Show me your books - September 2018

So I hit my goal this month of 40 books in 2018! 

YAHOOO!!!!

I'm totally going to crush that goal this year... which makes me happy because I was like 2 or 3 short last year of my goal of 40.  

Now its making me want to pick up my goal next year to a minimum of 50. We'll see.

But my book spree has continued with the help of the library & Hoopla... 

Be sure to click the pic at the bottom if you want to see what everyone else in blogsphere is reading & get some new reading ideas.

#bestdayofthemonthforreaders

Church of the Small Things
***** / It was Amazing!

Quick Summary: Just little stories of Melanie's life that sum up with insightful life lessons as take aways.

I really enjoyed Melanie's other books she has written & snagged this one up when it was on sale on Amazon on Kindle for $1.99.  Now that I've read it, I'd have bought it at full price. It's just delightful.  A fun easy read that left me with all sorts of emotions.

I'd laugh when she'd talk about roller skating & Xanadu - & had my heart tugged when she talked about her dogs through her life & cried when she talked about her best friend's battle with cancer & I especially lost it when she talked about her relationship with her father.

This is a really sweet book that is fast to read & another one of the books I'd love to give out to girlfriends for gifts.


Read if you enjoyed her other books or you love just a good read from someone who feels like a girlfriend - nothing with a true story line or novel but just a laid back easy read - or read if you love her blog or love supporting other bloggers.

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

The Wife Between Us
***1/2 / (really)  Liked It 

Quick Summary: A woman is divorced from her husband & is concerned for his new wife

Man, its hard to do a "quick summary" without giving anything away on this one.

I have heard a lot of people talk about twists & turns & surprises in this book & I have to say, I enjoyed the little GASP worthy moments.

You really have to stay aware in this book because there is a lot of time jumping in this one, but its not really complicated.

& I have to say, the reason I didn't totally love this, I think I was expecting a little bit more 'crazy' with the husband character because I've read some MESSED UP husbands (Behind Closed Doors comes to mind) & in the end, I actually felt sorry for him.  Not that that excuses his behavior, but I just wasn't like "he's the worst ever" to make a woman mess up her own life after a divorce to do what she did.  Is she going to make it her life mission now to make sure he never marries again?

I do always love a book I can't put down & cant wait to read the next chapter though & this book totally did that for me.

Read if you like suspense & surprises.  Or if you enjoyed Gone Girl & that kind of mystery.  Steer clear if abusive situations bother you.

I was happy, I think, but I wonder now if my memory is playing tricks on me. If it is giving me the gift of an illusion.  We all layer them over our remembrances; the filters through which we want to see our lives.

Girl, Wash Your Face
***/3 Stars - Liked It


Quick Summary:  Chapter dedicated to the lies that are told to us or we believe as women & how we can overcome them.

So this is where audiobooks can make or break a book for me - I did this one in audio & it was read by Rachel herself & it just sort of came off as whiny or bragging & I just didnt 'feel it' when I hear a younger person sort of 'preaching' how good life can be when she's already married the man of her dreams & built a company up all by herself or ran all the marathons she has & how she lives a healthy lifestyle.  The audio part of it just rubbed me the wrong way.

I do think if I read it myself, in my own inflections & tone, it would have been a 4 or possibly 5 star rating.  Because I do think she has some valid points - & also, some not so valid points.  A lot of simple, no brainer points that, again, just irked me.  A lot of "write down your goals" - "Envision it" ala Vision board style ... one of the ones that irked me the most was when she says, "Burn more calories than you eat & you'll loose weight".... ummm... tell that to my menopause 46 year old body that is ever expanding with hormones.  Things like that just bothered me.

But I did laugh at points. I did find some motivation & inspiration in other areas.  So I did enjoy it.  I do think I would like to try & read it with my own eyes instead of listening to it to see if I come away with a different view.

This does seem to be the woman-motivational book everyone is talking about this summer so I'm probably not in the popular opinion on this one - but at least I didnt totally hate it.

Read if you enjoy some girl power motivation & if you like some simple reminders on how to look at life in a more positive way.

Your dream is worth fighting for, & while you're not in control of what life throws at you, you are in control of the fight.

Furiously Happy
*** / 3 Stars - Liked It

Quick Summary: Another bunch of stories & insight on life from Jenny Lawson - a blogger who shares honestly about her fight with mental illness, but ends up finding humorous ways to share her stories.

If you enjoy The Bloggess then you already know Jenny Lawson & her style of writing.

She's real, raw & REALLLY honest & REALLLLY funny too.

So I enjoy her books for that side of it - the honesty & humor.

But sometimes, some chapters, they are just a little bit too much for me.  They may drag on a little - or seem a little too "out there" for me & some just come across as rambling or too far off the rabbit trail.

But then the next chapter will have me laughing my head off & saying "YES - That's me!"

In the end, for me, its a mix that's worth the read of her books - & blog - because I'll always appreciate someone who isn't faking it for the sake of looking a certain way - Realness is special & I'm glad she opens up her world & her thoughts to us.

Read if you like Jenny's blog or if you appreciate humor, with a side of crude & if depression and mental illness is something you are struggling with & need to see that you can make it through.

I'm having one of those rare days where I love people & all of the amazing wonders they're capable of & if someone F's that up for me, I will stab them right in the face

Then She Was Gone
***(1/2) / Liked it a lot

Quick Summary: A young girl is missing & we see her story played out & what happened to her  through her abductors eyes & see how the after effects of that touches her mother's life.

This was really chilling to me & one of those books that makes you a little sick to your stomach & will stick with me for awhile.

I enjoyed that this story is told from different POV during different times of the years that Ellie is missing & in the end, we get the full story.

I did leave the book feeling a little frustrated about one of the characters &  feeling like he didnt get the ending I would have given him -  but I do appreciate that the original story had closure all around.

I really did enjoy this author & it was the first time I had read anything from her so I may have to check more from her out.

Read if you love a good suspense story or a mystery. Reminds me of The Lovely Bones - but better. TRIGGER: sexual abuse, child abuse, abduction.

If she could rewind the timeline, untwist it & roll it back the other way like a ball of wool, she'd see the knots in the yarn, the warning signs. Looking at it backward, it was obvious all along.

Still Lives
DNF

Quick Summary:  An artist opens up her latest big show in a museum gallery & she didnt make it to her event & the mystery is on to see what's happened to her.

... & I dont even CARE what happened to her.

OH MY GOSH. This book - it was so boring & just so strangely written.   It would be in one paragraph & then the next pharagraph, it was like a whole different situation or setting & no sense of change.  Just WEIRD!

I had gotten through 47% of the book & I still felt like I was forcing myself to read it & I was just so frustrated & aggravated after each chapter so I just said, I GIVE UP!

I just couldnt get into it - the characters, the story - all of it was just on my nerves. Maybe it was just me & my head wasn't in the game in this one - but yeah, not for me.

Sorry Reese! (It was Reese Witherspoon's pick of the month)

Read if ..... nah.... just dont.  If you like a mystery, check it out & tell me what happened.  & if you did read it & you enjoyed it, you can tell me what I missed.

----NOT EVEN GIVING A QUOTE BECAUSE I HATED IT THAT MUCH----

Year of No Sugar
* / 1 Star

Quick Summary: A woman tries to have her family go a year with no sugar

I'm not sure I get the point of the book. Spoiler alert - they did NOT indeed go a year of no sugar.
& what the book is telling us is basically, its IMPOSSIBLE to do. So there's that.
I did find some things interesting in the book - but most of the things I found interesting were facts she shared from other writers on the subject.

She never really mentioned anything about how it effected her family, except little snippets of her daughters journal, who basically felt tortured & hated every minute of it, but nothing about health & energy. I think she mentioned one time about the fact that they didnt loose any weight - that was the extent of her documenting their health. Oh, & that her kids missed less days at school by a few days. M'kay.

& then she COMPLETELY 100000% lost me when she talked about an anniversary trip to Tanzania where they slit a goats throat & how she wished she could go back & do it again - because then, she was a pescetarian & now, she's a carnivore - & even drinking the blood mixed with milk (A local tradition) sounds interesting to her. EXCUSE ME? She also goes on to talk about why eating meat is a good thing & even goes as far as visiting a friend's farm to watch chickens being "processed" & even slits a chicken's neck herself. Needless to say, for me - after this chapter, I really didnt even care what else she had to say. This was a book on sugar, not about a switch from vegetarian to a carnivorous life style.

In the end - I'd tell everyone to skip it. You'll not really learn anything & you'll be very sick of hearing the word "Dextrose"

Read if .... you are really bored?  Want to hear about someone's life that takes on a challenge & how they handle it?  Dont read if you want to really know about how taking out sugar for a year effects you.

“Unfortunately, our culture doesn’t seem to remember much about how you celebrate things without buying a bunch of unnecessary stuff and without consuming a bunch of unnecessary sugar.” 

Audacious
*** / Liked it

Quick Summary:  A boost in reminding us we are to live BOLDLY for Christ

If you enjoy Beth Moore, then you'll enjoy this book.  She just has a way of using every adjective there is to describe things.

This book is just a good source of encouragement to remind us that we should only be caring about what our Lord thinks of us & doing everything we can to serve Him.

I actually did this one on audio & if you know Beth Moore, you know girlfriend can talk REALLLLY fast. There are some areas where it was so fast, I actually even missed what she said & have to jump back 30 seconds. I'm sure it would have taken me longer to read it with my own eyes & digest the words.  But I still got the gist of it & some of the stories & examples in the book left me sitting for a minute to inhale what I just heard.

This isn't a new thought or anything different than you've read before if you read any Christian leader books - but its always good to get a grounding under you & a lift to you soul.

Read if you like Beth Moore studies, or if you need some encouragement & new energy on serving God.

Nobody is left wanting more than the one who did only what he wanted.

So what is the best book you've read this month?