February in general was a VERY slow reading month for me, quantity-wise. :) Some reasons for this:
- Less time commuting to work (3 day week instead of 5 day so less bus time/less reading time)
- Reading long books AKA Quality over Quantity which was a goal for 2016 for me
- Busy busy busy times at home with the kiddos/lack of sleep/bedtime at 8 pm many nights hahaha!
Here are the books I've gotten through since my last update:
This was my first book by Kristin Hannah and it certainly will not be my last. Although it took me awhile to get into this book, I became TOTALLY absorbed and read the majority of it in one day/night. Once I got partway through it, I couldn't put it down and the story was really captivating. I still have The Nightingale by her on my list for Erin's Book Challenge to read sometime soon.
PERSUASION by Jane Austen (5/5 Stars)
This one was for Erin's Book Challenge too and I am completely and utterly in love. It's my 3rd Austen novel of 6 and so far I think it is almost my favourite. Although I absolutely adore Pride and Prejudice, there was something intrinsic about Persuasion that really worked for me. It was a bit shorter than some of her other books, the characters were well developed, and I was so happy with the beautiful ending. I am also a "root for the underdog" type of person and I felt like Anne was a bit of an underdog - or just a bit shafted by family in this book, so I was rooting for her :) I also loved the 2008 movie which I made Brian watch with me #sorrynotsorry
I started this book in November or December and put it down for a bit until I got it on audio from the library this month which really helped me finish it. The writing is absolutely beautiful, and it won the Pulitzer for a reason. I actually enjoyed the switching between characters more than I thought I would. It was a wonderful reading experience though and I would highly recommend the book although it's not neccesarily a re-read for me. PS: Isn't the cover absolutely gorgeous?!?!
---Thanks to Anne Bogel's several podcast guests who talked about this book and motivated me to finally finish it ;) Speaking of which, one of my favourite book bloggers, Janssen from Everyday Reading, is today's guest on What Should I Read Next? (Off topic, I know!)
***I received this book in ebook format from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***
This book was approved for me on Netgalley months ago and I just didn't get around to reading it for awhile, but I started it (finally) on a whim last week and I quite enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of James Patterson's Private series as well as Dan Brown's books. The only thing I didn't love about it was that I got a bit lost in some of the dialogue because it was more like:
"blah blah blah"
"blah blah blah"
instead of "blah blah blah" said Him. "Blah blah?" said her.
Haha. Anyway, I just had to go back a few times and see who was talking, but that's the only major complaint about the book. It had a decent and intriguing plot. Apparently it's the third in the series, but I think they stand alone too.
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I'm currently still working through my reads for Erin's Book Challenge including Bridget Jones' Diary and Enders Game. Can I just say that one thing I have appreciated SO MUCH about this challenge is that it is 4 months long?! Totally attainable and still gives me time to read "non-challenge" books.
FAVOURITE KID READS LATELY (skip this section if you don't care! haha!)
LMNO Peas by Keith Baker This is an adorable take on your typical alphabet book and my kids love watching all of the little peas hard at work. The pictures are really cute too.
Children's Books I received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review:
This book was a bit above our age range, so we didn't really get through it all, but I read most of it on my own. It isn't one we'll be running out to purchase, because we generally like books with pictures right now (except for BJ Novak's? haha?) I might check it out again for Molly in a year or two when her attention span is a bit longer.
We are anticipating swimming lessons coming up again in the spring, so this was a great book to read with the kids right now. The pictures are so cute :) Also, hilariously, Lucy, who doesn't talk very much, was convinced that the baby on the front of this book was her friend Emma and she thought the whole book was about Emma swimming, haha.
Jake's Kindergarten Checkup by Chrystal De Freitas
This was an appropriate read with Kindergarten in our near future too. Molly hasn't gotten her shots yet (at least not since age 18 months), so it was nice to prepare her a bit for this. She is also really into doctors right now because of Doc McStuffins, so this fit in well with that interest. I liked the sibling dynamic here too. I can always get on board with books that teach kids something or help them to understand scary experiences.
This is just a small sampling of our kid reads over the past month. My kids read a million books a day and we have a lot of favourites, but these were some that I wanted to especially highlight :)
I don't know why I haven't read anything by Kristin Hannah yet, I always hear good things about her books! The Nightingale is actually an upcoming bookclub book later on this summer and I'm really looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteWe love LMNO Peas in our house, and while my son is too young for it, I adore the Rosie Revere book! (My husband is also an Engineer!) :)
i get what you mean about the blah blah blah dialogue. i don't think everything needs to say 'said him' or whatever, but when it's back and forth a zillion times, it's hard to keep up. i haven't read winter garden, it's on my list :) and you know how i feel about persuasion! you are making me want to reread it, or at least watch the movie. gosh, that family sucks, don't they?! good to know about all the light we cannot see, i think when i do get around to reading it, i will listen instead of reading.
ReplyDeleteI recently put All the Light We Cannot See on my TBR and I'm really looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI started All the Light We Cannot See and couldn't get into it but everyone else loves it. I need to give it another try when I'm in the right frame of mind!
ReplyDeleteI put the first three kid books on a wishlist I keep for my niece on Amazon!
ReplyDeleteNo desire to read All the Light.
I love Kristin Hannah's books. Winter Garden made me cry and cry at the end.
I should read more Jane Austen. I only read Pride & Prejudice because my youngest sister liked it and she reads so rarely that I HAVE to read everything she's made it through. I liked it ok, but I think I would have gotten lost in the language if I didn't already know the basic plot. So now I'm curious about Persuasion. Easy to read or about the same?
ReplyDeleteI don't generally like historical fiction so I've passed on All the Light. Same reason for not reading Kristin Hannah.
ReplyDeleteI like that NetGalley has kids books. I should get some for my daughter but I'm not sure she'll read them. She prefers paper books.
I felt the same way about The Winter Garden-it was hard to get into, but the second half was amazing!
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you add favourite kid reads for all the parents and kids. Encouraging the love of books in your child makes my heart happy!
ReplyDeleteThe Cardinal's Sin sounds like a book that would be right up my alley because I love Dan Brown and James Patterson! Everybody is loving All The Light We Cannot See, so it sounds like I need to move that up on my TBR list quickly!
ReplyDeleteIf you liked Winter Garden, read The Nightingale. That was my first Kristin Hannah and Winter Garden was recommended because I loved it so much. I also loved All The Light We Cannot See. I feel like I've been reading a lot of books set in and around WWII, but I'm ok with that.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, I don't love historical fiction. However, I'm currently reading The Nightingale and I'm loving it so far (I'm over halfway through). I'm not sure if I'll read any of her other books, but I have to say that I'm honestly surprised that I love this book so much.
ReplyDeleteI have All the Light We Cannot See on my "To Read" list (odd, I know, since it's also historical fiction). I probably won't read it for a long time, though, since, like The Nightingale, it's set in France during WWII. I just don't think I can read that much historical fiction set in the same time period/location within a short amount of time. (I like that I say "that much" as though two books is a lot. Haha.)
I also like that Erin's challenge is a little longer than some others. I've made it a goal to finish the challenge this month (mostly so I have some time to work on the bonus round), so hopefully I can. I've gotten distracted by a few non-challenge books lately, and it's nice to know that I still have plenty of time to get back on track.
I don't have kids, but I have two young nieces who love to read ... So I really appreciate your kid book reviews! I also may eventually have a kid of my own, so it will be nice to have this information in the future! :-)
I don't have kids but it makes me so happy to see how much your kids love reading. My mom took me to the library every week when I a kid and I'm so grateful that she did. I loved The Nightingale but have not read Winter Garden. I already added it to my list. :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVED Persuasion too! I think I read it a weekend when KC was out of town, so I ended up just reading it all in one day. It is shorter which is nice. I've only read Persuasion and P&P so far. I've been trying to watch the youtube version of Emma (Like the Lizzie Bennett Diaries...) "Emma Approved" I find it easier to relate to than Gwenyth Paltrow. I dunno. I definitely need to get to reading on the other novels though. I recently got a graphic novel version of Northanger Abbey which might be fun to read along with the book... and I have sense and sensebility comics. Sometimes I think that reading/watching in another format helps me get what's really going on better. I tend to read SO fast, always. I don't let myself skim... but it's easy to lose info in the rush of reading!! Definitely looking into the Winter Garden and All the Light We Cannot See. :) :) February was a slow reading month for me too. I've already read a book for March... which is pretty good. I read Cress and started Winter last night... eeeep! :) XO - Alexandra
ReplyDeleteSimply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
I think I might give All the Light We Cannot See a go, mostly based on how pretty the cover is... Yes I just fell for the cliche. And there's nothing like a good Austen.
ReplyDelete