Okay, let’s see if I can stay consistently on top of my book reviews (says she, optimistically!)…
–Marissa
Every Monday Matters by Matthew Emerzian feels like a bunch of fortune cookie quotations and wisdom wrapped up in a feel-good book. It annoyed me. LOL
The Lost Man by Jane Harper is the new stand-alone suspense novel from this breakout Australian author, and it did not disappoint. Two brothers meet at a remote point of their farm in the Australian back country… and their third brother lays dead at their feet. What exactly happened out in the nothingness?! The setting of this novel is as much a character as those featured on the page – recommended!
An Anonymous Girl by Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks was a must-read for me after devouring “The Wife Between Us” and loving it, and this was another twisty, suspens-y game of cat and mouse with the authors and the reader. It didn’t have the same *jaw dropper* moment that the previous did, but I definitely enjoyed watching the threads twist to see who was going to do what to whom. Very enjoyable!
Playing with FIRE by Scott Rieckens was an interesting memoir cum financial guide, as Rieckens and his wife embark on a journey to FIRE – Financial Independence Retire Early. I’ve heard of this movement, but this gives a more “boots on the ground” view of really going hard to save and save to retire early.
One Day in December by Josie Silver just charmed the socks off of me, and was the perfect book at the perfect time. 🙂 Boy and girl spot each other at a London bus stop… are pulled apart before they can meet… girl searches for boy, only to find him a year later… as the boyfriend of her best friend. Nooooo! This novel traces the lives of all the characters over the course of at least a decade, so you really get immersed in their emotions, relationships and actions – I just loved it beginning to end!
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker was a good read, but a perplexing one. A mystery illness causes people to fall asleep in a small college town with no rhyme or reason. I really got invested in some of the characters and liked the meandering style of the writing, but found myself somewhat frustrated by the end. Still recommended though!
The Nature Fix by Florence Williams was a read after hearing about it on the “By the Book” podcast, about how being in nature (a little or a lot) affects our mood and physiology. I liked her visits to various experiments, experiences and green spaces around the globe, but this was a bit of a dry read at times. Very thought provoking though!
stubbornsunshine.com 