Gaston Library discussion

Hello and welcome to another reading wrap up! It’s a new year, so I’ve got a new reading goal. I’ve set my goal for 50 this year, so I’ve made it a little less than last year. I really had to work to physically read the 50 books (I did 65 with audiobooks included) for the Popsugar Challenge so I figured I’d bring it down a bit. So 50 books, including audiobooks, it is! What's your goal this year?

This month I read…

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid- I really liked this one. Taylor Jenkins Reid does an excellent job writing her characters. In all her books they are flawed and imperfect, but you still root for them. She also did an awesome job at showing how trauma irrevocably changed her characters in this novel. I loved the message the ending gave as well. Overall an awesome read, Taylor Jenkins Reid is still on my favorites list.

The Cat I Never Named : A True Story of Love, War, and Survival by Amra Sabic-El Reyes- This was a very interesting and insightful nonfiction read. It centered around another part of history I wasn’t familiar with, a war/genocide in Bosnia in the 1990’s, which was fascinating to learn about. Amra does a great job at sharing her experience during the war/genocide and how it shaped her. I’m a cat person too, so the fact the story of her war experience is so intertwined with a stray cat was fun to read about. Overall well written and very insightful read, I highly recommend it.

To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn- I listened to this on Audio. Ok, I think I’m learning that regency romances maybe aren’t my genre. Phillip had some very similar problems to Colin Bridgerton. Eloise could certainly have done better. He was so annoying at the beginning. I do have to say I liked this one better than the last one. I think it had to do with Eloise and her relationship with Oliver and Amanda, Phillip’s children. That whole storyline was very sweet. Also, It helped that while I was super annoyed with Phillip through most of the story, he did show growth at the end and the ending was pretty sweet. I do want to make it through this series because I love the Bridgerton Netflix show, so I’ll keep reading through. It will be interesting to see how Eloise’s romance plays out as well seeing this doesn’t fit with what they’ve done with her character on the show so far.

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black- This was just ok. I did love revisiting the fascinating world of the Folk of the Air trilogy that Holly Black created and getting to see some of the characters again. However, this all kinda just felt like a filler novel. That may not be a bad thing, but I just didn’t get much from this book other than what it led up too. There is a big revelation at the end and it sets some interesting groundwork for the coming sequel. This is a fitting follow up to Folk of the Air series and I am still excited for the next one.


What did you read this month? Be sure to share down below!

Happy Reading!

I set my normal goal of 60. I got in on a superhero prose special and have been reading them. Ten first of a series books. the challenge is not binge reading the series as I don't have time right now. The Hero Beat by Nick Svolos has been the best so far - the MC is a reporter working the Hero page like other reporters cover Society and Business. the Infamous a hearts by Ryder O'Malley was more of a MM romance than a hero story, so only ok for what I wanted. Timberwolf by Laura Mowery is a little too Mary Sue for my taste, much more a billionaire romance than a superhero romance. seven more books to go. I also knocked out the Jivaja series by Vanessa Giunta. A vampire-ish YA-ish modern fantasy.

Erin wrote: "I set my normal goal of 60. I got in on a superhero prose special and have been reading them. Ten first of a series books. the challenge is not binge reading the series as I don't have time right n..."

All these sound interesting! I have so many series I want to read and I too feel the pain of trying not to binge read them when I don't have the time. I need to knock a few out before Summer Reading hits! haha.