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Show Us Your Books: May

May 8, 2018

Life According to Steph
Its that time again! This is my favorite link up, i love finding new books every month and seeing who is reading what! For April I read 10 books…For some reason it was a slow reading month for me. 
Bringing Up Bébé (****) In keeping with my one non-fiction book a month this was April’s choice n recommendation of a friend. Considering my career I find books like this interesting, especially since I work in a different school environment than the normal public education. I thought the book was great, she does a good job of pointing out what she sees on both sides without ever really saying one side is wrong and one side is right. She is 100% right about the amount of pressure that parents face and “advice” they are given about what is right and wrong for parenting. I also very much enjoyed reading the comments/reviews from butthurt moms though! 
 One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2) (****)
Guys…I was so excited when this ebook was ready from the library I almost pooped myself. Seriously. I read it in less than 24 hours and then I was super pissed at myself because the next book doesn’t come out till September. SEPTEMBER. WTF. I thought it was a good read, leaving you so ready to read the next book! It also is kind of hard to decide which sister you want to become Queen….well..actually only 2 of them.
Glass Sword (Red Queen #2) & Kings Cage (Red Queen #3) (****) 
When I start to read a series I like to request all the books from the library at the same time so I don’t have to wait. I had to wait 3 weeks for Glass Sword after reading the first one so I was pretty sad about that. I zipped through it, loved and I was so ready for Kings Cage…which of course took a week to be available. You know when the next one comes out?? In 2 weeks. Dammit. I enjoyed them both…towards the end of Kings Cage I was like ok..alright…come on now. So I think more than anything I need to read the next one because I need closure. Still recommended though. 
 The First Wife & The Other Girl (****) 
So I saw the First Wife on like everyone’s list recently and then had to wait forever for it. Some people say it was predictable. I don’t think it is. I was surprised. At the beginning I thought I had it and when it ended I was like well shit…didn’t see that coming. So that makes it a good read for me. 
As for “The Other Girl” same thing except I had it completely wrong with who I thought it was. I ended up reading this one because I usually get on a genre kick after reading something I like and I am glad I did. 
Those were my favorites…here are some other notable mentions…
  • The Bone Witch (The Bone With #1) I liked this book enough to request the second book from the library but I wouldn’t say I want to rave about it. I am definitely interested in where it is going and I like the Geisha like lifestyle mixed with Magic. 
  • Resisting Roots I don’t know…this book was fun but also annoying misogynistic. The main male character was overly macho, you can have a player character who isn’t gross.  Also, if some dude I’ve never met calls me gumdrop before using my real name he is going to get attitude.  
  • Love & Gelato I think I maybe should have realized the book was YA early on but I sort of didn’t. It was cute, super cute in fact and worth the read for a kind of fluffy book. 
  • The In Between Girl I didn’t like the ending which is probably why I won’t read the next book. I think the author could have done a better job but that happens. It wasn’t bad so I did finish it but I don’t think I would recommend it.

Filed in: Books, Show Us Your Books • by Monica •

Show Us Your Books: April

April 11, 2018

Of course I am a day late because I can’t get my life together!

This is one of my favorite links because I love love reading! For March I got in 11 books, down from February but still a good number! 
 
 I set a goal to read at least one non-fiction book a month so this month was We’re Going to Need More Wine (*****)by Gabrielle Union. I loved this, I am a fan of hers but didn’t know much about her. I felt like I was sitting there listening to her talk about her life. It was a decent length that it didn’t feel like it went on forever. I laughed and cried a little and I think that makes it a great book for me. 
 
 
The Book of Unknown Americans (****) Another great read. I was pleasantly suprised. The characters were well written, the awkward teenage aspect of it all was amusing and realistic. I feel like it did a great job of tying in the real struggle for immigrant families into a fictional story. 
 
The Life We Bury (****) Another book I really enjoyed. Actually I think there may not have been anything in March I didn’t finish or enjoy. I didn’t want to put this one down. It was unexpected and I liked that, I do think the book could have been a little longer to give it more time to wind down but otherwise it was great. 
 
 A Dance of Silver and Shadows: A Retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses & A Tale of Beauty and Beast: A Retelling of Beauty & the Beast  I got the first free from Kindle, it was sitting in my kindle for awhile and since I was waiting for a couple books from the library I started to read it. I like the reimagined fairy tale books, I always find them fun so I definitely enjoyed them. I would say the first left me a with a few questions that I think are explained in another book but by the end of the second book I was done with the series. I didn’t want to ruin it. They are quick reads and what I would call “cute” books. 
Three Dark Crowns (****) Let me just say that I am glad I was on a shopping freeze for March because I would 100% have bought this book and the next one right away. Pretty sure this got added to my life from  “Show us your books” in the last few months. It was great! I hate to give away anything so you’ll have to check the description but if you like Fantasy and YA books I would recommend it. I already finished the 2nd book this past week but that is for April! 
 

 
The Last of August (****) you may recall last month I read the first of the Charlotte Holmes Series and enjoyed it. I was really excited for this book to be ready from the library and I wasn’t disappointed. I love Sherlock Holmes type stories so I am probably biased but the YA aspect gives it a fun twist.
 

 
And some of the other books I read in March…..
 
  • Blades of Magic  A fun read, fantasy & YA again too. Has a strong female character, which I am always a fan of! 
  • Spelled This is a kind of retelling of Wizard of Oz I think. It was interesting, I  thought it was cute but I don’t know if I plan to read the next book in the series. It felt kind of young. 
  • SEAL of Approval So yea…I like romance but this book was a bit of a mess. I wouldn’t say I didn’t like it but I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone either. The behavior of the main character and his buddies is super masogynistic. 
 
 

Filed in: Show Us Your Books • by Monica •

Show Us Your Books:March

March 12, 2018

Life According to Steph 

This is one of my favorite links because I love love reading! For February I got in 13 books, it was a short month and I had two really big research papers due so I am not sure how I managed that.
Crazy Rich Asians (****) So I started it…and let it go because it was kind of slow. Then at a meetup a girl was talking about how great it is and she convinced me to give it a shot and keep reading. So I did…and then I finished it and China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. I ended up liking China Rich Girlfriend best but they were all a fun read!

One True Loves (****) I didn’t think that I would enjoy this book as much as I did, sometimes storylines like this can be really cheesy but I think the author did a great job! I am not sure if I would know what to do in a situation like that!

From Lukov with Love (***) So this book ended up being read because I think I saw it on a few blogs for the last link up. I just…I just didn’t love it. It wasn’t a DNF but I felt like it didn’t measure up to there books I read by Zapata. So it was a solid 3 stars for me.
A Wrinkle In Time (****) I wish that I had read this book as a child because I can see how I would have absolutely loved it. As an adult who reads A LOT I was more critical of it. I still thought it was great though and am so glad I finally got around to reading it.
When We Were Worthy (***1/2) Another book from last month’s link up. I loved the small town, everyone knows everything but doesn’t kind of storyline but I felt like the end was not as satisfactory as I thought it would be. Turns out I like Marybeth Mayhew Whalen’s writing style because I immediately downloaded The Things We Wish Were True (****) after I finished this one and really really enjoyed that one. This one I loved, again, the small town gossipy thing seems to be something I like.

 
What books have you been reading??  
Link up @Jana Says and Show us your books!

Filed in: Books, Show Us Your Books • by Monica •

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