Category: Book Blog

Book Title : Happiness for Beginners
Book Author :Carole Matthews
My Rating :⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date : March 10th 2020

Thank you @littlebrown for the gifted copy and for including me on the tour.

Are you in a reading slump?
Then Molly baker got you covered! Join her and her awesome animal friends at Hope Farm where she deals with all sorts of issues!

Molly Baker is not your typical social girl. At 38 years old, she’s more comfortable managing Hope Farm, also your non-typical farm -, where she hangs out with her animal friends, takes care of kids who are in dire need of attention and help. And much needed tea and biscuits!

But when the farm faces disclosure, she is forced to get out of her comfort zone and interact with more humans. Oh, the horror!!

Fun, witty and adorable, you can’t help but fall deeply in love with Molly! I absolutely adored her! I also don’t think there is a single character in the book which I didn’t like.

I devoured this book in a day! I couldn’t put it down. I just didn’t want it to end and I didn’t want to leave Hope Farm, Molly, her saucy sidekick friend, Dev, the dashing Shelbey, his troubled son and other awesome characters.
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I totally recommend this read specifically to women literature lovers, to those who are willing to try this genre and for anyone who’s looking for that perfect summer read!

🔅Hope Farm was based on real life Farm @animalantiks

Book Title : Caravan
Book Author : Adam DeCollibus
My Rating :⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date : July 18th 2019

Thank you Third Lion Publishing for sending me a free e-copy in exchange for a review.

The Deets: William Abney is desperate for money. Desperate enough to accept a job traveling all the way to Morroco across the hot Sahara desert to take pictures of locals and anything of culture for a local magazine in London. The only condition for getting the money, is that he needs to make it out of there alive and return home safely.

Just my thoughts: My love for historical fiction keeps growing and this is a good addition to my recommendations for this genre. I loved the whole vivid description of the desert and the Moroccan culture. I truly felt I was there experiencing with William all those things that he have come across.

All the characters in the book were likable, I don’t believe there is one which I have found annoying or didn’t like. The writing style made it so easy to read the book and I was flipping the pages to find out what would happen to William and to those around him.

Did the book make me love the dessert? Heck, No! Living in the Middle East myself, and living through hot, humid summer here, I perfectly knew and understood what the author was talking about.

All in favor, should I say Aye? I say Aye, and I would recommend it to those who love subjects about the war, adventures, and learning about new cultures.

Do you have space on your shelf? I truly believe you should save a spot for this one on your shelfie.

Book Title : The Silent Patient
Book Author : Alex Michaelides
My Rating :⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date :February 5th 2019

Thank you @littlebrown for sending me a free copy in exchange for a review.

The Deets : So where do I start! Alicia, she’s our silent patient. Shoots her beloved Husband, Gabriel, five times and never speaks another word. Then comes Theo, our Protagonist, a psychotherapist who is convinced he can help with Alicia’s case and can get her to speak.

Just my thoughts : I absolutely loved it!! It was such a page turner. I loved how the book focused on the physiological side of our characters, the many possible theories, the art references and some more. There were parts where I found a bit dragged and unnecessary to the plot and would have loved to skip.

All in favor, should I say Aye? I would definitely say Aye, and I would totally recommend it. Especially to those who are looking to try out a thriller genre. You would love it!

Do you have space on your shelf? My way of asking would you pick it up and read.

Thank you @littlebrown for sending me a free copy in exchange for a review.

Book Title : NormalPeople
Book Author :  Sally Rooney
My Rating :⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date : August 28th 2018

That awkward moment when you realize, you are from the minority who didn’t like a hyped up book.

I actually had the chance to read it before any major hype. It was recommended by a fellow book club member thinking it would make a good discussion.

And a good discussion it did make. That’s it. When it came to the book itself, I had some issues with it.

So it’s about two main teenage characters, Connell and Marianne, and their on/ off, romantic? Not romantic? kind of relationship through the course of about four years throughout the book. Connell the popular guy, Marianne the not-so-popular-almost-invisible kind of person.  It talks about love, relationships, identity issues, mental health and a bunch of other subjects that I thought added to the story.

What I liked about the book, is, the prose. It was well-written, though I did struggle at first with it as there was no quotations at all but I thought it added a new something to the book. I also liked how it went back and forth in time, with cliffhangers at every end of chapter.

What I didn’t like about it, was the story/plot itself. I felt it dragged in a lot of places to the point of boredom. I also felt the book just didn’t want to end. It was over exaggerated and over dramatic sometimes that had me roll my eyes more than a couple of times.

I would recommend it though. It’s worth the read and I do think it would make a good book club discussion.

Book Title : Behold the Dreamers
Book Author :Imbolo Mbue
My Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date :June 26th 2017

I really wanted to LOVE this book so much but sadly I didn’t. Maybe I just had my own ideas of what it should have been and I was expecting more than what it was.

The book follows the story of Jendi and Neni, and their son, who migrated from Cameron to the United States hoping to live that American Dream. Working and studying hard, they soon realize it’s not as easy or glamorous as they thought it would be.

I loved how it touches subjects about hopes, dreams, love, marriage, wealth vs poverty and so much more. The writing style makes it super easy to follow the plot and connect with the characters.

It wasn’t a struggle for me to finish it and I did look forward to knowing how it ended, not because of the creativity of the plot but because I kind of fell in love with the characters themselves and I found myself rooting for them!

I do recommend that you pick it up. It could be a good one for you and it could be that you’d find it mediocre like I did.

Book Title : The Hating Game
Book Author :Sally Thorne
My Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date : August 9th 2016

One of the most hyped up books that I was recommended to since I was in the mood for a romantic read, and sadly, the hype is wrong about it.
Well, for me anyways.

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. They spent their working days, sitting across from each other, hating and playing hateful games. To make things hatefully worse, they were up for the same promotion of their dream job. This caused even more tension between them but at the same time, surfaced another feeling that perhaps could be something other than hate?
I do realize I used the word “hate” a lot but believe me, 387 pages and it’s bound to be in mostly every sentence.

Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit but my main point is, the book focused so much on that word and feeling, that it was almost forced.
I did not feel their hate, I did not feel their attraction and I certainly won’t categorize this or add it to my recommendations for a romance read.

I do, however, recommend that you do pick it up, make up your own mind about it and hey! You might not end up “hating” it. Not that I hated it, mind you!

Book Title : The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Book Author :Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
My Rating :⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date : July 29th 2008

That awesome moment when you read a good book and you can’t wait to tell the whole world about it!

I just finished it last night, and here I am writing my review and urging you to pick it up.

I had this one on my TBR for a long time now – I could easily say 10 years! I think I bought it the minute it got out. And guess what made me pick it up? Why, because of its movie of course!!

The funny part is, while reading it, I totally forgot that I just read it to check the movie adaptation later.

So, it all started with a letter that our Protagonist, Juliet, who was also an aspiring writer, received from Guernsey letting her know that they have found a book of hers with her name and address, which lead her to connect with the residences of Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and thus began a series of letters and telegrams between them, portraying their love for books and reading.

This was such a delightful read. You cannot but help falls in love with every character mentioned. The whole idea of the letters added a whole new charm to the plot and events told.

I would totally recommend, actually FORCE you to pick it up and read it! That is if you are a fan of awesome books!

Book Title :  The Wedding Date
Book Author : Jasmine Guillory
My Rating :⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date : January 30th 2018

I am not a very generous person when it comes to my stars and I could be a tad bit difficult when it comes to ratings. So it’s really a big thing that I gave this book a four star rating!

And it certainly deserves it.

Stuck in an elevator with a guy she doesn’t know, and agreeing to go to a wedding as a first date, is something Alexa wouldn’t dream of doing. But something about Drew, – and his charm! makes it super hard to resist him or refuse his offer to become his fake girlfriend to assist him with his ex’s wedding festivities.

A delightful read about long distance relationships, love, attraction and all those ingredients that would make the perfect romantic story.

I totally loved!

It as it had that “feeling good” read, packed with awesome characters and you can’t help but fall in love with Alexa and Drew.
I would totally recommend it to those who are looking for a light read and a fix of steamy romance.

Book Title : The Sun is also a Star
Book Author : Nicola yoon
My Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Publication Date : November 1st 2016

After reading and loving Everything Everything, I didn’t hesitate to pick up the second book by the same author.

I can’t say that I regret this choice but I won’t say I’m happy about it either.

The Sun is also a Star talks about serious practical, Natasha, who does not believe in dreams and fate. A single mistake from her father’s side got them threatened with deportation and have to leave to Jamaica in twelve hours.

During those twelve hours and walking round the streets of New York –where she calls home, she meets and falls in love with Daniel, the perfect son and student, who is an absolute dreamer and very much believes in fate.

Though I might find someone who would love this book, it just wasn’t for me. It was such an easy read but still, I struggled to finish it as fast as I normally do with such books.

It did have a good story, cute characters, talks a lot about fate and hope. Of course, I love Nicola’s style of writing. I would definitely read more of her books but this one didn’t get me all hyped up about it.

I’d still recommend it thought. Especially to a younger audience or someone who’s just looking for a quick read.