book review

I read some really great books this month! Joining the book challenge and the book club has me really focused. If you click the title of the book, it will take you to Goodreads where you can add the book to your list and see what it is about.

Now as I do my happy dance because I love discussing books…

The Martian by Andy Weir

Words cannot describe my love for this book. And trust me, I was super skeptical when I read about what this book was about. I even saw others write about how the math and science talk was a little  hard to get through but they still loved it and I thought…no….there is no way this is for me. But Kristen recommended the audio book to me and I trust her tastes dearly. I became obsessed with the story. So much so that I made Laura start listening to it, and I even told two of my co-workers that they had to listen to it too. This is hands down the best book I have read this  year.

The first line will hook you right in.

Bottom Line – Listen to this immediately!

Rescue Road by Peter Zheutlin

Sometimes I wonder if there is any humanity left in this world, and then I read a book like Rescue Road.  I love dogs and want to save them all. Talk about pulling at my heart strings. This book follows a man who drives a rescue trailer from Ohio, down south to gather dogs from shelters and rescues and brings them back up north to be adopted. You get to hear about his story, along with three rescue groups who are doing amazing things. You wouldn’t believe the amount of people who touch the life of a dog before they find their forever home. All the nameless angels. It really is amazing.

My favorite quote from this book is “As the miles melt away so do a lifetime of bad memories” – Greg Mahle

Bottom Line – I cried, I smiled, and then I cried some more. If you are an animal lover in the least bit, this book is for you.

I  received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

This is the book club book. It was an easy, but enjoyable YA read. I loved the story line and most of the characters. I also loved that the characters in this book grow as time goes on.  I felt like Sydney’s guilt and loneliness were well executed throughout this book.

Some of the things that I didn’t like? I felt like there were several plot lines that didn’t really go anywhere or were abandoned.  The Mariposa girl that was flirting with Mac. The whole creepy thing with Ames could have been worked out more. I wanted more from the carrousel that is on the front cover of the book. And Sydney’s obsession with David Ibarra. I was left wanting a little more, especially with the David plot line.

One of my favorite quotes in this book was “The future is one thing that could never be broken.”

Bottom Line – This was a great read. Nothing mind blowing, but I am glad I got the chance to read it and would recommend it.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

I did this one via audiobook.  Tina is hilarious and I really liked this book. The combination of sarcasm, humor, stories, and real life lessons was enjoyable.

Some of my favorite life lessons from the book include how improv is a lot like real life, how parents should want to instill the gift of fear and anxiety in their children for discipline purposes, to wear what the fashion designers are wearing…not what they tell you to wear. And for woman in the work place, if someone is giving you a hard time, ask yourself “Is this person in between me and what I want to do? If not, ignore them.”

Bottom Line – If you like Tina Fey, SNL, or memoirs in general, then this book is for you! I recommend audiobook for books like this, but to each their own.

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

To be honest, I had no clue what this book was going to be about. I remember seeing a few bloggers reviewing it and they always rated it really high, so I figured why not?! Basically, this book is just as the title says, it is snippets of AJ Fikry’s life. Fikry owns a bookstore and he is a bit of an eccentric guy who is living a depressing life after loosing his wife. One day his life changes when something is left behind for him. Now he has the will to want to be happy.

Favorite quotes and take aways from this book would be:

You learn everything about a person with the question – what is your favorite book?

Most people’s problems would be solved if they would only give more things a chance.

Things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the things we respond to at forty and vice versa.

Bottom Line – Absolutely read this book! I loved it!

Other books I read which I reviewed separately:

Rooted in Design

Bittersweet

I am currently reading The Closer You Come by Gina Showalter and will have a review for it up soon. Have you read any good books lately? What are you reading now?

First, let me enlighten you on what Bittersweet is about…

From Penguin Random House:

Suspenseful and cinematic, Bittersweet exposes the gothic underbelly of an idyllic world of privilege and an outsider’s hunger to belong.
   On scholarship at a prestigious East Coast college, ordinary Mabel Dagmar is surprised to befriend her roommate, the beautiful, wild, blue-blooded Genevra Winslow. Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer at Bittersweet, her cottage on the Vermont estate where her family has been holding court for more than a century; it’s the kind of place where children twirl sparklers across the lawn during cocktail hour. Mabel falls in love with midnight skinny-dipping, the wet dog smell that lingers near the yachts, and the moneyed laughter that carries across the still lake while fireworks burst overhead. Before she knows it, she has everything she’s ever wanted:  friendship, a boyfriend, access to wealth, and, most of all, for the first time in her life, the sense that she belongs.
   But as Mabel becomes an insider, a terrible discovery leads to shocking violence and reveals what the Winslows may have done to keep their power intact – and what they might do to anyone who threatens them. Mabel must choose: either expose the ugliness surrounding her and face expulsion from paradise, or keep the family’s dark secrets and make Ev’s world her own.

My Thoughts:

Bittersweet was an interesting read. This has to be one of the first books that I read that I didn’t really care for the main character the whole way through. Mable Dagmar is your classic poor girl taken under the wing of her rich roommate (Ev) for a summer at Winloch. Winloch is the lake cottages that Genevra’s (Ev) family owns. Each cabin is named after a plant, Bittersweet belonging to Ev.

The author really provides a lot of details about everything, some of which could probably be left out to cut down on the books 381 pages. Each of the character’s names is different, a feeling of another era or the old money that comes with the Winslow family. Athol, Galloway, Lu, Tilde, Birch, Indo, etc. I did enjoy that the names were different.

But let’s get back to Mabel, shall we? I didn’t realize it until I was about half way though the book, but this girl is selfish. Everything that happens in the book, she always wonders how it affects  her. What about the people it is happening to? Let me see if I can give some examples without giving away too much. In the beginning, Mabel wonders how the house inspection will go and whether or not she will get to stay at Winloch or have to go to her aunt’s for the summer. Innocent enough. But then, Ev has a certain condition, Mabel instantly gets upset about what will happen to her now.  She worries about how others’ troubles will change things for her. There was even a line about how the tree tops rubbed against each other making a creepy sound as if they were telling secrets…ABOUT HER. Maybe it is just her being a teenager.

There are so many twists and turns in the book and you learn lots of Winslow family politics. So many secrets, lies, betrayals. So this isn’t a light, fluffy book. I liked the change up from my norm. It was really quite an interesting read. The theme of the book would be dangerous desire.

Bottom Line: I enjoyed reading this book. I was looking for something that I might not normally grab for, and this delivered. With all the twists and turns in the book, it kept me interested the entire way through. Though the main character wasn’t always likeable for me, I certainly empathized with her and enjoyed how the book ended.

You can read about the author, Miranda Beverly-Whittemore here.

I received Bittersweet from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review. All my opinions are of my own.

Promises to Keep by Jane Green

Jane Green books are usually light, easy reads. I thoroughly enjoyed Beach House, and was excited to find Promises to Keep at the thrift store. If you aren’t checking thrift stores for books, I don’t really know what you are doing for your life?? I paid $0.49 for this one!!! Ummm bargain, much?

From Goodreads

Callie Perry lights up every room she enters, and adores her settled family life in tiny Bedford, New York. Steffi is Callie’s younger sister. At thirty, she’s still a free spirit bouncing between jobs and boyfriends in Manhattan. Their long-divorced parents, Walter and Honor, share little besides their grown daughters. But when Callie receives a difficult diagnosis, the family will come together for one unforgettable and ultimately life-changing year.

This was an easy read with lovable characters and a great story line. I really liked the details of the homes that are provided. While there was some difficult topics discussed in the book, I didn’t find myself sobbing like a baby as I do with some books. Which is good, as I wasn’t really looking for a tear jerk-er or anything like that. While the book is not a recollection of Jane Green’s life, it is dedicated to her sister and that made me enjoy it even more. I feel like the sister roles and bond between Callie and Steffi are very relate-able to most people with a sister.

Bottom Line: I really enjoyed this book, but maybe not as much as The Beach House. I recommend it if you like Jane Green books, stories with lovable characters or are looking for an easy read.

Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse

This was another thrift store find! The book was described as the London version of Gone Girl. I have never read Gone Girl, so I cannot attest to that.

From Goodreads

Hannah, independent, headstrong, and determined not to follow in the footsteps of her bitterly divorced mother, has always avoided commitment. But one hot New York summer she meets Mark Reilly, a fellow Brit, and is swept up in a love affair that changes all her ideas about what marriage might mean.

Now, living in their elegant, expensive London townhouse and adored by her fantastically successful husband, she knows she was right to let down her guard. 

But when Mark does not return from a business trip to the U.S. and when the hours of waiting for him stretch into days, the foundations of Hannah’s certainty begin to crack. Why do Mark’s colleagues believe he has gone to Paris not America? Why is there no record of him at his hotel? And who is the mysterious woman who has been telephoning him over the last few weeks? 

Hannah begins to dig into her husband’s life, uncovering revelations that throw into doubt everything she has ever believed about him. As her investigation leads her away from their fairytale romance into a place of violence and fear she must decide whether the secrets Mark has been keeping are designed to protect him or protect her . . .

This book was a little slow going at the very beginning. I feel like maybe the characters aren’t super developed or complex. Once I got in to the juicy part, it started to pick up for me. The last 100 pages were impossible to put down, I had to know what was going to happen. I wont give away any spoilers, but I will say that this book sure does make you think. It makes you think how well do you really know anyone? What would you do if you realized your spouse was hiding a huge secret from you?

Bottom Line: I am glad I read this book and I did enjoy it. If you are looking for a bit of a thrill without being crazy or scary, then this is probably for you.

Yes, Please! by Amy Poehler

I listened to this book through Audible. It was my first audiobook, and as someone who was a skeptical about  listening to a book…this was a great place to start. Amy herself is the reader of the book. She is so hilarious and had me roped in just after a few sentences. I felt like Amy was a friend in my car telling me stories on my way to work.

From Goodreads

In Amy Poehler’s highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy’s charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book is full of words to live by.

I really enjoyed this book. It gave little snippets of Amy’s life, both on and off camera. There were a lot of little life lessons thrown in too. I laughed out loud several times throughout the entire reading, which is a huge plus in my book. Some of my favorite quotes from the book is when Amy was talking about pregnancy and parenting and she said “Good for her, not for me.” I think that it is great to share your experiences and stuff with people, but the rude opinions and all the unsolicited advice that surrounds those topics can be summed up in her words!

She also said that instead of asking a twenty something what they want to do, why don’t we ask them what they don’t or won’t do instead. We spend so much of our twenties pondering this question, and did really anyone know exactly what they wanted? Doubtful!!!

She said that we gain super hero powers as we get older and are able to see through people. That is some serious truth right there!!! And in the last chapter she talks about how her cell phone is trying to kill her, and she is spot on! Basically this book makes me want Amy as my bff!

Bottom Line: You should absolutely read this book. Listening is even better!

Have you read any of these books? What are you reading? Right now I am reading Bittersweet. I will have a review of it up soon.

Linking up with Steph and Jana.

A few weeks ago I posted about how I am no longer making excuses. A big inspiration for my revelation is from receiving the book The No More Excuses Diet by Maria Kang. I am sure you have heard of her, right? The inspirational picture of her with her three boys went viral last year!

Before you roll your eyes and close out of this post thinking you have no desire to read about a fitness book…hear me out. This is more than a fitness book, it is a lifestyle book. Maria shares her story about how she struggled with her weight and how hard she worked to get where she is all while balancing real life. Her approach isn’t mind blowing, but sometimes you need to hear what you already know. She sets up a program and a three step cycle of nutrition and fitness that you can follow for the rest of your life. I hate that the word “diet” is in the title, because it is so much more than a “diet.”

The program includes three phases that you can repeat over and over in achieving your goals. The phases are SPEED, STRIVE and SCORE. The book includes illustrated work out pictures, several different charts and a real plan to achieve any goal…whether it is losing weight, running a 5K, etc. I appreciate Maria’s fresh approach to the whole topic. She has lots of great tips and encourages you every step of the way without filling your head with useless fluff.

My favorite section of the book is chapter 7. It talks about 80% of your efforts, food. She breaks down a macro-nutrients plan explaining why you should be getting a certain amount of protein/carbs/fat. She puts portions in terms you can understand and suggests some ideal daily meal plans.

I highly suggest this book if you are looking for motivation to make a change in your life.

You can read more about the book and author here.

Disclosure: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. All opinions are my own.

I am linking up with Stephanie and Jana for the Show Us Your Books link up! Read any good books lately?