Book Reviews Archives - Page 4 of 7 - LUXE LIFE // SMALL BUDGET

What I Read: May 2022

June 1, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

I’m beginning to feel like I say this every month, but May had a good mix of books! Romance, running, & self-improvement.

I managed to squeeze in 7 books (though to be fair one was a novella and two of the others I started in previous months, but finally finished):

– Mother Dear by Nova Lee Maier
– Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood
– The Soil Will Save Us by Kristin Ohlson
– Mastery by Robert Greene
– The Willpower Instinct by Kelly
McGonigal
– The Other Man by Farhad H. Dadyburjor
– 80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I read: April 2022

May 1, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

April was another 7 book month for me!

I read a nice mix of fiction and non-fiction covering everything from romance to octopuses to Japanese culture.

The list includes:
– Crooked House by Agatha Christie
– The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
– Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
– In A New York Minute by Kate Spencer
– The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
– Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
– The Book of Ichigo Ichie by Héctor Garcia & Francesc Miralles

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I read: March 2022

March 28, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

After the slow month of reading in February, March was just the opposite! I read 7 books last month and all but one were fiction:

-Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
-Old in Art School by Nell Irvin Painter
-The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
-The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
-The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
-Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski
-The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

I listened to three of these as audiobooks, which I don’t usually do for fiction, but I was impressed by how good all the voice actors are! I may need to listen to more fiction going forward.

Let’s dive into those reviews.

What I read: February 2022

March 2, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 2 comments

It was a quieter month of reading for me.

I took a break from audiobooks after listening to Dr. Michael Greger’s How Not to Diet for nearly 24 hours and instead focused solely on Kindle books thanks to the Overdrive App and my local library.

Even with only four books last month, I still had quite a mix including self-help, a serial killer thriller, and one of the most unique books I’ve read:
-A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
-Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
-Discover Your Dharma by Sahara Rose
-The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I read: January 2022

February 1, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

After the extremely slow month of December, I feel my reading is off to a strong start in 2022!

I read 7 books this month, though to be fair, two were very short (like read in one sitting kind of short):

-Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
-Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
-For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing
-This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley
-Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
-How Not To Diet by Michael Greger, M.D., FACLM
-Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

As you can see, genres ranged from fantasy to psychological thriller to health & nutrition.

Let’s get into those reviews!

Year in Review: A Breakdown of My 2021 Reads

January 5, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

I’m having a hard time believing it, but my book journal is telling me it’s true- I read 72 books in 2021!!

While I don’t view reading as a competition, I was excited to see that I read more books in 2021 than in 2020: 72 books vs. 65 books. This was especially surprising after my sloooww month of reading in December.

This is my second year of actively tracking my reading, so it’s exciting to be able to compare the numbers and reflect on my favorite books of the year. Hopefully, you enjoy them too!

What I Read: December 2021

December 30, 2021 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 2 comments

Between the holidays, traveling, birthdays, and more, this month has been absolutely hectic- though mostly in a good way! I hope you’ve been staying safe amid Omicron and enjoying this time with loved ones.

That said, this all has led to a slooowww month of reading for me with only two books making the list this month:
-Before and After the Book Deal
-Creative Calling

Let’s get into the reviews!

What I read: November 2021

December 7, 2021 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

This time of year is always so hectic- mostly in a good way though! The holiday season has arrived and so have parties, trips, family time, and more. This also meant a slower month of reading, but I did still manage to squeeze in five books.

It was definitely a fiction kind of month with a mix of romance, horror, and fantasy:

-The Shining
-Blood of Elves
-Chasing the Boogeyman
-Dial A for Aunties
-I Let You Go

Let’s get into those reviews!

What I Read: October 2021

November 3, 2021 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 2 comments

After the whirlwind of reading in September, my pace slowed down a bit this month. (Probably because I took a break from audiobooks after discovering Morbid: A True Crime podcast) That said, I still managed to squeeze in 6 books covering everything from personal finance to YA fantasy.

Here’s the full list:
-Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
-I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
-Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
-Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
-Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah
-Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Let’s dive into the reviews!

What I read: September 2021

October 3, 2021 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

September proved to be a BIG month of reading for me! Though, to be fair, a few of the books I technically started in August.

From fantasy to science fiction to extreme athletes, my book choices were all over the place this month.

Here’s the list:
-Deep Work by Cal Newport
-Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
-Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
-Verity by Colleen Hoover
-Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
-Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor
-Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller
-The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig
-Finding Ultra by Rich Roll
-Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight

Let’s get into those reviews!