Year 5, week 14: Thanksgiving

This week's book:
Thanksgiving
By Janet Evanovich

With Thanksgiving being this week, I wanted to read something Thanksgiving-like. Well this book is literally named Thanksgiving, so I thought it would be perfect. The book was only a little over five and a half hours long as a audiobook, which also seemed like a good plan, for this busy mom. The book was originally written in 1988, but was rereleased in 2006. The book is so poorly written and just doesn't age well. 

A twenty-something meets a messy pediatrician and somehow they are used as babysitters for a teenager's baby when she leaves town. Instead of looking for her they are like, "well I guess we will get married at Christmas to become a family." There is like one chapter about Thanksgiving and this huge turkey the heroine doesn't know how to cook. I was hoping for a snuggly fall read to enjoy under a quilt, and I got a awkward quick tv movie from the 1980's. 

I just think it is a hard pass for me and anyone that doesn't want to waste their time.

Year 5, week 13: The Storyteller

This week's book:
The Storyteller
By Dave Grohl

If you aren't a fan of Dave Grohl or the Foo Fighters, first of all what is wrong with you? I'm just kidding, kinda, but seriously if you're not a fan this whole post isn't going to be your cup of tea. I have loved Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters for as long as they have been a band. The moment I heard Dave Grohl had written his memoir, I had to go and buy it the day it came out so the hubs and I could read it together. 

I was too young to fully appreciate Nirvana when they were just getting big. My sister had all their CD's and we listened to them a lot. I remember the whole world stopping when Kurt died, but again I wasn't old enough to fully be impacted by the event. Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters is a whole other thing. When There Is Nothing Left to Lose came out in 1999, I think it might have been one of the first CD's I bought after my older sister moved to college and took all the best music we had in the house. It was the first album that I thought was "grown up" and felt so cool for knowing all the words to all the songs. I was devastated when I didn't get to see them open for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, when my sister saw them. Years later, right after my husband and I had just started dating, we saw them for the first time together. I missed the tour when Dave had broken his leg, due to our middle child being born two weeks before. I still say I could have made it, but my sweet husband bought me a concert shirt and promised he would take me the next time they came to town, which they did. 

This book was filled with so much fun information about Grohl's life. I knew some of the stories, but much of it was new to the hubs and I. The book confirmed what I already knew, that he is a total sweetheart and my favorite rock star. Really my only complaint is that he hardly talks about his wife and two younger daughters, he seems to only talk about his eldest daughter. Again it's only a small complaint. 

If you are a Foo Fighters or Dave Grohl fan you definitely need to check this book out, I loved it so much!

Note from the hubby: My first memory in regards to Dave Grohl’s work was dancing like crazy with my brothers to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with the stereo turned all the way up one random evening while my parents were in town. Other memories in my teen years involve the Foo Fighters song “All My Life”, as well as trying to bypass infuriating DRM trying to rip my copy of In Your Honor onto my 1st gen iPod Shuffle. My favorite memory, of course, would be dancing to an acoustic version of “Everlong” with my wife during our first dance at our wedding reception.

I had a great time reading this book and learning about so many of his random stories, from his early years in the punk rock band Scream, to when he first tasted real fame in Nirvana, through his creation of the Foo Fighters, and beyond. I had trouble putting the book down. It’s a quick and funny read, I definitely recommend it if you are a punk, grunge, or other late 90s/early 2000s rock fan.

Year 5, week 12: Simone St. James books

A few books from Simone St. James this week. Sadly, not quite in time for Halloween.

The Haunting of Maddy Clare
By Simone St. James

I loved this book. I had read and reviewed a few other books by this author, and when I read the review of this book I knew I wanted to try it out. The story is based after World War One, and it's about a women who gets hired to help a couple of war vets talk to a ghost that haunts a barn. The ghost only speaks to women, and men just anger the ghost. The book kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning and didn't disappoint. I meant to finish it before Halloween, but I just didn't. I would definitely recommend this book and I plan on giving it to my sister who loves ghost books.

Lost Among the Living
By Simone St. James

I actually listened to this audiobook back in the beginning of September, and was only meh about it. I had read two of her more recent books and loved them. This novel is after World War One as well, and our main character is facing how to deal with life after the death of her husband in the great war. She becomes her deceased husband's aunt's assistant, and ends up at their family home in the country. There was a recently deceased girl that has a tragic backstory. The book has some turns and twists, but it just wasn't my favorite. I don't really know if I'd suggest this book. 

Silence for the Dead
By Simone St. James

What are the odds…. another ghost story by Simone St James based right after World War One? This book is the story of a woman lying and saying she is a nurse so she can work in a hospital/mental hospital that has former soldiers. There are hints of ghosts, maybe, I don't know, I just didn't care about what was going on. I listened to this while doing house work and was trying to get into the Halloween spirit. I wouldn't probably recommend this book.

The Other Side of Midnight
By Simone St. James

Nope. Again around the same time as the other three books for this blog entry. I finished this novel two days before Halloween and it did not thrill or scare me AT ALL! It's the story of a psychic trying to find out about a rival psychic after she passes. I literally didn't care what was happening for the whole book. Definitely wouldn't recommend this book. I was so excited that all of these books from this author were on my library app as audiobooks and I ended up not loving many of them.