September was a slow month for me when it came to reading. I could feel a slump starting after Behind Closed Doors and I just wasn't in the mood to start anything new, which stinks since I have so much to read on my electronic TBR.
The slump didn't get any better when I learned which book was for the book club I am a part of; it was a very depressing book about the oral history of 9/11. Needless to say, I did not read it. I did go to the book discussion and talk about everybody's thoughts and experiences with the event. I am the youngest in the book club so my perspective was completely different from the women who are in their 70s and 80s.
I wasn't excited about October's pick for the book club but I am glad I read it. It was unique and I learned more about programs that were installed during the New Deal to help with illiteracy in the Appalachian hills.
Title: Behind Closed Doors
Author: B.A. Paris
Pages: 293
Rating: 2
I need to learn my lesson that B.A. Paris books and I don't mix. I found this book boring and very predictive. Grace is a lack-luster character, her only redeeming quality is her care and devotion to her mentally handicapped sister, Millie.
Grace meets Jack Angel and he seems like the perfect package - handsome, charming, and accepts Millie whole-hearted. Jack proposes to Grace a couple months into their relationship and they get married very quickly.
On their honeymoon is when Grace learns that Jack is nothing like what he portrays. He's heartless, ruthless, and only wants to torture people who are vulnerable.
The ending of the book was satisfying, but I did skip several sections to get to it. I found this book very boring and really hard to get into. I really wanted to like this book but it just didn't live up to the hype.
Title: The Midnight Library
Author: Matt Haig
Pages: 288
Rating: 5
If you could relive some of your biggest regrets to get a different result, would you? Nora, who suffers from severe depression, gets this opportunity when she decides that she doesn't want to live anymore and ends up in the 'Midnight Library'.
In this library you read through your personalized, 'Book of Regrets', and you get to choose to experience a new life; if this is new life is perfect for you, you merge into it and you forget about the library; if you do not like the life and can't be satisfied in it, you end up back at the library to choose another life.
I could really connect with Nora due to my own struggles with depression. I could empathize with her and could understand her struggles with living and feeling connected to herself and others. This novel made me reflect on the regrets I have in my life and what I can do in this life that could make it better and more "tolerable" to live in.
HIGHLY recommend this book.
Title: 56 Days
Author: Catherine Ryan Howard
Pages: 312
Rating: 2.5
This is the first book published, that I've read, that deals with COVID-19, as an essential theme.
Ciara lives in Dublin and works in a business part where she runs into a guy named Oliver. Ciara and Oliver start talking and dating when COVID strikes. Like any new relationship they need to decide what to do; Oliver takes the plunge and offers Ciara the spare bedroom in his apartment. Ciara moves in thinking that the quarantine order would only last 2 weeks.
The novel is broken out in 56 days, 35 days, and present day. Each day was told from a different perspective. 56 and 35 days are broken up between Oliver's point-of-view and Ciara's point-of-view. The present is told by the detectives trying to identify the decomposing body found in Oliver's apartment.
This book had a great concept behind it but, once again by this author, the execution wasn't there for me. Despite my 2.5 rating I would recommend it since it goes take place in present day and does show the dangers of living with a person with a dangerous past.
Title: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Author: Kim Michele Richardson
Pages: 286
Rating: 3
Review here: https://basilscheuring.wixsite.com/basilreads/post/the-book-woman-of-troublesome-creek-by-kim-michelle-richardson
Title: Saint
Author: Sierra Simone
Pages: 415
Rating: 4.5
This book surprised me immensely. The other two books in this trilogy were very spicy and not a lot of plot (let's be honest that's how we like our romances!), but Saint was different. This book dealt with darker topics like depression and suicide and how one can overcome those demons. In Aiden's case, it was becoming a monk, and leaving his childhood friend/love, Elijah.
5 years after Aiden joined the Benedictine monks Elijah shows up to tell him that he's getting married and that he (Elijah) is writing an article for a magazine about monk-run breweries. This rocks Aiden to his core and his world is shaken when he has to take a 3 week European brewery tour with Elijah.
During this tour Aiden learns that his love to Elijah is still as prevalent and strong as it was 5 years prior. He struggles with his want to remain a monk, but also to be reunited with his soulmate. With many spicy scenes in ancient monastic ruins, Aiden has to figure out what he wants with his life.
I strongly recommend this book if you like spicy books. You don't need to read the previous two to enjoy this book.
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