Review: Gold Diggers

Gold Diggers
Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

A friend of mine recommended this book to me and said it would get me out of my reading slump. It sort of did. What an unusual coming-of-age story about an Indian American boy, Neil, and his next door neighbor. I really liked the magical realism in this story that was woven into the story. I also loved how it started when he was a teen but then picked up again when he was in his twenties. It was a lovely story. (but did not really get me out of my slump!)

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Review: The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage

The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage
The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage by Brené Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve listened to this series before. I will listen to it again. Brene’s lessons are ones I have to hear again and again in my life.

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Review: The Intimacy Experiment

The Intimacy Experiment
The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have really enjoyed both of Rosie Danan’s books in this series. I was very much looking forward to this one and it did not disappoint. If you’re into romance novels, you will love this series which has strong, 3-dimensional, and interesting characters with fun dialogue. I can’t wait to read more in the series.

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Review: A Million Reasons Why

A Million Reasons Why
A Million Reasons Why by Jessica Strawser
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting story about a woman who finds out she has a step-sister through a DNA test and the sister is sick and might need her to make a major sacrifice. This starts a rolling series of unraveling in the sisters’ lives and their parents’ lives, too. It brings up questions around what family is, when and for whom should you sacrifice and take chances. And secrets we bury for a long time. It was an interesting read.

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Review: Revival Season

Revival Season
Revival Season by Monica West
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the story of Miriam, the daughter of a Baptist preacher, who witness her dad doing something that fundamentally shifts what she thinks of him and starts unraveling their whole family slowly.

It’s the story of what pride can do to a man, to a family. The story of what loss feels like and how we carry our thoughts, beliefs, wishes and dreams of who we are, who we can be and who we were inside ourselves. It’s the story of what happens when you revere a person and come to find out they are human. It’s the story of unspoken truths and how the weight of them can break a family. It’s the story of how things can look one way from the outside and be completely different from the inside (as they often are.)

It’s the story of what happens when you can no longer hide your own truth, your own potential and choose to step into your own sunshine even a little bit.

This is a wonderfully written, terribly sad story of a broken family and a strong heroine that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.

with gratitude to Simon & Schuster and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Only When It’s Us

Only When It's Us
Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this knowing it was going to be a sweet, fun and quick story and it was exactly that. What i needed and when I needed it. I am looking forward to reading the others in the series, too. Love the strong women and the kind men and loved having a character that was hard of hearing.

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Review: Infinite Country

Infinite Country
Infinite Country by Patricia Engel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Even though this story was short, I took forever to read it. Pieces of it were beautiful and pieces of it felt melodramatic. I still appreciated reading the immigration story and the slightly different take with the siblings growing up in different countries as a result.

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Review: The Plot

The Plot
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

I swallowed this book in a gulp.

I knew the beginning was going to actually be slow as opposed to what the blurb says so I patiently made my way through it and then I was hooked and wanted to know what was going to happen. When it was time to sleep, I read in the dark on my phone so as to not wake my husband. I kept reading and reading because I wanted to know what happened next. It felt compulsive.

And then the book turned for me. Suddenly I could guess all the twists, one after the other.

At that point, I am not sure it mattered because I basically finished the whole thing in a blur. I really enjoyed the ride this book gave me and I could see the whole thing becoming a movie.

with gratitude to Celadon Books and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Brood

Brood
Brood by Jackie Polzin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

I think I’m going to have to reread this story. I loved the writing and I loved the small bits of insights the author shared along the way. This is a very short book and there’s a lot packed in there. I loved the way it was quiet on the surface, and much less so underneath. I will have to sit with this one for a while.

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Review: Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage

Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage
Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage by Anne Lamott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“I’d like to know if God gives us points for showing up or simply marks us present.”

I can listen to Anne Lamott read me her books every single day. It doesn’t even matter what she’s writing about because there’s so much wisdom is her very ordinary days because she is the one who makes things extraordinary. Her wisdom, her insight, her way of looking at life always makes me feel less alone in the world.

Thankful for authors like her and thankful that she keeps writing.

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Review: The Power Couple

The Power Couple
The Power Couple by Alex Berenson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

This book was a fast read and there’s a lot going on. It’s the classic things-aren’t-what-they-seem mystery and while it was satisfying, because of the way the author wrote it, there was a lot of telling and considerably less showing. So it felt like i was outside of the story, listening to someone tell me the plot. I still enjoyed my time with it.

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Review: Meet Me in Another Life

Meet Me in Another Life
Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

‘Santi shakes his head. “Thora, no. If love was something we had to deserve, we would all be loveless. No, love is what the world owes us.” He gives her an apologetic smile. “Sometimes, it doesn’t pay up, that’s all.”’

I really loved the time I spent with this story. I’ve read a lot of books and have seen many characters and a lot of plot lines. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like this. It’s part romance and part science fiction and I had no idea where it was going but while I was trying to figure that out, I fell in love with the characters along the way.

“There’s no wrong choice,” Santi says. “There’s just what happens.”

And then once I knew what was going on, and my mind was blown, I loved it even more. I just wanted to keep going. And there were crazy twists upon twists but none of them mattered to me because these two characters already had my heart.

“I didn’t understand until you put it that way. But do you realize, this is what I’ve wanted my entire life? My entire lives. A way to go back. To see how it would be if I did things differently.” She shakes her head in wonder. “I’ve always been so scared of choosing wrong. Now, I don’t have just one choice. I can live every life I want to. Explore every version of who I can be.” He speaks carefully. “You can’t control everything that happens to you.”

And then the heart-wrenching ending came and I was shattered and full of joy and full of awe at this crazy, weird, unusual book that managed to take my heart, fill it, break it, rebuild it and just make me feel full with awe and wonder. What a book.

“Yes,” he says, fire in his voice. “Thora, yes. It’s not one choice. It’s a hundred choices, every single day, and all of them matter.” He holds her gaze steadily as he says, “I learned that from you.”

with gratitude to William Morrow and edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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