Emily Giffin called this book "Gripping and powerful".
The first 1/3 pulled me in well enough. It was an interesting story to start with...it had potential. But then it just got boring. The end was annoying. It ended with a few sentences that equated to "off to live my wonderful life!" and sounded like a conclusion a 7th grader would come up with. I feel that it got lazy toward the end.
This is my second Jane Green book and will probably be my last. I thought maybe it'd be a good story and it just really wasn't.
Jane Green used the word delicious at least 6 times in reference to a person.
I can't abide by this: "...joining my delicious daughter in the kitchen..."
Her use of the word delicious is why I'm probably done with her books. I just can't get past it.
#59 Forever Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid B-
I hate that I liked this book. I knew it'd be kind of depressing but I was in the mood for that a few weeks back so I finally pulled the trigger on the audio version. It took me awhile to finish because it was, literally, that depressing. I could only listen in small chunks. I, again, liked it and simultaneously hated it. I don't know what this means. It was well-written and the structure of going back and forth kept me interested enough. My favorite by Reid is still Maybe in Another Life, so I'd start with that one.
There's something very satisfying about having read everything by an author though, and now I'm all caught up on TJR.
#60 Sins of the Father (Rose Gardner Novella 9.5) A
I cannot even with this series. I love it. My coworker and I were gushing about it one day when someone asked for a book recommendation and later I was like, "Hey, I think we scared her...".
#61 Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist C+
I wrote a review on Goodreads if you're interested. I must have been feeling thorough that particular day. Long story short: she has a very prosey way of writing that is completely lost on me. I don't read for prose. I read for a-ha moments or stories. I found some really good snippets that I highlighted and saved.
I couldn't identify with this so she started to lose me: I am an extrovert, through and through, and a deeply loyal person. (page 103)
And then: In our little tribe...(page 152). Tribe is synonymous to clique in my mind. I've been a part of tribes and I've been on the outside of tribes. I don't like the word, but this is just my opinion.
But there was good stuff too: ...that warped idea that if there's fruit, it must be God's will (page 152) or I'm finding that I get a little charge of energy from knowing exactly what I love and what I don't, and being clear about the two. I'm more inspired by a near-uniform, a narrow set of parameters that make me feel most like myself (page 181).
Sometimes I also feel like I'm not the intended audience for Niequist's type of writing. There were no moments of me exclaiming "me too!" because I'm not an extrovert and I'm not particularly outgoing and I don't really believe more is more. I've spent my adult life designing time for this "quiet time" that she is seeking throughout the book. My personality does not fit what she is describing herself to be so I didn't get as much out of it as a Type A Obliger might. I think of myself as a Type B Upholder.
#62 The Valentine by Denise Grover Swank D
This was a novella, but I'm counting it. It was a follow-up to the second book in The Wedding Pact series and focuses on Blair and Garrett. I cannot stand Blair and the continuation from The Player to this book was so evident...six months of marriage has not changed Blair. When she said she hasn't been sleeping because Garrett's been away on business for four days (horrific), I almost put it down.
In the end, it was only like 70 pages and I read it quickly but I didn't enjoy it very much. If you loved The Wedding Pact series, this will just annoy you because the story isn't long enough for Blair to endear herself to you in the same way she did in The Player.
Also, if you loved The Wedding Pact series, try Only You....super good.
#63 Not Quite Dead by Lyla Payne (A Lowcountry Mystery #1) C+/B-
When I finished the above-mentioned Rose Gardner novella, this came up as a recommendation. And there's like ten books in this series. I do love a good series, so I thought I'd give it a try. This one was free on Kindle, so go for it if you're even a little bit interested.
It's about a woman moving back to her hometown after dealing with a failed engagement. She sees ghosts and it takes place in the south. There's a teeny (very small) bit of Sookie Stackhouse to this story. That was my immediate connection. But it fit really well into the same genre as Rose Gardner. I will definitely read the second one but I don't know if I'll continue on. We'll see. This was good enough for me to at least want to try more.
As a stand-alone, I'd give it a C+, and as a part of a series, a B-.
#64 Daring Greatly by Brene Brown B-
So a lot of what I got from this book was a repeated from The Gifts of Imperfection. I can't remember if I heard this though:
Don't mind my Picmonkey graphic.
How true! I see "hustle" as a negative connotation, not as a "Oh, I'm working hard and succeeding" descriptor. If there ever was a hustle, scheme, or plot, it was perfectionism, right?
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This is my Did Not Finish list for November. It's a long one.
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
I liked Kate's part of the story but couldn't get into Amelia's and all the texts and emails and online posts were boring. Would I have finished it eventually? Yes. But it was a library book.
The Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Also a library book. I just didn't care. I liked it when I was reading it, but I never wanted to pick it up. And I skimmed a few parts but then thought I might be missing something important so I just gave it back. Which is kind of sad, because I was over halfway through when I gave up.
Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
I cannot, for the life of me, get into a WWII book these days. I've tried a lot in the last year, but I'm burnt out on the genre altogether. Would I have finished it eventually? Yes, but it was a library book. There were a few very good paragraphs and sentences that stuck out to me so I think Cleave is good at writing. This book just wasn't for me right now.
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
I was bored.
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