SUYB Last-ish one of 2016!

I have loved all of the Show us Your Books posts this year and am proud to say that I was able to participate in the link up each month! I've said before that being active on Goodreads and immersing myself in this book blogging community has really, really improved my reading life. In some ways, I feel like Show us Your Books is a mini-book club where everyone talks about different books (or sometimes the same ones!) and I love the connections that I have made with other readers. If I don't say it enough, thank you SO much Steph and Jana for hosting this wonderful link up that brings all of us readers together once a month! I absolutely appreciate being a part of this community.

I feel like I read a lot of light-hearted books this month. I think I was a bit burned out on challenging books, or something. When life gets busy (aka holiday season), my books tend to get easier to read. Haha. Anyway, some of them were really great so here are my thoughts:

BEST BOOKS I READ THIS MONTH

 Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really, really enjoyed this book and with a psychology background, I am very drawn to some of her suggestions on forming habits. Some of the information in the book could be called "common knowledge", I suppose, but it was presented in such a fascinating way that I could easily feel myself nodding my head and saying that I do that, or would like to do that. I am a huge Gretchen Rubin fan and already purchased this book after reading the library copy. LOVED it. I know non-fiction isn't for everyone, but I definitely find Rubin's work super fascinating and if you're interested in it but can't commit to reading non-fiction (totally understandable) - her website is also awesome!!!

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This one was so different than some of the others in the series and quite serious but I enjoyed the slight change in setting and the new characters. I absolutely loved it and am so sad to be done binging on Louise Penny.



Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I wish I had more TJR to read, but now I've read them all!! I can't wait for her 2017 release.
I really liked both storylines in this book, and although I did identify more strongly with one of them, there were pros and cons to both. The writing was very unique and I didn't have any problems keeping the stories straight or anything. I loved the themes of friendship and finding yourself. Now I want to see Sliding Doors, which I hear has a similar premise :)

The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Beau North
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun Pride & Prejudice retelling which really made me think a lot about Darcy's character and what his thoughts may have been like in P&P. I really enjoyed it, and particularly enjoyed the fact that it was centered around the stay at Rosings (which was a fun part of the original novel :)). Thank you for the copy, Netgalley!

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a fun book. Parts of it were really reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables & it had been so long since I'd read Montgomery's work that it was quite a joy to immerse myself in it again. The characters were sweet, and although parts of it were a bit predictable, I really don't mind that in this type of book. If Anne of Green Gables were Sense & Sensibility, this would be Persuasion, in my opinion. Reads like a much more adult level book. If you are an Anne of Green Gables fan, you need to add this one to your list FOR SURE.

ENJOYABLE, EASY, READS

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was so much better than I expected it to be. It was very funny, very cute, and very sweet. The characters were adorable. Their bantering was adorable. It was an easy, fun, book that made my heart flutter a bit. If you like romantic comedy movies, I think you would DEFINITELY enjoy this book.


Lessons in Gravity by Megan Westfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a fun read. I loved the wilderness setting & the backdrop of filming some dangerous rock climbing. The setting seemed beautiful and it made me want to visit Yosemite someday. I loved the couple and the emotions behind their relationship. This is a great debut novel and I look forward to more books from Megan Westfield in the future!It had also been awhile since I'd read a new adult book & I had forgotten my enjoyment of that genre :) Thank you to Netgalley for the copy of this book & to Kelly for drawing my attention to it!

Everyone Is Beautiful by Katherine Center
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although I didn't enjoy this as much as Happiness for Beginners, I still quite liked this look at motherhood and found it quite easy to relate to. It had some very funny moments in it too.



The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book definitely kept me interested and I enjoyed it. It was sweet. I read it around the time of Gilmore Girls and parts of it reminded me of that (a little bit - not a LOT!) It is a cute little book.



NOPE NOPE NOPE

The Gift of a Lifetime by Melissa Hill
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Eek...this book was difficult to read. It was pretty confusing, and the characters were a bit too flighty and the twist was really intense IMHO. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I definitely didn't connect well with this one.



Currently reading:

Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand (hoping to finish this cute series before Christmas!), A Study in Scarlet Women for Netgalley, and still making my way through Rebecca on audio (took a little break from it ;)).

Come back on December 27 for the bonus Show Us Your Books link-up to find out my favourite books from the year (hint: I will likely have an impossible time narrowing it down to less than 20...). haha. I'm also planning to share some analytics on the books I've read this year because I am a statistics geek :)

What have YOU been reading lately? Any recommendations for me in 2017??