On the bookshelf in November & December

The first book I read was Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera. If you know me, then you know I’m a big true crime podcast girlie & that’s exactly what this book was about! It had such a fun layout that I haven’t ever seen before — at the end of most chapters was a podcast episode. Like all true crime stories, the goal is to figure out “who done it”. I feel like I have a pretty strong intuition & typically have some sort of suspicion on the correct person. I was totally lost on this one, which made it SO much fun to read! I truly couldn’t put it down. I don’t want to share much about the plot line or characters because I don’t want to accidentally give anything away. Mystery is one of my favorite genres & I love podcasts, so it’s no surprise that I gave this book five out of five stars.

The second book I read was Glad You’re Here: Two Unlikely Friends Breaking Bread and Fences by Walker Hayes & Craig Allen Cooper. I started this book feeling indifferent about Walker Hayes. I don’t necessarily like or dislike his music & I don’t really know anything about him as a person. My dad really likes him so I had some hope that I’d feel the same. To be honest, books like these are probably my least favorite to read. The third chapter of this book is called “A Dog” & it’s basically about how the Hayes family couldn’t stand one of their two dogs & were trying to get rid of her. Animals have always had a soft spot in my heart & I know I’m blessed that Piper is my soul dog. The things that Walker Hayes said in his portion of the chapter literally had me frowning at my kindle & it left such a bad taste in my mouth. Because this was only the third chapter & was so early on in the book, I was just immediately turned off from the whole thing. I know my review of this book is biased based on how much I disliked the “A Dog” chapter, but I will say that I felt like the following chapters redeemed it. So with all of that being said: I gave this book three out of five stars.

Next I read the three-book Beartown series by Fredrik Backman. The first book is called Beartown, the second book is called Us Against You, & the third book is called The Winners. I’m combining all three of these books into one review because they were so similar & honestly they were just like a continuation of the previous book. At first when I started reading, I was incredibly overwhelmed. There are so. many. characters. & I had such a hard time keeping all of them straight. Beartown is a town that is truly obsessed with hockey, so every character’s story revolved around hockey as well. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I was in, I was hooked. I was so interested in the progression of each character. This is one of those series that now that I’m done reading it, I feel kind of sad to not have the characters in my life anymore. It was just super fun to read & pretty far off from the books I typically go for. My dad started reading this series over Christmas break & he’s just as hooked as I am! It’s fun to talk to him about what’s happening because there is SO MUCH to come. I gave the first book four out of five stars, & the second two books five out of five stars.

The sixth book I read was The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. Apparently I’ve been listening to too many true crime podcasts & reading too many thrillers because this one just felt kinda blah for me. There just didn’t seem to be very much going on. I’d think I was onto something sinister & then it didn’t even happen. Bo-ring. There were quite a few different points of view throughout this book which kept my attention, but it did make it difficult to get right back into it after putting it down for a bit. I gave this book two out of five stars.

I get questions all the time about this book lover tote! So stinking cute!!

books I purchased these two months:

in November:

in December:

books recommended by all of you these two months:

My heart was so full heading into the 2023 Christmas season! I finished up reading the entire Bible. Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading & Understanding the Entire Bible was such a great resource that helped me better understand what I was reading & how it applies to my life! It was amazing to me how much was familiar & how much I didn’t know I was missing. Having a better understanding of the Bible & being in the word every day has brought so much peace into my life! If you’ve been feeling the pull to read your Bible more, I highly recommend Bible recap to help you on your journey. I’m excited to start over & eager to see what new things I will pick up on & learn.

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