Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

1.16.2018

45 Books in 2017

I don't know about you, but I LOVE to read.
Reading is one of my favorite hobbies & I try and read each night before I go to bed.
My goal for 2017 was to read 50 books. I didn't quite make it. I read 45 books this year!
Here is a recap of the books I read....







 

Favorite Author I discovered in 2017:
I read 8 of her books in 2017.
She has 9 other books, so I am hoping to read some of those this year.

Favorite Book I read in 2017: 

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Hands down the best book I read in 2017.
Whenever someone is looking for a book recommendation, I tell them to read this book. 
You need to add it to your list of books to read!

Least Favorite Books: 
This book isn't bad, but I read a lot of amazing books in 2017. The author is Joy Felding, and I like the other books I have read by her. This book was just okay. 

Yeah, I know. Everyone raved about this book. I was underwhelmed....maybe because I had too high of expectations? The first 150 are reallllllly slow. It took me forever to read it. The ending was good, but overall....Eh.

Book that made me cry:
In 2016 more than half the books I read made me cry (I read a ton of Historical Fiction books based on WW2 era & they made me cry)
For 2017, I wanted to read more light hearted books. I  read a lot of  "beach reads" & also susupensful/pyschological thrillers in 2017, so not a lot of tears were shed with the books I read in 2017.
The book that did make me cry?
You guessed it.... It Ends with Us
Other books that made me cry are Secrets of a Charmed LifeThe Mother's Promise...both fantastic books. 

Book that made me laugh:
This was a feel good book & an easy read! 


Book that made me smile:
This book made me smile & also cry. One of the best books I read in 2017.

 Loved learning more about Chip & JoJo and how Magnolia started. If you love Fixer Upper, you will LOVE this book. It was fun to get to know them :)

Best series I read in 2017:
 This is easy....hands down the Women's Murder Club Series by James Patterson
In 2016,  I  started book 1 the first week of summer. 
By the end of the summer, I had read ALL 15 books in the series.
I'm slightly embarrassed by that.
But, they are SO good.
You must read them in numerical order.
And, they are based in San Francisco & the Bay Area, so that is fun.
I was so obsessed with these books that when I finished book 14 when I was in Lake Tahoe, I couldn't wait to get book 15, but I didn't have internet to buy it for my kindle on Amazon, so I went to one of the libraries in Tahoe, got myself a library card for that library and checked it out so I could read it.
That's how good this series is.
Book 16 came out in 2017 & I read it in 1 day! I LOVE this series.
Check out the series HERE.

Book 17 is coming out next month, can't wait to read it!
Kevin also loves this series, he is on Book 10. 

A new series I read in 2017 was Colleen Hoover's Slammed series. There are 3 books & they are wonderful. Great story and great characters. Here is the order of the books:


Book that surprised me:
I love a plot twist....here are some books that surprised me! I recommend all of them!

Biggest Beach/Fluff Read: 

Both of those books are by Elin Hildebrand & I loved them both. 

Book I couldn't put down:
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
  16th Seduction by James Patterson
The Mother's Promise by Sally Hepworth
The Identicals by Elin Hildebrand

All of those books I finished in 1 or 2 days each...they were that good!


Most likely to recommend:
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. Like I mentioned before....I tell everyone about this book!
  The Women's Murder Club Series by James Patterson....you have 16 books that you get to read and all of them are great.
Author I want to read more from in 2018:
Colleen Hoover ( I read 8 of her books in 2017, can't wait to read her other 9 books)
Mary Kubica (I read her 3  books in 2016 & loved them all. She came out with a new one a few months ago and I can't wait to read it)
James PattersonI love his Women's Murder Club Series so much, so I am going to read more of his books...I think he has written over 60 books, so I am going to read more of them. He has an Alex Cross series that I want to read....has anyone read it?
Susan Meissner In 2016, I read A Fall of Marigolds (loved it!!!) and in 2017 I read Secrets of a Charmed Life (really liked this book as well) She has a handful of additional books & I want to read some of them this year.


 In 2016, I read 60 books. You can see the books I read in 2016 on THIS post.
In 2015, I read 35 books. You can see the books I read in 2015 on THIS post.


I have already finished 1 book in 2018....The Lying Game by Ruth Ware (She also wrote The Women in Cabin 10In dark, dark wood)


I would LOVE to hear YOUR recommendations!
 What are your FAVORITE books of 2017?
What books do you recommend that I add to my reading list in 2018?

Can't wait to hear your suggestions & what some of your favorite books are! 
 I read a ton of the books you guys have suggested in the past, so THANK YOU!
Book nerds unite :)

1.17.2017

60 Books in 2016

In 2016, my goal was to read more books than I did in 2105.
In 2015, I read 35 books. You can see the books I read in 2015 on THIS post.
In 2016, I ended up reading 60 books!!!!!! 
I couldn't believe I read that many!
Reading is one of my FAVORITE hobbies.
Here is a recap of the books I read......
 




















Favorite Authors I discovered in 2016:
 There are 3 authors this year whose books I read for the first time this year..
I read 4 out of her 7 books, want to read more of them this year
I read all 3 of her books  & loved them all
I read both of her books & loved them both...she is coming out with a new book in February and I have already pre-ordered it.
 

Favorite Book I read in 2016: 
 This is a tough decision....I can't narrow it down to just 1 favorite book, so here are my 3 favorite books I read:

Least Favorite Books: 

Book that made me cry:
 Ummm....more than half of the books I read made me cry....too many to list.
This year I need to read happier books & ones that don't make me cry so much.
The ones that made me cry the most were....

Book that made me laugh:

Book that made me smile:
 It was so good to read another Harry Potter book, I've missed them!

Best series I read in 2016:
 This is easy....hands down the Women's Murder Club Series by James Patterson
 I started book 1 the first week of summer. 
By the end of the summer, I had read ALL 15 books in the series.
I'm slightly embarrassed by that.
But, they are SO good.
You must read them in numerical order.
And, they are based in San Francisco & the Bay Area, so that is fun.
I was so obsessed with these books that when I finished book 14 when I was in Lake Tahoe, I couldn't wait to get book 15, but I didn't have internet to buy it for my kindle on Amazon, so I went to one of the libraries in Tahoe, got myself a library card for that library and checked it out so I could read it.
That's how good this series is.
Book 16 is coming out this Spring & I can't wait!
Check out the series HERE.

Book that surprised me:
Love Mary HIggins Clark books....always surprising!

Biggest Beach/Fluff Read: 

Book I couldn't put down:
 All 15 of the Women's Murder Club Series by James Patterson
 
Most likely to recommend:
  The Women's Murder Club Series by James Patterson....you have 15 books that you get to read and all of them are great.
 
Author I want to read more from in 2017:
 
I would also LOVE to hear YOUR recommendations!
 What are your FAVORITE books of 2016?
What books do you recommend that I add to my reading list in 2017?
Can't wait to hear your suggestions & what some of your favorite books are!
  
           I can't wait to hear your book recommendations!
 I read a ton of the books you guys have suggested, so THANK YOU!
Book nerds unite :)

5.10.2016

Stranded {Book Edition}

Today I'm linking up with Shay & Erika for  STRANDED!
Today's topic is what 3 books would you bring if you were stranded on a deserted island?

What 3 books would you bring?
This is SO hard to narrow down to just 3 books.
I LOVE to read.
I read 4-5 books a month, so to narrow it down to just 3 is really hard! 

{ONE}
Yes, I am pulling the Jesus card and I would bring my Bible :)
If I were stranded on an island, I would definitely want to have my Bible so that I could be encouraged & have my Bible there to get me through a hard time of being stranded. 

I would also want to bring my copy of Jesus Calling

I read it everyday.
It is a devotional filled for every day of the year that has a bible verse & a word of encouragement.
I love reading it each day. They also have a Jesus Calling for Kids

Both of these come in Kindle versions as well! I highly recommend both of them!

{TWO}
I would bring the Harry Potter Series.

I LOVE these books.
Sure, there are 7 books in the series, but since I have the box set, I am only counting this as one book ;)
Kate just started reading them, so it is making me want to read them all over again! 
Some of my all time favorite books!
They just opened up Harry Potter World in Southern California, so you better believe we will take our kids there in a few years after they have all read the books!


{THREE}

 11/22/63 by Stephen King
This was the first (and only) Stephen King book that I have read. 
It is 866 pages....really long, but so well written. 
It was hands down my favorite book of 2015.... I made my mom read it & also had Kevin read it....I recommend this book to everyone who is looking for a book to read.  
I couldn't put it down & I finished it in a week, which is pretty good for a book that is almost 900 pages! 
This book is now a mini series on Hulu, but I haven't seen it yet. Adding it to my watch list for this summer :)

This was hard for me to just choose 3 books....I have so many books that I love!
If you love books like I do, you can check out THIS post...I shared & reviewed the 35 books I read in 2015.


Here are the next dates & topics for the STRANDED link up!
 
 What 3 books would you bring?!?!

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1.15.2016

35 Books I read in 2015

In 2015, my goal was to read 15 books & I ended up reading 35!!!
This is the most books I have read in a year since having kids. 
Reading is one of my FAVORITE hobbies, so it has been so fun to get back into reading on a consistent basis this past year.

Here are the books I read (in the order I read them):









Favorite Author I discovered in 2015:  
Liane Moriarty 
{see all her books HERE}
I read all 6 of her books this year and I liked all of them. I keep googling to see if she is coming out with a new book! I really like her writing style. My favorites of hers are probably What Alice Forgot & The Husband's Secret.

Favorite Book I read in 2015: 
 11/22/63 by Stephen King
This was the first (and only) Stephen King book that I have read. 
It was 866 pages....really long, but so well written. 
It is hands down my favorite book of 2015. I made my mom read it & also had Kevin read it. 
I heard that Hulu is making this book into a show. I will totally watch it! 

Least Favorite Book: 
Ugh. Shopaholic to the Stars. I started reading the Shopaholic series this year, they are quick, fluff reads. The ending of Shopaholic to the Stars was abrupt. There was no ending, I actually thought my kindle hadn't downloaded the rest of the book. I googled it & the book just randomly ends. So strange. The next book in the series came out in the Fall called Shopaholic to the Rescue. I haven't read it yet because I am so annoyed at the previous book. But, I am OCD and have to finish series, so I will add it to my 2016 reading list :)

Biggest Disappointment Book:
 An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. 
I LOVED The Fault in our Stars (read it in 2014) and I also really liked Paper Towns that he wrote.
An Abundance of Katherines I just could not get into. I started reading it when school started and didn't finish it until October because I wasn't motivated to keep reading it.


Book that made me cry:
Several books made me cry!!! What can I say? I'm a crier!
Still Alice
Life & Other Near Death Experiences


Book that made me laugh:
Even though the Shopaholic books can be cheesy, they do make me laugh.
My favorite one of the series is the first one, Confessions of a Shopaholic
 
Book that made me smile:
 I loved both of these books & fell in love with the characters. They just make me smile. I am super excited about the 3rd book in the series coming out this month,  Smart Girl.

Book that made me cringe:
Sharp Objects 
This is from the author of Gone Girl, so if you have read that book, you know it is a little disturbing. I felt the same way about Sharp Objects . I didn't like it as much as Gone Girl, but they were both page turners & several parts made me cringe & shocked me.

Best series I read in 2015:
The Millenium Series
which includes
A 4th book in the series came out in the Fall called The Girl in the Spiders Web.
I haven't read it yet, but am hoping to read in the next month or so.


Book that surprised me:
I got Long Time Coming for free on my kindle, so I had low expectations.
I had never heard of the author, but gave it a shot because it was a free book.
I really liked it....there were twists & surprises and I will definitely read more from this author!

P.S. A Family Affair is also free on your kindle & it is part one of a series. It also surprised me...good plot & I am excited to read more of this series!

Book that I got bored reading:
Crooked Little Lies
This book got good reviews, but I got bored reading it. The character development wasn't the best & each chapter bounced from person to person. It was just okay. Usually I can finish a book in less than a week, this one took me almost a month to read because I got bored.

Biggest Beach/Fluff Read: 
Anything by Elin Hildebrand!
{See all her books HERE}
Her books are all based in Nantucket and if you need a quick, light, "beach" read, then you will like her books. I read 3 of her books this year ( The Island, Beautiful Day & Winter Street)
I have a few more of her books on my kindle that I am saving to read this summer.

Book I couldn't put down:
I read this book in less than 24 hours (when Kevin and I were in Sonoma for the weekend) It is a real page turner!

Book that challenged me:
Oh boy...this is a must read.
The tag line of the book is "An Experimental Mutiny against Excess"
7 is the true story of how Jen took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence.
It really made me think about all the excess I have in my life and how gross that can be. It made me think "Do I need this?" when buying something. Really good, challenging book.

Most likely to recommend:
Any of Liane Moriarty's books.
All 6 of her books have excellent character development & intriguing stories.
I loved each an everyone of her books.
She is an author who I hope writes more books! 

Author I want to read more from in 2016:
Since I have read all of Liane Moriarty's books, the answer to this is:
Lisa Genova
I absolutely loved Still Alice & Left Neglected
She has 2 more books that I want to read this year
Inside the O'Briens and Love Anthony
All her books deal with a character that has some type of life changing medical condition, they are so interesting (and sometimes heart breaking)

Now...onto books I want to read in 2016!

This is my first book of 2016:
 Reconstructing Amelia
 I haven't finished it yet (binge watching Making a Murderer last week got in the way of reading!)
 I should be done reading it this weekend....I really like it so far!
After I finish it, I will need to start a new book.
 
Books I have on my Kindle/Bookshelf that I haven't read yet: 
My goal is to read 36 books this year! 1 more than last year :)

 
Linking up with Friday Favorites because reading is my favorite & I hope you liked some of my favorite book recommendations!
Hosted by: Andrea, Erika & Narci

I would also LOVE to hear YOUR recommendations!
 What are your FAVORITE books of 2015?
What books do you recommend that I add to my reading list in 2016?
Can't wait to hear your suggestions & what some of your FAVORITE books are!

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Happy Friday & I can't wait to hear your book recommendations!
 I read a ton of the books you suggested last year, so THANK YOU!Book nerds unite :)

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