Hi, friends! It’s been a little bit since I’ve hopped on here. Things have been BUSY! My daughter had her birthday, we moved, then I had my birthday, and then my husband had his, and I haven’t been keeping up on here whatsoever. HOWEVER, I have been reading quite a bit, so I thought that I’d share my progress this month.
I went through a little phase a few years back of buying books and then never reading 75% of them, so I’m really trying now to read through the books that I’ve neglected since buying them. And I hate to say it, but some of them were so not my taste that I ended up donating 3/4 of them. I’m always happy to be able to declutter, so I guess I got that out of reading them, even if I didn’t care for the book itself.
The first book that I read was Animal by Lisa Taddeo. It’s been a little bit since I’ve read it, so I’m struggling to think of what to say about it. I will say that I read through it quite quickly, because the prose style was enjoyable, but I didn’t feel that it necessarily went anywhere. I don’t mind when media meanders and doesn’t have any real action, but this book did not particularly strike me. The content is extremely disturbing at times, and for me, there was no moment of catharsis making it feel justified and enjoyable to read overall. From what I’ve read online, many people enjoyed this novel, so I’m likely in the minority here. I would give it a 2.5/5 and I donated it to Goodwill.
The second book that I read this month was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’m a little nervous talking about this one, because it seems like many people enjoyed this one and I did not find it particularly enjoyable. I found the narrator’s storylines and voice uninteresting and sometimes aggravating and was not curious about her life generally speaking. I found the concept as a whole interesting, and I do enjoy stories that span over decades, so I did enjoy that in regards to Hugo’s life story, but for me, the book left something to be desired. I was able to finish it quite quickly, but overall, it was just a “meh” read for me. I would have to give it a 2.5/5 and I donated this one as well to Goodwill.
The third book that I read this month was The Guest List by Lucy Foley. Again, I found this book to be just okay. The concept is interesting and I do like books that have that sort of claustrophobic feeling, but I found that there were simple too many point of views that we were getting as the reader. I enjoy a book that has two narrators, but however many there were in this book felt excessive. And though I didn’t guess the whodunit and whydunit of it all, it did not feel ultimately satisfying to me. This book took me a little longer to read, because I just wasn’t feeling that involved with it, and yet again, I’m going to give it a 2.5/5 and yes, I donated this one as well.
The last book that I read was Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares. This is my second time reading this book and I loved it just as much as I did the first time. It manages to be both heartwarming and heart wrenching. I’ve seen people online say that they didn’t care for this as a series finale, but I enjoy it immensely! I wish that they would have made a movie for this one and if I’m being honest… I’m still holding onto hope. 5/5 and I would never donate this book!
That’s that, friends! I’m so excited to start my What I Read in December post because I have started a new (to me) series that I absolutely devoured the first book of. 400+ pages with miniscule font size and I finished it in less than 48 hours! Amazing!!!
What have you been reading lately? I am always open to suggestions!
XOXO,
Mattie Mae
Midwest Mattie 