2nd Quarter Book Review

This quarter was filled with lots of chick lit and easy summer reads.  I listened to several of these on Audible and then read a few on my kindle.  I love the light reads for summer, but I did kind of miss reading some of my favorite thriller novels.  I will have to add a few of those in this quarter.

What Alice Forgot

by Liane Moriarty

This book was put on my reading lists years ago and I never got to it.  I love Liane Moriarty and have read several of her books and watched her TV mini series of Big Little Lies.  I actually just saw a glimpse of something on TV where they were asking Reese Witherspoon if they will do another mini series.   What Alice Forgot would be fun to see in a mini series too!!  So this book starts with Alice (who is telling the story) falling and hitting her head at the gym and being rushed to the hospital.  When she wakes, she finds herself missing an entire decade of her life.  She pieces together the last ten years by talking to friends and family realizing that her current life is nothing like she thinks.  This book is a great mix of love, heartbreak, suspense, and reflection.   I would highly recommend it.

Grace Not Perfection

by Emily Ley

The author is a young Mom, wife, entrepreneur, and fellow Pensacola gal (although she currently resides in Tampa).  I didn’t know Emily growing up even though we are from the same town, but have loved getting to know her through her Simplified Planner business.   This is a wonderful read for women in the “busy season” of life!  Emily gets personal in this book sharing some of her own experiences, difficult times she went through and gives tangible solutions to her readers to try and simplify our lives.   She talks about her faith and how important it is to focus on ourselves before we can help others.  We are not good to anyone when we spread ourselves too thin.   I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read and would recommend it to any of my friends since we are all currently facing this wild ride called life 🙂 

My Not So Perfect Life

by Sophia Kinsella

I kept seeing this book floating around summer book reviews.  I listened to this on audible.  I thought it was a little slow to start, but then found myself getting into it.  This may be a great book for a twenty-something getting on their feet after college graduation.  The story follows Katie who moves to London looking to make the perfect life in the big city.   She works for a marketing company with a boss that she feels lives the glamorous life.  She wants that life.  Katie falls into the trap of social media feeling like everyone around her lives a perfect life and she wants that too.  She gets fired from her job and feels like her life is crumbling.  Katie changes paths and finds happiness and maybe redemption.  The book is funny, cute, and worth the read.  It is a great portrayal of life now that so much revolves around social media.  I would recommend this book to those in their twenties. 

After I Do

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I read this book while Matt and I were on our trip to the Bahamas in May.  I remember reading good reviews about it and that it was a good reminder that marriage requires attention.  Love is wonderful, but marriage takes more than just love. This story follows a young couple that are very in love, but then find themselves at their breaking point.   They make the decision to take an entire year apart.  They will either make it or break it.  The only rule is that they are not allowed to contact one another for the entire year.   Lauren begins her journey of self-discovery during her year apart from Ryan.  She takes advice from her family and friends and reflects on things that were happening in her own marriage.  She realizes that love can fade, but marriage and commitment takes work and you must decide if it’s worth fighting for.  I loved some of the simple gestures that were recognized in this book that can go a long way.  I would definitely recommend this one. 

One True Loves

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I enjoyed reading After I Do, so I thought I would try another Taylor Jenkins Reid book.  This book follows Emma Blair who marries her high school sweetheart, moves across country with her husband who she is madly in love with and travels the world living life to the fullest.  On their first anniversary, life changes forever.   Jesse, her husband, gets on a helicopter and is gone forever.  Emma has to learn a new normal and tries to cope with this new loss.  The romance in this book is so rich and really shows what true love can be.  The problem is, can you have more than one true love?  There is love, conflict, heartache and a little suspense.  I would recommend this book.

Why Not Me?

by Mindy Kaling

I’m actually not 100% sure why I chose this book because I’ve never actually been a big Mindy Kaling fan.  Not that I didn’t like her, I just never watched her shows.  She starred in the Mindy Project and I probably only saw bits and pieces of a few episodes.  Anyway, I think this book popped up on my audible.com account and it looked short and sweet.  I also enjoy listening to books by celebrities when they narrate their own audio book.  You feel like you get to know them a little better when they are the one’s reading it.  In this book, Mindy shares her journey of finding contentment and excitement in her adult life (thirties).  Mindy is funny and she gets a little personal sharing that she fears that she will never find a husband or have children while all of her female adult friends will.  Well, it turns out while I was reading this book; she announced her first pregnancy in July!  No father has been named, but I thought my timing was funny.  Skip this book if you are not familiar with Mindy Kaling.  

Again, I know I’m a bit behind on my book reviews!  You can find my first quarter review here and my review for 2016 here.   I have a rather lengthy list of books that I want to read, but I would love to hear some of your current favorites.  I’m almost finished with The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand now.   So far, I’ve loved it!!