Hello everyone, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Since it is highly encouraged, if not mandatory to stay inside I have a book haul from Barns&Noble online to share!
This isn’t too big of a list since I was just wanting to get rid of a gift card I had laying around. So, without further ado, here’s this mini book haul!
Let me know if you have read or picked up any of these books! I can not wait to get back into the world and visit my local bookstores. Until then, we still have out online platforms to buy from.
I’m so happy that I was able to get back into buying and reading books. While my TBR list is still huge, I just can’t help getting new books that are recommended by friends and family. Especially since I had such a quiet January!
Let’s jump right into it. Here are the books that I managed to pick up this month!
Here’s another Book tag! I found this beauty of a scavenger hunt on the Secret Library Book Blog and just had to do it! I have a bunch of books and I think it’ll be a fun challenge for me to actually find books matching the challenge!
Here we go!
Find an author name or title with a Z in it
Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago
Find a classic
A great classic we have in our library is Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
Find a book with a key on it
Yikes! I searched high and low for a book with a key on it and I can’t believe that we don’t have one.
Find something on your bookshelf that is not a book
Aside from nicknacks that represent books or themes on the shelves, we also have my boyfriend’s records. Patsy Cline Reminds me of cool breezy days like the ones we have been having lately, so I decided to go with this record of hers.
Find the oldest book on your shelf
This is the oldest book in our library and it actually is a textbook that belonged to one of my boyfriend’s grandparents.
Find a book with a woman on it
I love this soft and elegant cover.
Find a book that has an animal in it
Marley and Me is such a bittersweet read that I enjoyed, but would not read again.
Find a book with a male protagonist
James Hook’s point of view and a look into his past with Peter Pan.
Find a book with only words on the cover
Fun fact about Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, it is the only novel my boyfriend has willingly finished.
Find a book with illustrations in it
Charles Tritten’s Jack and Jill we found in an antique store in Prescott Arizona.
Find a book with gold lettering
I have a few gold lettering books, but I wanted a book from my favorite series to make an appearance on this list. So the final book of The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.
Find a diary, true or fictional
The only book that I would consider being close to a diary in my library is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. This is a great book that makes me laugh and cry everytime I read it.
Find a book written by an author with a common surname (like Smith)
Arthur Miller has a pretty common last name in my opinion.
Find a favorite childhood book
Here is a two for one! Little Raccoon and the Outside World is my boyfriend’s favorite childhood book, and Scamp The Adventures of a Little Puppy is mine. Another fun fact, my dog is named Scamp after this little guy.
Find a book on your shelf that takes place in the earliest time period
Our winner for the earliest time period is Shakespeare’s Macbeth taking place in the 11th century.
Find a hardback book without a jacket
I have a bunch of books without jackets and we randomly pulled John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath out of the fray.
Find a teal/turquoise coloured book
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is just one of those books I could reread every year. It is just such a feel good story!
Find a book with stars on it
Though it’s hard to see in the picture there are stars on this cover.
Find a non YA book
I’m a sucker for Margaret Moore’s stories and love the way the characters feel so real.
Find a book with a beautiful cover
This cover is one of my favorites because of its design and style it is drawn in.
This was great and I had so much fun looking for the books! I even roped my boyfriend into helping, so that was a plus. I think this really gives everyone a chance to show whats on their shelves.
Have you done this challenge? If you have let me know! I’d love to read your answers.
I thought it would be fun to start sharing the books that I’ve read each month and would actually recommend to friends and family. Reading has always been a huge part of my life and has continued to help me through troubled times. I am constantly reading whether it is an escape from reality, a feel-good read, or just learning about a new interest.
I read through a lot of genres, so there will be books ranging from Young Adult to Romance.
In the reviews I’ll give a summary of the plot (no spoilers), what I thought about it and why I’m recommending these books. So, let’s jump in!
The Wife Between Us
This is a truly wild ride co-written by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. This book is the best Psychological Thriller I have ever read! I thought I had it all figured out, a typical story about a psycho ex-wife who is stalking the ‘new woman’. Oh boy was I wrong.
We are first introduced to Vanessa who has been divorced for about a year and working at Saks while living with her aunt. Her ex-husband, Richard, is a successful hedge fund manager and is currently engaged to a woman named Nellie.
The book begins with Vanessa watching Nellie and that is where I automatically thought it was going to be a simple to follow jealousy plot. See, that’s where I messed up, I assumed I knew what was going to happen next. The best advice I can give to someone reading this masterpiece is to not assume you know what is happening.
This story has so many twists and turns that I was honestly mislead many times. The further I read, the more things made sense. By the time I had finished the story it had taken the understanding I thought I had and tossed it out the window. This books ending was much better than anything I could have anticipated.
While the story is amazing, I wasn’t able to connect with any of the characters. There was not much within the story that I have experienced in my own life. If a reader could find common ground with any of the characters, combined with the utter intensity I’ll bet this will make their top five reads. I recommend this book to anyone just looking for an exciting read with an even better ending.
Red, White & Royal Blue
Our author, Casey McQuiston, does a great job of combining things I do not have a passion for, like Politics and History, and somehow use them to highlight a great romance.
In this book we follow Alex Claremont-Diaz, the U.S. President’s son and aspiring politician himself. During a long-standing rivalry with Prince Henry of Wales and after an altercation at a royal event, they are forced to appear as friends and allies.
It’s quickly realized that they’ve gotten off on the wrong foot and begin to find common ground. The characters are admirable with their abilities to overcome problems with society throughout their clashes. Family is a huge factor in this story and really helps to mold the two young men. In spite of Alex’s pride and Henry’s royal maternal ‘apron strings’, we can’t help falling in love with our boys by the end.
I read this Young Adult romance novel earlier this month when I honestly just needed to smile about something. The story was able to make me smile, laugh, and cry throughout my read. I would really recommend this book to both adults and young adults for its wit and humor. This book was on an end-cap at my local Bookstore and I’m happy I decided to give it a try.
Behind Her Eyes
Behind Her Eyes is another Psychological Thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. Sarah Pinborough does an amazing job with this story and is able to keep you reading for hours on end.
This story seems like your typical romance plot when Louise, a single mom at a bar connects with a stranger. When she goes in to work Monday morning the ‘mystery man’ turns out to be her new boss, David. To make things worse, David has a picture-perfect wife named Adele who is everything that Louise isn’t.
Louise befriends Adele one day in town and they start to share secrets and hang-out often. The closer Louise gets to Adele, the more we find wrong with her marriage.
This is an emotional roller-coaster and I LOVED it. It was easy to get in to plus the story did a great job with character development. Adele’s backstory had me hooked and shocked once I got to the later chapters. So, if you’re looking for a quick read that isn’t predictable this will definitely throw you for a loop and have you wanting more!
There we have it!
These were great books that I read this month. I would love to keep this going and read some of your favorites as well. Comment down below if you have a book you would like me to read this November. Until then, Happy Reading!
Mindy Erxleben 