Book Review – No. 1

Reading has become such a huge passion of mine this year.  Well, I’ve always liked reading, but I definitely never really made it much of a priority these last few years.  I’ve always just turned on the television or browsed Instagram or Facebook instead of opening a book.  So, this year, I really wanted to stick to my goal and try to read one book a month, and I read 12 books before the end of April, I believe!  I knocked my goal out of the park, so I’m super excited to start sharing some book reviews.  I’m hoping to post at least one book review a month, and this is the very first one!

I can’t really remember what order I read the books, so these are just random picks.

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens –  Kya, known as the Marsh Girl, basically lives alone after her family all abandons her over time.  She learns to cook and care for herself every single day without money, electricity, an education or a job.  Kya is in survival mode, but the marsh where she lives is where she truly finds herself and falls in love with the land and with a boy.  With no education, she is forced to figure out everything on her own, even how to survive being tried for murder.

This book is one of the best I’ve ever read.  No joke!  There was so much hype and buzz on the internet about this one that I was a little reluctant to check it out.  My mom picked it up first, and she didn’t want to finish it, so I knew I needed to read it.  It took me about 75 pages to really get into the book, but oh my goodness!  Your really should buy this and read it as quickly as you can.  It is such a beautiful story and has a great twist at the end that I totally did not see coming.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you get past the slow start.

 

• Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes – Evvie is recently widowed and she rarely leaves her house after her husband died almost a year ago in a car crash.  Her best friend Andy thinks she’s depressed and needs to get out more to start experiencing life again.  When Andy’s best friend, Dean, a Major League Baseball pitcher that can know longer throw straight pitches arrives in Maine to get away from media scrutiny, Andy invites Dean to stay in Evvie’s outside apartment.  When Evvie agrees to let him stay at her place, they both agree to not discuss Evvie’s late husband or baseball, but over time rules are broken and their friendship turns into something more.  Can they get past their grief, disappointment and secrets to form a lasting relationship/friendship?

 

If you don’t know me in person, then I must tell you that I love baseball, so I knew this book would be a fun little read for me.  I would considered this a “fluff book.”  There’s really not a lot of substance or anything that’s going to leave you with such excitement at the end, but if you like light-hearted reads that you can finish very quickly, this book is for you!  You do not have to love baseball to read this book though.  That’s just an added bonus if you do.

 

• Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger – It’s hard to describe this book without giving too much away, but it’s about a minister and his family in a small Minnesota town set in 1961.  The dad is a minister for a local church, his wife is somewhat reluctant to really lean on and believe in God, and their two sons and daughter grow up trying to find their way through life while also dealing with a personal family tragedy.

This book takes a little while to get going with so many characters needing to be developed, but if you stick with it, I truly think you’ll enjoy it.  It’s heartwarming, has a few small twists you may not see coming and has a really nice ending.  I wasn’t sure if this would be a book that would interest me, but it’s been one of my favorites of 2020 so far.  It’s different, but it’s a good different.

 

• Verity by Colleen Hoover – Lowen, a struggling writer, is approached by Jeremy Crawford to complete the remaining books in a series written by his wife, Verity, when she falls ill.  Desperately needing the money, Lowen agrees to finish writing for Jeremy’s wife and goes to their home, so she can start going through all of Verity’s notes on the series.  While in Verity’s office, she finds a terrifying autobiography manuscript and must decipher what it actually means.  What happened to Verity and what is going on with Jeremy?  Lowen must get to the truth even if it means risking her own life.

Colleen Hoover is really starting to become one of my favorite authors this year.  Her books are so interesting and Verity is no different.  It’s such a good page turner with a wonderful twist I truly did not expect!  I read this one in 2 days because it was just that good.  If you enjoy thrillers, I think you’ll enjoy Verity.

 

• Almost Interesting by David Spade – A truly funny memoir recounting growing up without a dad, fighting to get his time on SNL while competing with Rob Schneider, Chris Farley and Adam Sandler, stories about some of his most famous movies, scandals and other silly moments in between.

Honestly, I feel like you love him or you really don’t.  I, for one, think he’s pretty hilarious.  His humor is very dry and definitely inappropriate at times (a lot of the time actually), but if you’re like me and love the Tommy Boy movie as well as Chris Farley, I think you’ll like this memoir.  He really tells it like it is, and you can tell that he wrote it himself, which is always nice to see that it’s not just made up stuff written by someone else.  This book is definitely not for everyone, but I did laugh quite a few times and enjoyed the quick read.

 

Out of these 5, I highly recommend Where the Crawdads Sing as the top pick, but if you love a little bit of a thriller, then definitely check out Verity!

As you can tell, I read a huge variety of books.  I don’t love fantasy or science fiction, but everything else is up for grabs.  If you have any book recommendations, please let me know, and if you check out of any these on the list, let me know what you think when you’re finished!  Happy reading!