To Read or Not to Read

Genre : General Fiction Pub. Date : June 1, 2021 Rating : ⭐⭐⭐ Read if you like: Family Drama Beach storylines Time jumps Close-knit siblings trope Love at First Sight an Emotional Read Synopsis: In Malibu 1983, it is the morning of the infamous Rivas’ party thrown by four famous siblings. Each with their own secrets, drama, and reasons for attending the event.  I had mixed feelings about this book, and I honestly can’t decide why. I love Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing and how she builds her characters. I was immediately enthralled with Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit, four siblings who only have each other. Children of the legendary singer Mick Riva.  There are beautiful descriptions throughout the book about life and what family means. “Our family histories are simply stories. They are myths we create about the people who came before us, in order to make sense of ourselves”. As a person who comes from a divorced family, these descriptions really spoke to me and even helped me frame so...

  I was a senior in high school when I was first introduced to Jane Austen. We had to write a paper on one of two books: Jekyll and Hyde or Pride and Prejudice. I was literally the only one who chose to read Pride and Prejudice out of the whole class, and I'm so glad I did! I immediately fell in love with Austen’s writing style and humor. I love how she creates strong characters who are always witty and speak their mind. She manages to tie romance, humor, and a great storyline where the good almost always wins. My kind of writer :)   If you never read Jane Austen before and would like to try, there are a couple of ways in which you could start. I would say the most obvious way would be to try with the shortest novel, Persuasion. In my opinion, this is also the funniest of her novels as the heroine, Anne, is quite sarcastic. Persuasion would give a new Jane Austen reader a good introduction to her writing style and a lot of laughs. You could also try it this way: DATE OF ...

  Title: The Guest List Author: Lucy Foley Genre: Contemporary Murder Mystery  Publish Date: Feb 20, 2020  “The lights go out. In an instant, everything is in darkness. The band stop their playing. Inside the tent the wedding guests squeal and clutch at one another. The light from the candles on the tables only adds to the confusion, sends shadows racing up the canvas walls…” This is how The Guest List starts. It draws you in right away and keeps you guessing from the very start. Because the author jumps from one person’s point of view to another, it can be hard to follow initially–keep reading! You will not be disappointed!  Set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, the book starts during the wedding reception of Will, a reality TV star, and Jules, a highly successful magazine publisher. Each chapter is told from a different person’s perspective: the bride, the bridesmaid, the plus one, the best man, and the wedding planner. From the very beginning, the reade...

Genre: Domestic Fiction Rating: 4.5/5 stars A beautiful novel set in India that provides so much insight into the culture and religious beliefs in that country. It is a story about love, sacrifice, brutality, and fear. Smita and Mohan are two courageous individuals working to find justice for Meena who was horribly injured while trying to save her husband from death. You see, Meena’s only crime was to fall in love with a Muslim. Her Hindu family did not agree with this and made her suffer for it. In this novel, we read about true bravery and learn how humanity can overcome great evil. We further see how some can be persuaded into certain beliefs causing them to justify their committing unspeakable acts.  One of my favorite tools used in writing is when authors turn inanimate objects or concepts into characters within a story. In this novel, “honor’ does indeed play a vital role in the events that unfurl.  I would highly recommend this book! The author skillfully demonstrates h...

There are some great reads here! If you can only read one, do not miss Where the Crawdads Sing. It is easily one of the best books I have ever read!   

This review contains SPOILER ALERTS at the end! Proceed with caution :) We meet Elle Bishop at the midpoint of her life when she has a very difficult choice to make. She has to choose between her current life of stability, the family she has built with her husband or her childhood love who she feels she is destined to be with. This story is very complex, and at times, can be hard to follow. If you can pay attention, however, you will be engaged in a family affair that is both beautiful and heartwrenching.  We follow Elle on this 24-hour journey where she tries to rationalize her actions to help support the decision she teeters on. Throughout the novel, we also see flashbacks to Elle’s past where we learn about tragedies her family has encountered and people who have failed each other in more ways than one. The author’s writing is so beautifully descriptive that you feel like you are on the remote beach of Cape Cod and that you have been visiting there for years. You are sitting aro...

I love books and I love the TV show, Friends! On Instagram, they had a Phoebe Buffet Reel where you choose books whose titles start with each letter of Phoebe's name. Here are the books I chose for this challenge: The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller Honor by Thrifty Umrigar One Beautiful Dream by Jennifer Fulwiler Echoes by Maeve Binchy Baby Proof by Emily Giffin Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat This list of books is a cumulation of my TBR, books I have just finished, and "oldies, but goodies". I am currently reading, Honor, which is turning out to be a good book so far. It follows Smita who is a journalist covering a story in India where a woman was burned for marrying a Muslim man.  I just finished The Paper Palace and Everything Inside. Book reviews on these are forthcoming, but they were both quick reads and powerful for different reasons. One Beautiful Dream was given to me as a gift several years ago when I was going through a very difficult time, jugglin...