September 13, 2016

The Books I've Been Reading {#12}

Whoa! When I saw how many books I read last month I almost didn't think it was worth doing a post on it. August has been by far, my worst month of reading this year. Three whole books. Three! I know that's a lot for some people, but like I said, not my best month. I blame it on lots of visitors, a trip to my home city and an overall feeling of just not wanting to read lately. (Gosh, I hope that's a short lived phase!) I don't even know what I've been doing with my time instead...I certainly haven't been watching any good shows on Netflix, and my house doesn't look any more clean or tidy! At least I enjoyed all three books!

So here's what I read in August:

Adult Fiction Book Reviews


1. Keep Me Posted by Lisa Beazley: This was the book for my last online book club and it was a fun, easy and perfect summer read. In a nutshell, it's about two sisters who decide to embark on a hand-written correspondence to reconnect. Unfortunately, one sister's overzealous attempt to "preserve" all the letters results in some pretty big drama which she must own up to despite hoping everything would just go away. I really enjoyed the letter writing in the story, but a few things I had a hard time believing (like a blog going viral with absolutely no promotion of said blog), but it was still a cute read. You can read my full review HERE.  (3/5 stars)

2. Recipes for a Perfect Marriage by Morag Prunty: This book has been sitting on my shelf FOR YEARS and I finally felt compelled enough to read it last month, and I'm so glad I did. It bounces back and forth between a woman in her late 30s who just recently got married but is feeling less than certain about the decision, and her Irish grandmother who married someone not of her choosing. The book really explores the age-old question of "what truly makes a good marriage", and how love in a marriage is different than that of lust and young-love. I know everyone has different opinions on what makes a marriage work, what love really means, etc, but I consider myself quite a practical and realistic person, so this book really spoke to me. There are also old Irish recipes sprinkled throughout the book which I quite enjoyed! (4/5 stars)

3. Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens: The first book I read of Chevy's was Still Missing (full review HERE), and to this day, that book has stuck with me. It's intense, thrilling and very suspenseful. I'm not sure why I waited so long to read another one of her books, but here I am, 4 years later, finally picking up another one of her books. Never Knowing is about 30-something year old Sara, who was adopted as a baby, and when she learns that adoption records have been opened up, decides it's time to track down her birth mother. What she doesn't expect to find out, is that her birth mother is the only surviving victim of a serial killer, the Campsite Killer. Attacked and raped, miraculously, her mother escaped. All these years later, the serial killer is still out there, never to be caught. No one even knows what he looks like. But what Sara doesn't realize until it's too late, is that by finding out about her true past, she is opening up herself (and her family) to be discovered by her biological father.

I have to say, I've often thought about this scenario: children who are the product of rape crimes, or the offspring of murderers, etc, what would it be like to find out this truth? How would you process it? Would you even want to know? I liked this look into such an infrequently spoken of reality.

Never Knowing isn't nearly as intense or disturbing as Still Missing, and it does have some slow parts, but overall, I was sucked in until the last page. (3.5/5 stars)

*****

So there you have it! My whopping three books I read last month. Unfortunately, September reading isn't off to any better of a start (I haven't finished one book yet, although I'm in the middle of three).

Also, this month's book club pick is One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid and we will be meeting back here to talk all about it next Wednesday, September 21, so come join us! You can see more details about book club HERE.


What have you been reading lately? 

Do you like psychological thrillers?


Linking up with Steph & Jana for Show Us Your Books!




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