I promised these reviews would start being less book report-y, so I'll see what I'm able to make happen. . .
Redeeming Love was a book a friend recommended to me literal years ago. I happened upon it at the JoCo Used Book Sale, and I decided to check it out. It's Christian fiction which I don't read often/ever. Y'all, this book was beautiful. It's a retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea (I have no idea what that story is, but okay) during the California Gold Rush. It's got drama and love and everything in between. It's just under 500 pages which is longer than I usually go on most reads, but y'all, it didn't feel long at all, and I wanted the story to continue. Also, there was some faith undertones, but it also was just a really well written historical piece. This one is definitely worth checking out.
Read this book if - You like one or more of the following - A). Christian Fiction B). Historical Fiction C). Love Stories - Non-Cheesy
The Perfect Girl was this month's book club selection. Due to some insomnia issues, I actually ended up reading this in one night. I'd also attribute this to it being a really captivating thriller. The book starts with this girl's mom getting murdered, then backtracks (and is in real-time) to piece together just what the heck happened. There are lots of twists and turns (admittedly, a few I figured out, but some I didn't) as you read. I'm always down for a thriller, and this one hit the spot for the genre.
Read this book if - You've liked literally any of those other thrillers that have "Girl" in the title - Girl On The Train, Gone GIrl, The Good Girl, etc. And/or you like thrillers in general.
You Do You: How To Be Who You Are and Use What You've Got To Get What You Want was Sarah Knight's newest foray into self-help of the nontraditional variety. You may remember me raving about her second book a few months back here. This one really builds on that book and talks more about being your authentic self. I love Sarah's writing (We're on a first name basis. After all, she replied to my tweet of my Simon cup), and I feel like she gives me the advice I need to hear that I"ll actually put into practice. This book was a great nudge to be confident who I am - flaws and all. Y'all if you're not reading her stuff, you need to be.
Read this book if - You've read Sarah's second book. If you haven't read that first, as it'll make this read make way more sense. You like advice that is practical and usable with a side of curse words.
The Simplified Life was AH-MA-ZING. Y'all, this book inspired me to clean my whole kitchen. I literally took each and every thing out of my kitchen and pantry and reorganized it and found things to donate and just made it all make sense. And then? AND THEN, I DID THE SAME THING FOR MY CLOSET AND ALL MY CRAFT SUPPLIES. And then? AND THEN? Dustin and I went through our atrocity of a media cabinet and even labeled and sorted all our cords together. It is rare that a book inspires me to do all of this, but this book did just that. For 2018, I've shifted over to The Simplified Planner, so I knew a bit about Emily. This book though was a gamechanger. It's nothing revolutionary, but at the same time, it is. It was such an affirming and inspiring read about how to focus less on "stuff" and more on what truly matters. This one has my heart, and I'm even sitting her blogging right now because this book reminded me that words are what I love, so I need to make space for them. Love, love, LOVE this one.
Read this book if - You need a recalibration of your priorities/life. You're looking to reflect on how life is going and what you need to do more/less of. You need a good inspiration for organization. You want to get rid of lots of your crap and don't know whre to even begin.
