09 June 2020

Show Us Your Books - June 2020

Apparently all this sitting at home has muddled my brain. And isn't muddling what they do to the mint leaves in some drink I like? So maybe I've just been drinking too much? But I don't have any mint leaves, so I wasn't drinking that.

Anyway, I just realized that my last two months of Show Us Your Books were both labeled April. I'll head off to fix the one posted in May after I finish this. In the meantime, here are my books for the JUNE edition of Show Us Your Books. I'm linking up with Jana Says and Life According to Steph. Visit either of their pages (or both!) and check out all the great bloggers and book recommendations (or the opposite - don't waste your time reading books that no one has made sound good for you).

All my book titles will link to Goodreads (and that one is my profile, if you want to be friends). While I'll share a bit of my impressions of each book, my full review is also linked. I actually finished 14 books in May, but the first two are in my previous Show Us Your Books post.  Without further ado, here's the rest of my books read in May.

Finished Reading:

My Kind of People by Lisa Duffy - I really enjoyed this one, especially for the diverse and unique characters. Couple this with some island-life vibe, and it was a 4/5 star winner for me. Check out my full review at Books I Think You Should Read. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf - This book reminded me of how much I can love an unreliable narrator. While it did present the story in several perspectives, I was intrigued by the differences of how each character's experiences influenced their memories of the event (as well as the passing of decades between the event they're recalling and the present day recollection of the event). I reviewed this one on my site here and gave it 3/5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐

Advice I Ignored by Ruby Walker - This book was definitely not made to be hustled through like I consume my books. The author's caring voice solidly comes through in reading this book. After suffering from depression as a teen, she wants to re-share the advice she received, a personal story involving the advice, and step-by-step instructions on how that advice can help you. I'd recommend it for any teen library and gave it 4/5 stars here. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Glorious Boy by Aimee Liu - This was a touching story of the remote Andaman Islands of India and a family including two parents and a mute four-year-old. Then they attempt to flee as war overtakes the island, they become separated. Their stories of survival are heartwarming and surrounded by beauty. My full 4/5 star review is here. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Legends from Mom's Closet by Sasha Olsen - While most of the books I read are adult books (or some YA, admittedly), most of the children's books I read are with my own 8- and 12-year olds. While the pictures in this book were very nice, I felt the content was lacking. While they mentioned famous women, they didn't really tell much about them. When we go on and on stressing that appearances aren't the most important thing, I had a hard time enjoying a book that stressed inspiring women's fashion choices. I gave the book 3/5 stars (because the pictures were beautiful) here. ⭐⭐⭐

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - I was a little nervous starting this book, as it was one I just wanted to read because I'd watched the movie, but the book was like 760 pages! Whoa! I decided to test it out for 10%, but then I had to know the rest. It's definitely a stellar example of literary fiction. I really, really liked this book and may read it again sometime. I gave it 4.5/5 stars here. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon - What an exciting page-turner! This book had several great twists and turns in the plot. I enjoyed unravaling it all and would recommend it for readers who like suspense and somewhat psychological thrillers. I gave it 3.5/5 stars in my full review on my blog. ⭐⭐⭐

The Last Blue by Isla Morley - While this book was about a few of the last 'blue people' of Kentucky (also featured in The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, which I haven't read yet), that wasn't all it was about. It was also a great story of love and life on its own. I still think about the people in this book and I gave it 4.5/5 stars in my full review. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

More Than Neighbors (Blackberry Bay #1) by Shannon Stacey - I always like books that make it easy to picture myself in a quaint little town or a cozy community with the characters. While staying home and limiting exposure to the global pandemic, escaping to a new life in a good book is even more tempting. When Meredith and Sophie move to Blackberry Bay and meet Cam, all of them are initially outsiders. As they bond with each other and the rest of their community, magic happens. I gave this book 3/5 stars on my blog. ⭐⭐⭐

Recipe for Persuasion (The Rajes #2) by Sonali Dev - This book was just fine to pass the time. In re-reading the reviews, I now realize that it's the second in a series (I can't guess what the first book was about?), and it's supposed to be based loosely as an interpretation of Jane Austen's Persuasion (which I've never read, so I can't really comment on). I reviewed this one for Books I Think You Should Read and gave it 3/5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐

Hide Away (Rachel Marin Thriller #1) by Jason Pinter - Do you remember the 2002 movie Enough? The development of the character of Rachel Marin made me think of this movie. A bad thing happens, and then she decides to not be a victim again and get in AMAZING shape so she can kick anyone's butt that she needs to. The physical fitness is really the only thing in common, but it brought it to mind, so I thought I'd share. The suspense of several plot lines in this one was great. I gave it 4/5 stars and mentioned in my review that I'm excited to see the next book in the series. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This Won't End Well by Camille Pagán - After several recommendations of her books (she's a local author here in Michigan), I finally read my first book by Camille Pagán. I really didn't like the beginning very much. The main character, Annie, was coming across to me as self-centered and whiny. I had the same thoughts at the beginning of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Luckily, both characters eventually evolved a bit and grew on me, so I gave this book 3.5/5 stars by the end. Check out my full review here. ⭐⭐⭐

Currently Reading:

I got two books I requested from the library at the same time, so now I'm really trying to focus on reading so I can get caught up on my review books AND read some books I want to for myself too. I've already finished three books in June so far, and I'm now reading The Electric Heir - Feverwake #2 (in hardcover from the publisher) and The Conference of the Birds - Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #5 (on my kindle from the library).

Planning to Read: 

While I need to read Ordinary Girls for review in the next week or so, I also signed up for the Blackout Buddy Read and want to get started on White Fragility for that.
Is it bad that I may be hoping that none of my library hold requests come over for a few weeks? Hahaha... The last two I actually gave up my spot in line to postpone them for a couple weeks.



My full reviews cite which books I received from the publisher and/or Netgalley. Receipt of these books was in exchange for my honest reviews. 

19 comments:

StacyRenee said...

Great job on all the reading!
I'm going to look up the Blackout Buddy Read in case my hold of White Fragility comes in anytime soon!
Have a great week! :)

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Looks like you've been reading a nice mix of books! Advice I've Ignored sounds intriguing.

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net

Brittany Always said...

Advice I Ignored sounds interesting...mainly because I've ignored a lot of advice myself, bahaha!

Joanne said...

My Kind of People sounds like my kind of book!

lil desiqua said...

Wow, you read a lot last month! I can't read books after I've watched the TV/movie adaption (I've tried) because I already know what's going to happen, but I give you mad props for reading (and finishing) The Goldfinch! Is your library open, or are you using your library's e-book app? Sadly my library is still closed, but I love the feature on the app that allows you to select a later delivery date for books you'd already placed on hold but are not ready to read just yet. Tell me more about this Blackout Buddy Reading program- can I still sign up? Where?! I love that idea!

SMD @ lifeaccordingtosteph said...

I'm definitely going to check out The Last Blue and I think My Kind of People too.

Yvonne said...

I loved More Than Neighbors. A very sweet romance. Sister Dear looks really good. I'll have to add that one to my list.

Esther @ BiteIntoBooks said...

The cover of This is How I Lied reminds me of Lies by T.M. Logan SO MUCH! You should look it up, its rlly similar :)

Have a great reading month!

Aj @ Read All The Things! said...

I was surprised by how much I liked The Goldfinch. I haven’t seen the movie, but the beginning of the book made me feel gutted. It was so sad!

Aj @ Read All The Things!

Mom Among Chaos said...

Holy cow you've read lots of books. I have 5 pages left in one and it's been sitting on my nightstand for a month...

Emma at Words And Peace / France Book Tours said...

I read a of The Goldfinch but ended up DNFing it. Can't even remember why, there was something in this book that I could no longer stand

Dara @ Not In Jersey said...

I just read White Fragility, it's really good.

Carly said...

Such a great round up of books. The Goldfinch is one of my all-time favorites.

thecuecard said...

That's awesome you recently read The Goldfinch ... & liked it. I just read it last year and thought it was excellent ... as well as I liked the movie (after the book). You had a great reading month! Here are my thoughts on the Goldfinch at https://www.thecuecard.com/books/jumping-into-fall/

Style and Savings said...

I can totally relate to having too many library books at once! I do remember the movie Enough - I'm a big fan of J.Lo movies.

Jen | Book Den said...

You had a great reading month in May. I think the size of The Goldfinch has kept me from picking that one up. It helps to hear how much you liked it!

Trin Carl said...

I loved loved loved, your short synopsis, it really made it easy to walk through each book and think about whether I'd like it as well. I adored Donna Tartt and have thought about reading a few others on this list.

vvb32 reads said...

Working on Goldfinch, slowly but surely. Good to hear you liked it. Happy reading.

Laura at Library of Clean Reads said...

You've been reading some good books. I have the Goldfinch on my shelf but have yet to read it. I must admit the sheer size of it is keeping me from picking it up. Maybe once I'm on vacation...