I have been ON FIRE this month! Maybe it’s the excitement of a new year and a new Goodreads challenge; maybe it’s the fact that I had 4 days off of work thanks to the “snow”? Either way, every book I read this month was either EXCELLENT or TERRIBLE. There was no in between. There’s also a lot of diverse reads this month… one POC book, two LGBTQ+ books, and one and a half nonfiction books. I’m 4 books ahead on my Goodreads challenge, and I’m loving every minute of it!
Books are listed in the order they were read. For more mini-reviews, check out my What I Read tag.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Premise: Eleanor Oliphant is a perfectly normal, lonely individual. When she meets Raymond, she starts breaking out of her comfort zone and discovering things about her past that change her life forever.
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Thoughts: This book was SO GOOD and such a good way to start the year! This book is very character-driven, written in first person, and features characters I genuinely care about. The author does an amazing job at slowly revealing Eleanor’s past through foreshadowing and small tidbits that really kept me pushing through (even when the first part got a bit lengthy). When the book ended, I found myself wanting more and wishing I could continue living life with Eleanor.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who loves good, relatable, full characters. Anyone interested in mental illness and trauma. Anyone looking for a hopeful, positive read.
For a full review, check out this post.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Premise: When the popular Clutter family turns up dead in their home, a nation-wide man-hunt ensues. Through the course of four different parts of this book, you learn about the Clutters, their murder, and the intricacies of their killers. Capote uses court documents and interviews to craft this story that is told from various points of view.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Thoughts: I ended up giving it 4 stars, but I think it’s because my expectations were SO LOW. I don’t read a lot of nonfiction or classics (“Don’t try to tell me what I’m supposed to like, English professor!”), so this book was a big jump for me. There were a few times that I was genuinely surprised that I was enjoying myself and not wanting to put this book down. Don’t get me wrong; I DEFINITELY skimmed chunks of it (do we really need full letters written in terrible grammar?), but overall, the story was captivating and I was really, really interested to know how the murder went down. That all being said, I feel like I cheated on my nonfiction challenge, because this definitely didn’t feel like nonfiction, other than the random quotes thrown in to indicate it was from a direct source (which delighted my nerdy self!).
Who Should Read It: Anyone who likes true crime. Anyone who is a fan of My Favorite Murder. Anyone who is interested in reading a good, quick classic.
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Premise: Two sisters and a brother are growing up in the 1950s and 60s. They feel different from all the other people around them, and they learn they are descendants of the earliest witches in America. This novel follows their story from their teenage years through their old age (and eventually leads to the story of the sisters featured in Practical Magic).
My Rating: 2 Stars
Thoughts: I really didn’t hate this book, but in an effort to not end the year with all 3 star books (like last year. and the year before.), I’m trying to really own when I don’t enjoy a book. I finished this one. I didn’t hate it. But I really didn’t love it, and it really didn’t make me want to keep picking it up. I think it was the writing style. There was little-to-no dialogue, which drives me bananas. The author was very much telling me what was happening and how the characters were feeling, rather than showing me and having me deduce it. That, coupled with the fact that there were no chapters and just 5 long sections of the book, made it really hard to pick back up after I set it down. It’s interesting, because I really enjoyed The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Hoffman, but this one just didn’t set right.
Who Should Read It: People who liked Practical Magic (the book or the movie).
What Was She Thinking? by Zoë Heller
Premise: A teacher (Sheba) has an affair with a student. The teacher’s friend (Barbara) chronicles the romance, beginning when Sheba joins the faculty and follows through the discovery of the affair. Watching the story unfold through Barbara’s eyes puts a unique, and often alarming, spin on the situation.
My Rating: 2 Stars
Thoughts: This was the first book on my Books to Read list on Goodreads, and I finally picked it up for my reading challenge this year. But really, this book was not good. And it was basically a testament as to why I have some books that stay on my TBR for so very long. Surprisingly, the teacher/student relationship wasn’t the most… icky… thing about this book. The narrator, Barbara, was distinctly creepy. Her obsession with Sheba, her condescension of everyone around her, her harsh critiques of her colleagues and students… it was disturbing and not at all entertaining. If this would have been third person or from a different point of view, I may have enjoyed it more. I saw many similarities between Barbara and Eleanor Oliphant, but, in Eleanor’s case, there was redemption and a general optimism in her character that made her likable. I don’t always have to like the characters, but I do have to be invested in them, and I really wasn’t invested in this story at all.
Who Should Read It: Would not recommend.
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Premise: Three points of view from three (seemingly) unconnected characters. Cecilia is the perfect wife and PTO mom, with the dashing husband who is a wonderful father. However, when she finds out her husband’s secret, she is faced with a major decision. Rachel is an almost-70-year-old who is still coping with the murder of her daughter 30 years later. She wavers between grief and revenge. Tess is a woman in a safe marriage, until her cousin and husband decide that they have fallen in love with each other. She must figure out where to go in her life from here.
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Thoughts: I NEEDED THIS BOOK. Seriously, after reading two 2-star books in a row, I needed a win. This book wasn’t in my plans, but I found it unread on my shelf and thought now would be a good time to pick it up and pull me out of my rut, and it most certainly did that. This book has everything Liane Moriarty is known for — intriguing characters, surprising connections, and breathtaking twists. It gave me all the thrills of Big Little Lies without so many characters and with a bit less heartache. I binged hard on this book (it helps that I was iced into my house), and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Who Should Read It: Anyone who enjoyed Big Little Lies. Anyone looking for a quick, twisty read. Anyone who is in a rut and needs a fun read to get out of it.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Premise: Starr Carter is riding in a car with her best childhood friend when they get pulled over by a police officer. When this cop shoots her friend three times in the back, and Starr is the only witness, her life gets turned upside down. This novel struggles with race and identity and shows a true picture of what it means to be a black teenager in this America.
My Rating: 5 FREAKING STARS!
Thoughts: I wrote an in-depth review that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of this novel. Suffice it to say that this book shook me up, wrung me out, and left me to dry. It wasn’t a sad book, but it was a hard book to read from a white perspective. I ached for Starr, and I questioned how I could make an impact to stop these things from continuing to happen over and over and over again.
Who Should Read It: Everyone. Especially if you’re white. Especially if you don’t know any black people. Especially if you need a look at your own “white standard”.
For a full review, check out this post.
The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg
Premise: In this retelling of Arabian Nights, Cherry and Hero are in love. Cherry’s husband and his friend, Manfred, make a wager that Manfred could not bed Cherry in 100 nights. When he comes to try to seduce her, Hero takes over, telling the man stories from her childhood until he misses the 100 day mark.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Thoughts: This book was delightful. I read the whole thing cover-to-cover in a little more than an hour, and it probably would have taken less time if I wouldn’t have kept stopping to take pictures of the beautiful graphics and the witty (OH SO WITTY) dialogue. The girl power in this book had me yelling “YASS”, and the way the women all support each other gave me the warm and fuzzies. Frankly, the setting sounds like hell on earth, because women aren’t allowed to read? Eff that. Hero and Cherry and all the women around them take this law and knock it down. I loved this short, quirky little book. (And there will be a post about it coming soon!)
Who Should Read It: Anyone looking for a short read. Anyone who likes graphic novels (or pretty pictures that sometimes have words by them). Any feminist who needs a jolt of happiness.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Premise: After Meg’s dad goes missing, she is lonely and afraid. Her only friend is her little brother, Charles Wallace. When three women appear to Charles and Meg and tell them that they need them to help save their dad, Charles, Meg, and their new friend Calvin end up jumping through time and space to save Mr. Murry and the world.
My Rating: 3 Stars
Thoughts: I wanted to reread this book before the movie comes out in March, and I’m glad I did. I haven’t read this book since middle school, where I pretty much hated anything fantasy that wasn’t Harry Potter (I’ll take my magic in the real world, thankyouverymuch). This novel was adorable and quaint and I guessss I could see how it could win all kinds of awards in the 1960s, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite. Of course, I don’t read middle grade books at all, and, even though the protagonist is in high school, 12 is the new 16, and this felt like a middle school book. So, with taking into account that it was written so long ago AND it should be a middle school book, I enjoyed it. The story was ok and the characters were ok and the descriptions were ok. I’m mostly just really excited to see how Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling and Oprah transform this book into something magical on-screen. Because it is such a simple story, I think they could really take it and run with it.
Who Should Read It: Meh. I’d probably just wait until the movie comes out.
What do you think? Did I miss the mark on any of these? Are there some that you are excited to read? Leave a comment below!
You have me wanting to read so many of these choices! I love reading book reviews and plan on adding several of these to my reading list for sure!