, I saw potential and I am interested to see what this author’s sophomore novel is like.

I believe this book follows a family who moves out of NYC into a home in the woods and there is something lingering outside the house. Interesting concept. I am intrigued .

Catherine House – – Elisabeth Thomas

I am going to be honest, I have no idea what this book is about. I saw it on a Booktuber’s video (I forget which one) and all I remember her saying is it is weird. I am feeling a little weird in my reading, so I picked it up from my library. It does not have the best rating on Goodreads, but I don’t pay too much attention to that. And I figure if it isn’t grabbing me in the first 50 pages, I’ll take it back to the library.

Out of my stack of books, these are the ones I want to make a priority because they have no renewals on them. I think I have about 14 days with them, maybe 21. This is definitely ambitious but I am feeling lazy this weekend, so I am optimistic I can make a dent in this pile.

Out of the ones that are not priority, I am really interesting in reading The City of Brass. I may abandon all plans and just pick that up.

Have you read any of these? Opinions on what I should pick up first? I love to read what you have to say in the comments.

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audiobooks book blog Book Review bookish books Uncategorized weekly update

Weekend Wrap up : 7/18/2020

The Goldfinch – – Donna Tart

I am so conflicted on this one. I think I enjoyed it? But I am really not sure!

I have been listening to the audiobook for quite some time. The audiobook is fantastic. The narrator does a great job with the different characters. I can’t believe it was just one narrator. 10 out of 10 recommend the audiobook if you are going to read this. 

I am just not sure what I think about the story itself. This is a long one, almost 800 pages. And while I do like long stories that span a characters life, I don’t know if this one fits that category. I think I was about 300 pages in and I felt like the story was going nowhere. But the writing was very good. A bit long winded in spots, but good nonetheless.

Overall, my rating is confused. I am going to hold onto this one and I think I will reread it in physical form at some point. Maybe I will get a better understanding of my feelings if I do it that way.

3.5 Stars

Scythe – – Neal Shusterman

I am embarrassed to say I almost unhauled this unread not that long ago. I am so glad that I held off and that I finally read this.

This has to be my most surprising read of the year. I did not expect to like this, let alone love it. It is not my preferred genre or age range. But I loved every page of it.

I blew through this over 400 page book. I was hooked from the very beginning. I am not a huge YA reader, but this had none of the elements of YA that I dislike.

I just received Thunderhead and plan to read that very soon.

I am currently in the middle of trying to pick my next reads. Stay tuned for when I post what I plan for next weekend!

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