So I read this about a trillion days ago, loved it and then as it’s reward I never even bothered rating it, let alone talking about it. Basically, The Guest List amounts to a destination wedding to a creepy uninhabited island, which automatically makes my brain think of . . . .
Where you just know at least one person is going to get whacked and then since it’s Lucy Foley not only will the victim be unknown, but the remainder of the story is going to be along the lines of . . .
It’s just a given that it’s going to be a fun time. This would be an excellent rainy Saturday in October selection if you prefer the stabby over the scary.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. Foley has solidified herself as an auto-request for me.
So I read this about a trillion days ago, loved it and then as it’s reward I never even bothered rating it, let alone talking about it. Basically, The Guest List amounts to a destination wedding to a creepy uninhabited island, which automatically makes my brain think of . . . .
Where you just know at least one person is going to get whacked and then since it’s Lucy Foley not only will the victim be unknown, but the remainder of the story is going to be along the lines of . . .
It’s just a given that it’s going to be a fun time. This would be an excellent rainy Saturday in October selection if you prefer the stabby over the scary.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. Foley has solidified herself as an auto-request for me....more
Let’s just call the time I spent on this series an unfortunate side effect of the pandemic and additional proof that 2020 sucked a big bag of dicks. ...more
And holy shit talk about a humdinger. It's better to go in here as blind as possible to avoid spoiling yourself on anything that happens. All you need to know is that this is the story of Ivy Linn's life that spans from her birth in China to her being left behind by her parents while they moved to America to them sending for her at the age of five and everything else that happens after that until she's in her late 20s. And also that she is real despicable so if you don't like to read about unlikeable people you best stay far away from this one.
This was another selection from the New York Times Most Notable of 2020 and easily the best I've read so far. All the stars....more
When it comes to a Young Adult type of family "mystery" this one probably wasn't all that bad. But my hopes were soooooooooooo high. And also I really had myself convinced that this would be all super dark and potentially nasty when it came to the big reveal (and it was briefly hinted that there might be a little "Flowers in the Attic" type of lifestyle going on). Sadly, this one ended up not being much of anything I was hoping for and the "twist" was unfortunately pretty lackluster.
Great cover, great tagline, mediocre story : (...more
Oprah picked it as a best of - need I say more? Okay just kidding (even though she did). This was another selection from the NYT best of 2020 in fictiOprah picked it as a best of - need I say more? Okay just kidding (even though she did). This was another selection from the NYT best of 2020 in fiction and once again it was a winner. If you’re looking for a mystery or thriller you might find yourself disappointed as this one focuses on the aftermath of all those involved in the discovery of “the boy in the field.”...more
Okay, so this is the type of book where although the leading lady is going to go on these twelve dates with twelve randos the reader is instantly intrOkay, so this is the type of book where although the leading lady is going to go on these twelve dates with twelve randos the reader is instantly introduced to a male friend that OBVIOUSLY is going to end up being Mr. Right and so we just have to wait it out until they get their shit together. And guess what????
I read a handful of Reese's Book Club selections in 2020 and I am fairly sure the trend will continue into the new year. Not only do I appre3.5 Stars
I read a handful of Reese's Book Club selections in 2020 and I am fairly sure the trend will continue into the new year. Not only do I appreciate the fact that the stories are female-centric and written by women as well, but it's nice to see the "chick lit" genre get taken to a little bit deeper level like these choices do. The Chicken Sisters is the story of two families who have maintained a Hatfield & McCoy type of feud for around 100 years. Each runs a chicken joint that claims to be the best. When an opportunity arises to be on Food Wars the families take it. And let me tell you chicken is the least of their concerns when it comes to family drama. I really enjoyed this one, but I have a feeling those of you who enjoy cooking competition types of shows will like it even more. While I watch every housewife of every dang city in the world, my reality viewing regarding food shows ended years ago when this fella was the only one doing them . . . .
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The one thing I do love, however, is . . . .
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And this one didn't disappoint! (But I will probably never eat at a fried chicken place ever again.)...more
Hahahaha. Am I an asshole or what? Okay, so this was a pretty major flop for me. When I hear things like “first wife” and “second wife” and “affair” and “DEAD” (!!!!!!) I get all excited for some good family throwdown shit. Unfortunately, this was B.O.R.I.N.G. It didn’t bring any of the drama I was expecting. Heck, it didn’t bring much of anything at all aside from me waking myself up snoring after I had dozed off. It wasn’t even more than average length either, but there was so little happening regarding plot progression that it was a real slog. I didn’t feel like any of the characters were fully fleshed out and I couldn’t connect with the subject matter at all. Not to mention, there was a LOT of sex. And it was old people sex, so I felt like the poor kid in this commercial . . . .
Here’s a little confession – I have never read a Debbie Macomber before now and really thFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Here’s a little confession – I have never read a Debbie Macomber before now and really the only reason I grabbed a copy of this one was because . . . .
I guess murdering our significant others isn’t the only thing Joe and I don’t have in common because this was just turrrrrrrrrible. The premise here is that Everly gets put on a month long sabbatical without much explanation provided aside from the fact that her assistant is a complete F-up who just so happens to be related to Everly's business partner and for some reason she doesn’t have any authority with regards to firing her. As a last hurrah to prove she is completely incompetent, said assistant books a two week cruise in South America that ends up being some sort of nature trip via boat down the Amazon. I was hoping to maybe get just a teensie taste of the vibes I got when watching The African Queen back in the middle-ages, but instead I was fast-forwarded through the first week of Everly's trip courtesy of a real convenient mosquito bite that took our leading lady out of commission and then things just went completely off the rails with potential cannibal Amazonians and instalove and other shenanigans.
Maybe her other stuff is better????? I’ll never know. This is a one and done author for me.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!...more
Truly it wasn’t my intention, but 1 Stars pretty much gif themselves.
Okay, so Too Good To Be True. *shudder* This book follows three narratives of a husband, his wife and …. his new wife????? Ahhhhhh, nothing like a little bigamy in the morning to get your blood pumping, right?
Alright, so the problem here lies within the title itself . . . .
Domestic thrillers are already a mixed bag for me. The one thing that makes me enjoy them? When I don’t see what’s coming. And really I don’t even care half the time if the goings on are completely over the top. I will happily suspend my disbelief for the duration if I’m being entertained. Unfortunately . . . .
In case you haven’t figured it out yet – my reading tastes are all over the map. I also hFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
In case you haven’t figured it out yet – my reading tastes are all over the map. I also have a severe case of FOMO so if I see a book enough I will want to read it too. I was shocked to see that I’m the first of my Goodreads’ friends to have reviewed The Undocumented Americans, but it has been all over Bookstagram and I didn’t want to miss out. I’m going to be totally honest and say this one almost lost me from the jump because I simply do not want to read/watch/listen to anything more about 911 . . . .
I know it makes me sound like a monster, but I lived through it (mind you, in the Midwest where things were 100% still safe) and watched the planes fly into those buildings while rocking a two month old baby - trying to figure out what kind of fucking world I had brought him into. I don’t like to be bamboozled into reading a 911 narrative. And also, when it comes down to it? It doesn’t matter if an undocumented citizen was at the Twin Towers or a cleaning rooms in a hotel in Great Bend, Indiana – if they pass away there’s a good chance . . . .
Nobody will ever know you died. Nobody will ever know you lived.
And that is what is important : (
While undocumented is the theme of this novel, the “documented” term could be removed from many of these narratives and replaced with underpaid, underpriviled, underinsured, POC, etc. As always, the people who could truly benefit (and please don’t mistake that comment equating I don’t believe I benefit from books like these – they serve a purpose to remind me exactly how far my white privilege extends and I absolutely know I need to read/hear the people telling them) won’t ever read them or muster any sympathy for the struggles of others. Then there are those who will still blame “not doing it the right way” for being the root of the problem. I don’t even know what to say to them so I’ll simply borrow the author’s own words . . . .
As an undocumented immigrant, everything we do is technically against the law. We’re illegal. Many of us are indigenous in part or whole and do not believe borders should exist at all. I personally subscribe to Dr. King’s definition of an “unjust law” as being “out of harmony with the moral law.” And the higher moral law here is that people have a human right to move, to change location, if they experience hunger, poverty, violence, or lack of opportunity, especially if that climate in their home countries is created by the United States, as is the case with most third world countries from which people migrate. Ain’t that ’bout a bitch?
I love this author’s voice and that she is ready to pull the trigger on her dry, dark wit rather than shy away from it. I’ll be first in line for whatever she releases next.
While I have you here, the one other thing I will say is to those who post things like “don’t read THE BOOK THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED - read this one instead. Uhhhhh, how ‘bout stop telling people what to do and just be happy that they are readers. Especially when the two books are aren’t even comparable. This book is an amalgam of memoir and biographical vignettes. American Dirt is a fictional book club selection chosen for its “un-put-down-ability” factor. They are both super interesting reads. But again, they aren’t the same genre at all – and hell the fictitious book is about the getting here while the nonfiction is about those already here so once again, apples and oranges.
But seriously, this is the story of almost 40 Solène who takes her 12-year old daughter and a group of said daughter’s pals to an “August Moon” concert at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and ends up having an unexpected reaction to one of the boy band’s members . . . .
Pure escapism. And while I don’t personally find Harry physically attractive, I do have to admit after watching him host Saturday Night Live that he is certainly quite charming . . . .
Having just read a book about a school shooting the day before I was totally in need of some brain candy. This was everything I wanted it to be. It was sexy and steamy (just the right amount of steam too, not too much oversharing about all the bits and bobs) and did not end up with some ridiculous never-could-happen happily ever after – or even worse a surprise baby *vomits forever*.
May/Decembers aren't typically my jam, but there was just something about the delivery of this one - and not just the fact that it was muy caliente. Both of the characters were intelligent and well adjusted and went into their first "lunch" without romanticizing things. There was no glossing over the fact that they would draw attention - and not just because he was an international sensation. People in their lives had opinions and weren't afraid to share them. Some were valid, some were of the "people in glass houses" variety, some I would have simply told to go suck a turtle and continued boffing Zayn Malik Harry . . . . or Hayes - same diff. What I'm saying is there was more to this than simply hiding the salami. I almost want to give it all the Stars . . . .
MEN - Books whose covers resemble Where’d You Go Bernadette.
Okay then.
Alright, so Agatha Arch Is Afraid of Everything???? Maybe a more fitting title would have been Agatha Arch Is Having A Little Teensie Bit Of A Nervous Breakdown After Finding Her Husband Fucking The Dog Walker In Her Backyard Shed.
I’m going to go ahead and blame Finlay Donovan for me not loving this one as much as I should have. First, the similar covers being the reason I added both to my TBR and second, both were authors and third, Finlay was simply a hoot while Agatha had to grow on me much like a fungus before I could truly appreciate her. The “maybe there’s a reason she acts like that/maybe she’s just a douchebag” is a slippery slope for authors to walk and unfortunately for Agatha . . . .
She got her redemption arc at the end, but I can imagine there will be plenty of snowflakes readers who would have an opinion about the way her phobias were portrayed. To them I say, this is a broad who gets sprayed in the face MULTIPLE TIMES by a skunk she fucking knows lives under her She Shed and who has been around long enough that the family has named it. Obviously the story ain’t steeped in reality, yo....more
Okay, not really, but that’s a pretty good opening gif : )
At barely over 200 pages and the entire point of reading being to figure out WTF is going on, I’m going to keep the synopsis real brief. The story here is about a mother who moves her two daughters from Oxford to a family home out in the moors after an incident at their school came about due to a scandal involving . . . .
And that’s all I can give you without risking ruining everything. I will say that maybe I’m just ignorant, but my mind was 100% not going in the direction of that ending and also that I wasn’t really trying to figure anything out for well over half the book because I was so sucked into the storytelling. I will also say that I am a big fan of tales about . . . .
I’m giving this all the Stars. “Literary” stuff isn’t always my bag (see above re: me = ignoramus), but holy hell can Daisy Johnson deliver.
Oh and to prove that I can remember things (even if I did have to take a screengrab and put a reminder on my calendar in order not to forget) – I’ve been running through the fiction selections on this list . . . .
I mean this book was EV.ER.Y.THANG. I had hoped it would be going in.
But first, let’s start with a confession. I really wanted to read this yesterday when it came out. If you know me I’m sure you can imagine the first world problem sort of whining that ensued when I went to check the pornbrary website and saw that SIX others were in front of me. Heifers! But then I realized I had received this as an advance from NetGalley . . . .
Good news is, it was absolutely A-Okay that this was not what I was expecting. Because really all I actually was in the mood for was a holiday-type of read to remind me that smiling is sometimes my favorite.
The premise here is that Minnie and Quinn were born in the same hospital on the same day and only one minute apart. That day just happened to be New Year’s. The two meet for the first time on their 30th birthday and end up developing an unexpected friendship that the reader follows along for the following year. Backstory is provided in snippets of New Year’s Eves past to provide an insight into what made each character who they are.
I knew starting this I would quite possibly rage out if it didn’t play like a movie in my head while I was reading. Luckily I was not disappointed. This was an absolute delight and I could easily picture Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin melting hearts on the big screen . . . .
There lies that magical moment of Thanksgiving leftovers where your family isn’t quite ready to bludgeon you for making “TURKEY AGAIN, OMG KAREN MOM!!!!!” I was lucky enough to score a big ol’ box of fabulousness from Far Country Press and found this little selection while perusing the pages . . . .
This was a little Reubeny with the addition of Thousand Island dressing and scored big points with the family. And here’s a confession: I never thought of adding cheese to the outside as well as the inside of a sammich. That’s a gamelifechanger . . . .
And I surely was not disappointed at the onset where a bus of juvies being transported to a new facility seems to be taking a bit of a detour – calling to mind a potential YA version of . . . .
That wasn’t quite the case, but still the idea of an algorithm that rates your potential for murder and arson on a scale of D (being a benign granny) to A (true “human-sharks” a la Charles Manson) was still right on brand when it comes to things I enjoy. And the idea of . . . . .
“We want to use Class As’ skills in a … productive way.
Unfortunately this fell victim of YA selections of the past with a real Mary Sue for a leading lady who was more concerned with receiving her first kiss and relying on the kindness of a real stupid effing love triangle strangers rather than learning how to kick some ass when given the opportunity. This had true potential for being 4 Stars, but between the kissing stuff (I mean, really, aren’t we better than that at this point????) to the whodunit reveal that more than kind of jumped the shark (additional twists instead of the most obvious solution aren’t always necessary) and the ending leaving this wiiiiiiiiiiide open for a follow-up has me saying . . . . .
Kelly (and the Book Boar)
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