April was another good reading month for me. I read six books in total. One thing I am disappointed in is that they are all fiction. I really want to read some non-fiction, and I have started several (such as “The Read-Aloud Family” by Sarah Mackenzie, “Get Out of Your Head” by Jennie Allen, “None Like Him” by Jen Wilkin, etc…), but I just can not seem to get it in my head to pick those up instead of my fiction reads. Fiction is just my escape, even though there are so many non-fiction I want to read and I know they will give me good ideas in improving my life I just can not seem to get on board to pick them up first. If any one has any ideas in how I can improve on that, please share! Anyways…here is what I read in April.
The Inn at Hidden Run by Olivia Newport
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
In the Cradle Lies by Olivia Newport
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I Meet You by Olivia Newport
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
So these first three books of my list are part of “The Tree of Life” series by Olivia Newport. I found these through Netgalley…I read the description for the third one “When I Meet You” (publish date of May 1, 2020) and it seemed right up my alley, so I requested it. Then I realized it was number three in a series so I requested the first two and started reading. All three of them have wonderful storylines and I love the genealogical search that happens in all of them and the history that plays along with the modern day storyline. I fell in love with all the characters from the small town of Canyon Mines, CO and I felt like I was right there with them. I’d have to say I did not enjoy the first book as much as the other two. It took me quite awhile to get into the first book…it seemed very wordy and choppy feeling to me, but I was hooked and wanted to see how it all played out so I stuck it out. Then I moved right on to the next two books and enjoyed those a lot more. The writing seemed more fluid and I got drawn in quicker in them than I did the first one. I believe there is a fourth one planned for sometime in the future and I am looking forward to that one!
Ebooks – I received free copies of these book from NetGalley for the purpose of honest reviews. All opinions are my own.
Whispering Rock by Robyn Carr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
So I was finally able to get the next book in “the Virgin River” series from OverDrive. I guess this series is getting popular because of the Netflix series because there has been a small wait time in getting them from my library’s OverDrive account. I have to say this one was my favorite one so far of the series. It was about Jack’s sister who was attacked by someone she was prosecuting in a case and lost and how she eventually found love and happiness despite all that. I just love all the characters in this small town and even though they are pretty predictable storylines, there is just something comforting about reading about the small town of Virgin River and all the people who live there. I’ve already started the next book in the series and am enjoying it so far!
The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was my disappointing book of the month. My coworker posted about it on Facebook and I looked up the book description and thought it sounded promising, so my coworker let me borrow it and I hate to say that it took me foreverrrr to get through. I just couldn’t get into it. It went a little faster once I got about 75% of the way through, but it was definitely slow going for most of it. The ending was a twist that I wasn’t expecting, but it did not make up for the rest of the book being so slow going for me.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was excited to read this one because I had heard that a lot of people liked it. While it was good and I’m glad I read it, I don’t think it was as good as everyone was making it out to be. There was a part that I did tear up at and I did have some big feelings throughout the book and I did enjoy reading it, but the ending just fell flat for me and that sort of ruined it for me. There is a neat connection to the book and where I live though. In the back, the author mentions that a majority of the first part of the book was written at a coffee shop in Fayetteville, AR and I know the exact one she is talking about and it’s only about 20 minutes from where I live. I just thought that was a neat connection!
I’m going to include one more book in this list because I forgot to include it in last month’s list that I really enjoyed a lot and didn’t want to miss sharing about it.
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I didn’t know much about Jessica Simpson other then a few of her songs, her starring in “The Dukes of Hazzard”, her and Nick Lachey in the “Newlyweds”, and that she was a Preacher’s kid, but other than that I didn’t know much. I listened to this as an audiobook and really enjoyed it. Jessica narrated it and I’m glad I listened to it instead of reading it. Throughout the book her emotions came out as she was reading it and I think that helped to make it very enjoyable! It’s easy to look on the outside and think that her life is so great, but…no she has been through a lot of hard things and it was neat to see how she overcame it all. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend the audio version of it.
I hope you enjoyed this list and find something you want to add to your to-be read list!
Until next time…keep it simple!
Lindsey
I keep hearing wonderful reviews of Open Book. I don’t read celebrity memoirs, but I may have to change that soon!! I am linking my recent reads, if interested!
It’s so interesting to see the different POV’s on Open Book. I always liked Jessica though, so I think I’d enjoy the book. I’m curious about Such a Fun Age, but it probably won’t be one I read for awhile.
When I was reading the Jessica Simpson book I could not think of even one of her songs from back then LOL
The Olivia Newport books sound like you really enjoyed them 🙂 I’ve seen a lot of people who liked the Jessica Simpson. Since I’ve never really followed that much with her in it, I’m not sure how engaged I’d really be with the book. Thanks for sharing!