...in February.
The Cozy Life by Pia Edberg A
This is a book about the Danish concept of hygge (who-ga). I have a friend from Sweden and she said the word sounded familiar but wasn't something she ever did or knowingly practiced. The word itself doesn't have a straight English translation. If it did, it'd be close to "cozy".
The reason I asked my friend about it (because I realize Denmark and Sweden are indeed different countries, hashtagAmerican) is because the book mentions Glogg and we had that for the holidays with her family this year.
It tastes like Christmas.
In the Woods by Tana French A
This book took me forever to get through but it was a good one. I kept coming back to it, even renewing it at the physical library, because I never not wanted to pick it up. It was always just rough when I did my reading in the 20 minutes before bed.
I had originally started The Likeness by Tana French last fall, and didn't finish because it was boring (to me). Now I think I'll jump to #3 in the series, The Faithful Place.
The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney A
The audiobook did pull me in from the moment I pressed play, so those reviews of it that I read on Show Us Your Book posts a few months ago weren't wrong. I got a little meh about it toward the end (it did drag a teeny bit) but then I really liked the very end. It wrapped itself up in a non-predictable bow, still leaving a bit of the ending to the reader to judge. I think that's difficult to find these days.
The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood D-
This book came highly recommended. I didn't like it. It was boring. It was annoyingly slow. But there was also no point to it, so I'm not sure what speeding up the "plot" would've done for it. It was one of those that started the book with the end of the story.
I could almost (almost) see the charm in it. I liked Ona. The story was just dull though. I pushed through to the end (on audio) because I wanted to see what happened to Ona. I just felt like I never got into the story. I was always on the outside, hoping something would pull me in.
This is just a lesson in "just because booksellers say it's good, doesn't mean it is". I would've returned this to Audible but it was a Daily Deal; I'll pay $4 to finish a book.
However, I'll also muddle through a book just so I can say with absolute certainty that I don't like it. I have no qualms telling you how I really feel. And I know that all books are (usually) okay and some just aren't for everyone; but if I don't tell you my own opinion, Goodreads will be full of 5-star reviews and then, if you don't like it, you'll wonder what's wrong with you.
The Girl Who Lied by Pam Fortin B+
I would actually recommend this. I got it for 99 cents (I think) back in October when I needed something to read and then I got bogged down with my library books/other things and I just finished it Presidents' Day weekend. It's a twisty tale that's not *quite* as predictable as some of the others floating around. As in, the beginning of the book relates to the end of the book but it is not a linear path. I liked that aspect. The characters were fine, the writing was decent, and the ending was a nice wrap-up.
It's a family mystery that takes place in a small town in Ireland (which is the most summarization you'll ever get from me).
The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N Aron Phd I can't rate something like this..it's textbookish.
I have this theory that I'm an HSP. Bright lights? Loud noise? Generally being overwhelmed? I struggle with these things. This book was written in a clinical way, with lots of case studies (which I never really appreciate all that much).
So with this book, since it did read like a textbook, I found myself employing the speed-reading tactic.
Until I came across this post last week, I never thought about it much. The idea is that if you are starting to speed-read, it means you just want to finish the book to check it off the list. I can see how this is a thing with non-fiction. While I enjoy the topic of reading about highly-sensitive people and their characteristics and think I got a lot out of it, it was dragging.
I also found myself doing that with the next book on the list, which I did NOT expect to happen.
Still Life by Louise Penny DNF yet
The first in the Armand Gamache mystery series. I didn't finish this. I'm about 53% in and once I found myself speed-reading, I decided to move onto something else. Should I finish it? Did anyone else struggle with it? Thoughts? I feel like I'm the odd one out here.
Linking up with Jana and Steph for Show Us Your Books!
