Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Wednesday Wishlist

 


 Synopsis:

 Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers…each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.

When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech startup, organizes a weeklong trip for the team in the French Alps, it starts out as a corporate retreat like any other: PowerPoint presentations and strategy sessions broken up by mandatory bonding on the slopes. But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a lucrative but contentious buyout offer, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. The storm brewing inside the chalet is no match for the one outside, however, and a devastating avalanche leaves the group cut off from all access to the outside world. Even worse, one Snooper hadn’t made it back from the slopes when the avalanche hit.

As each hour passes without any sign of rescue, panic mounts, the chalet grows colder, and the group dwindles further…one by one. 

 

 Why I want to read it:

 Ruth Ware never disappoints. NEVER. This book has be on edge from the synopsis alone and I can't wait to dive in.

 

Monday, September 7, 2020

Review: Midnight Sun

 

 Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

 

Grade: 3 stars

Audience: Young adult/ Nostalgic adults

 

 Synopsis: 

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella's side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward's version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.


This unforgettable tale as told through Edward's eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward's past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?

In Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer transports us back to a world that has captivated millions of readers and brings us an epic novel about the profound pleasures and devastating consequences of immortal love.


My thoughts: 

Let me preface this by stating that I LOVED Twilight back in the day. That was probably this books saving grace in my opinion. I was a book reviewer back in the days of the Midnight Sun leak. We were all just devastated over it and many of us banded together, refusing to ever read what had been leaked in solidarity for Stephanie Meyer. Maybe if this novel had actually been able to come out all of those years ago I would have had a very different experience reading it. Maybe I am no longer in a place where I can enjoy this type of story but in total honesty, I was incredibly disappointed.  


This was a lengthy novel, like the rest of the series. I was so excited to dive into Edward's head, to see things from another perspective. It turned out that I didn't enjoy being in his head. It just felt so off. It took the story I had fallen in love with and flipped it on its head. I get that was the point but I just felt uncomfortable with it. It emphasized how absolutely crazy Bella was. It made her choices feel even more absurd. And the pace.... oh the pace.... For someone who can think so quickly, getting through Edward's head felt exhausting. Quite often I felt like he was just talking in circles. 


The best part of this book was the last 150 pages. It took me 2 weeks to feel motivated to read the majority of the book but I flew through that last portion very quickly. I remember the first book wasn't super fast paced but I don't remember pages and pages where I could basically zone out and not really miss much. If it weren't for those final chapters this would have been a 2 star read for me.

 

I hate to feel so judgy about everyone's beloved Twilight, but this made it clearer to me why there were people that disliked it so strongly back when they first came out. Am I glad I read it? Sure. Will I read it again? Nope. If she writes the rest of the books from Edward's perspective will I read them? Yes, but I won't preorder and will likely wait until I can get them from the library. 

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Sunday: What's on my nightstand

 Every Sunday I update with what I am currently reading. Reviews to expect in the future :)

 

 

Allison Dickson
 
Initial thoughts: 
 I am only about 1/3 of the way into this one. I was using it as a bath book for the weeks on end that it took me to get through Midnight Sun (review coming this week). I was actually enjoying this one so I am excited to fly through now that I can read it all the time. 




Kelsey Rae Dimberg
 
 
Initial thoughts: I actually have not started this one but it is next in line on my nightstand. Since I should fly through The Other Mrs. Miller, I am super excited to start this one. 

 

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Wednesday Wishlist

  On Wednesday's I share a book that I am dying to get my hands on but do not have yet.

 

 

The Return by Nicholas Sparks 

 

 Synopsis: 

Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he'd inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any.

Tending to his grandfather's beloved beehives, Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local . . . yet, from their very first encounter, Trevor feels a connection with deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson that he can't ignore. But even as she seems to reciprocate his feelings, she remains frustratingly distant, making Trevor wonder what she's hiding.

Further complicating his stay in New Bern is the presence of a sullen teenage girl, Callie, who lives in the trailer park down the road. Trevor hopes Callie can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather's death, but she offers few clues -- until a crisis triggers a race to uncover the true nature of Callie's past, one more intertwined with the elderly man's passing than Trevor could ever have imagined.

In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness . . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began.


Why I want to read this: 

I actually just read my first Nicholas Sparks book, Safe Haven, this year! I know, I know! I have seen almost all of the movies so I figured I probably wasn't missing much. But the book was even more beautiful and I fell in love with the writing. So I am excited to dive into a new one.

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Sunday: What's on my nightstand

 Every Sunday I will update with what I am currently reading. Reviews to expect in the future :)

 

 

 Midnight Sun

 

Initial thoughts: This one is taking me longer to get through than I imagined. It didn't suck me in like the OG books. Could just be that I am at a different place in life now. It's also hard because I do a lot of reading in the bath and this is just too heavy.

 

 

 

 The Other Mrs. Miller

 

Initial thoughts: I am only 2 chapters in. I am calling this my bath book for now since my main read is too heavy for the tub. So far I am on the fence. 

 

Friday, August 14, 2020

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

 

 The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

 Grade: 4.5 Stars

Audience: Adult

 

Synopsis:

 When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the home’s cameras, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder—but somebody is.

 

My thoughts:

 HOLY SMOKES. It's been a long time since I was so sucked into a book I couldn't put it down. I read this book in just a couple sittings. It would have been one, but alas, mom duty called. Last night I finally had a chance to just sit and read for a few hours and I flew through this book. Page after page, I kept turning because I had to know what was going to happen next. 


Generally I am the type that has to at least attempt to figure out how a book will end. I fell successful when I solve it, but also disappointed that I was able to. There was something about this book that kept me from doing that though. I wanted to be told what happened. I was so excited to be flipping the pages that my brain didn't even attempt to wander into the "who done it" space. 


The setting of this novel was a huge character. I love these "middle of nowhere, police couldn't be there for an hour" type of books. Though actually living that sounds like a nightmare to me. Every time the house was described there was this feeling of being watched. Huge windows allow for observing of beautiful scenery but they also make me feel like I am living in a fishbowl. When our main character would go plop herself in front of these huge windows at 11pm I wanted to throw up with stress. Doesn't she know that as soon as the sun starts to go down you have to shut the blinds?! 

 

Each character in this novel was so well developed. Our main character, Rowan, was incredibly likeable. She came across, initially, like she was always trying to be her best self. But then we start to see these loose threads: her need to always ACT like someone else entirely. I really felt for her the whole way through. The young girls were also well developed. Maddie has this level of anger to her. You can almost feel the steam from her coming off the pages. Sweet little Ellie was precious. I have twin 6 year olds and Ellie seemed so much younger than them, even though she was only a year younger. I kept having to remind myself she wasn't 3. She really came across as just wanting to feel loved, and that broke my mama heart. 

 

If you have never tried a novel by Ruth Ware, you are missing out. I highly recommend starting here or with The Woman in Cabin 10.

 

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Wednesday Wishlist

 On Wednesday's I share a book that I am dying to get my hands on but do not have yet.

 

 Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan

 

 Synopsis:

 On her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can’t stand him. She can’t stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have the view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can’t stand that he knows more about Curzio Malaparte than she does, and she really can’t stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa and they are caught by her snobbish, disapproving cousin, Charlotte. “Your mother is Chinese so it’s no surprise you’d be attracted to someone like him,” Charlotte teases. Daughter of an American-born-Chinese mother and blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself in favor of the white side, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancĂ©, Lucie finds herself drawn to George again. Soon, Lucy is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancĂ©, the co-op board of her Fifth Avenue apartment, and ultimately herself as she tries mightily to deny George entry into her world–and her heart.

 

Why I want to read this book:  

I was a big fan of Crazy Rich Asians. It actually wasn't even a book I wanted to read. My book club voted and since I co-lead the club, I had no choice but to read. DANG was I glad I did. I am super excited to dive into another story with this author. His writing makes me feel like I am there and very much part of it. 

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Sunday: What's on my nightstand

Every Sunday I will update with what I am currently reading. Reviews to expect in the future :)

 

Tell me what you are reading in the comments!


Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer



The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware