Book friends! It has been way too long. I have no excuse except to say that I’ve been exploring other passion projects and have neglected my first little passion of being blatantly bookish. Not cool. So, I’m putting it out into the universe and making a heartfelt pinky swear to myself to not let it happen again. We’ll see what happens. I make no promises.

I was going to get back into the groove of things by telling you about the book I’m currently reading…but that didn’t really seem fair. So, to make it up to you, thought I would tell you about ALL the books I’ve read since my last update. Just because I was selfishly neglecting my little corner of the internets, it did not mean I was neglecting to read. That’s the important part, right? Right?!?

So here it goes:

Book One. July 25. One Plus One // Jojo Moyes – Eh. While it was just fine for a fluffy summer read in Palm Springs, which is exactly where I started reading it, I ended up feeling like it was a waste of time. I was a fan of Me Before You (her “runaway bestseller”) but this just didn’t hit hard enough. 3 out of 5 stars

Book Two. July 19. Saving Francesca // Melina Marchetta – It’s YA. I love YA. I did not love this book (sad face…I really wanted to love it). I had heard about it years ago and it kept popping up on my Goodreads recommends list. The last few chapters made up for a lot of the book because I thought they were really good…but hard to forgive the painfully long journey it took to get there (even though I read it in about a day and a half). 3 out of 5 stars

Book Three. July 18. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves // Karen Joy Fowler – I really, really loved this book. I had absolutely no idea what it was about (on purpose) and it completely surprised me. Totally interesting concept (albeit a little strange), well told. I don’t even want to tell you anything about the plot in fear that I’ll give something away. Just read it. 4.5 out of 5 stars

Book Four. July 12. Americanah // Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – This book is one of the highest rated books on Goodreads (4.22 stars with +20,000 ratings). It definitely was very, very good…but sometimes it felt like homework. Sometimes I was angry with the characters (which I’m totally fine with) but I sorta feel like this is one of those books that people feel like they need to rave about or they don’t feel smart/cool/good enough or something. But hey, I want people to think I’m cool. 3.75 stars out of 5

Book Five. June 27. Missing You // Harlan Coben – Just because I read everything of his and I needed something easy, this fit right in. It was just ok. 3 out of 5 stars

Book Six. June 21. The Interestings // Meg Wolitzer – This book has gotten so much attention, I simply couldn’t stop hearing about it. It was already on my to-do list and then it turned into a book club pick. I really loved the first chapter. I was so excited about it. Young love, the yearning, a fancy artsy summer camp. Then it all went down hill from there. 2 out of 5 stars

Book 7. June 2. Eleanor & Park // Rainbow Rowell – So good. So sweet. So much talk about who they’re going to cast to play Eleanor and Park in the movie. I can’t wait. 4 out of 5 stars

Book 8. May 27. Lexicon // Max Barry – I loved the concept of this super secretive linguistic school of spies (if you can even call it that) and I was totally into the insane plot and gobbled it up. What I didn’t love was the ending. Did I miss something? Someone! Please help me understand what the hell happened! 3 out of 5 stars

(photo courtesy of My Subscription Addiction)

Book 9. May 17. Under the Wide and Starry Sky // Nancy Horan – When I first picked this book up I had no idea it was historical fiction about the life and times of Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife. Beautifully told. It made me want to go back and read all of his novels and I am still totally inspired by Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne. She was an amazing woman who led a truly adventurous life. 4.5 out of 5 stars

Phew.

Read anything good lately?