That time of the month... where we get to look at what everyone has been reading.
Time to get open that Goodreads lists & start adding to it.
I actually am glad that this month, I feel like I'm getting my reading mojo back.
I've actually been excited to read... been walking around with a book in my hand at all times getting in a page whenever I can. So glad to feel the joy of reading again....
Here's a look at my last 4 weeks of reading....
If I Could Turn Back Time
By Beth Harbison
3 stars / 5 - (liked it)
Ever see that movie 13 going on 30 with Jennifer Garner - this is kind of the same idea... or kinda opposite I should say. More Peggy Sue Got Married. Ramie gets a little life check when she hits her head & wakes up in her bedroom right before her 18th birthday & getting ready to graduate high school. What would you do differently?
I really enjoyed this book, just for the idea of it - makes me wonder what I'd go back & change. & loved the scenes where Ramie gets to visit with her father who passed away not too long after she graduates high school. Every page where they are together just was touching.
But parts of the story just seemed slow & repetitive. Like every time Ramie would kiss her boyfriend, there had to be like an issue with her thinking she's 38, but kissing an 18 years old, but that she was really 18 & in real life, this person was really 38 as well. It just got old & not even sure why they gave so much thought to that over & over & over again.
This book did have a little twist at the end that I didnt see coming which made me appreciate a new take on the going back to another age story... & the end of it all wasnt exactly as expected, but I liked that. It wasn't life shattering or life changing... but in all, it was a cute book to read.
"You seek problems because you need their gifts"
Between Heaven & the Real World: My Story
by Steven Curtis Chapman
5 stars / 5 {It was Amazing!!!!}
OK... so this isn't a shocker of a rating coming from me. But remember that I did give the Beauty & the Beast a not so stellar review. I tend to hold my favorite things to a higher regard & demand. This was pure 100% wonderful to me as a fan.
I've been a Steven Curtis Chapman fan for as long as I can remember... & having been to his concerts for as long as I can remember, & seeing his kids come on stage with him & watching them grow up - & seeing his little daughters that were adopted from China come on stage & watch as the family has gone through horribly tragic times & then see the kids all grown up & having marriages & kids of their own... its like the Chapman's are just an extended family of my own.
All that to say, I felt like I know all their stories... they are open people. But this book held so much more. More stories that I knew of... & more in depth thoughts & conversations & real life situations. A really good look into SCC's life. All the good, all the bad, all the heart breaking.
I couldnt believe how thick the book was when I got it (its like 448 pages long!) but I ZOOMED through it. I just couldnt get enough. Loved every second of it. & love the Chapman gang even more - & I didnt even know that was possible.
He is the hope - He is the peace - Jesus is heaven
- heaven in the real world
My Kind of Crazy
By Robin Reul
3 stars /5 stars {Liked it}
Hank intends to do a prom-posal with sparklers that goes all mess when it catches a local famous tree on fire & he flees the scene... except someone saw him. Enter Peyton Breedlove - a strange, kooky girl that then befriends Hank.
Hank is afraid she's going to tell on him so he decides to appease her for a bit... but then their friendship becomes real & they let each other into their lives. Lives that are both touches with problems & tragedy.
The book was really interesting to me. But I was really shocked this was a YA book. Some of the situations & language I was a little taken back by. Things dont normally shock me, but I kept thinking, "This is a YA - what if my middle school niece picked this up" - THAT's what shocked me. I wouldn't want any middle schooler reading this. I mean, Hank's father's live in girlfriends works as a stripper & the stories from her alone & the situations that happens when Hank goes to her work is enough alone I wouldn't want a middle schooler reading this.
The book was definitley interesting though. Full of drama - LOTS of drama. But an interesting story of troubled teens & friendships that can help in dire times. I didn't hate it... didn't love it. It's a super fast read though & it kept my attention to get through it in a just a few days.
"Everybody needs somebody who gets their own kind of crazy, right?"
So what's the best thing you've read this month that I need to put on my list?
Click the button below to see all the books everyone is talking about this month....
I've read a lot of books recently. My favorites would have to be the 3 or 4 Jodi Picoult books I have read. Her books are just so amazing.
ReplyDeleteMy Kind of Crazy and If I Could Turn Back Time sound like cute reads.
ReplyDeleteI have to find a way to fit reading back into my life. Aside from reading blogs, social media captions, or bedtime stories, I haven't read a good book since last year :( Beautifully Candid
ReplyDeleteThese books sound pretty good. I occasionally pick up things that have me going... oh lord... if I was 14 I'd be blushing my face off! Which at that age, if I tried to read something that did make me uncomfortable I just returned it or quit reading, so that's good I guess. :) I can understand though. I think middle schoolers pick up less YA than we think? They are on the cusp... meh. What do I know? :P XO - Alexandra
ReplyDeleteSimply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
Oh how I want my reading mojo back too! I do tend to be more outside when it gets warmer so adding some of your selections to my list!
ReplyDeleteJust curious if you ever read that book "what you think you know" that you bought. How was it?
ReplyDeleteI love the cover of the last one. Sometimes I do choose by the covers. LOL
ReplyDeleteMy Kind of Crazy sounds interesting - maybe over the top for a middle schooler but great for me.
ReplyDeleteHuh. My Kind of Crazy sounds interesting enough. Glad you had a good book month!!
ReplyDeleteMy mom and her friends are huge Steven Curtis Chapman fans, I'll have to tell her that he has a book out!
ReplyDeleteI think i'd like the SCC book. Will have to check that one out.
ReplyDeleteI loved 13 Going on 30 and this book sounds like a fun read. I enjoy YA books and My Kind of Crazy sounds interesting. My daughter turns 11 Friday and is an avid reader. I let her read any middle grade fiction book but if it's YA I have to read it first because of the reasons you noted!!
ReplyDeleteMy Kind of Crazy sounds interesting! I read another Beth Harbison book and was so-so on it, so I'm not sure if I want to try her again.
ReplyDeleteThat first one sounds like a mash-up version of 17 Again plus the two titles you already mentioned...intriguing!
ReplyDeleteyay reading mojo! that's awesome. If I Could Turn Back Time sounds like a cute enough read. My Kind of Crazy sounds cute. I know what you mean about YA.. when I was an actual YA though, I didn't read things like that. I read them more now that I'm older lol.
ReplyDeleteI so would love to read a book!! Maybe when kids get older.
ReplyDeleteIf I could turn back time sounds like my jam .. Hello Peggy Sue ... LOVE
A promposal gone wrong sounds like the only kind of promposal I'd like to read about.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who loses their reading mojo! I had been in a reading slump, too, and finally feel like I'm getting mine back!
ReplyDeleteNot familiar with any of those so appreciate your reviews!
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw a post on ig about you reading the Steven Curtis Chapman book, I was so happy for you because your excitement felt so genuine and wonderful!
ReplyDeleteYA is definitely different than MG! I'm glad you got your reading mojo back. :)
ReplyDelete-Lauren
I haven't heard of My Kind of Crazy but it sounds like a fun/interesting premise.
ReplyDeleteI want to read If I Could Back Time. I love that idea of what would you do differently. It's on my list.
ReplyDeleteI adore 13 Going on 30, so that book seems like a fun one.
ReplyDelete