Reading Updates: August & September 2020

Hello Book Worms! Hope everyone had a fabulous summer, I know mine definitely started looking up towards the end. While my international travel plans are still on pause for the near future, I have been having a blast being closer to home. You may have noticed there is a missing August post so forgive me! I was hiking along Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine and soaking up the rays in Dennis Post, Cape Cod, Massachusetts for ten days earlier this month. These are two trips I have always wanted to take but ended up justifying it as “if it take 7 hours and 45 minutes to drive to Maine, I can just take a flight to Italy instead.” Since this is not an option for me right now, there is a small (very small) feeling of gratitude towards this pandemic for slowing my life down a little bit and appreciating things I never would have made the time to enjoy. So that is what I’ve been up to but we have book matters to discuss, keep reading for my quick book reviews:

Currently 50 out of 60 books complete on my Goodreads Reading Challenge!
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• An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
  4/5 Stars: A classic "whodunit" thriller set in a hotel in the Catskills during a winter storm. This was an intriguing read that kept me guessing until the end, a shocker, which I love. The characters were well crafted and we saw the story unfold from all of their perspectives. This is one of those book plots that I prefer getting from the library because sometimes they can be completely ridiculous but this did not disappoint.
• The First Mistake by Sandie Jones
  4/5 Stars: Finished this in about 24 hours because I love a good marriage related suspense book. I definitely had my suspicions early on and was right about them (hate when that happens) but, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Alice is a happily married mother of two who loves her husband Nathan desperately but when new best friend Beth is thrown in the mix of marriage a ton of secrets will be exposed.
• What You Wish For by Katherine Center
  2/5 Stars: Absolutely loved Katherine Center’s previous books especially, How to Walk Away. I usually enjoy her writing because it is just so darn easy going and heartwarming but, this plot was totally predictable and strange. The characters drove me crazy because the odds of a love story working out this ‘perfectly’ is pretty slim not to mention the corny factor was through the roof.
• The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
  5/5 Stars: This book left me shaken to the core with every emotion there is. It was much more than a thriller and touches on issues such sexual abuse and rape (which may be sensitive for some readers) which left me speechless at times. Goldin is an absolutely phenomenal writer and I look forward to more from this author.
• Untamed by Glennon Doyle
  4/5 Stars: I held on to this for a while and then happened to see Adele raving about it on Good Morning America and decided it would be a great time to pick up one of my least favorite genres, nonfiction, almost “self-help”-ish. This was actually great and I am pleasantly surprised on how insightful Doyle is on everything I feel but never knew how to say into words.
• Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
  4/5 Stars: Another dark, twisty, psychological thriller set in London with well-crafted characters, typical Jewell style. I suspected several different motives and people but of course was left with all threads coming together in the end for a very surprising ending. But Lisa Jewell never fails to disappoint to me.
• The Boys’ Club by Erica Katz
  5/5 Stars: I can’t stop talking about this book because I loved it so much. A woman in the business/law world, partying it up in New York City and showing that she is just as powerful and competitive as her male colleagues, it all sucked me in so quickly, I wish I could relive this book. I was so invested in Alex Vogel’s life, I was sad when the ride was over had to go back to reality.
• One by One by Ruth Ware
  2/5 Stars: Almost DNF this one but didn’t so I rated this a two out of five. Ruth Ware really hooked me into her writing style with The Woman in Cabin 10 a few years back and since then it has been a steady downfall of interest that almost made me think she didn’t even write this book. Character development was poor with too many people to keep track of. Nothing major ever really happens and then it just ends with the obvious killer.
• Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
  3/5 Stars: Sadly, I did not like this book as much as I thought I would. First and foremost because Backman has written a couple of my favorite books of all time, Beartown, Us Against You, A Man Called Ove, but I am not sure what happened here. I really enjoyed the first chapters and the build-up of what was happening with the hostage situation but I struggled as the book progressed. Some parts were so silly they were confusing, in the end it does make sense but I was not impressed.
• The End of Her by Shari Lapena
  ​4/5 Stars: Pretty good domestic thriller that I enjoyed reading however, I have so many questions! The plot was pretty straightforward and kept my attention the whole time but there were definitely holes that I wish were explored a more. There’s not much I can say without too many spoilers but, the subject matter involves a cheating husband (which is a little old and tired as far as thrillers go) and his world being turned upside down by his past. I still recommend this read if you need a little something to escape from your own world.