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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Show Us Your Books & Book Goals Update: March

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

______________________________________________________________________________

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

  • 2/25: Books I didn’t choose for myself
  • 2/12: Non-Fiction Books
  • Posted 9 bookish photos on Instagram & 4 Bookish blog posts
  • #Unreadshelfproject2019 – I didn’t even open the book I chose for February (book that was gifted – Anonymous Girl) I didn’t get rid of it but I borrowed it to a friend in hopes she takes a while to read it.

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

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

Two Dark Reigns ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I really did enjoy this book but I will tell you I would have been happy to have this series end with this book. It felt like they could have wrapped it up and been done. I still gave it for 4 stars though because it is a good read and I am in it to finish it!

Melt for You ⭐⭐⭐ I also read Burn for You and Ache for You. Burn for you was the best of the three but I have a problem and have to end up reading similar books right after each other. I love a good slow burn but for some reason by the time I got to Ache for you I was overit.com.

Next Year in Havana ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I saw some conflicting reviews about this book before I read it and I can see some of what they were saying but I also know quite a few Cubans and their families can attest to a lot of the descriptions of the struggle that they feel in the pull back to Cuba that isn’t the same Cuba they left. I also think this book helps people see the other side. I keep hearing “We have to go to Cuba before it becomes touristy” completely overlooking the fact that the reason they are stuck where they are is because of a terrible communist leader, not because they wanted to be stuck in that life. Anyway, I hope that more people read it and learn a few things that they didn’t know.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I reviewed this one last month, you can see a full review here! Even after seeing some conflicting reviews I thought it was a good read and would recommend it!

American War ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 This one is my Girly Book Club read for the month so I also did a full review here. But for the short and sweet of it, I thought it could be better but I didn’t dislike the book. There were definitely parts that are eerily realistic.

Ash Princess ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’ve been reading a lot of YA books with kingdoms and princesses and queens lately so while I did see some parts were not much different there is a darker aspect to this read that I enjoyed. There is a seriously cruel King, some love and betrayal and of course a Princess/Queen.

It was a weirdly light reading month for me. I struggled just to get these 8 books in. Also, I started Becoming and got about 75% through it before seeing Michelle Obama the last week of the month but since I didn’t get to finish the book until March I am counting it for March instead.

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Girly Book Club: American War

Tomorrow is our Girly Book Club meeting for the Austin chapter and we will be discussing this month’s book: American War by Omar El Akkad

I will be honest when I say I struggled with this book. As I’ve mentioned in my book goals I am trying to read books that I wouldn’t choose for myself. Last month’t GBC pick was one that was already on my TBR so I didn’t have to worry about that but this month’s book was not a book I would have chosen. Add to that the fact that there are so many conflicting reviews on Goodreads and all over the interwebs it was rough to get into wanting to read this one. This is not the typical dystopian book that I have read.

American War by Omar El Akkad ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

The Good

The idea of a second civil war is not that far fetched to me. I am sure some people think that it is but there is a lot going on in this country that could trigger some ridiculous in-fighting. I appreciated the bits of “government information” breaking up the parts of the book, they helped to make sense of a few things I wasn’t fully understanding. I think the book did a good job of helping us see how a person who is suffering can go from feeling hopeless to feeling vengeful. We have seen it, we know it exists. I think from experience we have seen people who hold on to their ideals no matter how ridiculous they are and I feel as though he did a great job of showing that in the stubborn characters who truly believed they were fighting for the right thing because that was how it always was. Also, the idea that climate change ravages the world and the things it described about how the country fairs environmentally were eerily prophetic. There are a lot of thinly veiled pokes at the political climate and I’m here for it.

“All these old men want it to be like it was when they were young. But it’ll never be like that again, and they’ll never be young again, no matter what they do.” – Omar El Akkad

Think about this quote. Have you heard something like this before? Thought this at any point?

The ehhhh

First, the idea that the second civil war would be a result of people fighting over fossil fuel is not believable for me…race, maybe..inequality…sure. But fossil fuel? No. Guys, I disliked Sarat, a lot. I also found it extremely hard to believe that with everything going on around them that Dana would continue to behave like a complete ditz obsessed with her looks and social life. I’ve never been in a situation like the ones presented here but I feel like it would be hard to imagine. I wish they had completely left out the whole Marcus and Sarat aspect. It felt like it was thrown in there to soften things up but I just didn’t feel like it really fit. Further, I could’t really grasp the idea of the Middle East coming together enough for the empire they claimed in the book but I could easily see China being a country that we would need to go groveling to for aid.

Would I recommend this book? It depends on the person. I think some people could read this and love it and some could take it the wrong way (looking you goodreads reviewers who swear this is an attack on Americans).

I am looking forward to the opinions from our book club meeting. I’ll share those with you in next month’s Show us Your Books link up!

Have you read this book? What did you think?

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