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…
Category: Best Book Recommendations
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…
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…
Books to Read in July
OMG guys! July is here!!!!! I'm so excited about all the reading I will get done. I KNOW I will finish my books to read in July list with no problem. In addition to any other Books to Read from previous months...ahem...May. For my Books to Read in July list, I've chosen books from authors that I have LOVED in the past year. It was actually really hard to narrow it down to just five books, but like I said, I'm sure I will be reading much more this month. You know, with all my free time and all that. My kids are now self sufficient...after YEARS of hearing "Mommy I'm bored" or "He/she hit me/kicked me/touched me/looked at me sideways" and my all time favorite, "Mommy, I'm HUNGRY". Oh, who am I kidding? I still hear that last one. I think the kids think I'm running a diner. See…
My Favorite Books of Spring 2019
Friday is the first day of summer! (And the last day of school for us.) I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about this. Summer is my favorite. It's so relaxing. I get so much reading and writing done in the summer (and there is no homework to nag about every day, either). To kick off our summer, let me tell you about my favorite books of spring 2019. Most of these were 4.5 stars. For some reason, I haven't really read a solid five star book in quite some time, but let me assure you, my favorite books of spring 2019 have been fabulous must-reads. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne Lucy Hutton and Josh Templeman are assistants to the CEOs of a publishing company. They share an office. They play games all day. And they hate each other. With a chance at a promotion…
Audiobooks…yea or nay?
A few years ago, I joined Goodreads. For those of you that don’t know what Goodreads is, I will break it down in the simplest of terms...Goodreads is an online community of READERS. A place for readers and authors to meet and discuss books they’ve read, what they’re planning to read, and pretty much anything related to reading. In other words, biblophile heaven. My initial reason for joining Goodreads was to keep track of the books I had read (and subsequently to rate them so I could remember which books and authors I liked and which ones had not been for me). On more than one occasion I had started reading an Agatha Christie novel, only to discover about halfway through that I had already read that one. Has that ever happened to you? Silly me, of course it has. I can’t be the only one who reads so many…
Daisy Jones & the Six (My Review)
Have you read Daisy Jones & the Six yet? Book Clubs all over have been reading this book and losing their minds about it. Which is probably why I was on a two month waiting list at the library to get this book. I finally got to read it this week. I had to take a few days after finishing this book to organize my thoughts enough to write a review. Daisy Jones & the Six is a Bit Unusual The first thing you will notice about Daisy Jones & the Six is that it isn't set up the way a "normal" book is---a story told by some narrator, either first person or third person. Daisy Jones & the Six is told as an "Author interview". The members of The Six, Daisy Jones, and others that knew them as they built the band, are all interviewed by an author writing…
3 Books That Changed My Life
Every so often, a book comes along that has the power to change the trajectory of our entire lives. Where we were lost, the book helps us find our way. When we thought things were hopeless, within a story we found hope. We became inspired when we thought we had no more inspiration to stumble upon. Maybe you're thinking that that's a bit dramatic. And it might be...if you've never had a book that changed your life. I've been lucky enough to read not one, but three books that have changed my life. "Books that changed my life" might be a heavy title to bestow upon these novels, so maybe "books that made me examine my outlook" or "books that opened my eyes to a different perspective" might be a more accurate moniker than "books that changed my life". The books that changed my life in the way you may…