Year 5, week 26: Will

This week's book:
Will
By Mark Manson and Will Smith

This book was an add on for Book of the Month and the hubby wanted to read it together. If you can't tell from the title and co-author, this is Will Smith's autobiography. We were both so excited to read it, because honestly, who doesn't love Will Smith. 

The book was very interesting and went into great detail of his early life and other moments that neither of us knew about one of the top grossing film stars of recent history, and brought up a lot of his stumbling blocks along the way. I did find it kind of annoying that he went into great details about somethings and then skipped whole years of his life. I also struggled with the way he and his wife treated each other. I know every couple does their own things that work for them, but golly this book was full of moments that made me rather bothered. The book also seems to be a little longer than it should be. 

If you are a huge Will Smith fan I think you should definitely pick it up. I still enjoyed the book, just a bit disappointed in it. 

Notes from the Hubby: I enjoyed this read quite a bit. It's a little on the long side, but it was fun to learn about Will Smith, especially his early life.

Honestly, my wife summed it up pretty well. I recommend it. 

 

Year 5, week 25: The Charm Offensive

This week's book:
The Charm Offensive
By Alison Cochrun

This book was a buddy read for an Facebook book group I'm in. 

The book is about a reality television dating show, kind of like The Bachelor. The guy that all the girls are trying to win is a some wealthy, famous computer genius with crippling anxiety. The producer of the show is a Indian man who is a hopeless romantic that has his heart set this show is real and, we find out, has depression issues. Neither of them receive medical help at all, which I know is realistic for many people, but it broke my heart a bit. 

It just happens that a great many of the previous romantic books I have read recently have dealt with mental health issues, and it has become quite repetitive as a reader. I was really excited to read a book with so many LBGTQ+ characters, but this book kind of fell flat for me. I probably wouldn't recommend it.

Year 5, week 24: How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days

This week's book:
How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days
By K. M. Jackson 

This book was my Book of the Month pick a few months ago. I literally picked it because of the title. My husband has always gotten a kick out of Keanu Reeves and I thought we might read the book together. We ended up not reading it together which is totally fine. 

The story is about a woman in her forties trying to win the heart of her celebrity crush. With the help of her longtime best guy friend, she goes on some zany quests trying to meet her "love". 

The book isn't actually written that well to be completely honest. I did enjoy that all of the main characters were black and made good money at what they did, instead of the normal all white cast of characters, or when black characters are struggling financially or socially. I also enjoyed that it was written by a female black author as well. There are a few other celebrities in the book other than our major heartthrob, but the only one that took me out of the plot a bit was Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet being in a deep lovely relationship, since they just broke up earlier this year. 

As a whole I enjoyed the book, but again just keep in mind the book is just a silly romance that isn't written that well. 

Year 5, week 23: A Brush With Love

This week's book:
A Brush With Love
By Mazey Eddings

First romance for Valentine's Day/February. This book doesn't actually come out until March, but it was suggested by someone on a Facebook book group thing I belong to, and I found an early copy on eBay. 

I wanted to like this book, I really did. One love interest has immigrant parents, and the other one is Jewish. The couple is in dental school and falling for each other, but one has super anxiety and the other one has crippling guilt. What could go wrong? 

Honestly the male character was just too understanding for the amount of crap the she puts on not only the person she is falling for, but also her poor friends. Anxiety is legitimate, and people that have crippling anxiety totally definitely deserve love, but your anxiety is not your whole personality. 

I was disappointed in this one. 

Year 5, week 22: Lightning Strike

This week's book:
Lightning Strike
By William Kent Krueger

This week's book was for a book group I run locally. I originally wasn't as excited as I should have been, due to the fact that we read a book by this author a few years ago and I just couldn't finish it. But this novel was a good surprise. 

The premise is about a death on a reservation and the plot unravels from there. It's a bit of a a whodunit with racism sprinkled in. The plot has drama and a supernatural element as well. 

We had a living discussion about the book on Sunday. I didn't realize this was a prequel of a rather long books series, like eighteen books long. That being said, the novel definitely stands up for itself; it doesn't feel like part of a series. I would recommend this book.