Yup, I realize that November is more than half over. I also realize that my list of books to read in November is really, really small. I only have THREE books on my books to read in November list, when I usually include FIVE. Why's that? Well, November is National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo) so as an author, my priority this month has been to WRITE a novel rather than read novels. Still, I can't NOT read, right? I have to have balance in my life. So because my NaNoWriMo novel is part of my Amy Maxwell series and I need to recall details that happened in the previous novels, my books to read in November list is exclusive to my Amy Maxwell series. (If you'd like to learn more about National Novel Writing Month, check it out HERE.) The 8 Mistakes of Amy Maxwell Amy Maxwell’s…
Books to Read in October
Despite the scorching temps this previous week (and those expected next week), I spent the last few days engaging in one of my favorite "back to school" activities: Decorating for Fall and Halloween. Tomorrow is October 1st and with October comes all things pumpkin spice (apple spice if you're a pumpkin spice hater) and spooky stories. In celebration of this harvest month, my books to read in October list consists solely of thrillers and mysteries. In the past few months, I've tried to shake up my TBR list with different genres, but not this month. October is for thrillers only...by far my favorite genre. Check them out below: (As always, blurbs are from Goodreads and in italics.) The Institute by Stephen King In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black…
Best Books of Summer 2019
Unfortunately summer is winding down. It's time to pack away the beach chairs. Time to close up the pool and cover the patio furniture. It's time to go back to work and school. Time to tally up the best books of summer 2019. This list of the best books of summer 2019 is extremely subjective. It's comprised of the best books I read this summer. Yup, it's my opinion. These aren't necessary "summer's hottest reads". In fact, some of these books could be a few years old already. It's not based on prize winning books or books "Everyone" loved. Nor is it based on books with five stars and a billion reviews. I mean, these books might have five stars and a million reviews, but that's not why I consider them the best books of summer 2019. I consider them the best books of the summer because they were the…
Books to Read in September
You guys, I can't believe that summer is OVER. September is here and we are officially in the back to school mode. (sniff, sniff) Don't get me wrong...I love September. I'm pretty sure that once I retire from the school system, it'll be my favorite month. The weather is perfect and fall is in the air. I don't need to wear circulation-strangling shorts anymore, nor do I need to worry about the humidity making me look like a chia pet. The one thing that's great about summer (besides the beach) is that I can read so much. Once the school year starts up, my reading time is next to nothing. So imagine my distress when I got word that almost ALL the books I had on hold for this summer came in at once...the weekend before school started. It goes without saying that my books to read in September list…
The Art Of Racing in the Rain (A Bad Mommy Review)
So lately, I've been watching movies and then reading the books. With the exception of Every Day and To All the Boys I've Loved Before, I've found most of the time, I prefer the book to the movie. I didn't want to review The Art of Racing in the Rain until I had seen the movie. I wanted to offer an opinion as to whether the movie did the book justice or not. My daughter and I went to see the movie the day it came out. And while we both cried buckets and used up a whole packet of tissues (what is it about dog movies and crying????), the jury is still out on which was better. They both have positive attributes...so maybe you need to experience both to decide. The Art of Racing in the Rain is about the life of Enzo the dog. He is adopted by…
“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” (A Bad Mommy Review)
I'm giving "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" 4.5 stars! You guys, I love Mystery and Literary Fiction as much as the next book nerd. Those have always been my favorite genres and I usually include them in my Books to Read for the Month posts. See Also: Books to Read in July and Books to Read in June But I think I may have a new favorite genre. I've read YA before...my Books to Read in May was ALL YA..and I've always enjoyed it. But lately, the YA novels I've been reading have been far better than any adult fiction I've read. The wooden and cliche YA characters of yesterday are gone, and in their place are these complex individuals that are really, truly teenagers that exist today. Lara Jean of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" is no exception. She and her sister Margot have basically…
Books to Read in August
They say that the first step to getting over a problem is to admit you have one. So here goes: "Hi, my name is Heather and I buy too many books." I bet a lot of you can relate to this problem, right? Well, I looked at the stack of books that I've purchased over the last few months and haven't read yet, and decided that my books to read in August list could only include books from that pile. Summer is a great time for reading for me as I had no trouble finishing my books to read in July list. I know that even if I don't finish all the books in my pile by the end of the summer, if I make my books to read in August list from it, I'll at least make a dent in it. So I can, you know, buy more books.…
5 Great Summer Books
It's the end of July, the middle of summer. Even if you're not off from work all summer, most people take a week or so in the summer for a vacation. And what better way to spend a summer vacation than reading? Don't know what to read? You're in luck! I've put together 5 great summer books for you. When I first decided to write a blog post about great summer books, I asked for suggestions from my own readers. And between their great summer books suggestions and my own great summer book suggestions...well, the list had approximately four hundred and ninety-seven books on it. How could I possibly choose a few great summer reads from four hundred and ninety-seven books? Instead of trying to pick from those, I decided that my list of great summer reads would either A. Be set in summer, or B. Have the word summer…
“The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters”
So I was lucky enough to not only read one great, 5 star book last week (A Man Called Ove) , I was fortunate enough to read TWO 5 star books last week. The second one was The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters. It's written by the author of Erotic Stories For Punjabi Widows, Balli Kaur Jaswal. I read Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows last year and I loved the characters. The author's ability to bring a culture that I don't have much experience with alive in my head was amazing. Usually a second novel following close on the heels of such a successful debut falls flat. This wasn't the case with The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters. In some ways, this book was even better than her first. The premise of the novel involves three sisters making a pilgrimage to India. This journey is a promise made to…
“A Man Called Ove” (A Bad Mommy Review)
Never have I ever read a book like "A Man Called Ove". (It's pronounced Oo-vah btw...you're welcome.) The reason I know this is because I truly have never read a book like this...I listened to the audiobook version and that's how the narrator pronounced Ove. If he's wrong, I'm sorry, but that's on him. I'm not sure if it was hearing the characters voices (bravo to the narrator...he was ah-mazing) or that this book was truly something else, but this is probably the best book I've read experienced in years. Honestly, I can't even find anything bad to say about it. Ove (okay, maybe he should have had a name that was a little easier to pronounce...there, that's the only thing bad I can say about this book) is an old curmudgeon. Actually, he's not really old, only 59. He's basically just a curmudgeon. What makes one a curmudgeon? He's…