Year 3, week 32: The Bromance Book Club / Between the Lines

This week's post will be two of the books I have read this week during the COVID-19 quarantine.



The Bromance Book Club
By Lyssa Kay Adams

Every year I print off a reading challenge from the website Popsugar. Every year the list seems like it has several types of books I like to read. This year's list might be a bit of a bust, but I'm still going to give it a go. One of the categories on the list was a book with a book club in it. I googled "books with book clubs in them" and The Bromance Book Club was one of the top entries.

If I'm going to be honest, the book was utter mind candy. I would have LOVED this book in high school! The plot revolves around a couple that finds out they haven't been completely truthful about their bedroom life. The husband, who is a baseball player, tries to win back his wife with the help of his teammates and a romance novel.

Yeah, the plot is super unrealistic fluff, but in the times we are living in it was an escape from being scared all the time. If you want a silly romance with a little dirty talk then check this book out.



Between the Lines
By Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

This book was the second book I read this week. I actually listened to it because I gave my unread copy to a book drive for lower income kids to read while we are all stuck at home. My used copy of the book had been sitting on my shelf for Lord knows how long, and I was glad to get it out of the house. This year one of my resolutions was to get through most of the books that have just been sitting in our house before I buy new books. Yes, I realize I signed up for a Book of the Month club, but I'm trying, okay?

The second book was Between the Lines, and like the first book of this week, I would have loved the concept of this book in high school. An outcast girl falls in love with a character from a children's fairy tale. When the character from the book starts to talk to her, she's over the moon. Apparently in this story, the characters are just kind of acting out a play while the reader reads the book, but when the book isn't being read the characters have their own lives. The plot is a little gimmicky and I originally picked up the book because I love Jodi Picoult, who happened to write this novel with her daughter. It's definitely a young adult novel and I wasn't quite feeling this one. The real world was just too much for me when I was trying to get through this book.

I guess I would recommend this novel if you have a daughter who enjoys books, or if you want a quick easy read.

Year 3, week 31: Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday

This week's book:
Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday: Say Goodbye to Stressed, Tired, and Anxious, and Say Hello to Renewed Joy in Motherhood
By Valerie Woerner

Hello, how is everyone doing with their quarantine? I for one have loved it so far! Not being able to leave the house has made making plans easy because there is nowhere to go. People that are flipping out because they have to be with their kids and help them do work…yeah, I have been doing that for almost eight years. Today my amazing husband finally started to work for home and I am so glad. It's not that I can't handle the three tiny humans, it's just that I am ready for him to be safe at home.

This week's book was for a Mom-to-Mom group I'm in. There is a fellow mom that I think we all would like to be when we grow up. She welcomes moms and their kids into her home every Monday for a play date. On top of all of that, she decided on Monday nights she would lead a book discussion on Facebook about being a better mom. Each week we would discuss one chapter so we could really get into the meat of each topic.

The book wasn't half bad. Each chapter covered a new topic that moms can be struggling with. The author tries to connect some Bible verses that can relate to the issue. Then each chapter has action steps that the reader can try to use to become less of a grumpy mom. Then each chapter ends with a prayer that again relates to the topic.  I enjoyed hearing from other moms facing the same kinds of issues raising little people as well. I did struggle with some of the chapters due to the fact that I have a child that has a bunch of issues that make it hard to implement some of the action steps. I know all kids have some type of issue, but a lot of my grumpiness comes from things I can't really change about my little guy. But that being said, if you are a religious mom that is looking for a self-help kind of book to help you become a better mom, check it out.

Year 3, week 30: You Are Not Alone / The Family Upstairs

This week's books:
Book of the Month Club books

You Are Not Alone
By Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

This week's book was my second official Book of the Month Club book. I added two other books to my second box, one a friend recommended and the other I needed for my book group.

I'm sad to say I was disappointed in this book. There were too many characters and it seemed like it was trying to be thrilling when I was just super annoyed with the main character. This whole novel kind of gives off a single white female vibe. A lonely women witnesses a suicide and then gets wrapped up with the victim’s really intense friends, and then it's supposed to become a thriller, but I just did not care!

If I'm completely honest I wouldn't recommend this book.



The Family Upstairs
By Lisa Jewell

This book came with my second Book of the Month book box. This book wasn't from the February selections, but from before I joined the Book of the Month club. One of the reasons I like this program is that you get to add previous Book of the Month books to your box for a low price.

The Family Upstairs was recommended by a friend of mine who does Book of the Month as well. She liked it so I thought I would give it a try as well. The book is a type of mystery and includes a possible cult and murder or suicide. I have always had a weird fascination with cults so I was excited to read this.

The book was fine, but I was a little let down by it, but I was super excited so maybe I was a little over jazzed. I would still recommend the book if you like mystery and multiple narrators/timelines.

Year 3, week 29: Reese Whiterspoon book group books

This week: three books in one!


The Cactus
By Sarah Haywood

By golly this book was one of Reese Whiterspoon's book group books and was compared with Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, which was actually a Witherspoon selection as well. Well I love Reese Whiterspoon, and I like that other novel, so I thought this would be a great audio book to listen to.

Well I'm going to be honest, it's so much like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, that it was distracting, both are the story of a socially awkward British woman who is a rather pain, and then finds love. While the Eleanor books I found the character charming and she was learning how to become an adult, this book I found the main character just super uppity and a real pain. I would just recommend reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine instead if you want to read a good British coming of age/bettering of a cranky heroine.


Whiskey in a Teacup
By Reese Whiterspoon

Ok I listened to this clear cash grab of a coffee table book as an audio book. I had been seeing this book everywhere when it came out. I love Reese Witherspoon and I wanted to hear about her style and upbringing. When I grow up or in another life I would like to be Reese Whiterspoon. She's so cute and humble! The book was fun and I enjoyed it; I even thought about buying a used copy off of eBay, but when it really comes down to it, I can find the recipes on Pinterest, and I'm trying to downsize the amount of books and other "stuff" in our house. I know if you have ever been to our house you are laughing because I have been accused of being a hoarder or pack rat.


The Proposal
By Jasmine Guillory

This is another one of Reese Whiterspoon's book group books. I saw this at the store and checked it out immediately from my library. I was really excited because judging from the cover (which we aren't supposed to do but in this case I was right) it looked like this was a romantic comedy between an African American woman and a Hispanic man. The all inclusive romantic leads with gay and lesbian side characters were a nice fresh breath of air for an over done genre. That being said, I just wasn't feeling this book. It was kind of a paint-by-numbers romance novel. A girl gets proposed to on a JumboTron at a baseball game and the family obsessed doctor comes to save her when the video of her turning the proposal down goes viral.

I was listening to it on my phone which made the sexy scenes kind of awkward, because I didn't know the author was going to go into that much detail, and i literally have a little human with me listening to whatever I am listening to. I bet I would have liked this book at a different point in my life, but it just didn't strike a chord with me. If you want a fluff/quick read, then this is your book.