Tag Archives: Books

2019: Year In Review

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This year I decided to switch up how I’d present reading year in review. I’ve read some amazing books this year and decided to split them up by categories. Enjoy!

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum – This was such a powerful, emotional, and heartbreaking read. I love that this book shed light on a culture that isn’t discussed much in fiction. I was glad to hear when this was one 2019 BOTY finalists.

Recursion by Blake Crouch – I’m typically not into sci-fi, but I really loved this one! This book really makes you think about the power of memories, time, and to what extent are we willing to break our moral compass. This book was also selected as a 2019 BOTY finalist which I most definitely voted for!

The Great Unexpected by Dan Mooney – This deeply emotional and dark humorous contemporary novel brings up important topics that aren’t widely discussed, i.e. loneliness in senior citizens, living in a nursing home, the feeling of losing your freedom/independence once you live in a nursing home/dependent on caretakers, and grief. This was also our November #OCBooksandBrunch pick. We had a great insightful conversation about this.
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim – I throughly enjoyed reading this legal thriller. I also had the chance to not only meet Angie Kim in person, but she also spoke to #OCBooksandBrunch when we selected her book as our October pick. I really liked this book because it explores how far people would go to push the bounds of familial relationships and friendships, and parenthood.

Before She Was Found by Heather Gundenkauf – This is a great mystery thriller which truly makes you think about how much community, friendship, betrayal can take on with children, parents, and their relationships with each other.

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher – I have a soft spot for domestic thrillers / suspense. What set this book apart from the others is the way the author was able to bring out the emotion and Tarryn Fisher says it perfectly: “…how women emotionally bankrupt themselves for whom they love.”
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren – This year I’ve discovered that I’m a huge fan of enemies turned lovers trope. This was my all-time favorite CLo book! It had all the things I wanted and more: lighthearted, hilarious, and full of romantic scenes. I also had a chance to meet Christina and Lauren back in July which was amazing!

Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai – This Book doesn’t release till 2020, but I’m counting it towards the year I read it. This romance read has been my all-time from Alisha Rai so far! I’m grateful that I’ve been able to meet Alisha twice this year ☺️
I love that Alisha incorporates a diverse set of characters in her book with complex backgrounds. I also love the way she incorporates supporting characters from previous books she’s written. What I loved about Girl Gone Viral the most was the main characters and the building of their emotional intimacy is captured so well.

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover – Colleen Hoover really knows how to tear your heart out and give it back to you. This has become one of my favorite CoHo novels to date. I love the strained mother-daughter relationship Colleen captures in here. I can’t wait for Colleen to come to LA for her Regretting You book tour in January!
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb – I had the chance of meeting the author earlier this year. However, when I met her, I haven’t read her book before. This is one my favorite nonfiction books this year because it really opened my eye to what therapy is all about and how it could truly help a person. Reading about the author’s experience through therapy and her going through sessions with her own patients helped bring perspective.

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou – This was my first read of 2019. Bad Blood initially piqued my interest as it was one of the top 5 books Bill Gates loved in 2018. I really liked how this nonfiction book read as a story so it kept my interest throughout. The author did an excellent job throughly researching. This book was one of the reasons I got into nonfiction this year.

A False Report : A True Story of Rape In America by T. Christian Miller & Ken Armstrong – I heard that show Netflix show, Unbelievable, is based off of this book. I wasn’t sure I would be able to watch the show so I opted to read the book instead. This nonfiction book was very fascinating and very eye opening for me. It really made me question about how rape cases are handled and false accusations.
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman – This is by far my ultimate favorite Backman novel. I can’t believe it took me till this year to discover him. I read all his books this year and he is such a talented writer. Us Against You is all-time favorite for several reasons. First, it’s the first time I ever LOVED a sequel of a book. I didn’t even think it was possible that the first and sequel could BOTH be 5 star reads. Second, I really loved how he took the story from Beartown into a more complex level and was able to eloquently bring up heavy issues.

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney- I’m pleasantly surprised that this made it to my top 3 considering that I thought Normal People was mediocre. I’m glad I took a chance on this as the novel really stood out on resonating emotions. The complexities of emotional availability and self perception really stood out.

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover – Not only was this my first CoHo book I read, but it was so beautifully written. This is not your typical romance novel. The emotions that Colleen captures in here is insane and makes you really think. I love the way she captures strength and kindness in this novel.

Have you read any of these books? What were your favorite reads in 2019?

How I Rate Books

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Rating books is subjective. There isn’t really a right or wrong way, but there are some topics to consider when rating a book. Here are some of the questions I ask myself to help me determine my rating:

  • Did the plot match the summary or teaser?
  • Did this book resonate me?
  • What did I think of the characters?
  • What were my favorite parts of the novel?
  • What were my least favorite parts? Why?
  • Was the book overall entertaining?

As for the actual rating, I usually base my rating from the standard 1 to 5 stars. I don’t do half star reviews as you can’t leave half star reviews on GoodReads or Amazon. Personally, I don’t find them to be very helpful either.

Down below is my rating scale I go by.

Do you agree with how I rate books? How do you rate books your read? Share in the comments below!

Review: Watching You

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Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Publication Date: 12/26/18
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: 3/5

Disclaimer: I received a free advanced digital copy of this book from Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This has no effect on my opinion, review or rating.

Review: This is the second book from Lisa Jewell that I have read. I had high expectations on this novel since I loved Then She Was Gone. Lisa Jewell’s newest thriller follows a group of neighbors who live in this nice posh little area, but something isn’t right. The head school teacher, Tom Fitzwilliam, is loved and adored by everyone, but there are a few people who question his character. Overall, this was a mediocre book. The plot was intriguing, however, I wasn’t a fan of the writing style. The first half of the book was extremely slow. Some of the characters were outright irritating and I didn’t really care to know more about them. The ending was pretty good even though I felt like it was a bit predictable. I wouldn’t recommend reading this novel as there are so many other great thrillers out there.

20 Awesome Bookish Gift Items

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With the holidays around the corner, it’s a great time to start thinking about what gifts to get to the special people in your life. Maybe you’ve decided that you want to get your awesome friend or loved one a book, that’s great!

Buying a book as a gift is always a thoughtful idea. But maybe you’re thinking that’s not enough or you don’t only want to give books. In that case, you may want to consider doing a book package or a book gift basket. These packages or baskets are so fun to put together for your recipient. Down below are a few items to add to your gift basket or package. Happy gifting!

  1. Bookmarks or magnetic page markers
  2. Book lights
  3. Book sleeves or kindle cover
  4. Candles
  5. Enamel pins
  6. Candy
  7. Snacks
  8. Mug
  9. Tea or coffee
  10. Notebook
  11. Tote
  12. Funko pop book character collectibles
  13. Book ends
  14. Socks
  15. Blanket
  16. Throw pillows
  17. Scarves
  18. Tanks or tees with bookish quotes
  19. Jewelry with bookish quotes
  20. Poster with bookish quotes

What do you love to add to book packages or book gift baskets? Share in the comments below!