This month, I have a few favorites to share! I have started mainly sharing all of my 5 star reads in these favorites posts. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Favorite Thrillers
This month I read two thrillers that were favorites. Both kept me guessing!
Title: The Good Sister
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 4/13/21
Source: libro.fm
Why I Read It: Love the writer.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Sally Hepworth became well known after publishing her book The Mother In Law. I had actually previously read her book The Family Next Door. I could not stop listening to her newest, The Good Sister! Fern and Rose are twins but their memories of their childhood appear to be quite different. While Fern loved their mother and had good childhood memories, Rose tells us that their mother was actually abusive and manipulative. From the start, you wonder who is telling the truth about the past, or whether maybe Fern’s sensory issues and her mother’s favoritism kept her from seeing what Rose saw.
“Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be…dangerous. When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple. Fern’s mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of what families keep hidden.”
While this book is classified as a thriller, I thought most of it was more of a twisty family drama, plus a love story as Fern gets to know a man she calls Wally, who seems to understand her more than anyone has in awhile. Many of Fern’s inner thoughts and descriptions had me laughing. Fern being on the Autism spectrum made this a good choice for Autism Acceptance Month. The audio narrator did a great job with Fern’s voice!
Title: Hostage
Author: Clare Mackintosh
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark, 6/22/21
Source: Bibliolifestyle
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Hostage is a thriller by an author I have read before and takes place mostly on a plane. There are multiple suspects and an interesting twist at the end. The main character, Mina, has to choose whether to save her daughter or comply with the terrorists and help them to hijack a plane.
“Mina is trying to focus on her job as a flight attendant, not the problems with her five-year-old daughter back home, or the fissures in her marriage. But the plane has barely taken off when Mina receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger, someone intent on ensuring the plane never reaches its destination: ‘The following instructions will save your daughter’s life…’ Someone needs Mina’s assistance and knows exactly how to make her comply. When one passenger is killed and then another, Mina knows she must act. But which lives does she save: Her passengers…or her own daughter and husband who are in grave distress back at home?”
This was an exciting thriller set over 20 hours on one airplane flight from London to Sydney. Interspersed in the chapters are vignettes about the passengers. Secrets are revealed and things get twisty along the way!
Favorite Romances
My style of romance is always the rom com, and these are the ones I loved this month!
You can find my review of The Kindred Spirits Supper Club here.
Title: How To Walk Away
Author: Katherine Center
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: St Martin’s Press, 5/15/18
Source: My shelf
Why I Read It: Reread for Buddy Read and Book Challenge
My Rating: 5 Stars
This month I did something I rarely get to do – I reread a book. Katherine Center’s How To Walk Away was my favorite book in 2018 and remains one of my all time favorites now. So I was excited to reread it and discuss it, plus join in the Zoom meeting with Katherine Center herself!
“Margaret Jacobsen is just about to step into the bright future she’s worked for so hard and so long: a new dream job, a fiancé she adores, and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, everything she worked for is taken away in a brief, tumultuous moment. In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Maggie must confront the unthinkable. First there is her fiancé, Chip, who wallows in self-pity while simultaneously expecting to be forgiven. Then, there’s her sister Kit, who shows up after pulling a three-year vanishing act. Finally, there’s Ian, her physical therapist, the one the nurses said was too tough for her. Ian, who won’t let her give in to her pity, and who sees her like no one has seen her before. Sometimes the last thing you want is the one thing you need. Sometimes we all need someone to catch us when we fall. And sometimes love can find us in the least likely place we would ever expect.”
I still agree with the review I wrote on my blog for this book when I first read it, so here it is:
I know it’s cliché, but this book literally made me laugh out loud as well as brought me to tears. The book begins with a riveting description of a horrible accident that changes everything for Margaret. Margaret is a strong and capable woman who has to deal with changes beyond her control. While she feels like she has lost everything in her life that is important, she learns to live in her new reality and finds new people who treat her the way she deserves. The relationship between Margaret and her sister Kit is a lot of fun to read, and the way they bond with Ian the physical therapist is heartwarming as well. I loved the ending, which was as funny and sweet as could be!
And this time I wrote down two quotes:
“When you don’t know what to do for yourself, do something for someone else.”
“Love happens all the time.”
Title: Dial A For Aunties
Author: Jesse Q Sutanto
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 4/27/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
I would call this book a rom com that was heavy on the com – it was hilarious! Definitely the funniest book I’ve read in awhile. You may need to suspend disbelief and set aside your knowledge of how the law works, and you may find yourself wondering about the cluelessness that leads to the accidental killing of a blind date, but Meddy and her mom – plus her 3 Aunties – will definitely keep you entertained throughout this story.
“When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—’Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!’—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream flowers. But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?”
Within the book is also a second chance love story, the pressure of feeling responsible for one’s family, and Indo-Chinese culture, including a huge wedding, where most of the story takes place. It’s a lot of fun and if you liked Finlay Donovan is Killing It, I think you’ll like this one too. Guess what else? According to the acknowledgements, Dial A For Aunties will also be a Netflix movie! Plus there will be a sequel. I can’t wait!
Favorite Contemporary
Contemporary fiction is the genre I read the most, and this month I have two favorites in this category – an adult book and a middle grade.
Title: That Summer
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Atria, 5/11/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Don’t be fooled by this pretty and light looking cover – this book covers some dark topics. I think it’s important to know going in that it deals with the effects of a rape on both the victim and the perpetrator, their lives and the lives of those around them. It was a compelling page turner that was easy to read despite the topics it addressed.
“Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful, her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night? While Daisy tries to identify the root of her dissatisfaction, she’s also receiving misdirected emails meant for a woman named Diana Starling, whose email address is just one punctuation mark away from her own. While Daisy’s driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy’s making dinner, Diana’s making plans to reorganize corporations. Diana’s glamorous, sophisticated, single-lady life is miles away from Daisy’s simpler existence. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental. Who IS this other woman, and what does she want with Daisy?”
The book focuses on two women and how their lives intersect. Their stories are both well developed and described. The side characters were (mostly) great as well. The Cape Cod setting calls to mind Weiner’s previous book Big Summer (whose story gets a shout out here) but I liked this one much more (and I was a fan of that one too). If you like reading about women, their friendships, and the issues they face, with awareness of the topics covered, I think you will like this book.
Title: Better With Butter
Author: Victoria Piontek
Genre: Contemporary Middle Grade
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 7/20/21
Source: Storygram Book Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Better With Butter was the most sweet, adorable, funny, and relatable story about Marvel, a 12 year old that struggles with anxiety, and Butter, the adorable fainting goat that seems to be the perfect animal to support Marvel and her emotions. Marvel finds that she can tell Butter how she feels and having Butter to care for helps her focus less on her own worries.
“A girl with anxiety disorder finds an unlikely friend — and emotional support animal — in the form of an adorable fainting goat. Twelve-year-old Marvel is afraid of absolutely everything — amusement park rides, food poisoning, earthquakes, and that big island of plastic floating through the ocean. She also obsesses about smaller worries like making friends, getting called on by the teacher, and walking home alone. Her parents and the school therapist call her worries an anxiety disorder, but Marvel calls them armor. If something can happen, it will. She needs to be prepared.”
I loved this book and the way it talked about anxiety for the middle school aged reader! This is definitely one I would share with my kids.
I will be back next week to share the rest of the books I read in April! Do you have a favorite book you read this month?
