Café Con Monica

Show Us Your Books & Book Goals Update: April

It’s that time again! Linking up with Jana Says & Life According to Steph for Show us your Books!

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But first I want to share my Book Goals update for April!

  • 3/25: Books I didn’t choose for myself
  • 3/12: Non-Fiction Books
  • Posted 6 bookish photos on Instagram & 4 Bookish blog posts
  • #Unreadshelfproject2019 – Again I didn’t get to the book I chose for march but I put it on my list for April so now I will have to double up.

Now let’s talk about what I read in March…..

Check out my GoodReads here and add me so I can see what you are reading!

Becoming ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I actually just reviewed this book yesterday! And of course when I was gathering the books for this month’s SUYB photo I freaking forgot to put Becoming in it. Ugh. I have so many thoughts about this book so I definitely think you should check out the review. But yea 5 stars and It is a definite recommend!

Sharp Objects ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book is dark and definitely disturbing and right up my alley. I chose it because I wanted to watch the show and now I am a bit nervous about watching the show. It was like watching a train wreck. I couldn’t stop even though I was like WTH am I reading right now. I definitely didn’t see the end coming but I am not sure if that is just because I was disturbed by what was going on.

A River in Darkness ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was our Girly Book Club read for March and it led to really great conversations at our book club meetup. Its hard to say you enjoyed reading a book that is about something so terrible but while I did know some of what has gone on in North Korea there were still plenty of things I wasn’t as aware of . As soon as I finished the book I googled the author but could only find something from 2012 about him and his family. I very much hope that he and his family are ok. I would definitely recommend reading this if you are looking for a non-fiction that likely lead to reading other books about the subject.

Crooked Kingdom ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I loved Six of Crows so I am not surprised that I enjoyed Crooked Kingdom just as much. I think that Badrugo did a wonderful job of bringing the story full circle. I wasn’t left wondering what what happens next or is this it? I did want more but I also worry that another book in this series could ruin it all. I really am enjoying the Grishaverse though!

Evermore ⭐⭐⭐ Most of my enjoyment from Evermore was just getting to finish the series. The writing is great but while I really enjoyed Everless I was not as impressed with Evermore. It felt like the book focused less on the time and more on the YA similarities that a lot of the other books out right now do.

The Husband’s Secret ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I was pleasantly surprised by this book but then again, not really. Liane Moriarty is a great writer. So far of all the books I have read by her only one wasn’t my fave. I really enjoy the book being in Australia, there isn’t much I know about the country so it is fun. It was great to take a break from all the many YA books I’ve been reading lately. I did not like the Cecilia at all which I think really made me want to keep reading.

Furyborn ⭐⭐⭐⭐ You can check out my full review of the book here. I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it if you are a New Adult genre fan!

It was another really light reading month for me in March. I don’t know what has been going on in 2019 but I have had a real reading slump! I think April is going better though!!! I’m excited to see what everyone else has been reading!

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Book Review: Becoming

A book review of Becoming by Michelle Obama ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Why I chose this book

I’m a big fan of the Obamas, have been for a long time and I knew I had to read Becoming along with seeing Michelle Obama when she came to Austin. My friend and I got online an hour before the tickets went on sale to make sure that we were able to get tickets. I asked for the book for Christmas but I actually ended up getting gift cards for Barnes so I bought it for myself! I was very interested in getting an inside look into the lives of the Obamas.

What I liked

Everything. I fell in love with Barack all over again reading about how they met and became a family. I loved getting to know Michelle as her own person and what her background entailed. I learned so much I didn’t know about her family and her career before she became First Lady. I really loved the writing style and how well it was written. The pictures in the middle were a great touch, it was nice to see a couple of the things that were in the book in photos. I always wondered how Michelle handled all the negative things that were said about her and her family in the news. It was great to see how the family changed and the ways they stayed the same as the years passed and they became more and more prominent.

What I didn’t like

After that previous paragraph, you might say…what is there not to like? It wasn’t long enough. The book was plenty long don’t get me wrong but I really wish there had been more on their time in the White House and what is going on now. I like to think that another book will come and it will all be in there. What I really didn’t like was finishing the book and feeling so emotional. As soon as I finished and closed the book I started to cry. AJS was wondering what the heck was wrong with me and all I could say was “How did we go from this (pointing to the book) to what is going on in your country right now?”

Would I recommend it?

Absolutely. I don’t care what side of the political road you consider yourself on this book really helps you get to know the Obamas, in particular, Michelle and where she came from. It helps to understand what drove their interests and see how much they both really want to help people.

I had someone comment on my Instagram: “I won’t read the book since I don’t particularly like her but I’m glad you enjoyed it.” I think if you are similar to this person I would especially recommend it because you may be able to learn something beyond the awful things the media said about her and their family over the years!

Seeing Michelle Obama

First, I am so happy that we went. I can now say I have been in the same building/park as both the Obamas and I really hope it is not the last time. (I was at Grant Park the night of the Barack’s acceptance speech in 2008.) Rachel Ray was the moderator for the evening. I was pretty excited about this because I am a Rachel Ray fan. She opened up with some comments and let me just say she was so nervous! You could totally tell. The only thing that struck me was when she was talking about how much she loves Austin she said “Austin is a place without isms”. As a person who has lived here now for almost a year I would say that is 100% incorrect and plenty of people who went that night agree.

She discussed her childhood, answered questions from Rachel from the book. We didn’t really learn anything really new that wasn’t in the book. I loved her bits of humor scattered into the comments though. Like her quip about being a family in the White House for 8 years without even one scandal. Let that sink in ya’ll. 8 years and zero scandals. We got to understand her frame of mind at Trumps inauguration and how her and Barack are handling their lives after a Presidency. I loved that even with some quips there was zero negativity and she 100% lives to….

All that said I hope that I get to see her and Barack again at some other event in my lifetime and I look forward to reading more books written by and about the Obama family.

Have you read Becoming? Did the Becoming tour come to your city?

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Books: April TBR

Sharing my April TBR list! You can check out March here and next week I will be linking up for SUYB to let you know what I actually read in March.

I have been running around like a crazy person the last few months so I am really hoping that April gets me back to my usual reading and relaxing!

#unreadshelfproject2019

The challenge for April is a book that you recently acquired. This is easy since AJS purchased a monthly used book subscription for me for Vday. I got my first two books last month so I chose Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh.

Girly Book Club

My goals for the year include reading books I didn’t choose for myself. April’s Girly Book Club choice is Fight for Flight by Samantha Young. This has been super helpful in keeping up with that goal. As the host I generally have to read the book if I plan to lead the discussion!

Non-Fiction

Another goal for the year is to read at least 1 non-fiction book a month and I’ve wanted to read Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime for a while. I came across Trevor Noah long before he became The Daily Show host and remember thinking how hilarious and real he was so I am excited to read his story.

Didn’t get to…

I meant to get to Wicked King by Holly Black last month but life. So I put it back on my TBR because it really is a book I have been dying to read!

I like big books and I cannot lie..

I was at half price books browsing as usual and Beautiful Creatures caught my eye. So I read the cover, sounded good and here we go it is on my April TBR!

I’m sure there will be more books but I hope to get through these this month!

What’s on your TBR list for April? Are you doing any reading challenges?

Check out some other great TBR lists at TBR Mix & Mingle

Don’t forget to check out my new Instagram! Or you can follow me on Twitter,  Pinterest or Bloglovin

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