Review: Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose

Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose
Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose by Martha Beck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There’s something about Beck’s ability to read her own books that resonates with me and also her no-nonsense attitude and clear articulation of her ideas. Combine that with the fact that so many of the things I am looking into and learning about right now like IFS and Byron Katie all culminate in this book. And most importantly, this completely and totally explains why I paint for 1-4 hours every single day now. Love this book.

View all my reviews

Review: Is She Really Going Out with Him?

Is She Really Going Out with Him?
Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

Cute, sweet book. I loved reading this one. It was exactly what I needed.

View all my reviews

Review: Onyx Storm

Onyx Storm
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars on this one.

I feel like the first story was the most exciting one by a long distance. Book two and book three were both interesting and I thought this book was the conclusion so I read it but now I am not sure it was the end? I still liked my time with it.

View all my reviews

Review: Code Name Hélène

Code Name Hélène
Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I seem to be on a historical fiction path lately and I am really enjoying every one of these stories. Lawhon is such an excellent writer and I am so glad that this exceptional woman was memorialized in this fantastic book.

View all my reviews

Review: The Favorites

The Favorites
The Favorites by Layne Fargo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this fast-paced and well-developed story. It had a very similar feel and style to Daisy Jones & The Six. But it also completely held its own and was able to deliver a well-told story in a similar style. I enjoyed every moment I spent with this story.

View all my reviews

Review: The Society of Unknowable Objects

The Society of Unknowable Objects
The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gareth Brown clearly knows how to write books that I love. I love love loved his previous book so I was so excited to find out that he had a new one coming out. Magical books were awesome, magical objects turned out to be completely awesome, too. And I loved the references back to the first book in a way that was not disruptive to those who never read the first book but felt like an insider’s gift to those who did!

Like his first book, this story is full of imagination, joy, a true joy for your senses, especially visually. Of course all the good must be balanced by evil, so evil is there too. Some very interesting choices for evil in this book. All the characters are unique and jump off the page.

It is clear to me I will forever read anything Brown writes, I just hope he writes fast so I can keep reading more and more of his wonderful stories.

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

View all my reviews

Review: The Incredible Kindness of Paper

The Incredible Kindness of Paper
The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read every book that Evelyn Skye has written and I am incredibly lucky to call her my friend. So this review might feel biased, but here’s what I am going to tell you: if you haven’t read any books by Syke or even if you have this is the one you want to read. This book is magic.

Each of Skye’s books, while varying widely across genres, has her signature writing style which is visual, painterly and has elements of magic and whimsy. They all have memorable characters. But one, this one is a gift.

You can read the blurb so I won’t repeat the plot but here’s what matters most: this book will make you feel warm and happy and hopeful for the world. You will fall in love with Chloe and her ability to hold on to herself and her optimism in a world that is always trying to change us or improve us. Chloe’s sense of self is strong, unyielding and makes it impossible not to root for her.

Yes, there’s a romance at the root of this story but it’s so much more than that. It restores your faith in humanity. It allows you to travel to a place where people are flawed and struggling and finding their way back home and hanging on to their unyielding belief that we can create good and joy in the world even as we are trying to find our way.

This book will make you feel warm and hopeful and like the wonderful hug you needed. I cannot recommend it enough.

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

View all my reviews

Review: The Briar Club

The Briar Club
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another historical fiction. I loved this one too but I might now need a little break. These books, while fun to read, are soooo long that by the end I feel like I’ve spend way too much time in their world.

View all my reviews

Review: How the Light Gets In

How the Light Gets In
How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh MY. I can spend another six books with these characters. Yes there was a lot of repetition but I truly don’t care. I love this family, I love this story, I love these books so so much.

View all my reviews

Review: The Three Lives of Cate Kay

The Three Lives of Cate Kay
The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

This book took forever for me to get into. It was confusing and didn’t come together until the last third of the book when I finally found myself somewhat invested. In the end I liked it but it was so much work.

View all my reviews

Review: The Instrumentalist

The Instrumentalist
The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I know there are mixed reviews on this but I absolutely loved it. I appear to be on a historical fiction kick lately and am enjoying all these stories so much.

View all my reviews

Review: The Summer that Melted Everything

The Summer that Melted Everything
The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

Heart wrenching. Grief and regret we carry can completely destroy our lives.

View all my reviews