Today I give you my list of the 12 Best Books I Read in 2020. I read many AMAZING (and unfortunately many not so amazing) books this year but this list contains my absolute FAVORITES.
2020 has been quite the year. This year has taken away SO MUCH but luckily books has NOT been one of them. Reading has always been my favorite hobby and I’ve never been more thankful for it than I have in 2020. There is a lovely quote by Mason Cooley which states, “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” How TRUE is that…especially this year?!?
We drove through an AMAZING holiday light show last week! This 2020 sign was absolutely stunning in person!
Some of these books were released this year, some were released earlier. This list was not an easy one for me to narrow down and create! If you haven’t read any of these books, I very obviously highly recommend ALL OF THEM!
If you are a regular blog reader, you know that I always include my “bottom line” on the bottom of my reviews which is a quick way for me to recap my feelings. I thought it would be fun to list these books only by the bottom line that I gave to them in my reviews. Click these bottom lines to take you directly to my review of each book (including the synopsis for each book).
In no particular order, I present to you my absolute favorite books that I’ve read in 2020 (and I have read A LOT of books this year):
What are the best books you have read this year? Have you read any of the books on my Top 12 list? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Xo,
Jenny
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
One of the interesting aspects of being a book blogger is when you have feelings on a book you’ve read, you read another blogger’s thoughts on the same book…and you discover that they had a completely different takeaway than you did. I actually love when this happens because I find it so interesting to see others’ viewpoints which are so different than my own. Clearly this was the case when Melissa Amster and I both read Kacen Callender’s Felix Ever After. One of us has a very positive review while the other one of us…unfortunately has a negative review.
Like everything else in life, people will always form opinions on books they’ve read. What may positively resonate with one reader may have the opposite effect on another reader. I love discussing books, and I REALLY love discussing opposing views on books. How boring would life be if everyone shared the same opinions all the time? Our opinions, thoughts, and viewpoints are makes make us unique.
I’m so happy to welcome back Melissa Amster from Chick Lit Central to do a guest book review with me today! This is the 3rd book that Melissa and I have collaborated on reviewing but the first where our reviews are on opposite sides of the review spectrum.
Goodreads Synopsis of Felix Ever After {Kacen Callender}:
Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after.
When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle….
But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.
Jenny Share’s Review of Felix Ever After {Kacen Callender}:
I really, really, REALLY wanted to love this book. Sadly…I did not.
It starts off SLOOOOOWLY, like, 200 pages slowly. Around page 200 was when I felt it start to pick up and then I enjoyed the last 150ish pages significantly more than the previous 200.
The biggest issue that I had with this book was its dialogue. I felt that most of what was said between characters was so unrealistic and WORDY. Not every dialogue needs to include a lengthy monologue! I hate when authors do this, it’s so completely unrealistic and takes away from the actual story.
This whole book felt like I was reading one long therapy session. I’m all for being interspective but these characters literally spent what felt like each second analyzing and reflecting on EVERYTHING. Yes, the main theme of this book is looking within and living your authentic self but it was all just too interspective for me.
Did you ever watch Dawson’s Creek? I kept thinking of comparisons to that show while reading. Great characters, great storylines, but HORRIBLE delivery! Every conversation on Dawson’s Creek included long monologues, insane dialogues, ridiculous words that real life teenagers would never use, SO much interspection, and certain situations that would be unrealistic for teenagers to be in. Exactly how this book is! The only difference being that despite all of that, I loved Dawson’s Creek and I did not love Felix Ever After.
Let me clarify that statement. While I did NOT love this book, I DID love the idea behind the story of Felix Ever After. Knowing and accepting your authentic self is a beautiful and complicated thing. I DO have a few positive things that I will say about this book.
First and foremost, I will always support ANY book which brings awareness to topics that may otherwise not receive the attention they deserve. This book is a perfect example. It’s such an important book with such beautiful messages of acceptance of complicated topics. Also, I love that it has the ability to reach such a broad audience in terms of age range. Finally, many (not all) of the storylines were wonderful and can absolutely educate people on so many different levels. I can definitely see how somebody going through the same emotions as Felix would feel such a powerful connection and understanding to this book.
However even with these few positive aspects, I just can’t recommend the actual writing or it’s delivery in this book. Nope.
Melissa Amster’s Review of Felix Ever After {Kacen Callender}:
I had bought Felix Ever After on Amazon a while back because it looked interesting to me. Then I shelved it on my Kindle for a while. When Jenny said she was reading it, I decided to give it a try, since it was something we could easily review together at her blog.
I liked this story a lot. It was edgier than most LGBTQ novels I’ve read. There was more grit and intensity to it. It hurt me to read the transphobic messages that Felix was receiving. I know some people who are transgender and it sucks that someone would say such horrible things about anyone like that. I appreciated Felix questioning their identity throughout the story; that gender is a construct in this day and age and not everything is black and white. The story made me think of a friend who just came out as male-to-female transgender and how I had no idea they felt that way about their gender identity when they were younger. I’m glad books like these are available for teenagers (and adults), as you never know who might pick it up one day and be able to relate.
Kacen Callender’s use of description and details to bring the story to life made me feel like I was watching everything happen right in front of me. The emotional levels were really strong too.
I have been watching Degrassi the Next Generation and was impressed by how they handled the topic of transgender on that show. So I was pleasantly surprised to see it referenced in the author’s note at the end of the book. I even got emotional from reading that part. Some character names made me think of the show (Declan–Keane and Coyne sound similar–and Marisol, basically), so it was on my mind while reading it.
I look forward to reading more of Kacen’s novels and recommend this to anyone looking for a thoughtful story.
Book Coffee Happy Bottom Line :
Sooooo clearly some people love this book while others clearly do not (worst bottom line on a book review blog that’s ever been written, lol).
So…there you have it. 1 book, 2 bloggers, 2 completely different book reviews.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today, Melissa! I loved working with you, can’t wait to work with you again soon.
Have you read Felix Ever After? Do you agree with Melissa or myself? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
You can read the other collaborations that Melissa and I have worked on together HERE and HERE.
*If you are a blogger interested in a possible future collaboration with Book Coffee Happy, I’d love to talk! Send me an email to bookcoffeehappy@gmail.com*
Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
When 2019 was coming to an end (and the absolute craziness of 2020 was still in the future), I wrote this post highlighting 6 books being released in 2020 that I had on my radar to read. It’s always fun to go back at the end of the year and see which of those books I actually ended up reading and which I still haven’t.
Current view as I’m writing this. Love.
**Click the picture of the book covers below to order your book through my Amazon Affiliate links. When you purchase through these links, I receive a small commission. Xo!**
Last Couple Standing {Matthew Norman}
Release Date: March 17, 2020
Synopsis:
The Core Four have been friends since college: four men, four women, four couples. They got married around the same time, had kids around the same time, and now, fifteen years later, they’ve started getting divorced around the same time, too. With three of the Core Four unions crumbling to dust around them, Jessica and Mitch Butler take a long, hard look at their own marriage. Can it be saved? Or is divorce, like some fortysomething zombie virus, simply inescapable?
To maximize their chance at immunity, Jessica and Mitch try something radical. Their friends’ divorces mostly had to do with sex—having it, not having it, wanting to have it with other people—so they decide to relax a few things. Terms are discussed, conditions are made, and together the Butlers embark on the great experiment of taking their otherwise happy, functional marriage and breaking some very serious rules.
Jessica and Mitch are convinced they’ve hit upon the next evolution of marriage. But as lines are crossed and hot bartenders pursued, they each start to wonder if they’ve made a huge mistake. What follows is sexy, fun, painful, messy, and completely surprising to them both. Because sometimes doing something bad is the only way to get to the heart of what’s really good.
What I Had Written In 2019 On Why I Had Wanted To Read It:
“This sounds so scandalous and juicy…I can’t wait to read it :)”
When Charlotte and Philip meet, the pair form a deep and instant connection. Soon they’re settled in the Florida Keys with plans to marry. But just as they should be getting closer, Charlotte feels Philip slipping away.
Second-guessing their love is something Charlotte never imagined, but with Philip’s excessive absences, she finds herself yearning for more. When she meets Ben, she ignores the pull, but the supportive single dad is there for her in ways she never knew she desired. Soon Charlotte finds herself torn between the love she thought she wanted and the one she knows she needs.
As a hurricane passes through Islamorada, stunning revelations challenge Charlotte’s loyalties and upend her life. Forced to reexamine the choices she’s made, and has yet to make, Charlotte embarks on an emotional journey of friendship, love, and sacrifice—knowing that forgiveness is a gift, and the best-laid plans can change in a heartbeat.
What I Had Written In 2019 On Why I Had Wanted To Read It:
“I was fortunate to receive an Advance Readers Copy of this book. Spoiler Alert: I. LOVED. IT. Full blog review (and giveaway!) coming soon! This was officially released on 1/1 so you can read it NOW! And you should. This book was included on my list of the best books I read in 2019.”
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to do the same. A mother to two small girls, she started out as a blogger and has quickly built herself into a confidence-driven brand. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night. Seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, a security guard at their local high-end supermarket accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make it right.
But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.
What I Had Written In 2019 On Why I Had Wanted To Read It:
“So TECHNICALLY this one released in 2019…but…12/31 is close enough to 2020 to be included here 🙂 This book looks so amazing! I’ve had my name on the library hold list for months already. I can’t wait to read this one.”
When Astrid Strick witnesses a school bus accident in the center of town, it jostles loose a repressed memory from her young parenting days decades earlier. Suddenly, Astrid realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she’d been to her three, now-grown children. But to what consequence?
Astrid’s youngest son is drifting and unfocused, making parenting mistakes of his own. Her daughter is intentionally pregnant yet struggling to give up her own adolescence. And her eldest seems to measure his adult life according to standards no one else shares. But who gets to decide, so many years later, which long-ago lapses were the ones that mattered? Who decides which apologies really count? It might be that only Astrid’s thirteen-year-old granddaughter and her new friend really understand the courage it takes to tell the truth to the people you love the most.
What I Had Written In 2019 On Why I Had Wanted To Read It:
“I’m conflicted. I didn’t love Emma Straub’s The Vacationers but this new one of hers sounds so good…???”
Did I Read It?
Nope. I checked this book out of the library a few months ago…and returned it without even opening the cover. As good as this one sounds, I just can’t get excited about it considering how much I disliked The Vacationers. Maybe I will read this one at some point, but there are so many other books ahead of it on my list.
The Other Mrs. {Mary Kubica}
Release Date: 2/18/2020
Synopsis:
Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family from bustling Chicago to small-town Maine when their neighbor, Morgan Baines, is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie, who is terrified by the thought of a killer in her very own backyard.
But it’s not just Morgan’s death that has Sadie on edge. It’s their eerie old home, with its decrepit decor and creepy attic, which they inherited from Will’s sister after she died unexpectedly. It’s Will’s disturbed teenage niece Imogen, with her dark and threatening presence. And it’s the troubling past that continues to wear at the seams of their family.
As the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of Morgan’s death. But Sadie must be careful, for the more she discovers about Mrs. Baines, the more she begins to realize just how much she has to lose if the truth ever comes to light.
What I Had Written In 2019 On Why I Had Wanted To Read It:
“I was fortunate to receive an Advance Readers Copy of this book. Very unique and special full blog review coming on MONDAY!”
Did I Read It?
Yes! I actually wrote a joint review with a fellow book blogger over on her amazing book review blog. You can read both of our reviews HERE.
Destination Wedding {Diksha Basu}
Release Date: June 30, 2020
Synopsis:
Tina Das wants to belong, but she just isn’t sure where. India or America? Brooklyn or Bombay? Manhattan or Delhi? Or start from scratch in London–she still has fond memories of her one-night stand with Rocco Gallagher, the handsome Australian, as they traipsed through Covent Garden and Seven Dials, but he never called back so maybe it’s time to let that dream go, and focus on finding the next big story for her streaming network instead.
She’s hoping she’ll find it at her cousin’s lavish, weeklong Delhi wedding, and has taken her best friend Marianne Laing along for the ride to Delhi’s poshest country club, Colebrookes. Marianne has always had international tastes, in life and in love, yet can’t help but think of sweet, steady, khaki-clad Tom back home in New York.
Also in attendance are Tina’s divorced parents: her mother, Radha, who’s bringing her American “boyfriend,” David, to the wedding, and her father, Neel, who’s using the visit to India to explore the idea of dating again, only to discover it and he have both changed completely in the decades he’s been away.
Infused with warmth, charm, and wicked humor, Destination Wedding grapples with the challenges of work, love, and finding the people who make a place feel like home.
What I Had Written In 2019 On Why I Had Wanted To Read It:
“I’ve mentioned before how I have always been drawn to learning about Indian culture throughout my entire life. This book sounds wonderful!”
Did I Read It?
I did not…but definitely not for lack of trying! My local library doesn’t carry it no matter how many times I keep checking. I plan on asking them to order a copy but I haven’t as of yet. Stay tuned! I still think this book sounds wonderful and definitely plan on reading it. Maybe in 2021?
Have you read any of these 2020 releases this year? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
You can read my list of books that I wanted to read in 2019 and a mid year check in (I must not have done an end of the year check in) HERE! **I just reread that post and apparently the book that I’m currently reading is on there! Better late than never, lol**
Xo,
Jenny
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
So this is a big feature that many book bloggers do each Friday. I’ve never participated but when I started reading a new book this week, the first lines JUMPED out at me and I thought this would be such a fun way to share what I’m currently reading…and the ridiculously NOT 2020 vibe those first lines gave off to me, lol.
First Line Friday Rules:
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
Ok so as I mentioned above, I started reading this book over the weekend. Honestly, I never really notice first lines but these particular first lines literally JUMPED out at me. The beginning of this book takes place in 2008 and so clearly NOT in 2020, lol.
“It’s a wonder everyone who uses public ransport in winter doesn’t kneel over and die of germ overload. In the last ten minutes I’ve been coughed on and sneezed at, and if the woman in front of me shakes her dandruff my way again, I might just douse her with the dregs of the lukewarm coffee that I’m no longer able to drink because it’s full of her scalp.”
Is that the most UN 2020 paragraph you have ever read?!?
Using public transport during a pandemic…ugh.
Dying of germ overload? Yup.
Being coughed on and sneezed at? HELL NO.
Woman standing so close to you that her dandruff falls on you? Back up 6 feet!
Holding coffee in public? Not when you are wearing mask!
So now you can see why these particular first lines caught my attention, lol. Last year at this time, I wouldn’t even have thought twice about these first lines but this year I actually had to stop and reread them because they JUMPED out at me, lol.
So what book am I curently reading?
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic… and then her bus drives away.
Certain they’re fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn’t find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they “reunite” at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It’s Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.
I’ll post a full review once I finish reading!
Have you read One Day in December? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
Lucy Foley’s The Guest List had been on my list to read FOREVER. The wait list for this book at my library was so looooong! Everyone seems to be reading this book! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy to read and review.
Goodreads Synopsis of The Guest List {Lucy Foley}:
The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
My Review of The Guest List {Lucy Foley}:
So. Much. YES.
This book was FANTASTIC. I read it over the course of only a few days and truly could not put it down!
The setting for the story is so ominous, let alone each of the mysterious characters that it contains. Everything about this book was so mysterious and creepy and I absolutely loved it!
I will never, ever look at any wedding in the same way ever again. Holy hell.
I had about a million predictions which kept changing as I was reading as to how everything was going to play out in the end. For the most part, all of my predictions were completely wrong. I was able to guess one major twist pretty early on but other than that, I was completely shocked by all of the twists and turns! So, so good!
This book would make an absolutely amazing movie! The setting alone would be so much fun to see on the big screen. Someone is bound to buy the movie rights for this one…??
Bottom Line:
Highly, highly recommend!
Have you read this book? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Xo,
Jenny
Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
Book Coffee Happy’s newest series where I share the book I’m currently reading, the coffee I’m currently drinking, and 1 thing that is currently making me happy!
Book I’m Currently Reading:
Goodreads Synopsis of The Party {Robyn Harding}:
In this stunning and provocative domestic drama about a sweet sixteen birthday party that goes horribly awry, a wealthy family in San Francisco finds their picture-perfect life unraveling, their darkest secrets revealed, and their friends turned to enemies.
One invitation. A lifetime of regrets.
Sweet sixteen. It’s an exciting coming of age, a milestone, and a rite of passage. Jeff and Kim Sanders plan on throwing a party for their daughter, Hannah—a sweet girl with good grades and nice friends. Rather than an extravagant, indulgent affair, they invite four girls over for pizza, cake, movies, and a sleepover. What could possibly go wrong?
But things do go wrong, horrifically so. After a tragic accident occurs, Jeff and Kim’s flawless life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb suddenly begins to come apart. In the ugly aftermath, friends become enemies, dark secrets are revealed in the Sanders’ marriage, and the truth about their perfect daughter, Hannah, is exposed.
Harkening to Herman Koch’s The Dinner, Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap, and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, The Party takes us behind the façade of the picture-perfect family, exposing the lies, betrayals, and moral lapses that neighbors don’t see—and the secrets that children and parents keep from themselves and each other.
I just started reading The Party last night although it has been on my to read list FOREVER (how have I not read this book by now?). I’ll post my full review once I finish reading! I LOVE Robyn Harding (my absolute favorite book of hers is hands down THIS BOOK, it’s a must read!!!)
Coffee I’m Currently Drinking:
Dunkin + holiday cup = PURE JOY
Currently Making Me Happy:
My 8.5 year old daughter made this cake all by herself for our family of 4 to enjoy last night! Vanilla cake, 2 layers, marshmallow vanilla frosting. She even did a crumb coat! I’m super proud and she loved watching us eat it last night. It was delicious! Thankful for my little family and although Thanksgiving looked differently this year (we miss the rest of our family so much) we still made wonderful Thanksgiving memories here. We laughed, we cooked, we ATE, we decorated, we played Uno. A wonderful Thanksgiving indeed 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate!
What are you currently reading?
What coffee are you currently enjoying?
What is 1 thing currently making you HAPPY?
Xo,
Jenny
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! My little family of 4 will be celebrating here, safely in our home. We miss our family SO MUCH and can’t wait to hug them and celebrate fun holidays with them in the future! I woke up extra early this morning so I could get this post published before settling myself on our couch to watch the Macy’s Day Parade with my family from our couch. One of my favorite traditions of the entire year! I’ll be curious to see how it will be done virtually this year??? In honor of Thanksgiving, here are 5 Bookish Things I’m Thankful for This Year:
1. When My Daughter Has Random Breaks Throughout Her Virtual Learning Day
My 3rd grader has been virtual learning all year and she will randomly have breaks throughout the school day. 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there, etc. We have a routine where she will yell, “BREAK” and my son and I will stop whatever we are doing to run and join her on our living room couch for some quiet reading time. I. LOVE. IT. I grab a book, she grabs a book, and my son grabs headphones and the ipad (to listen to books being real aloud to him on the EPIC app). This picture was from this past Tuesday afternoon (her school had pajama day). Remote learning for the WIN!
2. My Beloved Book Light
If you have been following me for any length of time, you most definitely already know about my obsession with my (obviously old and much loved) book light. I very literally use it EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s one of the first things I put on my list to pack when I go on vacation! I love, love, love my dear book light. You can read all about her and my obsession with her HERE.
3. My Library’s Drive Thru Service
Illinois has already been put on strict orders to stay at home as much as possible. My amazing library drive thru has absolutely SAVED me during this pandemic, still allowing me to have access to unlimited books. I’m always thankful for this service but I’ve been a MILLION times more thankful for it in 2020! You can read about my experience with my wonderful library’s drive thru HERE.
I’m so thankful for Elin Hilderbrand. I finished reading THIS BOOK last week and I CANNOT get those characters and story lines out of my head. I’ve tried to read 2 books since then and unfortunately haven’t been able to fully appreciate either because my heart is still with Mallory and Jake. I’m fearful that I’ll never be able to love another book because I simply can’t imagine any book comparing to this one! Oh how I loved this book. If you are looking for an amazing book to read while in quarantine, this is it. Trust me.
5. The Amazon Product I Never Knew I Needed
I. LOVE. THIS. PRODUCT. How did I live without this for over 40 years??? I have been able to read so many more book pages at random times due to this product. Read more about my experience with it HERE.
And with that, I’m off to make coffee and watch the Macy’s Day Parade with my family! HAPPY THANKSGIVING to those who celebrate 🙂 I am thankful for so, so many things this year and that includes YOU!!!
What are you thankful for this year? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Xo,
Jenny
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
Another book I read during the STUPID WORDPRESS SWITCHOVER and therefore couldn’t post my review in a timely manner. I read Kate Elizabeth Russell’s My Dark Vanessa while sitting outside on a beach chair in gorgeous weather months ago. Now I’m typing this review over the Thanksgiving holiday with Christmas music playing on Pandora on my phone next to me. Ugh! Regardless of how long it took me to actually write this review, I have so many thoughts on this book to share with you!
Goodreads Synopsis of My Dark Vanessa {Kate Elizabeth Russell}:
2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.
2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed?
Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield. Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood. Written with the haunting intimacy of The Girls and the creeping intensity of Room, My Dark Vanessa is an era-defining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.
My Review of My Dark Vanessa {Kate Elizabeth Russell}:
This book was so disturbing…and yet…so GOOD? I had heard such mixed reviews prior to reading and I totally understand how everyone feels differently about this book. The subject is…a lot.
The topic is HEAVY and icky and weird and yet this book is GREAT. How???
The writing is fantastic, the characters are interesting, and the “unputdownable” factor is most definitely there. I FLEW through this book. It grabbed my attention from page 1 allllll the way until I closed the back cover. I didn’t want it to end.
Truly so thought provoking on so many levels. I read this book from the perspective of a mother, a daughter, a former teacher, and as a college student (how has it been so many years since that was my life when I can still relate to it so easily??).
My Dark Vanessa has deservingly made it to the final round in the fiction category of the Goodreads 2020 Choice Awards. Have you voted yet? As much as I did enjoy reading about Vanessa, THIS OTHER BOOK actually received my vote 🙂 If you haven’t read THAT book yet, I clearly highly recommend it!
I was pleasantly surprised at how different My Dark Vanessa is to THIS VILE BOOK. The 2 are nothing alike. One book makes you think, the other makes you want to throw up. I HATED THAT DISGUSTING OTHER BOOK SO, SO MUCH.
My Dark Vanessa is a wonderful beautifully disturbing book.
Bottom Line:
It feels weird to say that I loved this book because the subject is just so weird and dark…but…I loved this book.
Have you read this book? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Xo,
Jenny
Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
I read Wendy Walker’s Don’t Look for Me while on our 3rd trip to Spring Lake, MI (you can read all about our 1st and 2nd trips HERE and HERE). I still haven’t written a recap of our 3rd trip…maybe I still will even though it happened a month ago, lol? Spoiler: fall in Michigan is STUNNING.
Goodreads Synopsis of Don’t Look For Me {Wendy Walker}:
One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. The car abandoned miles from home. The note found at a nearby hotel. The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together. It happens all the time. Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over. She doesn’t want to be found. Or at least, that’s the story. But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?
The night Molly disappeared began with a storm, running out of gas, and a man in a truck offering her a ride to town. With him is a little girl who reminds her of the daughter she lost years ago. It feels like a sign. And Molly is overcome with the desire to be home, with her family—no matter how broken it is. She accepts the ride. But when the doors are locked shut, Molly begins to suspect she has made a terrible mistake.
When a new lead comes in after the search has ended, Molly’s daughter, Nicole, begins to wonder. Nothing about her mother’s disappearance makes sense.
Nicole returns to the small, desolate town where her mother was last seen to find the truth. The locals are kind and eager to help. The innkeeper. The bartender. Even the police. Until secrets begin to reveal themselves and she comes closer to the truth about that night—and the danger surrounding her.
My Review of Don’t Look For Me {Wendy Walker}:
Such an interesting and complicated story. I loved how the characters all fit together, the story lines were all so twisted and detailed, and how intense the whole book was. My heart was POUNDING while reading this one!
My predictions while reading were all over the place which I love. Also, I did NOT see that ending coming…
I couldn’t put this book down and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I closed the back cover.
This was the first book by Wendy Walker that I’ve read…I must add more to my to read list ASAP! Love her writing style!
Bottom Line:
Loved it!
Have you read this book? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Xo,
Jenny
Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
I put Elin Hilderbrand’s 28 Summers on hold at my library in JULY and last week….my copy FINALLY was ready for me! I couldn’t get to the library fast enough and put all other books on the back burner for the chance to finally read this one. I have been DYING to get my hands on a copy to read and review. I pretty much knew that I would love it because evvvvveryone loves it but little did I know that this would be one of the best books I’ve EVER read. Truly couldn’t put this book down!
Goodreads Synopsis of 28 Summers {Elin Hilderbrand}:
When Mallory Blessing’s son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he’s not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It’s the late spring of 2020 and Jake’s wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election.
There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other?
Flash back to the sweet summer of 1993: Mallory has just inherited a beachfront cottage on Nantucket from her aunt, and she agrees to host her brother’s bachelor party. Cooper’s friend from college, Jake McCloud, attends, and Jake and Mallory form a bond that will persevere — through marriage, children, and Ursula’s stratospheric political rise — until Mallory learns she’s dying.
Based on the classic film Same Time Next Year (which Mallory and Jake watch every summer), 28 Summers explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.
My Review of 28 Summers {Elin Hilderbrand}:
EVERYONE I know loves this book and I was so curious to see what the hype was all about. Would it be worth the 4 month wait???
WORTH. THE. 4. MONTH. WAIT.
Oh this book…I absolutely DEVOURED it. Started with page 1 on Friday and finished page 414 page on Monday. I wanted to read it and yet wanted to savor it all at the same time. The writing in this book is absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t put it down.
This book takes place over the course of 28 years (and actually a bit more) and it’s such a complicated journey filled with so many characters. Having so many characters is usually a huge pet peeve of mine but it was necessary and so well written in this book! It truly added to the richness of this complicated story.
Each new chapter begins with a small recap of the most popular and newsworthy items and people of that particular year. I. LOVED. THIS. It was an instant flashback to my own life and where my own life was during that time in history. Made me feel so connected to the time frame of this story.
I absolutely loved this book. I have not stopped thinking of these characters since I finished reading.
However…
As much as I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book, I must say 2 things. 1. Infidelity is wrong and I really wish that Jake was’t married although I do understand the dimension it brought to the overall story. 2. I wish this book didn’t have a prologue.
OK, there. I said them (and neither is a spoiler). Other than those 2 details, this book is literary perfection. Moving on…
The movie “Same Time Next Year” is referenced A LOT in this book. For those interested, here is the trailer. I think the movie actually looks…weird, lol. Have any of you seen it?
I love Elin Hilderbrand SO MUCH! Have you read the “Winter Street” series? They are wonderful and this is the PERFECT time of year to read them as they take place during the holiday season! I loved them so much and I LOVED that she casually mentioned these beautiful characters in 28 Summers! Did anyone else catch it??? You can read my review of the “Winter Street” series HERE. Another wonderful book by Elin Hilderbrand is THIS BOOK . I read that one years ago but for some reason never reviewed it? I loved it! I have now read 6 of Elin Hilderbrand’s books and have loved them all. I must read more of them ASAP! And…I must visit Nantucket. STAT. The way she describes it throughout each of her books makes it sound absolutely magical! Although at this point in the pandemic, visiting the grocery store feels absolutely magical sooooo….???
Bottom Line:
28 Summers is truly one of the best books I’ve ever read. These characters will stay in my heart for a VERY long time…
Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Xo,
Jenny
Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
. I read that one years ago but for some reason never reviewed it? I loved it! I have now read 6 of Elin Hilderbrand’s books and have loved them all. I must read more of them ASAP! And…I must visit Nantucket. STAT. The way she describes it throughout each of her books makes it sound absolutely magical! Although at this point in the pandemic, visiting the grocery store feels absolutely magical sooooo….???
Book Coffee Happy 