Tuesday, July 10, 2018

A New Book Challenge

It's already time to link up for Show Us Your Books again with Steph and Jana?! How did June go by so quickly? I felt like I didn't get to read as much and I would like but I'm participating in a book challenge that's pushing me outside my reading bubble (updates below).

A Simplified Life and Grace Not Perfection  // Emily Ley

I'm putting these two together because I felt the same way about them both - I couldn't finish them. I love following Emily's Instagram but I found the book to be pretty... simple... Like nothing was earth shattering. Maybe if I was a mom with three small kids and owning my own business, I could relate. So if you fit those criteria, then, by all means please read it!

A Simple Favor // Darcy Bell
Rating: 3/5

If you haven't heard, Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick are making this movie (out in Septemeber) and I think its going to be great! I think the movie is going to add more mystery whereas the book explained "it" pretty quickly and then worked through the aftermath. But essentially, Emily asks her friend Stephanie (a blogger) to pick up her son from school... and then she never comes to pick him up. What happened to Emily? Did her husband kill her? Did she run away? How well did Stephanie really know her best friend Emily? 

Everything I Never Told You // Celeste Ng
Rating: 4/5

I read Little Fires Everywhere last month so my expectations were high for this one as well. I loved this one even more! This book is so well written. The story picks up with the "favorite" child of a Chinese American family in the 1970s being found dead in a lake nearby. You would assume this is a murder mystery but its much more about the family dynamics that lead these events to happen and what happens when secrets are kept and expectations are high.  

Into the Water // Paula Hawkins
Rating: 3.5/5

There are a LOT of characters in this book and they all have their own POV that we get to see. The first fourth of the book, I was just trying to remember who the heck everyone was and how they all related. This is a mystery but also focuses heavily on character development and relationships like Everything I Never Told You which is a nice change from my usual "bite my fingernails off" thriller. I will say the final two sentences in the book completely threw me and I didn't see it coming!

Currently Reading: 

One of Us is Lying
The Hate U Give
How I Resist

Erin's Book Challenge (July 1 - October 31): 

|5 points| Freebie (at least 200 pages): Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
|10 points| Starts with the letter N: Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
|10 points| Has a mostly orange color: Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman 
|15 points| A book with an unlikable character: One of Us is Lying by Karen M Mcmanus
|20 points| One of the 100 books PBS calls “The Great American Read”–  The Color Purple by Alice Walker
|20 points| Something related to water in the title: Into the Water by Paula Hawkins 
|25 points| A book you’ve owned the longest (GoodReads list) but haven’t read yet: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
|30 points| An emotion word in the title: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 
|30 points| Each word in the title begins with the same letter: After Anna by Lisa Scottoline 
|35 points| A book featuring a character who shares your profession or similar one (i.e. does the same kind of thing as you do day to day): This Could Hurt: A Novel by Jillian Medoff



11 comments:

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

hope you enjoy one of us is lying and the hating game! i loved both. Everything I Never Told You is on my list, glad you liked it!

Days of a Wife said...

I was in the minority that read and enjoyed Into the Water, however I did listen on audiobook, so that could have made the difference.

SMD @ lifeaccordingtosteph said...

Oh I had no idea A Simple Favor was a book. I want to check that out.

Megan said...

I loved Everything I Never Told You much more than Little Fires Everywhere too! Glad to hear you weren't disappointed :)

- Megan @ The Hungry Bookworm

Carly said...

I don't think I've ever heard of A Simple Favor but it sounds interesting! I felt the same way about Into the Water-- SO hard to keep everyone straight!

Jana @ Jana Says said...

One of Us is Lying is great. THUG is outstanding. I hope you enjoy them both.

Laura Darling said...

Everything I Never Told You sounds so good, I need to read that one!

Ashley @ The Wandering Weekenders said...

I think the sheer number of characters in Into The Water made me dislike the book so much. I was listening to it instead of reading it, which I think made it harder to keep everybody straight. That was a good choice for Erin's challenge!

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I'm curious about Emily Ley's books, but it sounds like something to get from the library instead of spending money on them. I probably won't read A Simple Favor but I AM really excited about the movie.

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net

Brittany Always said...

I looooooved Everything I Never Told You! The ending was not what I expected either :)

Audrey Louise said...

A Simple Favor and Everything I Never Told You sound really good! I still need to read Little Fires Everywhere.
Hope you love One of Us is Lying! The Hate U Give is next on my to-read list, too, for Erin's challenge!