Last year I fell back in love with reading. I read a total of FORTY SEVEN books! I don't know how that happened but I just kept finding new books that were so darn good! You can see what I read last year HERE. My goal this year is to share the books I read quarterly. I think that makes it easier and puts less pressure on me sharing what I read. I do share what books I finish on my instagram (@wondergracejoy) with a rating; I save them in my highlights and also on Good Reads! You can find my Good read page HERE.
Okay, onto the books... I read 2 physical books, 2 digital books and listened to 8 audiobooks.
It felt so nice to actually hold a real book while reading. I missed this a lot and I am planning on hopefully reading more physical books. I got to visit two libraries- my main usual one and then a cute off the beaten path one that was just so adorable. It was so tiny and books were EVERYWHERE.
Libby has continued to be a rock star with the selection of books it has and the ease of choosing a new book cannot be beat. Libby is still my favorite pandemic find.
Okay, seriously, here are the books I read.
The 2 physical books were :
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse ⭐⭐⭐
Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke ⭐⭐⭐
Both of these books were unique. Several People typing was told completely in Slack Messages. I had no idea what slack messages were since my office does not use them. It was interesting, kinda weird to read but really good in the end. I liked the way it wrapped up. The Sanatorium was creepy and kept me guessing until the end. The whole story took place over a few days which was even more exciting. A bit slow in some parts but overall it was good!
The 2 digital books were:
The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking ⭐⭐⭐
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Again two very diverse and interesting books. The Little Book of Hygge has been on my to read list for a while and while it was interesting, it was a little boring for me. It provided some good tips and after reading, I realized The Little Book of Hygge is more of a manual for tips and tricks rather than a how to book. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of how to sections and really interesting things but this is not to be read in order or as a normal book. The Maidens on the other hands was creepy and again, kept me guessing until the very end. I went into it not knowing much but I really ended up liking it.
The 8 audiobooks I read were:
A Palm Beach Wife by Susannah Marren⭐⭐⭐
Reputation by Sara Shepard⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Turnout by Megan Abbott⭐⭐⭐
His & Hers by Alice Feeney ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rouge Lawyer by John Grisham ⭐⭐
Hostage by Clare Mackintosh ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu ⭐⭐⭐
The Helpline by Katherine Collette⭐⭐
There were three books I really enjoyed listening to: Reputation, His & Hers and Hostage. I thought the narrator(s) did a great job with these three and I think I would not have lived them as much as I did if I read it instead of listened to it. I realized that I particularly like when audiobooks have more than one narrator- it helps with the authenticity of the story in my mind. In His & Hers, there were three narrators, His voice, Her voice and the Killers' voice. It just made more a more interesting read. There were two books I just didn't love listening to: Rouge Lawyer and The Helpline. Rouge Lawyer ended up being a collection of short stories with the Rouge Lawyer being in all of them. Eh, it was not my favorite and for one of my first John Grishman books, I am not sure I would want to read anything else by him. The others were good, nothing bad, nothing great, just good entertaining books to listen to.
I was pleased with my reads for the first quarter of this year. Currently, I have been in a book rut since the beginning of the month after finishing The Helpline. This happens when I read so much in such a short amount of time, then I don't want to took another book for a while AND THAT'S OKAY! I am giving myself grace and easing myself back into reading.
What are you reading? I am always looking for great book suggestions.
[[I do believe something magical can happen when you read a book- J.K. Rowling]]
Older posts about what I have read:
