Y’all, the conversation we had at book club was hilarious! We truly all had different opinions on the multiple storylines and overall story. At the core, we loved the grandmother’s love + grief story and how well the parents celebrated Avery. There is a lot to dissect in this book if you want to open up a can of thinking worms and honestly, we might do that next (in our Facebook group)!
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We Deserve Monuments
C+ -
Famous Last Words
A-Famous Last Words
Read AlongOkay, when I initially finished this book, I wasn’t sure how I felt. Now that some time has passed, I can confidently say this book was so good. If you loved The Last Thing He Told Me or Big Little Lies, you will love this book! The story took just the right amount of twists and turns and the ending was so satisfying. I also love books within books so that was a really fun side element to discover. Overall, I think this was my favorite read of the month and the one I recommend over everything else!
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All the Blues in the Sky
AAll the Blues in the Sky
Read AlongAdmittedly, I rarely read children’s books. I will dabble in Young Adult books once in a while but I wanted to listen to something different from a new (to me) author. Friends, when I say I wept – ugh, I wept. I was quickly taken back to my middle school and high school days and all the fun and hard memories of friendships starting and, inevitably, ending. I lost a friend shortly after I graduated high school and had so many of the same thoughts and feelings as Sage. This short book of poems took me through every emotion from grief to happiness to anxiety to sadness and everything in between. A lovely short read that could be great for older children after loss.
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Killer Potential
B-Killer Potential
Read AlongI feel incredibly lucky to have gotten my hands on a copy of this book so early as it releases in a few weeks and I listened early in February. This book was definitely high energy with a constant cat and mouse game of when/if they will get caught. I didn’t agree with a lot of decisions made, especially at the beginning to run with no information, but the story was entertaining. I loved the redemption arc at the end for Evie and her revisit to “the house”
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The Favorites
BThe Favorites
Read AlongThis month I read quite a few “hot” books that were talked about everywhere including The Favorites. I wanted to love it but was a bit disappointed by the ending with Kat and Heath not really getting any justice for the “incidents” at their last competition and I absolutely hated the plot twist of Heath having a child. I will say that the love story between Heath and Kat was fun and reminiscent of young love with the emotional ride of growing from one stage of life to the next with a long-term partner. The love story truly stood out for me over the competition / skating story. However, this book did bring back my childhood memories of wanting to be professional ice skater.
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The Violin Conspiracy
B+The Violin Conspiracy
Read AlongI would say this novel is more of a cozy mystery than a thriller and I loved it. I felt for Ray from the very beginning and was rooting for him every step of the way. I am not in the industry but growing up as a dancer, I could relate to many of the experiences Ray had and racial discrimination he faced as an artist. I learned so much about playing instruments and was reminded of the piano lessons I’ve had on my vision board for the past couple of years. Anyway, the book was such a warm, cozy winter read and although I suspected the culprit early on, many book club members had did not. A debut novel for Brendan and now the start of a three book connected stand-alone series all centered around performing arts and music.
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Good Dirt
A-Good Dirt
Read AlongNext to thrillers, I am learning that multi-generational family dramas with alternating timelines is my favorite type of book and Charmaine Wilkerson, who also authored one of my 2024 favorites Black Cake, is incredible at telling stories like this. I loved the main character and hearing about “the incident” from several perspectives. I also loved the mini stories wrapped in the main like the 9/11 connection and the early American unsung Black artists. I did find the book to be about 10% too long and close to the end, the amount of new characters began to get confusing. However, I would still give this book a solid 4.5/5 and would highly recommend for lovers of Black Cake!
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The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds
A+The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds
Read AlongThis fresh release gave me the feels of so many books I’ve loved in the past: The Invisible life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab mixed with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and a sprinkle of A Love Song for Ricki Wild by Tia Williams. This story was completely charming and one that hooked me from the beginning. I am warming up to the genre of magical realism and this book was a pretty perfect description of it. I love that Josephine’s grandmother and friends remembered meeting her and the full circle moment of the man she met at the end being the grandson of someone special in the past. I listened to this book in the midst of moving prep and it reminded me of my goal to host more this year, find any reason to celebrate and why I love being the overdressed friend!
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The Ends of Things by Sanda Chwialkowsa
CThe Ends of Things by Sanda Chwialkowsa
Read AlongThis book was…fine. I was drawn to the “thrill” the description claimed the book would be but sadly, the book fell completely flat at the end. Admittedly, it had a very, very strong start and middle. I was hooked on the character, this doomsday relationship she was in and wanting this couple trip to completely turn her life around. The mystery wasn’t actually a mystery. The main character made less and less sense as the story went on and how the story ends was very odd.
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Unraveling
A-Unraveling
Read AlongPoems will always get high ranking from me because they are just so personal. I listened to these group of poems right around the holidays and it was divine timing. There were quite a few that reminded me to slow down and be where my feet were. Brandon has been and will probably always be a great storyteller!
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This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
CThis Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Read AlongI had such high hopes since this book was really fun reviews. First, I think you should read a physical copy vs. listening. I listened and had to rewind a million times over since the narrator voice rarely changed and it was hard to note when one story ended and the next started. The stories were fine but overall gets a C rating.
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The Midnight Feast
BThe Midnight Feast
Read AlongThis was…weird! Really great twists that I didn’t see coming but I’m still a bit confused by the birds. And honestly, everyone in this story is crazy as hell. Like, truly, mad!!! This is good book if you want something to linger in your brain for a while because of the shock factor and a few loose ends.
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It’s Hot in the Hamptons
C+It’s Hot in the Hamptons
Read AlongAnother book that’s been sitting on my TBR via Scribd/Everand for literal years I figured why not give it a listen during my 2.5 week holiday break. This book was…fine. I don’t think it was particularly good or particularly bad but it would be a great and quick beach read.
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Pretty Dead Things
A-Pretty Dead Things
Read AlongI love any and everything told in alternating timelines, especially when one timeline could be considered historical fiction, so this was a hit for me. I started this book on my train ride from Charlotte to Raleigh last weekend then finished on the way back. The husband to be gave me the “ick”, as the kids would say, but the story was fun and the plot twist was unexpected. I don’t think this book is classified as a cozy mystery but I definitely think Pretty Dead Things fits the bill.
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Ladies of the House
BLadies of the House
Read AlongAbout 20% too long but a good story on politics, integrity and what should we do with both known and unknown “truths”? If you want to get into political dramas, this is a great first step as an easy intro read.
“What will the world become because of us?” <- the perfect ending quote!
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The Neighbor Favor
B+The Neighbor Favor
Read AlongI feel so lucky that we were able to have the author join us for book club this month. We all really looked several elements of the story and the start of the main characters love story. Truly, there was so much nostalgia to the later days of aim, chat rooms and meeting people on MySpace. I will say, the male narrator was a bit hard to listen to and made the book feel a little bit choppy and like the book was about 50 pages too long. My recommend would be to read via physical or kindle as I’ve heard awesome reviews from those who did.
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The Swing of Things
BThe Swing of Things
Read AlongTrue d r a m a alert! Starting off one way then taking a bit of a twisty end, I overall liked this book. I do think it was a bit too long but love the turn of events about 3/4 in. I didn’t love the ending too much (left me wanting more and believing some of the middle that dragged on could have been replaced with a better ending) but the “lifestyle” content was insightful. Fairly spicy, if you’re into that!
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The Night We Lost Him
A+The Night We Lost Him
Read AlongA+ mystery, IMO! The final secret revealed at the end was a true shock for me and I love the dual timeline and dual perspective. This author is really good at thrillers/mysteries and I couldn’t recommend enough. The audio is phenomenal so I would also recommend listening so you can hear the dual perspective in their own voices.
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Everybody is a Liar
A-Everybody is a Liar
Read AlongIf you loved Gone Girl, you will absolutely eat up this quick thriller. I didn’t make the Gone Girl connection until the end and that made me love it more. It’s not the same story at all but some key elements that made everyone fall in love with this type of thriller. I felt good shock at several parts of the story and couldn’t stop thinking about the book for at least a day or two after reading. Quick, interesting and keeps your interest. This book is audio only, FYI!
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Wreck My Plans
BWreck My Plans
Read AlongAfter a small reading slump and a few not so great books, this was the perfect book to get me back on my game. A truly spicy romcom with likeable characters and a sweet love story. This book just made me want to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and spend the entire day reading. This is my first time reading Jillian Meadows and I loved it!
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Glory Be
BGlory Be
Read AlongA really fun small town, older main characters, cozy mystery! This was my first book by this author and it was a fun weekend listen with a satisfying ending. This is the first in a series so I’m excited to dig into more as a few easy reads during the holiday break.