Jenn

I'm glad I finally read this book. I'm pretty sure it was gifted to me, but a while back and I'm not sure from whom. The best part about it was the essays - I got some good quotable nuggets from them and enjoyed the author's story of her life journey to being a reader (not a writer!). The illustrations and images were okay. They just didn't quite land. Not funny enough, or cute enough, or artistic enough. These were like the images that were not selected for a Pinterest list about reading. The message throughout was that we should make more time for reading than scrolling on our phones, and that only reading classics and “literature” really counted, which I can agree with, but only to a point. The font choice used for some of the poems was difficult to read and while I appreciate the ombre pages, some of the text toward the bottom of the darker colored pages would be difficult for some people to read due to the lack of contrast, so it has some Accessibility issues (in addition to being very tiny font).

I really enjoyed this story! I loved the exploration of mental health, dealing with past trauma and insecurities in relationships, and the different ways that people can cope and grow, even when they are struggling. I like the idea of them promising to be harmless to each other.

It felt like such a quick ride, but on the other hand I loved being able to devour the book in just a few sittings.

It was fun to return to the Lux universe, even for just this short glimpse into Katy and Daemon's formal wedding.

One of my favorite Tom Clancy books and the first one of his that I read!

The plot is intricate and multi-leveled, and the characters are well-developed. It's both technical and nerdy, and just a fun book to read.

This was a good read. It felt a lot like other Nicholas Sparks stories, and is probably somewhere in the middle, if you are comparing his works to each other. Unfortunately, the synopsis of the book gave away the biggest plot twist that the story has, so...

This is an amazing story by the sweet, fierce, and positive Kaden Peebles. I have had the honor of meeting Kaden both online and in-person through our involvement in the planner community, Planners Gone Wild, and our Go Wild annual planner conferences.

When I first met Kaden, I was impressed and inspired by her positivity, her spirit of gratitude, and her spunkiness. She was like a little sister to many of the members of PGW, and I vividly remember Naina getting all of us to contribute to surprising Kaden with a huge box of planner goodies! So, in a way, reading this book intersects with my own personal history.

Outside of my personal connection to the author, this is a very much needed story to have published. There are a lot of stories out there which tell of cancer treatment, but most of them are either focused on an adult patient or a young child. There are not too many which deal with patients in Kaden's age range, where you are considered Peds, but are transitioning into young adulthood and navigating all of those life transitions while managing a serious illness. I think it will be very valuable for people to read about Kaden's experiences and to gain hope and inspiration in her spirit, her faith, and her humor.

On another note, a close friend, Adam received a diagnosis of Ewing's Sarcoma a while back when he was just getting started in life as a young adult. Adam didn't win his cancer battle, but reading Kaden's story somehow helps me feel that her victory is a victory for all patients with this disease. We love you, Adam, and I still pray for you every Mass I attend.

My apologies for the lengthy and rambling review, but this book is fantastic, Kaden is amazing, and the writing is very engaging. I was brimming over with tears more times that I care to report. She makes me laugh (you twerked where?!) and cry and her story tugs at my heart and gives me encouragement for my own struggles. I highly recommend it!

I loved this story! It was packed with great banter, real emotions, an interesting premise, flawed yet loveable characters, and was entertaining from the first page to the last. I liked seeing recurring characters from “The Soulmate Equation” without having them steal the spotlight from the new protagonists.

What a riveting, compelling story! This story had great characters, a fantastic plotline, great momentum throughout the story arc, and some surprises along the way. As a reader, I felt the tension and uncertainty of the characters' precarious situation right alongside them, and I found myself laughing and crying multiple times. It was such an enjoyable read that I finished it in two sessions.

I have a particular interest in aviation and stories of survival, so this book was right up my alley. However, it's written so that it's not too technically nerdy, and has a lot of heart and human interest, so it is appealing to a much wider audience than just aviation enthusiasts.

This story has an interesting premise. It played out just a little too smoothly for me. There was conflict and some surprises, but overall, it was fairly ... uneventful? And the ending was a bit too ambiguous for me. I won't give spoilers, but I wish I knew more of what was to happen after the events in the book. It left me both with wanting more and being happy that I was finished reading. And, I have to admit, I skimmed a bit of the ending and don't feel that I missed much.

At only 50 pages, this was more like two deleted scenes than a novella in its own right, but it did make me interested in reading more of the series.

I guess I would really rate this a 3.5, somewhere between “Liked it” and “Really liked it.” I read it in one sitting, staying up until past 3 am to finish it, so it was engaging and entertaining as far as that goes. I'm not sure I liked the Cassie character - and for me to really like a book, I have to identify with the protagonist to a point. She just had some morality/integrity issues that did not endear me to her. I empathized with the Luke character more and would have liked to have heard from his POV a bit more.

There was discussion of some of the struggles that each character was facing, and I wish they dug into those struggles and their feelings a bit more, to really bring us along in their journey and make us feel their sense of panic or hopelessness or whatever.

This book has been made into a Netflix show, so I'm eager to watch that and see how it translated from page to screen.

This was a traditional YA romance: light, fluffy, kind of predictable. But it was enjoyable in its fluffiness.

I guessed who the admirer was about halfway through the book.

I think what I liked best about this story was Ella's moral arc, where she comes to some of the same realizations and personal growth that she must have come to a year ago. I also like that there was no magical fix to her amnesia. It was these little bits of realism that made the book a bit ahead of the YA curve.

Intriguing and hopeful

I really enjoyed this book. It examined a new phenomenon from multiple perspectives that ran the gamut from the worst of human behavior to the best. It both held your attention and made you examine your beliefs. I really enjoyed hearing about each character's story and seeing their story arcs.

I loved that this book was primarily about one family's experience with surviving the world's first atomic bombing. It was the perfect combination of giving me protagonists whom I felt for and rooted for, and satisfying my nerdy, reactor operator side by giving me some details about the war and the creation of the nuclear bombs.

I really enjoyed that this book was written by a South Asian author about South Asian characters (or, maybe, American South Asian characters - being children of immigrants was definitely a theme in the story). There was a lot of references which I didn't get, but it was a lot of fun to Google search some of them and gain a better understanding of a different culture.

I liked the play between Prem and Kareena and some of the interactions between other characters. It was a cute, fun story that I was able to read in two days. (And it made me hungry for some good Indian food!)

This book is actually Donald's book that he has been reading since we left Tallahassee. The writing is clever, but almost too much so - as if it is too proud of its own cleverness. The chapters are very short, in general and I joked that I could distill what occurred into a legacy Tweet (140 characters or less), because not really much happened in each chapter. There are some very awkward parts in the prose where the author breaks the 4th wall and outright tells the reader something that the characters do not know. I feel that this ruins the suspense of the story quite a bit and could have been revealed during the course of the narrative to better effect.

In the end, nothing is adequately explained, although I suppose there are enough hints that you could construct your own idea of what is going on.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book (four stars); the second half was a little harder to get through (two and a half stars).

I guess I was rooting for her to have a relationship with the wrong person. :)

I loved this story. It's told in two timelines, one from when Sam and Percy first meet, and one in the present and they both progress linearly - although the story is told alternating between the timelines.

It's about first love and navigating a first relationship, forgiveness, and the work that goes into maintaining a relationship.

It's very Canadian, very summertime vibe-y, very reminiscent of any time spent on a lake during the summer. You really felt as if you were there with the characters and I loved that.

Again, Taylor Jenkins Reid draws you in with some really compelling characters and good writing. To be honest, I wasn't sure that I would like the subject matter, but once I sat down and started reading it - I was hooked.

I guess I would best describe it as fictional memoir about a rock and roll band in the 70s. After that, you just have to read it for yourself. :)

I love this set of three books that form a bit of a nice, continuous story arc for Jack Ryan: Sum of All Fears, Debt of Honor, and Executive Orders.

This one in particular has one of the best climax/endings of the Tom Clancy books - a bit unexpected and really has you eager to read the next book.

The level of detail and complex storytelling is unmatched by other authors in the Military Thriller genre. Tom Clancy is the best! I appreciate the opportunity to continue reading about beloved characters via the authors who have picked up the series after Mr. Clancy was no longer able to, but there is a loss of that complexity. In a true Tom Clancy novel, there are about 30 different plotlines going on and you don't get a clear picture of the direction the story is taking until about 100 pages in.

This book required quite a bit of suspension of disbelief. Not sure why all of the YA books have to feature characters from 0.001% elite wealthy environments, but this one has that in spades. As well as insta-love and massive plot-hammers. Overlooking all of that, it was a fairly engaging - if somewhat fluffy - read, if you are looking for pure entertainment.

Donald and I went into Barnes & Noble with the intention of getting just ONE book, two if we just could not help ourselves. They had a display at the front of the store with books that had been signed by the author and I recognized this one by Sutton Foster. We went to Troy High together, although she was in another grade. So, of course, I had to pick it up to support a high school friend!

It was a very enjoyable book and I loved getting to know more about Sutton! I wish you all the best (and loved Bunheads!)!

This was an interesting book with a solid premise. Something just didn't suck me in and grab me the way that I would have wanted. I'm not sure if I just didn't really connect with the characters, or if it was something else, but it took me a bit to keep picking it up and wanting to see what was happening.

I wouldn't necessarily fault the story or the author, it could just be that things in real life are more exciting right now. :)

This is a good book on spiritual motherhood and the vocation and importance of praying for priests and their ministry. The author draws from Scripture, saints, scholars, tradition, and offers her own prayers and insight.

I would particularly recommend it to those who feel called to spiritual motherhood and intercessory prayer.

This was a really well-written story about a girl who was largely abandoned and neglected by her parents, and basically her entire community growing up. Facing a bleak future, she took matters into her own hands and left her life at age 16, setting out to try and make her own way in the world. This story covers 3-4 years, mainly focusing on the months right after she left, then 3 years after that time period.

I believe in the strength and attachment that you can have in a “found family” - those people you choose to make your family outside of the family you were born into. This was a great exploration of that, and some of the painful decisions we make to protect our family and ourselves.