karenikareadsalot

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked Reid's previous book and was looking forward to reading this despite the mixed reviews. I will say that the first 75% of the book is just character studies. It introduces each character and sort of pulls back to give you a snippet of their life and how they ended up here. It's interesting but it reads a bit like a character study. Nothing major happens until around the end of the book where things crescendo and there's some good food for thought. But it requires that you have a lot of patience with this book that I think is too long for that type of buildup. I still enjoyed my time with it and i like her writing and will definitely read her next book but this wasn't one of my favorites. with gratitude to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View a...

The Senator's Wife by Liv Constantine My rating: 3 of 5 stars fast moving, forgettable palette cleanser. not sorry i read it but it was nothing to write home about. View all my reviews

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune My rating: 3 of 5 stars I saw this book everywhere, EVERYWHERE, so i felt like I had to read it. It was sweet and I am glad I read it but it also wasn't amazing. I am not sure why it's on every single list. View all my reviews

The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars wow. this book was unlike anything i've read. it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and it was disturbing and frustrating and a really creepy book. I enjoyed it. View all my reviews

Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham My rating: 4 of 5 stars What an excellent, excellent storyteller Stacy Willingham is. She can weave these chilling and yet so real characters and situations that truly give you the creeps. I love reading her novels even as they stress me out. This one was no exception. The female friendship in this book is so raw, so real, and so disturbing all at once. The frats, too. So real and so disturbing. I didn't see the twists coming and I just truly got lost in this book. I will think about this book for a long time. with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love second chance stories and I love reliving and time travel too so this one was meant for me and it did not disappoint. I woke up this morning and I was at only 2% and read it all the way through before getting out of bed. I loved the characters and I loved the romance. I loved the women standing up for themselves and each other. I loved the slow-burn romance even as you know it's coming. Can't wait to read of Wiesner's novels. with gratitude to netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Radiant Rebellion: Reclaim Aging, Practice Joy, and Raise a Little Hell by Karen Walrond My rating: 5 of 5 stars Radiant Rebellion is around reclaiming aging. I am not a worrier over aging so I wasn't sure I should request this book but I have read books by and taken classes from Karen before and I knew there would be wisdom here I'd appreciate. And I was right. This book is full of stories, wisdom, insight, and practical steps you can take. But what I appreciate the most is how much Karen encourages you to go within and to be intentional with your life. She had great journaling questions to help the reader do her own exploration. Loved this one. with gratitude to edelweiss and Broadleaf Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved this book. I love Lange's writing and I love this character-driven story of a family trying to make things work as each of them hides fears and secrets and are battling their own daemons as they look out for each other. Loved it. View all my reviews

Beautiful Shining People: The extraordinary, EPIC speculative masterpiece… by Michael Grothaus My rating: 4 of 5 stars Wow what an unusual book this was. I don't really even know what to say about it without spoiling anything. Let's just say John meets a woman in a cafe who turns out to be more enigmatic than he originally thought. There's a retired sumo wrestler and a peculiar dog. There's a future where deep fakes are so common that it's causing regular disruptions in the world economy. There's quantum coding. There's so much in this unusual, interesting book that you'll have to pick it up and check it out yourself. with gratitude to Orenda Books and edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I seem to have liked this much less than most of the people. I thought it was good, just didn't think it was great. Also didn't love the ending. But others loved it more so i am the outlier on this one. View all my reviews

The Honeymoon Crashers by Christina Lauren My rating: 3 of 5 stars I didn't realize this was an audio-only companion but I loved it and it was a wonderful palette cleanser. Christina Lauren are always fun to read. View all my reviews

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett My rating: 5 of 5 stars I waited for this book from the moment I heard it was coming. I love and adore Patchett and I knew I was going to love this book. And I completely did. Getting to listen to Meryl Streep read it was just an additional unexpected bonus. It's light, beautiful and a true joy to read. View all my reviews

Translation State by Ann Leckie My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars This was my first Ann Leckie. Even though it was hard to follow at times, I loved the themes of belonging and family in this unusual novel. I also loved the seamless diversity in the book while it's a topic of discussion inside a story. I think this one would have been better read vs listened to but I am still glad I picked it up. View all my reviews

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars I love McAllisters books. I loved this last one and was waiting for this one with baited breath. It did not disappoint. It's excellent. Even with being able to guess a few of the twists, I read this book from start to finish without stopping. If mysteries are your thing, you will love this! View all my reviews

The Heart of It All by Christian Kiefer My rating: 5 of 5 stars "In some life other than this one, his words might have been condescending, but what she knew, beyond his touch, beyond the warmth of it, the feeling of his hand so gentle upon her, was that he had just said two words her mother had never said to her and never would. And it was all she had ever wanted to hear. Nothing less. Nothing more." This is one of the best novels I've read this year. It's about several families in a small town. A local factory owner, several workers in the factory, their families, workers in the local grocery store and how their lives intertwine and how they hold each other and help each other through grief and loneliness and form a community. There's so much covered here: immigration, loss, grief, racism, sexism, patriotism, politics, love, family, loneliness, poverty, drugs, i can go on and on. None of it feels too much, though, it just feel...

Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains My rating: 4 of 5 stars People either hate or love Groundhog Day stories. I'm in the "love" camp. I enjoy watching how a character grows, learns, lets go, and slowly understands. I love watching how a writer executes on these stories. I love seeing what finally starts breaking the spell. Rains' novel was no exception. I loved her characters, I loved the way the stories intertwined and I loved how she grew and deepened her love, found herself and I loved the focus on love. A lovely and wonderful christmastime book for lovers of repeat days like me. with gratitude to edelweiss and Kensington for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews