Book Reviews Archives - LUXE LIFE // SMALL BUDGET

What I Read: September & October 2024

October 29, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

Does anyone else feel like life is non-stop lately?

Both September and October have been an absolute whirlwind and with the holidays fast approaching, I’m not sure I’ll have time to catch my breath. But that’s clearly not stopping me from picking up a book…

I read 12 books over the course of September and October:
-The Other Woman by Sandie Jones
-The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
-Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
-The Housemaid Is Watching by Freida McFadden
-The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen
-The Spite House by Johnny Compton
-The Butcher Game by Alaina Urquhart
-Bride by Ali Hazelwood
-Nobody Wants Your Sh*t by Messie Condo
-Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White
-The Unraveling by Vi Keeland
-The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

As you can see, fiction has my attention lately, and I’ve been continuing quite a few series.

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I Read: August 2024

September 8, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

I’m resisting the urge to start this post off with lyrics from Taylor Swift’s ‘August’, but I do feel like this month really slipped away.

On one hand, I’m sad that the summer vibes are ending, but on the other, I can’t wait for fall. (Yes, I have already pulled out my Halloween decorations and have been burning the fall candles!)

Despite how fast the month seemed to go, I did get in quite a bit of reading:
-Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell
-The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner
-Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
-In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
-Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
-The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
-The Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden
-Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
-The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I Read: July 2024

August 6, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

I’m not sure when it happened or exactly how it happened, but July proved to be a big month of reading for me! Maybe, it was all the time sitting in airports this month?

I read 10 books (somehow!) and it was quite a mix of titles:
-Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter
-Red Rising by Pierce Brown
-The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
-The Twilight Wife by A.J. Banner
-Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand
-The One-Minute Workout by Martin Gibala
-Strega by Johanne Lykke Holm
-Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
-My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
-Tactical Barbell II: Conditioning by K. Black

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I Read: June 2024

July 6, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

Vacations are funny.

The days are long. The week is short. It makes time slow down and speed up. As I look at my list of June reads, some of these books feel like I read them a lifetime ago. So much has happened since then. But at the same time, everything is the same. I’ll stop rambling now…

Overall, June proved to be a solid month of reading. I’m definitely on a thriller/mystery/suspense kick:
-Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose
-Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena
-Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea
-The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
-One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
-The Coworker by Freida McFadden
-The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I Read: May 2024

June 6, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

I know it’s not technically summer, but it might as well be. It’s hot. It’s humid. And I find myself craving beach reads and summer camp thrillers.

While I got started on that trend later in the month, this month’s reads actually started rather heavy with fascinating (but disturbing and horrifying!) books on climate change and nuclear war.

This month’s reads included:
-You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen
-Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
-The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodell
-Choosing Theo by Victoria Aveline
-The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
-Never Lie by Freida McFadden

Now for the reviews!

What I Read: April 2024

May 10, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

This was an odd month of reading for me!

My picks were a bit all over the place: Thriller, fantasy, historical fantasy, magical realism, literary fiction and non-fiction:
– Red Island House by Andrea Lee
– The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest
– The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
– Nightmare Fuel by Nina Nesseth
– The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
– Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
– To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang

I enjoy shaking things up from time to time, but I am definitely getting the urge to return to ‘romantasy’ (romantic fantasy) or picking up a beach read from Elin Hilderbrand now that temperatures are really heating up.

But first, let’s get into the reviews!

What I Read: March 2024

April 13, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

I’m not sure when it happened, but with my reading I’ve seemed to have made the switch from “romantasy” (romance fantasy) back to thrillers again. I’ve always loved a good mystery and appreciate a well-thought out twist, so it’s not the most surprising trend!

March’s reads included four thriller/psychological suspense novels (some of which were SUPER disturbing) and two non-fiction picks:

-The Maid’s Diary by Loreth Anne White
-Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
-The Brain’s Way of Healing by Norman Doidge, MD
-Dear Child by Romy Hausmann
-Raise Your Game by Alan Stein, Jr.
-The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I Read: February 2024

March 4, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

I can’t believe how quickly February came and went. It’s like I blinked and now we are multiple days into March! I’m definitely in one of those phases were the days seem long, but the weeks go quickly.

Despite a lot going on, I was able to fit in quite a bit of reading, finishing up 8 books in February:
– Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
– Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
– Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
– The Wicked King by Holly Black
– The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
– A Friend in the Dark by Samantha Bailey
– The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
– One Person, Multiple Careers by Marci
Alboher

As you can see the choices are a bit all over the place. Let’s get into the reviews!

What I Read: January 2024

February 4, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

Are we a full month into 2024? Yes.

Did I still type 2023 when writing this post? Also, yes.

I hope everyone’s 2024 is off to a good start. Mine’s certainly off to a busy start. Between changes at work, changes outside of work, my car needing an oil change, my yearly doctor’s appointment, etc., I’m in a survival state. You know those periods in your life where you’re just hanging on and hoping it’ll pass? That’s where I’m at.

But that didn’t stop me from escaping into books with this month’s read included an interesting mix of fantasy, sci-fi, and non-fiction:
– The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
– Running with Purpose by Jim Weber
– Fear the Flames by Olivia Rose Darling
– The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallway
– Kill Show: A True Crime Novel by Daniel Sweren-Becker
– All Systems Red by Martha Wells
– Artificial Conditions by Martha Wells
– Fate Calls the Elf Queen by J.M. Kearl

YEAR IN REVIEW: A Breakdown of My 2023 Reads

January 6, 2024 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

I’ve been looking forward to writing this post!

It’s like a “Spotify Wrapped”, but for the books I read. I’m a bit of a nerd and love diving into all of the numbers. How many books did I read? What genres did I choose? What were my favorites?

According to my book journal, I read 79 books in 2023!! That’s an all-time record for me.

Let’s take a look at the breakdown and my top 10 picks from the year!