My Week in Books (4/3/19)

(#partner #freebooks: All books noted by asterisks (***) indicate I received the book for free from the publisher, the author, or another promotional company to review. All opinions are my own.)

I turned 40 last week and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so special as I did this year. My uncle threw an impromptu surprise party for me and my family showered me with love. I can’t wait for my next opportunity to show them how much I love them back!

We’re off to Phoenix for the week and I couldn’t be more excited about the sunshine, cacti, and warm weather! I’m doing something new and limiting myself to only ONE physical book – the rest of my reads will be off my Kindle because a.) I have a ton of ARCs on there I need to get to, b.) I’m excited for the opportunity to read some of the books already downloaded on there that I just haven’t gotten to, and c.) I’m too lazy to lug too many books around! While the pictures of my books may not be as pretty, I’ve found the place where it’s not more important than having shoulder pain! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Last Week’s Reads:

*** In Another Time by: Jillian Cantor (Harper Perennial) – Pub Date: March 5, 2019

Everything about this book sounds like something I’d really enjoy. But sadly, I didn’t.  While I adored Max and found him to be so sweet and caring towards Hannah, I found Hannah to be wholly unlikeable. She was distracted and whiny; oftentimes, rude and ungrateful towards Max. I had a hard time understanding how she could be so oblivious to the situation Germany was in. Jews were being shipped away and yet she still insisted she and Max continued on the way they were. I wished Max would have been more forceful with her to make her wake up and realize that he had both of their best interests in mind. Also, there’s an element of time travel in the storyline that didn’t work for me at all. It felt forced and I couldn’t relate. Personally, I didn’t think it really added to the story either. I think I’m somewhat of an outlier with my opinions of this book because I’ve seen many reviews online from people that really enjoyed it! Search out some other opinions before making a final choice.

*** If, Then by: Kate Hope Day (Random House) – Pub Date: March 12, 2019

Don’t you wish covers would be an indication of a good book? Like, if the cover is beautiful and gorgeous, the book will land among your favorites. Bad cover? Terrible book. Wouldn’t that make things easier? In all seriousness, I LOVE the cover of this book, but I didn’t love the story. I found it disjointed and confusing, uninteresting and bland. I did appreciate the volcano in the story and it seemed like its own character. What’s frustrating about that is that it had better character development than all the other characters in the story! I could appreciate the premise of the story, but it just felt like way too much was going on. With a big cast of characters who each had their own issues, there was no connection. It quite literally felt like five different stories that tried to be one. Unfortunately, this one just did not work for me.

Beautiful Bad by: Annie Ward (Park Row) – Pub Date: March 5, 2019

I’ve finally found the niche of mystery/thrillers that I enjoy: psychological thrillers! I read The Silent Patient last month and loved it; I felt the same about this book. I found the ending a bit predictable and rushed, but it didn’t detract from the overall story for me. I liked the characters and their motivations, I liked the interplay between them all, and I liked the conclusion. I traded between the physical book and the audio version and I liked them both a lot! It was a great way to get a lot of housework accomplished, so this book was pure guiltless reading!

*** #IMomSoHard by: Kristin Hensley & Jen Smedley (HarperOne) – Pub Date: April 2, 2019

This one made me LOL – and that’s saying something because most books tagged as “humor” mostly make me roll my eyes! Hensley and Smedley are funny and they wrote about things I’ve been thinking since I started this motherhood journey. I haven’t seen these gals YouTube page, but I’m thinking I’m about to dive down that rabbit hole! (Here’s a great episode where they’re talking about their book…turns out they’re even funnier “in person”! These gals are from Nebraska which is my state neighbor and I feel like we are long-lost soul sisters. What I wouldn’t give to hang out with these two sometime (if you’re reading this….please! I swear, I’m not psycho!) … (Ok…and a few more because rabbit hole: I Make-Up So Hard and I Junk Food So Hard…#yourewelcome!)

I Tried, But Wasn’t Feeling (aka: DNF):

 

*** The Mastermind: Drugs, Murder, Betrayal by: Evan Ratliff (Random House) – Pub Date: January 29, 2019 (DNF @ 10%)

I desperately wanted to follow in Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup‘s footsteps (my review here), but I just couldn’t get into this one. I think some people will really be able to get on board with it, but I was getting way too confused and bored trying to keep this story straight. I’m gonna hand this one off to my father-in-law though because I think he’ll really enjoy it!

*** We Cast A Shadow by: Maurice Carlos Ruffin (One World) – Pub Date: January 29, 2019 (DNF @ 24%)

One of the books I was most excited about this winter, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t grasp the writing style. This may be the first book I’ve read that’s satirical and I’m wondering if that’s my problem. I’m going to stick this one back on my shelves and search out a few more reviews before completely giving up on it, but for now, it’s just not for me.

That Time I Loved You: Stories by: Carrianne Leung (Liveright) – Pub Date: February 26, 2019 (DNF @ 44%)

I got about halfway through this one and just felt meh about it. I’ve made a deal with myself that if I find myself just not caring about a book/story line anymore, I would DNF it. There are just too many books on my TBR list that I’m excited about and I’m not going to force my reading anymore. This was sent to me as part of my Shelf Subscription from The Bookshelf.

Currently Reading/Listening:

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by: Brittney Cooper (St. Martin’s Press) – Pub Date: February 20, 2018

I’m only about twenty minutes into this one, and I am hooked! So many things have already opened up my mind and I can’t wait to continue this one and see where it leads me! I can already tell that this should be required reading for all Americans…especially white ones!

Likely to Read Next:

*** When We Left Cuba by: Chanel Cleeton (Berkley) – On Shelves: April 9, 2019

Well, what can I say? I’ve been waiting to read this one since I got approved on NetGalley, but I really wanted to wait until I was closer to the release date. The time has finally arrived and I can’t wait to dive into this one!!

*** Lost Roses by: Martha Hall Kelly (Ballantine) – On Shelves: April 9, 2019

I loved Kelly’s first novel so I’m excited to read this next one!

Tell me, friends, what’s been your favorite reads lately?