So many books, so little time! But what else is new, right? December is turning out to be just a busy as I knew it would be, but that hasn’t stopped me from sneaking in some reading time when I can. The result is that I have a ton of great books to share with you today!
I’m trying to finish out the reading year strong, and one of the ways I’m doing that is by attempting to make a dent in my unread shelf over the next few weeks. Generally I try to mix it up and read a good mix of physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks, but this resolution has me leaning a little more towards physical books than normal. Usually the majority of the books on my monthly list are borrowed from the library in one format or another, and this month five of the books are actual physical copies that I own and have sitting on my shelf. It’s very gratifying to see the stack diminishing, if only a little at a time. One day maybe my shelf will be empty! Actually, I hope not because then I’d probably panic about not having more books to read.
It’s a catch-22 situation that I’m not really that sad about.
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Just Finished:
I just posted a full review of this one last week, so I won’t use up a lot of words on it, but I will say I finished this one in less than 24 hours! It was sweet, fun, and highly readable.
Juliana is a highly skilled scientist who is great at mixing solutions and using them to get information. This provides her with a highly lucrative career, until the agency she works for decides she is a liability that must be removed. After three years on the run, she finds herself agreeing to do one more job for them. Little does she know, her target and assignment are far from what she thinks they are.
This book came to me in an unusual fashion — my husband picked it out! He’s not much of a fiction reader, so when he told me he had borrowed The Chemist to listen to on audio, I promptly looked it up and borrowed an ebook version so we could do a buddy read. We both really enjoyed it. It was fast-paced with lots of cool fight scenes and interesting characters and character dynamics. I was surprised by a couple of plot twists and I’m glad we read this one together so I could talk about it!
Lucy is in dire straights when she loses the job she needs to provide for herself and younger siblings, until an old family friend proposes that the answer to her problem is to marry his son by proxy. She reluctantly agrees and travels to the ranch to meet her husband Nate. Shocked and appalled by his father’s actions, Nate is initially resistant to Lucy, but quickly warms to her.
Colleen Coble is usually one of my favorite authors, but I have to be honest — this wasn’t one of my favorites of hers. I felt the writing was a bit disjointed, mostly in terms of dialogue, but I will say that I did enjoy the plot. There was plenty of action to keep things moving and a couple of twists I didn’t see coming. I’m planning to read it’s sequel, Safe In His Arms, soon since I already have it on my shelf.
In Progress:
I actually started this book way back at the beginning of November, but it’s still on my list because I got off to a very slow start. At first I thought this book was BOR-ING. I almost quit, but I decided to give it a little bit longer, and I’m happy to say I have made it to chapter five and things seem to be picking up a bit. The subject matter (the two parts of thinking, intuitive and effortful, and how they function in our daily lives) is interesting. I just think it could be presented in a more engaging fashion. I’m persevering because it has great ratings and I want to see what all the fuss is about.
The first time I read a Laura Frantz book I was like, “What even is this?” But I gave her another chance a couple of years ago and I’m glad I did because she writes interesting, compelling historical accounts of early settlers. Courting Morrow Little had been on my TBR for a while and when my husband’s grandmother offered me her copy I leapt at the chance to read it. I’m about a third of the way in and enjoying it so far. I think I know which man she will choose, but I can’t wait to read how to comes to her decision.
Any book that Malcolm Gladwell recommends deserves at least a cursory examination to see if it looks like something I should read. I just started 12 Rules for Life so I don’t have a concrete opinion yet, but a man who says one of his life rules is to always pet any cat he meets definitely sparks my interest. I’m already thinking about what my own life rules should be. Number one will likely be some version of ‘Never turn down dessert’.
There’s hardly a bookstagrammer or reading podcaster who hasn’t mentioned this book, so when I was on the hunt for a new audiobook I snagged the The Mother-In-Law. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it’s not quite what I thought it was. At 15%, there’s still a lot that can happen, and I think I’m going to enjoy this book. Which is great, because I hate when a book doesn’t live up to the hype.
Up Next:
This is the sequel to Blue Room Promise, which I mentioned a moment ago. It’s actually the reason I picked up the other one. I’m one of those people who prefer to start at the beginning of a series when possible, so when I picked up Safe In His Arms as the library book sale this summer I was well aware that I would probably have to read the first one before I could enjoy this one, but that’s ok. I’m excited to keep reading about the community I was introduced to in Blue Moon Promise and see Margaret O’Brien’s love story unfold, since she didn’t get her man in the first book.
This book is the perfect example of a book that I need to read and get off my TBR shelf. I purchased it at the library book sale from last year, and every time I see it I think about how much I want to read it. Jen Turansky’s stories are a lot of fun. Her heroines are heart-warming and genuine, but prone to unfortunate adventures. I can’t wait to read A Most Peculiar Circumstance and be delighted and entertained. It is the second in a series though, so I might have to break my rule about not reading them in order if I want to get this one read by the end of the year.
Want even more book recommendations to peruse? Check out Modern Mrs. Darcy’s quick lit link-up, and make sure you scroll down to the comments section!
The Mother in Law was a way different book than I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it!
Me too! I wasn’t expecting it to take the turns it has. I’m about halfway through now and I’m totally hooked.
The Chemist looks really good! I’ll have to pin this for later!
I loved it, so I hope you get to read it for yourself soon!
I need to check this “The Mother in Law” out! It sounds like a good book!
It is good, and I highly recommend it on audio! It set in Australia and the narrator has such a cool accent.
So easy to fly through books during winter season!
For sure! Cold weather is great for reading.
Need to check out Lake Season now, sounds like a good read! Thanks for sharing, will have to add a few of these to my reading list!
Kileen
cute & little
Always happy to add to someone’s reading list 🙂
Thinking Fast and Slow sounds interesting! I have not heard about intuitive vs effortful thinking and am curious!
My November reads are linked in my name if interested!
It’s got great reviews. I’m not sure why I’m struggling with it so much since it really is interesting. Thanks for reading!