What I've Been Reading Lately

I have been surprisingly good about reading books this year, considering I had a baby and all. I have always loved reading and I'm glad it's something that I can still make time for now that I'm a mom. Here are some books that I have read from the past six months or so in case you are looking for something to read over Christmas break!

More Than the Tattooed Mormon by Al Carraway:

★★★/5

Fun Fact: I was in the same singles ward as Al in Provo before she was famous ha. I didn't know her super well but we were in the same temple prep class. Anyways I liked the book for being motivational, but it really wasn't a biography like I was expecting. Also the writing was a little sub par and most of the material was taken from her blog posts. Still I thought it was a good book and a nice book to read if you are struggling. 

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly:

★★★★/5

This book is about a young woman trying to uncover the truth about her father's murder. It is a historical fiction/romance/thriller. I really liked it and it was a good read for Halloween. I liked all the different elements and the characters. My only complaint was that is was a little predictable at parts. 

Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway:

★★★★★/5

I don't give those 5 stars out lightly, but I had to give one extra star for the cover, just look how cute it is! This book is about a girl, Emily and her best friend Oliver who was kidnapped when they were 6. I thought this book was really relatable and well written. It is a pretty quick and easy read too.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr;

★★★★/5

Ok so this book. I had heard a lot about it and I had heard really great things about it, so maybe I just built it up too much in my mind. I was loving the first 2/3rds of it, but that ending, man it was awful. i felt like the book itself was leading up to this amazing climax that just never came. Anyways if anyone has read it I would love to discuss. I gave it 4 stars because it is a very compelling read with great character development, that ending was just 😔😔😔.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline:

★★★★/5

This book tells two stories simultaneously, one is about an orphan girl in the 1800s who was put on an orphan train to go West and find a family. The second story is about a modern day teenager in the foster care system.  I really liked both stories but I liked the older one best. This book really tugged at the heart strings and made me feel so sad for how orphans were treated in America in earlier generations. It was a great read though.  

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child:

★★/5

Ok I can't even put that this book is written by JK Rowling because could she really have written something this awful? I gave it two stars because I thought the plot was really good, but that's about it. It was super fast paced, major thing after major thing happening, not at all like the rest of the HP books. It felt like they were trying to resolve a lot of the "unresolved" things from the HP series, but I feel that the series was great and they should have just left it alone. I guess I should have expected less with it just being a play and not a novel, but still. It didn't even seem like the characters were true to who they were in the original books. Ugh, I am glad I read it because the plot was interesting as I said, but I feel like she just needs to rewrite it into a 600 page novel like the rest of them and then it would be great. 

Sold by Patricia McCormick

★★★★★/5

Although this was another sad book, I really liked it. It is about a modern day Nepali girl who is sold into sex trafficking. It is a quick and pretty easy read. I felt like it was really well done, telling her story without it being graphic at all. It did make me so sad though and still makes me want to save all the children.  

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

★★★/5

This isn't the type of book I would have chosen to read by myself. But I read it for a book club (that I ended up forgetting to go to 🙈). It is about a woman who has early onset Alzheimer's. I thought it was a good book, just pretty slow paced and a little boring at parts. I do want to see the movie though, maybe I can get Leland to see it with me. 

So there you have it. As you can tell  I am a major nerd and I love discussing books, so if anyone has read any of these I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!