2 Book Lovers Reviews
It's vacation time! I am
looking forward to sun,
fun, and sitting poolside
with a refreshing beverage
in one hand and a book
in the other! If you're
looking for some book
recommendations for your
own getaway, this post
is for you!
me feeling a whole gamut of emotions. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
I adored Poppy and Alex. From their first introduction during orientation week at university to their shared car ride back to their hometown, this duo was an unlikely pairing, but they were simply magic together. Poppy is a colorful character who craves adventure. She is spontaneous, lively, and outspoken. Alex is strait-laced, responsible, and feels tethered to his hometown. They may have been opposites, but they complemented each other. I loved them right from the start.
My Favorite Reads of 2021 (So Far)!
We're only halfway through 2021, but I've already read some wonderful books that will definitely be making my list of favorites for the year. These books really made an impression on me. They are the ones that I couldn't put down, that I was thinking about even when I wasn't reading them, and that I dreaded to see come to an end. Some of them may not have been released in 2021, but if I read them this year, they counted.
1 - Just Last Night - By Mhairi McFarlane
If humor is what you’re in search of, then you will get your share, but this novel is so much more than a good laugh here and there. The characters are complex and well developed. The story is deep and emotional. There was an intimacy that I felt while reading it. I felt as though I knew this group of friends. I could have easily seen myself out at trivia night with them, sharing some laughs, and a pint or two of ale.
2 - People We Meet on Vacation - By Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation is a well-rounded reading experience. It is filled with humor and witty banter that had me laughing out loud. It has great romantic tension that kept the butterflies fluttering in my stomach. It has all of the emotion, heart, and chemistry that I crave from a book in this genre. I could go on and on about all of the things that I loved about this novel, but just do yourself a favor and read this book and experience it all for yourself. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
3 - Close Enough to Touch - By Colleen Oakley
Have you ever read a book that you didn’t want to put down, but you knew that if you kept reading it, it would be over sooner, and you didn’t want it to end? That’s how I felt with Close Enough to Touch. When I wasn’t reading it, all I did was think about the story and the characters and wish that I was curled up somewhere reading it. I kept eyeing my Kindle, checking to see how much time I had left in the book. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the characters. I could have easily read another three hundred or so pages. Yes, it was that good!
4 - Love and Other Words - By Christina Lauren
This is a friends-to-lovers story unlike any other. It’s also so much more than that. It deals with loss, grief, moving forward and, of course, first loves. This writing duo is renowned for making me laugh out loud with their hilarious banter and romantic romps, but this book is deeper, and proves that they can write the heck out of anything.
5 - Songs in Ursa Major - By Emma Brodie
Songs in Ursa Major is a beautiful, atmospheric, nostalgic story that transported me to the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. I love novels about music, and this book only solidified this love.
6 - Life's Too Short - By Abby Jimenez
Reading a book by Abby Jimenez always brings a smile to my face. I wasn’t very far into this novel before I was laughing out loud and sharing passages with my husband. I also wasn’t very many pages along before I knew that this book was going to be a winner, although I never had any doubts. Having read her previous books, I knew that I was in for a witty, romantic romp that would entertain me from start to finish, but in all honesty, I think that this book is my favorite of hers.
7 - Well Met - By Jen DeLuca
In my opinion, there is nothing better than a slow-burn romance, and Jen DeLuca perfected it. She took her time to develop the characters and their story. She never rushed anything along, thus allowing her readers the time to get to know them. She made me wait, filled me with anticipation and all of the butterflies that go along with it. I wasn’t in a hurry for the romance to happen. I was more than content to simply luxuriate in the slow dance that was taking place between Emily and Simon, and happily waiting for them to finally succumb to what was building. And let me just say that it was so worth the wait.
8 - The People We Keep - By Allison Larkin - This book is releasing on August 3rd, 2021. My review will be posted for that date, but I had to include this beautiful, heartbreaking, unforgettable story. You will definitely want this one on your TBR lists.
My Vacation Reading List!
As a lover of lists (yes, I have a list for practically everything), my reading lists are always my favorite ones to compile. I've been combing through my TBR list and trying to find the right ones to add to my vacation reading list. Of course, as a reader who selects books according to her mood, these books are always subject to change, but these ones are definitely sitting at the top of my list.
1 - The Last Goodbye - By Fiona Lucas - This one has the potential to break my heart...Bring it on!
Spencer was the love of Anna’s life: her husband, her best friend, her rock. She thought their love would last forever.
But three years ago, Spencer was tragically killed in an accident and Anna’s world was shattered. How can she ever move on, when she’s lost her soulmate?
On New Year’s Eve Anna calls Spencer’s phone number, just to hear his old voicemail greeting. But to her shock, someone answers…
Brody has inherited Spencer’s old number and is the first person who truly understands what Anna’s going through. As her and Brody’s phone calls become lengthier and more frequent, they begin opening up to each other—and slowly rediscover how to smile, how to laugh, even how to hope.
But Brody hasn’t been entirely honest with Anna. Will his secret threaten everything, just as it seems she might find the courage to love again?
2 - The Soulmate Equation - By Christina Lauren - I can't go wrong with this writing duo!
Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents--who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno--Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father's never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn't "father material" before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard...and lonely.
But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that's predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands. At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98% compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly's founder, Dr. River Pena. This is one number she can't wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Pena. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we'll pay you. Jess--who is barely making ends meet--is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the "Diamond" pairing that could make GeneticAlly a mint in stock prices, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist--and the science behind a soulmate--than she thought.
3 - Before I Saw You - By Emily Houghton - For fans of Close Enough to Touch and Me Before You? Yes, please! Go ahead, put my heart through the wringer.
Alice Gunnersley and Alfie Mack sleep just a few feet apart from one another. They talk for hours every day. And they’ve never seen each other face-to-face.
After being in terrible accidents, the two now share the same ward as long-term residents of St. Francis’s Hospital. Although they don’t get off to the best start, the close quarters (and Alfie’s persistence to befriend everyone he meets) brings them closer together. Pretty soon no one can make Alice laugh as hard as Alfie does, and Alfie feels like he’s finally found a true confidante in Alice. Between their late night talks and inside jokes, something more than friendship begins to slowly blossom between them.
But as their conditions improve and the end of their stay draws closer, Alfie and Alice are forced to decide whether it’s worth continuing a relationship with someone who’s seen all of the worst parts of you, but never seen your actual face.
4 - The Last Letter from Your Lover - By Jojo Moyes - This book was just made into a movie for Netflix.
It is 1960. When Jennifer Stirling wakes up in the hospital, she can remember nothing-not the tragic car accident that put her there, not her husband, not even who she is. She feels like a stranger in her own life until she stumbles upon an impassioned letter, signed simply "B", asking her to leave her husband.
Years later, in 2003, a journalist named Ellie discovers the same enigmatic letter in a forgotten file in her newspaper's archives. She becomes obsessed by the story and hopeful that it can resurrect her faltering career. Perhaps if these lovers had a happy ending she will find one to her own complicated love life, too. Ellie's search will rewrite history and help her see the truth about her own modern romance.
Happy Reading!
Vacation Reading!
Summer Vacation-2021
Summer Vacation-2021
New Release!
Come With Me really pulled me in right from the start. It is written like nothing I’ve ever read before, Malfi has once again amazed me with one of his stories. Come With Me goes places that the reader just cannot see coming.
The premise of the story is one that no one wants to experience. The spouse of our protagonist is killed (the how and why – well, you’ll have to read the story for that shocker)...
Vacation Reading!
My 2021 Summer Reading Suggestions
Hollow Kingdom - By Kira Jane Buxton
Hollow Kingdom is so much more than just another twist on the apocalypse. It is one of the smartest books, with some of the most compelling characters that I have ever read.
*See my full review.
Project Hail Mary - By Andy Weir
Project Hail Mary is certainly not a comedy, yet scene after scene contained fabulous sarcasm and humorous situations. Andy Weir made me feel the full gamut of emotions.
*See my full review.
Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined - By Stephen Fry
This wasn’t a book about creating something new, a unique story unlike anything people have read before. Stephen Fry created nothing new. This was a book of presentation and Fry’s presentation of these well-known stories was immaculate.
*See my full review.
Nöthin’ But a Good Time - By Tom Beaujour & Richard Bienstock
Have you every listened to that Audible that made you think to yourself, man I wish that could have been twice as long and a musical? Well, Nöthin' But a Good Time is that book!
*See my full review.
Darling Rose Gold - By Stephanie Wrobel
Wrobel could not have created a more dysfunctional relationship. I could not pull myself away from the train wreck that was Rose Gold and Patty.
Week of July 12th, 2021
Book Review:
Ubik
By Philip K. Dick
I had a whole lot of fun with Ubik. It’s not very often that you get to read a book set in the future that is in our own past; how did the author think things would have been by then?
As I read Ubik I thought of my own childhood and the reruns of The Jetsons. Ubik and The Jetsons both date from the 1960s, technology was moving faster than people could imagine...
*See my full review...
Week of July 5th, 2021
Book Review:
Together We Will Go
By J. Michael Straczynski
New Release!
There is something about youth, a lack of perspective perhaps, but everything seems so much bigger and more important than it really is. Youth is a time for the disenfranchised, the disenchanted and the disheartened. To quote a line from one of my favorite movies, “Youth is wasted on the young!”
*See my full review...
Week of June 28th, 2021
Book Review:
The Hobbit
By J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit is one of those stories that has been around for so long that everyone assumes you know the story, it is out there in so many different forms, how could you not have: seen, read or heard this epic tale? Well, I can’t explain what kind of hobbit hole I’ve been living in, but this is my first go- round in any medium. I went with the Audible version, because, well, why not?
*See my full review...
Week of June 21st, 2021
Book Review:
Mythos
By Stephen Fry
I’m going through this series a little bass-ackwards: book 2, book 1 and I’ll continue from there. But it really doesn’t matter, because, well, it is not a real linear story and there really isn’t that much here that I haven’t heard before. In fact, most of Stephen Fry’s Great Mythology series is common knowledge.
*See my full review...
Week of June 14th, 2021
Book Review:
Julian
By Gore Vidal
When it comes to Roman fiction, I find that authors tend to go to that transition period when Rome went from being ruled by the Senate to the Emperor. This period is filled with great fodder for intrigue, drama, and characters that scream for attention (I’m talking to you, Caligula).
*See my full review...
Week of June 7th, 2021
Book Review:
The Library of the Dead
By T.L. Huchu
Sometimes for no particular reason I fail to connect with a book; The Library of the Dead and I had suffered this disconnect.
I’ve been trying to figure out what went wrong: it wasn’t poorly written; the premise was unique. I’m at a bit of a loss. I think in the end The Library of the Dead was a bit too young for this old man.
*See my full review...
Week of May 31st, 2021
Book Review:
Autumn: Dawn
By David Moody
*New Release!*
Autumn: Dawn is technically the seventh book in David Moody’s Autumn series; however, it runs parallel with book one, with a completely new cast of characters. Moody has created a fantastic world with the Autumn series, filled with so many different stories to tell.
What sets Autumn: Dawn apart from the other books in the series is that this one is set in the heart of London...
*See my full review...
Week of May 24th, 2021
Book Review:
Project Hail Mary
By Andy Weir
I am beginning to think that Andy Weir has a thing for people isolated in space. And you know what? I think that he just might be able to make a go of it with this schtick.
Project Hail Mary begins with the protagonist, Ryland Grace, waking up strapped into all sorts of machines, tubes, and whatnot, with two corpses on the beds surrounding him.
*See my full review...
Week of May 17th, 2021
Book Review:
The Other Emily
By Dean Koontz
There is something magical about Dean Koontz’s writing. The vocabulary he uses in his descriptions, the details he adds to his characters’ actions, just the way he tells his stories. The Other Emily only reinforced my opinion of Dean Koontz’s skill.
To anyone who's ever said that life is stranger than fiction, have you read The Other Emily?
*See my full review...
Week of May 3rd, 2021
Book Review:
The Girl Who Died
By Ragnar Jonasson
New Release!
Once in a while I like to immerse myself into a Nordic Noir, these stories have a much different feel from the old standby American mysteries. They are generally darker; the heroes more flawed, blurring the lines between the right and wrong side of the spectrum. The Icelandic novels are colder again, reflected in the isolation, short days and ruggedness of the land and people.
*See my full review...
Week of April 26th, 2021
Book Review:
Slaughterhouse-Five
By Kurt Vonnegut
Billed as one of the 100 best novels of all time, and with my fabulous experience with Galápagos, my expectations for Slaughterhouse-Five were set very high. Did the book meet my expectations? No. Was I disappointed? Again, no. So it goes.
Vonnegut had a way about him. He was, and still is, able to entertain, while at the same time making deep, thoughtful statements about humanity.
*See my full review...
Vacation Reading!
What he's reading!
What she's reading!