At the beginning of the year I made a new years resolution for myself to read a book once a month. I loved to read when I was a kid and in the “adult world” it feels like we have so many things we get involved with we forget about the things we love. I’m going to share with you all the books I’ve read this year to hopefully inspire you to pick one up to try a new one, or re-read one you haven’t read in a while. The best time for me to read is on the plane rides to the amazing places I got to visit this year.
January: Water for Elephants
With everyone obsessing over the new Greatest Showman movie (which I still haven’t seen yet opps), what a better way to start of the year by reading a book about the circus. The beginning of the book starts of very slow, but I promise it gets better. Fair warning, it has flashbacks so you sort of need to make sure you keep track of what time period is when that was the hardest part of me! The ending is amazing so get ready!
February: The Lovely Bones
I remember when I was a little kid seeing this movie but it was so long ago I couldn’t remember much of what happened or the little details. It is beautifully written with so much heart and detail put into the book you could really feel what the author felt when she wrote it. It does involve death so I’m not quite sure why I picked the month of love to read it, but for anyone who might be going through a loss this is the perfect read.
March: Sill Me
This book made me visualize I was smack dab in New York city living the dream that all little girls want to have. The girl in the story was my age trying to figure out what she wanted to do so it was very relatable and the ending of the book is very different than what you would expect about halfway through the novel. Those who love sweet love stories this one is for you.
April: The Great Alone
This book was the best book I have read so far this year. Set in Alaska this is such a different change of pace from the normal books you hear about today. This book will have you feeling every emotion from happiness to sadness to anger to cheering by the end. If you are going to read any book this year I recommend this one. P.S- make sure you read the last few pages to see where the inspiration came from
May: The Nest
My mom recommended this book to me from her kindle list and I’ll be honest I blew through it, finished it in 2 weeks {which is fast for the life I live}. Anyone who has had family issues or just crazy family members in general this one is for you. It takes you up and down and even in the last 50 pages there are still twists and turns. There are a lot of characters involved and it’s a little confusing at the beginning of how they all intertwine but I promise it all makes sense in the end.
Saint Anything: This beautifully written book did not allow me to put it down for a second. Sarah Dessen is one of my all time favorite authors because every single book she finds a way to draw you in. The title of this book really makes you reflect back on all the decisions you might have made in your life good or bad and how we might always have someone watching over all of them. Those with siblings you can relate to this book so well and it’s worth a read for anyone in life.
June: The Perfect Mother
This book at first was a little dry for me in the beginning and a little confusing with all the different characters but once you got through it, man they were not wrong it is a total thriller and way different than what you would expect it to be. It was a super quick read for me I don’t know why but I finished it in like 3-4 hours total which was great! Lovely summer read!
July: The Power
I was actually required to read this book for one of my graduate courses, Pop Culture in Literacy but I ended up loving it so much I wanted to write about it. This book mixes war,poverty, sexism, life meaning and so much more through the lens of women who now have control due to a certain power given to them from above. As a women reading it I had such a different perspective on how our world is today and how it will be in the future. Such a captivating read that might take you little while to get to but totally worth it!
August: The Nightingale
So I posted that this book was on sale during Prime Day in July and ALL of my friends recommended it so for only $10 I bought it. I didn’t realize until after it’s the same author who wrote the book I read in April. I will warn you this book is long and hefty, I honestly didn’t finish it until the beginning of September because of school but I promise the ending is worth it. Set in World War 2 Era, the plot talks about women in the wartime and how their daily lives changed and what they did to aid in the war. I’m not lying when I’m saying I literally cried and laughed during this book. Once you get to the last 100 pages I promise you won’t be able to put it down!
September: My Not So Perfect Life
I bought this book randomly during the Amazon prime sale, honestly because the title and the cover drew me in (great marketing honestly), but I am so glad I did! This book was totally cliche at the beginning, but the middle and end totally threw me for a loop and got better and better. It is very mid-20s girly style, but for anyone, my age who is struggling with a first job or any job at all this book I promise will give you a big laugh. Very quick read and very light hearted, it was perfect for my busy September this year!
Reads from 2017:
These are some books I read last year that I loved but never shared! I read these when I was in France last summer and I blew through them!
White Dresses: This book is so beautiful because it goes through the beautiful and tough times of a family of women throughout history and how something so small as a dress can connect them together. You never know sometimes what people from the outside who are so loving in caring what is going on inside their head. I could not put this book down so it is a must read!
Gone Girl: Another great read that was so bizarre at the beginning that I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to end. If you ever heard of some crazy relationships in your life, I promise nothing compares to the one in this book.
Girl on the Train: I totally missed the hype of this book from years ago when it came out and when the movie was made {that I didn’t see} but I am so glad I picked up the book. Anyone who is a fan of CSI, Law and Order or Criminal Minds, this book is for you because of this CRAZY ending. Also it is set in Britain so the whole time I was reading it I was imagining great British accents.
