It’s no secret that I am a dedicated disciple of Gretchen Rubin. Her book “The Happiness Project” changed my life more than any other book in the past couple of years. And she’s done it again with her newest book “The Four Tendencies”. Have you ever wondered why you can readily meet the expectations others have for you but can’t make yourself stick to a regime you set for yourself? Or why you’re completely bent out of shape over a last minute change to plans? You may be an Obliger or an Upholder (respectively). Or maybe you’re a law only…
Posts Written OnApril 2018
Twilight of Avalon Series by Anna Elliot
I have a lot of good things to say about this series-so get comfortable. It’s a hidden gem that I stumbled upon last week and couldn’t rest until I had completed the trilogy. Before there was Romeo and Juliet there was Tristan and Isolde. Star crossed lovers who gambled everything on their love. If you saw that horribly awful movie from 2006 then forget everything you know about Tristan and Isolde. The Twilight of Avalon series is the story the legendary couple deserve. Isolde is the granddaughter of King Arthur (of Knights of…
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
This book wasn’t what I was expecting, but I actually really enjoyed it. This is an alternate reality story where the outcome of WWII went the other way and Germany and Japan won. The story follows a young concentration camp survivor Yael who, because of experiments performed on her at the concentration camp, can change her appearance at will. She escapes the death camp to be groomed by the resistance as human weapon thanks to her special abilities. By 1956 the post war world looks very different and Yael is an educated, competent, and stone cold seventeen year old about…
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
This book was the Goodreads 2017 Contemporary Fiction winner and my expectations were high. So much of it was masterfully done, the author did a fabulous job with creating a sense of place, an impossible problem, and a pointed conclusion. I admired the way Celeste Ng navigated the story and effortlessly pulled the reader along. It was both easy to put down and pick up; which is something I find rare, curious, and I appreciate. I can’t deny Celeste Ng’s talent and the moral questions raised left my book club with hours of discussion, but at then end of it…
Castle of Water by Dane Hucklebridge
I give pause every time I hear a book touted as “literary fiction”, my guard goes up and I usually find an excuse to shelve the book all the while promising myself that “its still on my to-read list”. Literary fiction for me is very polarizing, a few of my favorite books can be categorized as literary fiction, but I also have an unfortunate history of sampling other literary fiction that has left me empty, angry (that I invested so much time), and depressed. “Castle of Water” hits just the right note with what it’s author calls “fun brow”. Dane…
The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1) by Jessica Townsend
I can’t remember a book I have had more fun with in the past year than “The Trials of Morrigan Crow”. Before I had even hit the half way mark I was texting my sister, my cousin, my friend saying “you need to read this, now!” “The Trials of Morrigan Crow” follows a young girl on the eve of her 11th birthday. Morrigan had the misfortune of being born on the last day of a twelve year cycle, this of course means she is cursed and the cause of all the problems in her home town. Her cursed state also…