Loved some, hated some. Basically the same reaction as most of the months I’m doing book reviews haha! Check it out!
I am really enjoying the All Souls Trilogy. I read “Shadow of Night” this month, and all in all really enjoyed it. It was slow getting going, and it is a looonnnggg book, but it was so good. Matthew and Diana travel back to the Elizabethan time period, to discover more about Diana’s powers, and also to try and locate the magical book that continues to elude them. I really enjoyed seeing how their story progressed in this one.
“Rivals” was the third American Royals book in the series. These are cute reads, I generally enjoy reading them, but there is usually just kind of some weird stuff in them here and there…mainly I feel like the author is trying to make points about empowering women, which is great and all, but I don’t particularly care for it to be pushed in my face when I’m reading for fun.. and then other political type points of controversy, but overall it was entertaining. Beatrice is now Queen of the United States, and representing the U.S. at a convocation of the Kings and Queens around the world. Her sister Samantha starts a new controversial relationship. Nina also shockingly teams up with Daphne, and they work together to meet some common goals too which was interesting. There is love and loss in this one, risks taken and some risks have pretty substantial costs.
Oh everyone needs to read or listen to this one. I love listening to these “self help” kind of books. “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” was so good. I honestly think I will try and listen to this each year as a reminder to slow down and just do life differently than the rat race we are all sucked into haha! He talked a lot about how Satan uses being busy against us, how we tend to treat the emotional problems we have with physical solutions that feel good in the moment rather than turning to God. It was interesting to hear some of his thoughts, but overall I felt like this is just such a great read for anyone, especially if you don’t feel content or like you are drowning constantly trying to keep up.
I love Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker series and “Defy the Night,” (you can find those reviews under my Books tab!) but “Forging Silver into Stars” just was not my favorite. I really enjoyed reading the Cursebreaker series, so I thought a book that continued the story of some of the more minor characters might be good. The story itself I thought was great, but my problem with this book was that Tycho and another boy, Jack, end up getting together. I know this happens more often than not in books these days, but this is the first book that I’ve read that had very descriptive scenes between the two of them, that were just too much, especially for the targeted audience of younger/teenage readers. I skimmed over a number of scenes with them to get through the story, but I cannot recommend this one based on the content of that relationship.
Kristy Woodson Harvey is one of my favorite authors, I have loved every book I have read by her so far! “The Wedding Veil” was so cute, a story of a special wedding veil passed down through the family, symbolizing happiness and good luck for your marriage. The veil was mysteriously given to Julia’s great grandmother on a train years ago, and when Julia’s impending marriage falls apart, she becomes determined to figure out where this veil actually came from. The story toggles back to the early 1900s, when the Vanderbilt’s were thriving. I learned so much about Edith and how she worked tirelessly to keep the Vanderbilt mansion alive and well after the passing of her husband, and also about her daughter Cornelia and how she ultimately diverged from that life. I ended up googling the family and reading more about them hehe! The connection between the Vanderbilts and Julia’s family was so fun, I really enjoyed this one this month!
Kate Quinn is such a great writer, but some of her books do tend to have a lot of language in them, and this one fell into that category. “Signal Moon” was a short story about a young woman named Lily, who worked in signal operations, listening to chatter coming across the lines. One night she picks up on a disaster of a night where a naval ship gets bombed and destroyed, but the odd thing is that it is from the future. Lily ends up leaving a message for the future US officer Matt Jackson, and somehow they end up communicating over an old radio. I don’t mind stories like this, but for some reason it felt extremely unrealistic to me, and I wasn’t crazy about the ending. This one isn’t one I would necessarily recommend reading.
I listened to “Taste – My Life Through Food” by Stanely Tucci. I have always enjoyed him as an actor, and when I realized he was narrating his own book, I immediately fell in love with it. It is literally a story of his life through food. How his family life centered around the table, how his mother was this insanely good Italian cook…I loved the recipes he shared and all of the family/life stories he shared, how food was such a centrical part of his life. There were some excerpts that had some language in it, but I don’t remembering it being all throughout the book. The stories of him battling cancer were heart wrenching, but also amazing to see how he overcame it as well.
This made me laugh, and seriously, there are some days I want to just read all day but alas, I must be a mom and do things. 🙂 Hope you enjoyed seeing what I read this month! Happy reading everyone!
If you’re interested in seeing what else I have read this year, check out my links to other months below and lots more book reviews under my Book tab!
What I’m Reading – January 2022
Maybe I need to read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry! Lol
Yes do it! It’s so good! I may re-listen to it again this year!