I can’t believe 2024 is already almost over. Yet, I find myself sitting here next to my Christmas tree and thinking about new year’s resolutions. I feel like this fall has been an absolute whirlwind and I’m not sure exactly why. Does anyone else feel this way or is this just a me thing? Regardless of this weird time warp that I’m in, I continued to pick up books and made it through some long ones! One was 608 pages…
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
How are we already in the last few weeks of 2023? It’s like it was January, I blinked, and now, suddenly, I’m thinking about New Year’s resolutions again.
November wasn’t my biggest month of reading in terms of number of books, but several of these books were thick! (I also put a big dent in another 800-page book that will probably be included in my December recap).
Here’s the list:
-The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
-Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
-Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
-Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
-Up To Speed by Christine Yu
-What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction by Alice McDermott
Oddly enough, I am maintaining my near-even split between non-fiction and fiction even though I consider myself largely a fiction reader.
Let’s get into the reviews!
I was on a roll with reading this month, finishing 9 books! I really leaned into fiction, reading only two non-fiction books:
-Hollow Heathens by Nicole Fiorina
-Rootbound by Tarah Dewitt
-Cat Tale by Craig Pittman
-A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing
-The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman
-Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent
-Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
-Pumpkin Spice Scare by Molly Maple
-The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
As you can see, the book choices are really all over the place. I had two holiday-esque books, romance, fantasy, and a memoir throw in there as well.
Let’s get into the reviews!