Happy fall y'all! It's the time of year for pumpkin patches, sweatshirts (unless you live in the South like I do), football and cozy nights reading!
My weekends are now taken up a bit more with football, and not as much reading. But, I'm still plugging away at that pile of Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) that I've won through Goodreads, as well as throwing in a couple more on the New York Times list for top 100 books of the century.
Remember that you can follow my reading "real time" on my social media (FB and Insta), as well as on Goodreads (just click here).
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A Season Of Perfect Happiness by Maribeth Fischer
This one is a story filled with lots of emotions, heartbreak and love. It definitely takes you up and down a roller coaster as you are reading it.
The author does a great job of putting together a complicated story that draws you in and makes you feel for each and every character. I had a hard time putting it down so I could find out how the lives of all the characters ended up.
Some deep emotional topics and mental health discussions throughout, so definitely not an easy and light love story. But well worth getting invested in the characters and story.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Five out of five stars!
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories Of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, And Queer Radicals by Saidiya Hartman
I really wanted to like this one, but it just didn't live up to its expectations for me. The author writes about Black women in the big northeast cities - specifically Philadelphia and New York - during the late nineteenth century.
While obviously thoroughly researched and discussing some heavy topics, it felt too scholastic and sterile. It was also very disjointed - both overall in the book and from chapter to chapter.
This book is number 96 on the New York Times list of the top 100 books of the century. Three out of five stars.
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
My Royal Showmance by Lexi Blake
After reading a few deep and heavy books, it was nice to read something that was just fun.
The book is about a reality t.v. show that is the "royal" version of The Bachelor. The king of a small country in Europe goes on the show looking for his queen. Of course, nothing goes exactly as planned. Anika, who is a production assistant on the show, has to step in for a contestant that drops out last minute. Will the king find true love with Anika?
This is a short and fun one if you are looking for just a light read.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel
This is the story of Anne Boleyn. She was the second wife of King Henry VIII. When she fails to give the king a son, she falls out of favor and the king begins to look for ways to get rid of her and have the marriage annulled so he can marry Jane Seymour.
That's where the king's "fixer" - Thomas Cromwell - comes in. As Cromwell builds a case of adultery against Boleyn, the bodies begin to fall all around her.
This one starts off slow, but picks up the pace as the scandal of royalty during this time period takes center stage of the book.
This book is number 95 on the New York Times list of the 100 top books of the century. Four out of five stars!
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
The Ancients by John Larison
This book definitely takes some patience to get through. It is quite long and very slow paced.
The book is the story of people who try and survive a world where the earth is becoming inhabitable.
The book would have benefitted greatly if it would have started with some background information. It just dove right into the story, and I never really figured out what time period it was from, how they ended up in the situation they were in, and where they were. There was also several different groups of people, and it was never explained who they were or what their differences were. An extra chapter at the beginning setting all of that up would have been helpful and eliminated confusion.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
This book is set to be published on October 15, 2024. To pre-order your copy on Amazon, click here.
Terminal Surf (Lewis Cole Book 12) by Brendan DuBois
This is a book from a series focusing on the main character, Lewis Cole, but it can be read as a standalone.
Cole lives in a beach town in New Hampshire. When a drowned woman and her infant get washed up on the beach by his house, Cole gets pulled into trying to figure out who is behind a human trafficking scheme of refugees being brought in off shore.
Plenty of action and a fun read. The writing is a bit choppy at times, but a quick one that kept my attention.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
Defectors: The Rise And Fall Of The Latino Far Right And What It Means For America by Paola Ramos
This is a well researched and written book, and one everyone should read no matter which way you lean politically.
The majority of Latinos had always leaned towards being Democrats until the last few years, when many began moving to the Republican side. And for some, not only have their values shifted to be more Republican, but they are extreme and seem to go against policies that negatively effect other Latinos.
This book takes an in depth look into some of the causes of this shift, by looking at real people and their stories. Both fascinating and very educational.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
To order this book on Amazon, click here.
Being Seen: My Journey To Self-Love by Katie Myers
This is a very honest and real from the author about her struggles with mental illness. She covers everything from her eating disorder, to her depression, to her suicidal thoughts, to her post-partum depression.
Throughout her story, she speaks to how she pushed through and has used therapy to help. As a therapist herself, she has a unique perspective.
The book is quite short. It hits the spot for some readers to get the highlights of her stories, but I would have actually preferred her to go into more depth on certain things. Specifically, she briefly covers her struggle to get help when she needed it, and how broken our healthcare system is, particularly when it comes to mental health. I'm sure as a therapist and former CEO of a treatment facility, she could shed a lot of light in this area. That was a miss for me in this book.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
This one isn't flashy or has some sort of unique plot. It's just a story about people and one specific family. But it is written so well and the characters developed so well, that it pulls you in.
The story focuses on a family where each member has their own struggles. The father teaches at the local college. His affair and his inability to relate to the rest of his family lead to trouble. The mother is struggling with her husband's infidelity and her search for herself. Each of the children are trying to find their own way between their culture, their race, and their middle class status in an academic family.
This book doesn't have any unexpected turns, but is very well written.
This book is number 94 on the New York Times list of the top 100 books of the century. Five out of five stars!
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
Planes Flying Over A Monster: Essays by Daniel Saldana Paris
I am not a huge fan of essay collections. They often feel disjointed to me. That's the case with this one as well. Great writing, but not much in the content to keep me super interested.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
Built With Purpose: How Our Employee-Owned Business Changed What It Means To Work And Why by Bill Roark
I feel like this book has a bit of an identity crisis. The title implies that it is mostly going to be about ESOPs, how to set your business up as one, and why that is a good thing. The book does cover over and over again (almost too much) why it has been so good for Torch to be an ESOP. But it doesn't go into any of the technical details, if that is what you are looking for.
It's a good story about a successful business. The book almost feels like more of a history of the business and all of its success, rather than a business book, which is what I was expecting.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
The Silent Forest (The House On The Hill, Book 2) by David Duane Kummer
This is book two in a planned three book series. As I received this as an ARC, I did not read the first book in the series. While I felt I didn't have to, it definitely took a bit to figure out what was going on.
This is an excellent psychological thriller. Definitely a page turner and one that will make you want to keep the lights on at night. Great characters that you are never sure if you can trust or not. Lots of good plot twists.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
William by Mason Coile
This is an old school psychological horror story. Almost in the style of Alfred Hitchcock.
The entire story takes place during one day in the home of Henry and Lily. Henry has been holed up in his attic lab building "William", which is a human like robot. When Lily invites two friends over to he house, things start to go terribly wrong.
Nothing in this book is as it appears to be, and it leaves you with some great twists at the end. The book is pretty short, which also allows you to read it in one sitting.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here.
You Have Gone Too Far (County Kerry Mystery, Book 3) by Carlene O'Connor
This is a great psychological mystery. When pregnant women in a small Irish town start turning up dead and missing, it brings back memories of similar happenings decades before. That was when a cult was discovered, where the Staff and Shephard were keeping young pregnant women captive. When they are both released from prison around the time the murders and disappearance start happening again, is it a coincidence?
The storyline on this one is very thought through and well developed. Lots of twists and turns. I had a hard time putting this one down.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Five out of five stars!
This book will be published on October 22, 2024. To pre-order your copy on Amazon, click here.
I hope you find some good book suggestions on this list to cozy up with this fall!
What books do you recommend I read next? Let me know! Did you check out any of these books? I'd love to hear what you think! Comment below or e-mail me at tips2livebywriter@gmail.com.
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