Halfway Through the Year Book Round Up!
Last year I did a book round-up at the end of the year for everything I had read those past 12 months. And while I had a similar plan for this year, I realized I have already read as many books in 6 months as I did in 12 last year and if I keep up this pace then one giant book round-up would be way too long. And no one would bother to read that. So this year we are breaking it in half! Here are the books I have read in the first 6 months of 2023!
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid - TJR has quickly become a writer I love. Last year I read 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and began my TJR fascination. This was another great read, but maybe a little lower stakes for me overall. This novel follows four siblings grappling with loss, sudden adult ages, and newfound money and fame. It centers around the night of a massive, star student party they throw every year, with flashbacks sprinkled in. I overall did like this one! I love her writing style and the way she can create such vivid characters that feel so real. I love that TJR writes charters that I want to root for even when they supremely suck. This book was no exception. This one was just slower-paced for me and took me a little longer to get through. Still worth it to read!
Girls of a Certain Age by Maria Adelmann- In all fairness, I did start this one at the end of 2022 and just happened to carry it into 2023. This is a book of short stories that all center around women and the various experiences that shape us into who we are. There are stories focusing on 10-year-old girls all the way up women in their 50s and every age in between. It deals with topics of loss and grief, addiction, sexuality, money, abortion, and long-term health conditions. It’s a very intimate look at how we as women have to move through society and all the various things that try and take us down as we go. It took me quite a while to read all of these stories but they are pretty heavy and I would have to space them out, but definitely worth the read in tandem with another novel to help out with some pallet cleansers.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid- This is my favorite TJR novel so far. Maybe it’s because I love Almost Famous so much, or because my extended family grew up in the rock scene of LA or the badass female charters of this novel! But either way, I loved this one so much that I could not stop reading it. It centers around a band in the 70s that makes it big and all of the issues and band politics that surround it, on top of all the sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll that follows. Once you’ve read it, pop over to Amazon Prime and watch the limited series they made based on the book. I am so picky about these kinds of things and absolutely loved it. Read first, then watch!
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas- Another author I found last year and have fallen head over heels for. Last year I read SJM’s A Court of Thornes and Roses series and even re-read two of those books this year! Her writing style is just so good and the way she creates and world builds is amazing. I also especially love how we have the sort of “old world” fae vibe for the ACOTAR series, and then she jumps into the modern-day magic and technology world of this series, Cresent City. The first book follows Bryce Quinlan who is a young half-fae woman navigating a very complicated world after college. She is dealing with loss, family issues, and now she has to team up with one of the most notorious assassins in the city to solve a string of murders that seem to be related to her. We have romance, battle, ancient art and texts, magic and so much more. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will jump for joy while also screaming at injustices. Definitely read ACOTAR first, but this a great one and you all must read it!
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas- This is the sequel to the one above, so I really can't give any synopsis without giving spoilers to the first one. But if you have already read this, please contact me! Comment down below, find me on Instagram, or email me at my contact page because the ending to this book was so insane I need to talk about it with as many people as possible before the third one comes out in January!
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo- I read the first book in this series, Ninth House, last year and I loved it. So once I saw this one was finally out I was stoked to get to read the next installment in this gorgeous, dark academic world. And once again, I can’t give a synopsis because it would spoil the first one, but I really didn’t love this one. It was ok. It was entertaining. But it was not the same level of great and wonderful that I found the first one had. Now, I have noticed in a lot of series that the middle book or two aren’t as good as the others because you do have to have a novel that connects the dots and is the bridge for the plot. We have to go from point A to point B somehow. I really hope that’s all this was and that the rest of this series, however many there are, do a lot better.
A Slow Burning Fire by Paula Hawkins- Paula Hawkins is another one of my favorite literary ladies and this novel was no exception. I have read her other two books and loved them, with my favorite being her second novel, Into the Water. This novel follows four different women all connected to one family by a different person (or multiple people) and when two of these family members die just a month apart from one another, everyone they knew becomes suspect. And I did really enjoy this one! I read it in about a week and really enjoyed it from beginning to end. The only thing was that this twist was not as good as I was hoping for. In her other two novels, I felt like the twist and the “who dun it” were so much more shocking and exciting whereas this one wasn’t as much. It wasn’t bad by any means, but I was ready for more of a “gasp” moment like her other two novels, and that just wasn’t here for this one.
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman- This was a fun read! It would definitely be characterized as a rom-com, but not every novel needs to be insane and literary, and suspenseful. Sometimes you can just read for fun and enjoy it and that is what this was for me. There were plot holes and points that were never fully flushed out, but overall it was fun to read and it was a good in-between after two pretty hefty reads. There was nothing groundbreaking or particularly clever about this one, but it was fun! it centers on the same two charters, ten years apart, over a long weekend of an ill-fated interview. One is a gawky, clumsy, newly graduated and fresh from break up journalist, while the other is a budding starlet who is set to play the next James Bond. It is heartwarming and fun, and perfect for a summer read.
Bunny by Mona Awad- I have no idea what this was about. I can make my guesses along with everyone else on the internet, but overall I do not have the faintest idea what this was about and a lot of people on the internet don’t seem to know either. The basic storyline follows the main character Samantha while she is at a very prestigious grad school for writing, and the other women in her cohort are all very close (too close) and drive her crazy with their togetherness. She and her best friend make fun of them and ignore them until Samantha gets invited over one night by the girls and things go off the rails from there. I rated this book 5 stars on Goodreads mainly because even though I had a hard time fully getting the novel, it kept me interested enough that I finished the whole thing. Overall I think this has to do with belonging and what people will do to fit in, but I am not 100% sure, so if you have read it and have ideas please put them in the comments!
The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman- I love these books and I love Alie Hoffman. I have read all of the books in the Practical Magic series and this was the last one. I loved them as much as I have loved the others and will continue to recommend these books to everyone. Once again I cannot give a storyline overview without giving spoilers, but if you saw the movie or read the first book, then you have a basic idea of what we are working with here (if you haven’t seen Practical Magic what are you doing) and you need to read all four books. Each book follows a different generation of the Owens family and gives you another piece of the puzzle to their story. I loved it, and I am sad these books are over.
A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas- My full review for these two are on my last year round-up here, but since I re-read both of these incredibly hefty novels, I had to include them towards my total for this year. Just seemed only fair! But I love this series and am even working on a tattoo design dedicated to this series.
The Lying Club by Annie Ward- This one was a letdown for me. The premise is that 3 women get caught up in a murder and have to cover it up with their various lies (as the title gives away). It is based in a very wealthy Colorado town at a prep school where we focus on two different moms and their daughters, and the young front office secretary who are unlikely allies in this whole mess. The only issue here is that the last 20 pages or so of the book are the only part that actually focuses on any of this and the rest is building and alluding to everything that by the time everything is dropped and explained at the end, it all feels so rushed to finish. The idea for this story is great, but the execution was horrible. I really wish this had been done better and the suspense handled better. The dialogue was also horrible. Like SO BAD. It was stilted and unnatural and even cringe at times. The mothers and daughters speak as if they have never met before. Husbands and wives say things you would only hear on soap operas. Strangers talk like they have known each other forever. It was all so bad. I would definitely recommend you skip this one and read Big Little Lies instead.
That’s it for this week friends! Next week kicks off my vacation content so stay tuned for that while I am on my trip! Follow me on social media to stay up to date on everything in real-time and quick bursts and here for longer form content:)
Madey
All book cover photos are found on ThirftBooks!