Woo it’s been a couple of month since I sat down and shared what I’ve been reading!! I HAVE been reading, just not so good at the sharing part. It’s been hard to balance book content vs. other content (you can read more about the struggles in changing my blog direction) because doing book content is WHAT I KNOW AND HAVE DONE FOR 8 YEARS. Still haven’t quite found my footing yet, I guess.
Anyways, my reading life? I’m 7 books behind my very low Goodreads goal but I’m also happy I *AM* still reading. It’s been a struggle to make time for it but somehow I have been! Might come at the cost of sleep but she’s been sleeping better so I’m not as afraid of staying up to sneak in some more reading haha.
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Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer
About In A Sentence Or Two: Queenie has jumped from city to city trying to make it as a chef after she left like a bat out of hell from her small town that has always ostracized her and her sister for who their mother was and the place that reminds her of the love that broke her heart. Now, out of options, she must return home with hopes that maybe things can change there and it can be a place she can call home again.
I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while and I’m so mad at myself I hadn’t read it until this year but also it was TOTALLY the book I needed at the right time. It came highly recommended by two fantastic bloggers — Cassie & Hannah — and they were NOT WRONG. It is a heartwarming and truly special book that explores the idea of the ways in which we can let the past inform so much of our present and how we see ourselves– a thing I think about a lot. Queenie’s pilgrimage back home, to a place she truly hates and rightly so because of how she and her sister are treated, after crashing and burning career-wise is truly a special journey — one that had me clutching my heart and also sobbing because I could relate in my own ways. Other things of note: the BEST SISTER DUO EVER (seriously all their interactions were my fave), an amazing Southern small town setting, SMALL TOWN SECRETS, oh the fooooood…the food and some of the most fantastic secondary characters I read in a while. I loved the evolution of the romance. BUT MOST OF ALL I LOVED QUEENIE. I beg you….READ THIS BOOK! It’s so fantastic. I can’t recommend it enough.
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
About In Sentence Or Two: Alexa and Drew randomly meet when they are stuck in an elevator together and, by the end of the night, Alexa agrees to pretend to be his date for the wedding he’s in the next day. They enjoy themselves more than they thought and, as they both go back to real life in cities apart from one another, they try to figure out if there’s something there that was real.
This was a really fun romance though I was expecting something AMAZING considering how people raved about it. I most definitely enjoyed it but I don’t think I loved it the way it seems others did. I absolutely am a sucker for the “let’s pretend we are dating oh wait hey maybe we really fell for each other” romance trope so I was hooked by them pretending to date so he could survive this wedding. I LOVED Alexa so much as a main character (also super compelling was her career and her relationship with her sister), really loved the fact that they were an interracial couple and how the author explored that through the story, and I did feel like all their stops and starts with their relationship felt realistic though sometimes a little dramatic when a small conversation could have avoided them (but I guess I can do that tooooo so realistic??). I don’t know why it didn’t hit that OMG AMAZING level for me but it just didn’t.
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
About In A Sentence Or Two: The Civil War is derailed when the dead start rising and changes the course of America forever. A Native and Negro Reeducation Act is passed to train Native & Negro children to fight the dead and protect the rest of society. The main character is training in both weaponry and etiquette to protect rich families — not at all what she wants to do with her life — and suddenly she finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy/up against powerful enemies when families in wealthy areas start to go missing.
YESSSS this was so fantastic. I had been waiting for it FOREVER it seems. Civil War era alternate history + zombies. It was ridiculously page-turning and I’m clamoring for the next book. I LOVED Jane and I loved how irreverent and sassy she was and how, even in the face of the world thinking she was lesser, she was just going to keep on being this strong and competent badass and not even care what they thought. And it’s not just a zombie book — it tackles racism and other social commentary right alongside zombie slaying. It broke my heart about how she sacrificed and saved people who treated her like dirt. The world-building was fantastic and I would love to see this book play out on the big screen so I can just SEE IT. COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.
Save The Date by Morgan Matson
As always, a great read from Morgan!! I always adore her books and this was the perfect book to get me in the summer mood. One thing I really loved about this book was the family she created! I pretty much wanted to join the Grant family. I also loved how Morgan explored how easy it is for us to try to hold on to what we know and has always been. There’s a lot of things changing in Charlie’s life and she tries so desperately to hold on to that image of her family and her life. That’s something so relatable. I loved all the shenanigans the siblings got into and I loved watching Charlie, and the family, try so hard to salvage the wedding when things go amok. It was a super fun read that absolutely devoured despite its massive size. While Charlie wasn’t my favorite lady Morgan has created, I really enjoyed her story and did find it super relatable and I loved for all the sibling and wedding shenanigans.
Have you read any of these? What did you think?! Any of these going on your TBR? Tell me what you’ve been reading!
Michele says
Save the Date is on my TBR and I can’t wait to get to it!
Jamie says
I hope you love it too!!!
Emily says
I keep seeing people talk about Save the Date and I’ve never read a Morgan Matson book (I have one sitting on my kindle…) but now I’m super curious because literally EVERYONE is talking about it. So… I might need to pick it up. And I need to read Dread Nation. It looks amazing!
Jamie says
I have loved EVERY SINGLE Morgan Matson book I’ve read (which is all of them). It’s so hard to say where to start with her books but I fell in love with her debut when it came out so I say start there — Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour!!
And YES Dread Nation is so refreshingly different!
India says
I’ve read The Wedding Date and Save the Date (I got married in May so that’s where my mind was lol!) and I loved them both! I loved TWD bc as black girl it always seems hard to find a fun lighthearted romance with a black main character. And I’ve read and loved every MM book, so Save the Date was just amazing for me. I cannot wait to read Dread Nation.. it’s been on my to-buy list forever, so this just solidified it for me!
Jamie says
Haha I love the wedding theme!! Also congrats to you!! Ya know interestingly when I was reading TWD I kept trying to think about non-issue books I’ve read with a black woman and I couldn’t think of ANY. That’s sad. :/ I’m glad you loved Morgan’s latest too!! She never disappoints!! I hope you love Dread Nation!!
Elin says
I bought Save the date and can’t wait to read it soon 🙂 Never read a Morgan Matson book, but hope to love it.
Jamie says
I hope you love it!!! I love all of her books so I hope she’ll make a fan out of you!! 🙂
Liz says
I read the Wedding Date as well, and while I definitely enjoyed part of it (the main character’s relationship with her sister, how ambitious the main character was), there were some parts that didn’t really land for me (the over dramatic issues that could have been solved with a simple convo as you mentioned, and the main character’s constant insecurity about whether or not her boyfriend liked her body), but I think I also had disappointment because of how much everyone raved- my expectations were set too high. I think I had picked this up without knowing anything about it, I would have liked it a bit more?
Both the Morgan Maston book and Dread nation are on my TBR pile though!
Jamie says
YES I feel the same way. SO SO MANY people were raving about TWD and so I went in with ridiculously high expectations. I bet I would have loved it more too had I not had SOARING expectations.
Jessica Magruder says
I’m intrigued by Nowhere But Home so I may have to check that out! I like when books can teach you things and help you relate to what you are going through!
I LOVED Save the Date so much I want to be apart of that family too or just read more about them – I can see it being either a movie or tv show too! I like the message throughout about letting go of the past and embracing the future! She’s one of my faves author read and love all of her books!
I also didn’t love the Wedding Date, I had to actually stop reading it part way through! I just wasn’t as connected and didn’t love it like I thought I would although it had a great start and I also love that kind of love story! The movie of the same name and type of premise is better!
Jamie says
Oh I hope you do check it out! It was SO good!
Omg save the date would be fantastic as a tv show or movie!! I loved that family!! Would be cool to see them before the wedding even takes place as a tv show.
Holly says
I have to admit, those “pretending to date and then SHOCK they fell in love” plot lines are my absolute guilty pleasure too, so The Wedding Date is going straight to the top of my TBR. In fact, I have a free day today so maybe I’ll just have a little look for the kindle book now…
I’ve read a couple of Morgan Matson books before too and loved them but I hadn’t heard of this one so I’ll make sure to pick it up as well!
Loved this post, we seem to have very similar reading tastes. My bank balance will not love it when I am meant to be saving.
Jamie says
YASSS I’m glad it’s not just me…love those plot lines!! I think you might enjoy it then!!
Haha and I feel you…the library has been my friend for trying to save money. But freaking Kindle deals get me EVERY TIME. I’m like OH it’s only $2.99….and then I buy like 10 books.
Annemieke says
Yeay for reading. I read specifically during Merijn’s nap so I am very well ahead of my low goodreads goal (as in already completed it. Yeay).
I wanted to read Dread Nation but the author was a bit icky during the poppy war thing on twitter. 🙁 (But she already deleted a bunch of it too meh).
Lisa @ Reading, Writing, and Random Musings says
I loved Nowhere But Home, and I adore Liza Palmer! I’ve also read Girl Before a Mirror, which was a winner for me as well! I’m actually hoping to read Conversation with the Fat Girl this summer!
Andrew says
My wife is always looking for a good summer read so I’ll pass along this list to her!
La La in the Library says
Nowhere But Home sounds like something I would love! 💜
I have Dread Nation sitting in my ARCs, but might not read it. The first thing the author did was lead a Twitter mob against a book that was supposedly racist (it wasn’t, all the quotes that were cited were spoken by a Professor Umbridge type character, not the MC). The mob went over to Goodreads and at one point there were over 1,000 one and two star ratings on the book and it wasn’t even published yet, and the first five star review got flagged so many times that the reviewer was blocked from Goodreads and his account deleted, no questions asked. The guy was not a blogger so his 300+ reviews were all lost. Next, her book was cited by the American Indians in Children’s Literature Association for insensitivity to Native American history and she said she didn’t care and didn’t want to talk about it, and a couple of weeks later said that Asian authors need to stop calling themselves POC and marginalized because they are not. And she was rather crude about it, too. I am actually going to be doing a blog post about her. I have some good Twitter screenshots. 😒
Natalie says
it feels like ive been waiting an AGE to read save the date, so to hear you liked it is really pushing me in the right direction (her books have been hit or miss with me so I always get slightly scared before I read a new one). although, i really dislike the UK cover and I think that could be discouraging me too (I’m too picky about my bookshelves for my own good)