November 13, 2018

October Books

Soldier On by Vanessa Rasanen

I received this from the author as an ARC. Thanks Vanessa!


From Goodreads:

He's fighting for his country. She's praying for his safety. When tragedy strikes, can their marriage and faith survive?

Charlie and Meg Winters are no strangers to the military life and the challenges it brings. But when an IED rips through his convoy killing his friends, the loss proves almost too much to bear.

Meg finds her trust in Christ wavering, and secrets she's been keeping for years drive a wedge between her and her husband.

What if everything Meg believes is a lie?

What if Charlie finds out what she's done?

Can Meg and Charlie save their marriage or will the horrors of war and the ghosts of their past tear them apart and forever shipwreck her faith?

Soldier On is a gripping contemporary women's fiction novel. If you like inspirational stories of faith tested under pressure, then you'll love Vanessa Rasanen's true-to-life novel.


When it comes to me talking about how I felt about this book, the only thing I can say is how shockingly accurate it is. If you are a military wife, it'll hit a certain spot for you...whether it's a memory, an event, or an experience. For me, it reminded me of our first deployment, when I was in Alaska by myself, with only my army wife friends and, just like in the book, my church for support.

The characters of Meg and her friend Piper are so true to life. They easily could be army wives that I know. The story is written from a very relatable point of view and goes back and forth between the homefront and the soldiers on the front lines. I find that a lot of books featuring the military or military wives veer into the lane of chick lit or romance. This is so much more than that. It has friendship, love, faith and, honestly, at points was difficult to read because it's so real.

**I would caution you that if you are in the midst of a deployment or know that one is in your immediate future, you might want to put this on your TBR to read afterward. It's meant to be a book about faith and not meant to be triggering but we all deal with military life differently. I know that I tend to avoid military-related books when we're going through high-stress seasons of army life.**

Soldier On was released October 30th and is the first in a series, so you can check out more on Vanessa's website. The sequel is out this spring so I'll be picking that up!

Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
I wrote a separate blog post with a review, per my 2018 goal to try and write book reviews. I didn't like it.

Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence

I really wanted to like this. It was a giant disappointment. Here's my Goodreads review.


The whole book could've just been a series of blog posts.


The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
I didn't like this. I wanted to like it pretty badly but I gave it 85 pages and just couldn't continue. There was a lot wrong with it, I thought, from shallow characters (personality and how they were written) to a kind of a lame and immature plot. To be honest, I think that most Hallmark movies have better-developed romances. Enemies to romance is a great plot, but these two had no actual reason to hate each other. There was no reason for the conflict. Unless immaturity is a reason? It seemed like Lucy had no life aside from going to this job, but not in a good workaholic way; just in a lame way. I legitimately wanted to know more about her but there was nothing.
Some reviewers on Goodreads were comparing it to 50 Shades of Gray and I can't say I disagree.

The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson
I wish I could say I finished it but it's a big book and at one chapter every 5 days...I wasn't making progress. What kind of kills me is that I know that if I LOVED it, I would've read it. Kind of like how I devoured The Last Mrs. Parrish while bouncing Wells in his bouncer with the other hand and shushing him.
Anyway, this wasn't bad...I got to page 91. I know I would've finished it on audiobook though. It's a great candidate for that if you're looking for one.
I took it back to the library yesterday and picked up the new Kate Atkinson, which I had had on hold.

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My reading life is slowly turning into "I read this and I didn't like it and this is why", which is fine for now. Honestly, the last thing I feel like doing is reading. I know part of it is that if I have a good book, I WILL read it, and maybe I just haven't found a great one in a while.

I do have the new Rose Gardner on my Kindle (for $5 I'll buy a book I'm guaranteed to enjoy) and I also have Watching You by Lisa Jewell, courtesy of NetGalley. I need to read that before it expires in January.

Have you read any of these??? ^^^

Linking up with Jana and Steph!

14 comments:

  1. I started The Hating Game a few months ago and WHOA I was not expecting it to be steamy? I skimmed to the end. I hated it. I thought the characters were awful.

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  2. I will say, The Hating Game does get better as it goes along... but I get it.
    Did you see where Rachel Hollis has her new book out? I'm on the fence of reading it - just to see if I dislike her more - HAHA

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  3. lol 50 shades and the hating game are on complete opposite sides of the romance spectrum... but if you're not a romance fan, i can see the similarities being that they both have sex in them. though i think the hating game has literally one sex scene. so. it's one of my faves, though i am not surprised you were not a fan. definitely does not seem like your jam. i have no desire to read girl wash your face so i'm glad you didn't like it.

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  4. I thought that The Hating Game was only okay. Didn't love it though I know a lot of people did. I really enjoyed Girl Wash Your Face though, which I also reviewed this month. I like listening to her podcast and have become a fan.

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  5. I do hope you find some books that you enjoy. Reading is supposed to be fun and bad books can make it a chore.

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  6. I haven't read and won't be reading Girl Wash Your Face.

    When I am in a series of eh books, I take a break and read a magazine and then retreat to a series I know I enjoy.

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  7. Amen on The Hating Game. Because of you I chose not to read Rachel Hollis' book - and that's not a bad thing. Your review made perfect sense and I agreed. Off the TBR it went. I've never heard of Annie Spence but I like snark so I'll check out her others.

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  8. What is this netgalley everyone seems to be speaking of?

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  9. I haven't read any of these and based on your reviews I have no desire to 😂

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  10. Sorry you didn't have a good book month!

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  11. Aw, so frustrating when you have a bad book month! And I do feel like it often goes in phases - some months I get a lot that I like. Others...none. Better luck next month!

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  12. I've read the Hating Game and loved it. I do think it took a minute to get going though. But I'm a romance fan, so maybe that? Book slumps are the worse, hopefully you find something great soon!

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  13. Book posts where you don't like anything are just as helpful to the rest of us as the ones where you like everything. But yeah, it gets demoralizing to be the reader in that situation.

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  14. I have heard such great things about Girl Wash Your Face, but I haven't read it. I haven't read any of the books you mentioned. It sucks when you don't like any of the books you read, but I definitely know how that goes.

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