Pretty good little group this month, I would say that overall I really liked each of these books with the exception of one. Very different reads here too genre wise, so hopefully you will find something interesting!
I listened to “Unwinding Anxiety” by Judson Brewer this month and found it extremely beneficial. He broke down why we do the things we do, why we react the way we do, and how to pause and evaluate what we can do to move out of those cycles and habits of anxiety. I would listen to this one again for sure, I feel like there was a lot of good information that would be worth revisiting again!
“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” was the only book this month I had really mixed feelings on. This book caught my eye because I have a cousin named Adam LaRue hehe, and when I read the summary about a girl who made a deal with darkness to live forever, it peaked my curiosity. Just seemed like it would be interesting to see what it would be like to live through so many centuries. My main complaint about this book though was that a boy she meets kind of takes over the story half way through to tell his story, and it was just awful. So much bad language, a lot of inappropriate things…to the point where I just about quit reading the book. Thankfully Addie took over again and the rest of the book and the ending were much better. It was just one of those books where I got invested, then the author majorly switched up the tone of writing and I hated it for a little bit, but then it resolved. Not sure if I would recommend it though because of that!
I am a big Heather Morris fan, so I was excited to see that she wrote another book. She has a knack for finding TRUE obscure stories from real life people who survived the atrocities of WW2 and writing them down for the world to read. As I read “Three Sisters,” there were just so many things I couldn’t believe. It was a hard read from the start, heavy and just hard. But I kept reminding myself that this was someone’s life. The way these sisters supported each other through their time in concentration camps and the journey out was amazing. I also enjoyed reading about how they adjusted to life afterwards as well, not many books go into the details post war. Highly recommend this book.
I have gotten to where I love these little Pamela Kelley novels. At first, I thought they were super cheesy, which they still are a bit, but it’s grown on me. These are the perfect little reads to just read for fun or to follow up something heavy. “Nantucket Threads” focused on one of the characters that owned a clothing shop in Nantucket, and her relationship with her boyfriend, and also her relationship with her sister. It was a cute, light read.
I also listened to “Atomic Habits” this month and this book is just phenomenal. There is SO much to take away from this book, that again, I probably need to re-listen to this one at some point! I loved hearing about his personal stories, but I also enjoyed just how “easy” he made starting and building new habits could be. He breaks things down and makes it feel attainable. It was a great follow up to the “Unwinding Anxieties” book I started the month off with!
I love this little series by Manda Collins. “An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire” was a cute read. Miss Hardcastle is forced to work with her ex-fiance after a good friend is kidnapped. There are societal pressures everywhere, for her ex-fiance Val to find a bride, and for Caro to be settled as well. They work together to solve the mystery, and of course romance is involved as well. I feel like this one got a little scandalous at the end but I can’t quite remember. 😉 I enjoy reading stories set in London during the 1800s time period, especially when a good mystery is involved.
I wasn’t really in the mood to read another WW2 historical fiction novel, but I love Kristin Harmel and was really interested to read her newest book. This was by far one of the most interesting books I have read regarding people’s lives during WW2. I had no idea that a host of people fled to the German forests to live and evade being captured and sent to death camps. I really loved this novel, and appreciated it even more so once I had read the acknowledgements at the end. In this story, there was a women who was kidnapped as a baby by another woman who had some kind of spiritual powers (so that part was a little strange), but she insists that she was protecting her by doing so. The little girl grows up in the forest, becoming the most knowledgeable and equipped guide imaginable, making her the perfect person to help these poor city dwelling Jews survive their new surroundings. Learned a lot from this one.
This meme cracked me up. I feel like the list of books I want to read is never ending but I love that! There’s always something good out there! Hope you found something interesting to you from this month’s reading! Check out my links to other months below and lots more book reviews under my Book tab!