Books Lately

Happy Show Us Your Books day with Steph & Jana! I don't have a ton to share today, I have fallen off the reading wagon hard. First it was stress and crappy stuff and I just couldn't concentrate on a book, but now I'm feeling like reading again but have been busy busy busy. I can see the light at the end of the busy tunnel and I am sure I will be back to normal soon. Also, my phone went kaput for several hours last weekend and the only way I could get it back up was to restore it and of course I hadn't done a backup in ages and lost all my photos and I don't want to talk about it but here's a picture of a book and Penny back in May. It's fine, I'm fine, everyone is fine.

nothing lately, womp.

Everything Isn't Terrible - Kathleen Smith

self help/anxiety

I thought the first half of this was fantastic and very eye opening/helpful. I didn't like the second half. I don't know if that was because it was bad, or because I couldn't relate to those scenarios at all. If you deal with anxiety, maybe it's worth a read anyway. It probably depends on the areas of your life that give you anxiety. It was a very short, quick read. Doesn't come out until December though, so... christmas wish list?

Received from netgalley

The Key to Happily Ever After - Tif Marcelo
three sisters, wedding planners, family drama 
This was okay. It wasn't amazing, it wasn't awful. I think perhaps it tried to do too much, or maybe it was because it wasn't what I was expecting at all. It was fine. It took me 2 months to read, so not really a page turner.

Three Women - Lisa Taddeo

follows the sex lives of three women

This was book club's latest, and it was... not a hit. So much potential! This was just weird. I feel like it could have been better. Ruined cadbury creme eggs for me. Jk, nothing could do that, but seriously. Think twice before you read it if you like them. You can't unimagine some things.

The Best Thing - Mariana Zapata
Still not as amazing as Winnipeg, but definitely better than Luna and the Lie. Honestly, I read this during one of the more stressful/upsetting times in the past month so it's like I didn't really absorb it and might need to reread it one day. I did like it though.

Well. According to goodreads, I am 'currently reading' these 5 books, but haven't picked any of them up in a couple weeks. So.

Linking up with Steph & Jana. 

TL;DR - I recommend.... um. I recommend that you recommend me something, ha. But seriously.

Read anything decent lately?

What's New With You Link Up

Hello all, time for another what's new with you link up!

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I am actually going to tap out of my own link up this month, but I'd still love to hear (er, read) what is new with you, so if you'd like to link up, please do so below:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Link Up Reminder

Hello all! Just a quick reminder to anyone who wants to link up - this Thursday the 5th is the next What's New With You link up if you want to join me! 

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Books Lately

Happy Show Us Your Books day with Steph & Jana! I've had a crappy few weeks and sometimes I turn to books in times of stress, and other times I turn to tv, and this time it has been tv. We watched The Boys on amazon and we are working our way through Mad Men (we originally watched a couple seasons back in 2012 or so). I also watched Derry Girls. As for what I read... Most of these are from right after the last link up, I haven't read much in a couple weeks. But anyway. Hopefully I'll find some good books to add to the TBR today!

First Grave on the Right - Darynda Jones
she's a part time investigator and full time grim reaper 
This book has been on my list for ages. It is tagged romance on the title's main page on goodreads, but I really don't think it is (but it may be in future books). I mean, there is a smidge of romance in the book, but it's not a romance, if that makes sense. Anyway. This was very readable, very quick, very entertaining. Thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me a little of Stephanie Plum, but paranormal-y and not as ditzy (nothing wrong with Stephanie Plum, I just got kind of bored with them).

City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert

kind of a fictional memoir in the form of a letter

This was book club's choice last month and I finished it at our book club meeting, oops. Sometimes when I 'have' to read a book, I'm a little more critical of it, especially when I procrastinate and don't start it until the day before. I liked this but I did not love it. It was entertaining, but some parts seemed pointless. It was interesting and I didn't have a problem with the writing, but something was missing for me. It was fine, I don't not recommend it. I will say though, if I asked someone a question and they wrote me a 470 page letter, I'd call them and be like 'can you just answer the question in a paragraph? or one page? Did you really need an entire book?' of course, that's the point, it is a book, but come on now. This is not a letter.

Polaris Rising - Jessie Mihalik

sci fi with a smidge of romance

This was a super fun read, I really enjoyed the writing and the story. Sometimes sci-fi just really hits the spot for me. The characters were all fantastic, I do love the kind of serenity/firefly vibe in books. There is romance in this one, could have been developed a bit more for my liking but not a big deal. Overall it was an enjoyable read and I am excited for the next one.

The Wife Between Us - Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
mystery thriller thing
This book took me 2 months to read. It wasn't bad, I was interested, it just never reached unputdownable for me. I don't really have strong feelings about it either way. Lots of twists and turns, but nothing mind blowing.

The Lady in the Coppergate Tower - Nancy Campbell Allen

steampunk fairytale retelling

Books like these are hard to separate into my review categories - it's tagged as a romance but it is a proper romance, which generally means nothing more than kisses (some people call this 'clean', as if romance with more than kisses is 'dirty'. Nice message you're sending there). It definitely focuses more on the other elements of the story, so if romance isn't normally your jam I would probably recommend - but of course only if fantasy/steampunk/fairytale retellings are. Anyway, I enjoyed this one but it wasn't as good as the previous two. It was paced a bit oddly and I felt like there were a lot of elements taken from different fairytales. But it was enjoyable.

The Catcus - Sarah Haywood
susan is awful and not at all lovable like eleanor oliphant so stop comparing k thanks
Oh boy. Oh boy. I was not a fan. Who tagged this as a romance? This is the least romantic book I have ever read. Look. Perhaps people who don't like romance think this is romance because there is a guy and a girl and if you smoosh them together, that makes a love story? NO. If you have read Eleanor Oliphant, would you call that a romance? No. It has a romantic subplot, but it is not a romance. Which is fine, but come on, there is a difference. I loved Eleanor. I hate comparing books and didn't actually expect this to be exactly like Eleanor, but I expected the same vibe. Susan is awful. She is absolutely awful. Do not recommend. Hard no. Bloody cute cover though.

Someone Like You - Lauren Layne

I had high expectations for this one because the guy's story had been hyped up in previous books and I really enjoyed it. Not my favourite of hers and I did feel like I'd seen certain elements before - whether it was in another book, a movie, or real life, I don't remember. But it was good. 

Hearts In Darkness - Laura Kaye

This has been on my kindle for years and honestly, based on the cover and synopsis I didn't expect much. I was wrong! I love when that happens. Loved it. I read the second immediately afterwards and loved it just as much but apparently it's not very well thought of. It's set only a few weeks or months later, but it came out 5 years after the first and I guess people weren't too impressed with the direction it took. It didn't bother me, I think because I read them back to back. Slight warning, it is tagged as erotica on goodreads and because tags are by readers, everyone has different definitions. To me, erotica means more sex than story. Someone else might mean it's just more explicit. I do not consider this erotica.

Brazen & the Beast - Sarah MacLean

The first in this series was a bit clunky and hard to understand the convoluted backstory, but once it got going I liked it. This one was immediately easier because I already knew the backstory with the brothers. I love the world MacLean has created in this series.  I absolutely loved the main characters, Hattie was fantastic. The banter was fabulous, the story interesting, it was a super quick easy read... not my favourite of hers, not my favourite historical ever, but enjoyable nonetheless.

The Wedding Party - Jasmine Guillory
Meh. It was fine. I really enjoyed The Wedding Date and liked The Proposal but this was just meh. Very quick easy read but... meh. Perhaps because it claims to be enemies to lovers and it is very much not.

still working on The Huntress and about 75 other books because my attention span just ain't there right now

Linking up with Steph & Jana. 

TL;DR - I recommend... First Grave on the Right if you like paranormal and City of Girls, if it sounds like your jam.

Read anything decent lately?