Recent Reads Vol. 16

May 4, 2018

Happy Friday, I've read five books since we last talked and can't wait to share them with you today! I didn't dislike any of them but some were phenomenal and you need to add them to your reading lists ASAP!


Seven Days of Us. I mentioned in the my last Recent Reads post that I was just about to finish this book and I loved it. It’s the story of a family who has to be quarantined over Christmas because one of the daughters is just coming back from treating a very infectious disease in Africa. Essentially everyone in the family is hiding something and the truth all starts to come out when they’re forced to spend 7 days together. I totally thought it was going to end one way and then the ending surprised me. Love when that happens. Would I recommend: yes! This book is some good brain candy.

Not That I Could Tell. This book was another one from Book of the Month and it’s a mystery/thriller that feels kind of like Gone Girl meets Desperate Housewives. The book follows the lives of several women who live on the same street and are all dealing with their own sh*t. Then one of them disappears with her kids unexpectedly. The neighbors’ last night together was a bit wine-fueled so they’re all racking their brains to see if they can remember her giving any clues as to where she went...and if she went willingly. Would I recommend: kind of. While I did want to find out what happened it wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read.

Girl at War. I don’t remember where I heard about this book but it’s been on my list for a while and when I started reading it I had no idea what it was going to be about. I kind of love when that happens! Anywho, this book tells the story of Ana who grew up in the former Yugoslavia and then had to leave for America once the Yugoslav Wars started in the ‘90’s. I wasn’t familiar with this civil war so that aspect was really interesting (and heartbreaking). The story is set when Ana is living in Yugoslavia while she’s 10 and then switches back and forth between her as a 10 year old in Yugoslavia and as a college student living in New York. She eventually returns to Croatia and all of her memories of war come flooding back. Would I recommend: YES. I absolutely loved this book. The writing was wonderful and I learned so much. Add it to your list!

If We Had Known. This book was a free one at work and I started reading it because none of my library books were available. I wasn’t expecting it to be good but it really surprised me. A shooting has just occurred at a local Maine mall and the story is told from the point of view of several people who knew the shooter or knew someone who knew him. One of those characters is Maggie, who was the shooter’s professor. It comes out that he wrote a violent essay in her class and she has to grapple with whether she should have paid more attention and done something about it. I really liked that this book wasn’t about the shooting itself and was more focused on the people that were affected by the event. All of the characters have their own issues that they’re working through and had interesting story lines. Would I recommend: yes! I really enjoyed this book, and like I mentioned, thought all of the characters were well written. 

The Nest. I’m quite late to the party on this one but we’ll blame it on the fact that I only rent books from the library and therefore always have to wait a year to read the popular ones. The Nest is the name the Plumb family has given their family trust. Their father set it up when they were young and it eventually became much larger than expected. The catch is that all four children have to wait until the youngest turns 40 to access the money. The story starts when Melody (the youngest) is very close to her 40th birthday but then one of the other siblings does something terrible to jeopardize all of their inheritances. Turns out most of them had gotten themselves into some trouble and were counting on that money to fix all of their problems. The story is told from all of the children’s perspectives and then some secondary characters’ perspectives as well. It’s a little bit difficult to remember who everyone is (and you kind of hate everyone), but once you get the hang of it it’s very entertaining. Would I recommend: yes! Another great brain candy/beach read right here. 

What are you currently, reading?
xo Catherine 

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