This month was just kind of average with how much I read. 9 books. A total of 2721 pages. An average of 88 pages a day. But I got stuck on a series (again). So what can I say!
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover (410 pages). The first of a five book series. Sky Davis likes her life. She’s got a best friend named Six who lives right next door. She’s got an adoptive mom who she loves. But when she finally starts public school (without Six, who went to Italy for a foreign exchange program), she is a little nervous. Until Dean Holder enters her life. There’s something different about Holder. And as Sky becomes closer with Holder, she also begins to remember things about her life pre-adoption. And the things she remembers begin to terrify her. Colleen Hoover writes a book that is easy to get involved in the plot and the characters. I finished in 3 days.
Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover (330 pages). Book 2 in the series. This is Hopeless, from Holder’s perspective. You see, Holder has his own demons. His twin sister Lesslie committed suicide a year earlier. His parents are divorced and remarried, living in different cities. And he has secrets about Sky’s pre-adoption life. I do love reading the same story from different perspectives. I finished in 3 days.
Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover (129 pages). Book 3 in the series. Holder has a best friend named Daniel. Before Sky and Holder ever met, Daniel had a life changing experience with a girl in the dark in a janitor’s closet at school during fifth period. And he’s been looking for that girl and that feeling ever since. Now, he’s been third wheeling with the happy couple. Until Sky’s best friend Six returns from Italy. Because Six isn’t just Sky’s best friend- she’s closet girl. But while Sky and Holder have some secrets they haven’t told their best friends, Six has some secrets too. I am throughly enjoying this series. It’s fun to read things from different characters perspectives. I finished in 1 day.
All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover (310 pages). Book 4 of the series. Quinn and Graham first met when they discovered that her fiancé and his girlfriend were having an affair. Six months after that awful day, they ran into each other while on dates. And immediately became inseparable. Years later, they are unhappily married and desperately trying for a child. Something that doesn’t seem like is ever going to happen for them. Can a marriage withstand Category 6 troubles when it’s not the marriage you thought you wanted? This one was much heavier than the first 3, in a good way. As a grown married woman, I connected more with Quinn than I did with the high schoolers of the first 3 books. Not that the first books weren’t good. This one just hit more. And yes, this book IS connected to the rest of the series- Quinn’s sister is an ex-Pat Italian tutor for foreign exchange students. I finished in 2 days.
Finding Perfect by Colleen Hoover (86 pages). Book 5 and the final one in the series. And the most beautiful conclusion to the story. We again go back to Daniel. He and Six are still together by Thanksgiving break of their freshman year of college. But their secret from the earlier book lies heavy on both of them. When Daniel finds a way to ease their pain, all of the stories come full circle. Y’all, I started crying about halfway through and didn’t stop until I finished. This one might have been my favorite of the series. I finished in 1 day.
Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains (292 pages). This was my Christmas Once Upon a Book Club box (I only do their special edition books now) so gifts on social. Diana is an in-home physical therapist. She’s engaged to Linus, a toy store owner. So everything should be perfect. But Diana was raised to never show her feelings. And it seems like that has spilled over to all her relationships- with her patients, with her best friend, and most importantly with her fiancé. On December 4, after a horrible day, Linus is in an accident. and for the next three weeks, Diana goes to visit him, hoping that he will come out of his coma before Christmas. When she finds his Christmas gift to her, a snow globe of their little town, she makes a wish on it. And wakes up to December 4 all over again. She tries everything to change the outcome of the day (ala Groundhog Day). But it isn’t always about changing the day. It’s about seeing changes that need to be made in yourself. It was super sweet. I finished in 2 days.
Untying the Knot by Meghan Quinn (461 pages). A spin-off of the Cane brothers series that I read earlier in the fall. Ryot and Myla Bisley first met 12 years ago and have been together for 7 years. But Ryot isn’t the charming man that Myla married. Since retiring from baseball (they met when he was in the minors), he’s not really sure of who he is anymore. So Myla does the only thing she can- she files for divorce. But Ryot isnt willing to let her get away. And with JP and Kelsey’s wedding in 3 weeks (see book 2 of the Cane brother series), he decides to buy himself as much time as he can. Because an athlete always has a game plan on how to win. This might have been my favorite of the series. I loved how it went back and showed you how Ryot and Myla’s love story grew. And how it got to where it is in present day. None of Meghan Quinn’s characters are perfect but somehow the stories just work. I finished in 4 days.
Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon (313 pages). This was my Up All Night Once Upon a Book Club box. Which means I’ve got my new reading challenge scratch off for next year! It was also my 100th book of the year. But on to the book. Poppy Banks feels like a failure. She hates her job. Her older (perfect) brother has the writing career she always dreamt of. And her mother makes her feel like she’s not good enough, not thin enough, not anything enough. But every year, her clandestine meeting with her estranged Aunt Margot makes her feel okay. And when Margot dies and leaves Poppy her elusive writers retreat, The Colony, Poppy is intrigued. Even more so by Margot’s stipulations- she must move there for 6 months and finish a book before she can take ownership. So off Poppy goes to the French Riviera. She meets new friends and begins to wonder if she can actually be like Margot and be the main character in her own life. Turns out, she’s more like Margot than she ever dreamed. This book was really cute- just the right amount of romance and self confidence. I finished in 3 days.
Home Front by Kristen Hannah (390 pages). Jolene Zarkades is a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the National Guard, married and living outside Seattle with her criminal defense attorney husband Michael and 2 daughters, 12 year old Betsy and 4 year old Lulu. She loves being both a military woman and a mother. The same can’t be said about her relationship with Michael. But Jo lives by the credo that happiness is a choice. When her unit is deployed to Iraq, everything changes. And when her copter is shot down, her injuries upend their lives. Meanwhile, Michael is assigned a case that makes him question everything he’s thought about the military- a young soldier is accused of murdering his wife. But he has no recollection of actually doing it. When Michael delves into the world of PTSD, he starts to understand his wife, perhaps for the first time ever. And finally, FINALLY, the family is able to heal. I bawled several times throughout reading. Jo’s struggles, the family coming together, it was so difficult and beautiful all at the same time. I finished in 4 days.
This month’s favorite is…….Home Front and Finding Perfect. Yes, the two books that made me cry
Being the last entry of 2023, it’s time to give my yearly report. I read 101 books this year. A total of 34,273 pages. An average of 94 pages a day. And this year’s favorite? The Personal Librarian.
