Mini-Reviews: THE GOOD LIE, THE GUILT TRIP, and THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE

 A collection of mini-reviews, quick thoughts, and books worth mentioning. Check them out!

THE GOOD LIE by A.R. Torre

Publication Date: July 20, 2021

Pages: 254

Source: Kindle Unlimited

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I read THE GOOD LIE through my Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

Fans of murder mysteries, podcasts, and CSI type shows will really enjoy this book. I loved the "who done it" aspect with all of the theories, media responses, and kept/withheld information that kept my guessing. It was fun playing detective and trying to figure out the motives and who the real killer is.

THE GOOD LIE has a high level of creepiness that kept me on edge until the very end. It was so good and now I get to decide which book by A.R. Torre that I get to read next. I'm excited to read more by this author!

THE GUILT TRIP by Sandie Jones

Publication Date: August 3, 2021

Pages: 320

Source: Purchased

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

THE GUILT TRIP was another book that I read with my book club. I love the play on the title - the trip of a destination wedding and all of the guilty parties.

THE GUILT TRIP read like a soap opera and the best possible way. It was full of drama, secrets, scandals, and misdirection. It offered a lot to be discussed and considered during our book club and it left us with some questions that we still don't have the answers too. THE GUILT TRIP was a great book club selection.

THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE by Stephanie Perkins

Publication Date: September 26, 2017

Pages: 287

Source: Purchased

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I've been a longtime fan of Stephanie Perkins and her YA contemporary books ever since I read ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, so of course I bought a copy of THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE when she wrote a thriller. I wanted to read her talent in a new genre. However, it took me a while to finally read it. (I've had the book on my shelf since 2017). Once I found out that the Netflix release day of the movie adaptation was coming up, I decided I needed to read it ASAP. And I thought I wanted to be creeped out, so why not? Well, it did creep me out for sure. It's definitely a gory thriller. It was so gory (more than what I've read in a long time) that I was almost hesitant to watch the movie. Almost. Let me just say that I was covering my eyes in just the few minutes and if I'm being honest I did that pretty much throughout. 

If you like horror and being freaked out, then this book is for you. 

Mini-Reviews: HEIDI'S GUIDE TO FOUR LETTER WORDS, THE WIVES, and I LEFT THE HOUSE TODAY

 A collection of mini-reviews, quick thoughts, and books worth mentioning. Check them out!

HEIDI'S GUIDE TO FOUR LETTER WORDS

by Tara Sivec and Andi Arndt 

Pages: 254

Source: Audible | Won in an Author Giveaway

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

Originally posted on other review outlets 12/14/2019

It's absolutely what I needed - a fun and hilarious romantic comedy. I highly recommend the audiobook - co-author and narrator Andi Arndt brings out the humor that just never stops. I'm so happy that I own this book and can listen to it again and again. And I think anyone who reads it will want to too.

THE WIVES

by Tarryn Fisher

Pages: 256

Source: Netgalley | Purchased

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

Originally posted on other review outlets 12/20/2019

This is the PERFECT book club selection. There's a reason why my book club continues to read Tarryn's books. We all need someone to talk us down, someone to talk us through, someone who'll be there lift our jaws up from the floor, and someone you can share the same awe and mystification right along with you.

Seriously, if you don't have a book club - join one, form one, get a friend to read this with you. THE WIVES is not safe to read alone.

I LEFT THE HOUSE TODAY

by Cassandra Calin

Pages: 144

Source: Netgalley 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

Originally posted on other review outlets 6/14/2020

I really enjoyed this fun and quirky comic. The cover and title are what drew me to the book. Some days it' really is an accomplishment to leave the house and this book highlights that in a humorous and relatable way. It had me nodding in recognition and laughing and smiling while reading it. This would be a fun gift book for a friend or for yourself when you want a pick me up.

Book Club Discussion: Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Provisions and Paperbacks, my IRL book club, recently read Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher. As I said in my previous post (you can read it here), I want to share some thoughts and ideas brought up during the book club and bring my blog readers into the discussion.

Not yet, but there will be minor spoilers. You have been warned.

Never Never 

by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Published on January 7, 2015 

by Hoover Ink

140 pages

Best friends since they could walk. In love since the age of fourteen. 
Complete strangers since this morning. 
He'll do anything to remember. She'll do anything to forget. 

There will be minor spoilers. You have been warned.

Here are some thoughts shared during our book club discussion after reading Never Never:

• Most of have read books by Colleen Hoover but only one of us had read a book by Tarryn Fisher. We could recognize Colleen's writing style and voice, but were curious if the authors wrote for both characters.
• We liked the alternating chapters.
• This book was selected because of its brevity, but not everyone realized it was a novella that was part of a series. Those who knew didn't mind the cliffhanger ending. Others were frustrated but only because the next book wasn't available. This didn't determined if they liked the book or not.
• We discussed Charlie and Silas's relationships with their siblings and how they are completely opposite. There was a lot of drama with their family and want to know the history of their families.
• We all had theories about what was happening to the Charlie and Silas and why it happened. Was it something that they caused themselves? 
• And we all had so many questions, Like why will Silas do anything to remember and why will Charlie do anything to forget, and that made it very exciting to discuss. 
• Other questions: does the girl mentioned in the beginning of the book play a role later on in the story (in a future book) and what is it? Why is Charlie's room so barren and why does she did her personal things? Charlie's constant hunger was questionable - was this indicative of a larger issue?
• Things we loved: a certain video on Silas's phone, the tattoos, Silas's brother - Landon
• Favorite quote: "I don't care what our first real kiss was, he says. "That's the one I want to remember." I highlighted so many sections that I want to share here, but think it's best to not have too many spoilers and the reader can enjoy them as they read it.
• Overall it was an intense read, it raised levels of frustration and confusion but in a way that made it exciting to read and we're looking forward to the next novella in the series.
• I loved this book so much that I had to buy a physical copy to have on my shelf and reach for it to read my favorite parts whenever I want. 

I'd like to invite anyone to join in on the discussion and share your thoughts on NEVER NEVER!! Just leave your thoughts in the comments! Thanks

It was a Good Week in Books (2)

Bookish things that grabbed my attention this week:

• Super Pop! by Daniel Harmon Blog Tour is going strong. I shared my Top 7 Favorite Super Pop Top Ten Lists. One of my favorite posts from the tour so far is at Dear Teen Me and not just because of Daniel Harmon's use of Venn diagrams.
• The Unnaturalists author Tiffany Trent revealed the cover of her upcoming follow-up THE TINKER KING - available February 11, 2014.
• There was the cover reveal of The Sound of Letting Go by Stasia Ward Kehoe. I didn't even know she had a new book coming out anytime soon so this was a wonderful surprise.

 And if that was enough:

• Lauren Oliver shared a video announcement about her upcoming YA novel, PANIC - "it's super secret".
• Kate of Kate's Tales of Books and Bands is organizing Jennifer Echols Week: July 9th - 16th. Just in time for her upcoming novel Dirty Little Secret (available July 16th). I'm a fan of Jennifer Echols (Endless Summer is one of my favorites) and signed up to participate.

Other happenings:

•  I received my copy of Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham which I hope to read in time for The Broke and the Bookish Book Club. On Tuesday, I received a copy that looked like this: 
  
  By Friday I'd already received my replacement copy that is in perfect condition.
• I added Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend by Becca Ann to my TBR list after finding it at JennReneeRead blog. If it is anything like Kody Keplinger's The DUFF (which I wouldn't be surprised if it was inspired by it) - then I'm sure that it will be a funny and entertaining read.
  

Book Club Discussion: Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park

Provisions and Paperbacks, my IRL book club, recently read Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park. As I said in my previous post (you can read it here), I want to share some thoughts and ideas brought up during the book club and bring my blog readers into the discussion.

Not yet, but there will be spoilers. You have been warned.

Flat-Out Love 
by Jessica Park
Published April 11, 2011
Pages:389

Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side ... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that ... well ... doesn't quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.

Flat-Out Love comes complete with emails, Facebook status updates, and instant messages.

There will be spoilers. You have been warned.

Here are some thoughts shared during our book club discussion after reading Flat-Out Love:

Flat-Out Love was another book that everyone in the book club raved about. Even before we met, I received these messages:

"I have finished the book for our next meeting and whoever picked it two thumbs up it was great.""I finished the book last night and can’t wait to talk about it Tuesday. I’ve been telling my boss lady . . . about our book club and gave her the names of some of the books we’ve read and the book we’re reading for our Tuesday meeting. She finished it in two days or something like that."

•  Flat-Out love was nominated for our book club by our newest book club member. She wasn't familiar with the author but the book popped up time and time again as an "Amazon recommends"
• At first it wasn't obvious what the deal was with Finn and they thought that the little sister just missed him and the Flat-Finn was just a place-holder until he returned. Other readers picked up on it pretty early on, but gave in to the idea so they could be swept up in the story. 
• Some readers questioned if there was an incident between Finn and Celeste that kept him from coming home.
• The banter between Julie and Matt was witty and clever, easy and immediate, and made the book incredibly enjoyable to read. Both Julie and Matt kept each other on their toes.
• The Facebook status updates added to the story and I was always trying to figure out if true identities or motives would be revealed through the updates. Were there any obvious clues?
• The character Seth wasn't convincing as a real possible love interest for Julie, but he is in one of my favorite scenes - when he goes back and forth with Celeste answering all of her questions about his intentions of getting to know Julie. 
• We all loved Celeste and her quirks and mannerisms. She did seem wise beyond her years but she had dealt with a lot in her family which is what made her seem older in someways (even though she dressed very young for her age). And Julie probably identified with her so easily because Julie saw so much in herself in Celeste - her intelligence, her awkwardness, and this was why they were connected almost instantly.
• We didn't talk about Matt's mother too much, but we did recognize that her depression played a major role in how the family interacted and how many of the decisions were made based on what she wanted.
• Another favorite scene - after Julie is stood up by her dad, drunk dials Matt and asks, "Are you a skilled lover?" This is quite possible one of the best moments of the book.
• When Julie sets up Matt with her friend Dana, you're not quite sure what really happened between the two of them because Dana just laughs it off. No spoilers here, but you must read Flat-Out Matt to find out what really happened. 
• We don't plan to read Flat-Out Matt for book club, but we all plan to read it. (I've already read it and love the extra before and after chapters. And I was glad that it wasn't the complete story as Flat-Out Love just from Matt's POV.)
• I personally liked reading about places I have visited when I traveled to Boston. It was pretty cool to know some of the locations described in the books and yes there are a ton of Dunkin' Donuts in the area. Reading about them made me want to go out and get a Coolatta, but unlike Boston, and more like where Julie is from, there isn't one on every other corner.
• The Book Cover - It's cool how hints of the story are incorporated in the letters of Flat-Out Love. Some of us picked up on it, but others didn't at all. And what was so obvious, the hinges connected the letters together (and the hinges are important to the story) - I didn't even notice those at all!  
• Flat-Out Love was a hit with the book club - it drummed up a lot of conversation (not all was captured here) and is one of those books that you want to share with your friends. There is a lot of humor, but it's not all good times. It exposes the struggles a family goes through after a huge tragedy.

       Goodreads * Amazon * IndieBound

I'd like to invite anyone to join in on the discussion and share your thoughts on Flat-Out Love!! Just leave your thoughts in the comments! 
Thanks!!

Up next for Provisions and Paperbacks

 

Book Club Discussion: Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

Provisions and Paperbacks, my IRL book club, recently read Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate. As I said in my previous post (you can read it here), I want to share some thoughts and ideas brought up during the book club and bring my blog readers into the discussion.

Not yet, but there will be spoilers. You have been warned.

Eve and Adam  
by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
Published October 2, 2012
Pages:291

And girl created boy…

In the beginning, there was an apple—

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.

Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect... won’t he?

There will be spoilers. You have been warned.

Here are some thoughts shared during our book club discussion after reading Eve and Adam:

• Eve and Adam didn't receive much love from the book clubbers. It wasn't a complete disappointment but it wasn't as thrilling as some anticipated. The book clubber who selected Eve and Adam was expecting something along the lines of Cinder - cyborgs, more science-fiction and more action.
• I was pleased that it wasn't as emotionally draining as The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Eve and Adam could have gone that way, but didn't. After reading it, I found that it was intended to be more of a romantic comedy. There were moments of comedy which I thought helped keep the story interesting.
• The names were significant. Evening, aka E.V., but only Solo called her "Eve". Solo was set in his plan to expose the research facility, but once he finally met Eve, he wasn't so sure. She wasn't his temptation, but she was his persuasion. (Is there a difference?) Adam - obvious, he was the first (but was he). And Solo - the only one. 
• There was a character who we all loved to hate - Maddox - he was a total loser and cheered for him to die (because we're mean and heartless like that) and he wasn't even the real villain of the story. He just kept making dumb decisions and put the life of E.V.'s friend, Aislinn, in danger.
• There is a huge disconnect between E.V. and her mother and you easily accept that she is as evil as Solo is convinced she is. She's cold and calculating and all business. You never doubt that she is the evil person (until you learn that she isn't).
• We wanted to know more about the history of the parents (E.V.'s and Solo's) - they were all in business together - scientists, but we wanted to know the specifics of conversations, arguments, and wished for an eye-witness account of what happened on the night of the terrible car crash. 
• The story starts out with Eve texting on her phone, not paying attention, and she walks out in front of a car and is hit. This is pretty tragic (I mean her leg was broken off) but not much else is said about the specifics of the accident after it happened.    
• Aislinn's quick turn-around of emotions from being very forward (with Solo) to turning into the shyest girl ever (with Adam) seemed too abrupt and out of character. What was it about Adam that made her bashful?
• Once the "Big Reveal" happened, I was so afraid the Solo was going to be a creation just like Adam was. I was relieved to learn that he wasn't, but you never were too sure once your find out what the research facility was all about.
• AND speaking of the big reveal - one of my biggest pet peeves is when the villain explains his intentions and all of the plans and talks about how he did everything and why. I want the characters to discover IT ALL. 
• Eve and Adam ends with many things left unresolved and could potentially be a sequel, but it probably isn't a story that we would continue reading for book club. Instead we created our own story lines of what happened next. 
• While it wasn't a much loved selection, it was fun to talk about.

       Goodreads * Amazon * IndieBound

I'd like to invite anyone to join in on the discussion and share your thoughts on Eve and Adam!! Just leave your thoughts in the comments! Thanks

Up next for Provisions and Paperbacks

Favorite Quotes: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

With the Valentine's Day Release of Beautiful Creatures, bloggers have been all abuzz. It seems like EVERYONE is talking about Beautiful Creatures. And now I am too. I didn't see it yesterday, but my book club, Provisions and Paperbacks, will see it together next week. Beautiful Creatures was one of the first books read when we were only 3 members. Now we are a much larger group, and many of us are going to see the film, but I'm pretty sure that the original three are the only ones that have read the book. I would bet that several will go back a read it after. 

To get ready for the movie night and then continue on with the series, I am listening the Beautiful Creatures audiobook right now. Seventeen hours plus. Yes, I would say that's a commitment, but I'm really enjoying revisiting the characters. Early on Ethan shares something about himself that I didn't remember when I first read it, but it has stuck with me this time. He says:

"A little-known fact to me: I read all of the time. Books were one thing that got me out of Gatlin, even if it was only for a little while. I had a map on my wall, and every time I read about a place I wanted to go, I marked it in the map. New York was Catcher in the Rye, Into the Wild got me to Alaska. When I read On the Road, I added Chicago, Denver, L.A., and Mexico City. Kerouac could get you pretty much everywhere. Every few months, I drew a line to connect the marks. A thin green line I'd follow on a road trip, the summer before college, if I ever got out of this town. I kept the map and the reading thing to myself." (pg. 16)

When I was teenager, I had a map on my wall, marked it will press pins, and imagined all of the places I would like to travel some day when I would finally leave my small town. But unlike Ethan, I didn't read nearly enough and didn't "travel" through books like he has. I do now and love it when I get to visit places that I'd once only read about. This quote is just a small part of the story but it shows a lot about Ethan's character and where he is from and the life he has led up to this point. Of all the many things that exist and occur in Beautiful Creatures the book, I really hope that map made it into Beautiful Creatures the movie. 

Book Club Discussion: Close Enough to Touch by Victoria Dahl

Provisions and Paperbacks, my IRL book club, recently read Closed Enough to Touch by Victoria Dahl. As I said in my previous post (you can read it here), I want to share some thoughts and ideas brought up during the book club and bring my blog readers into the discussion.

Not yet, but there will be spoilers. You have been warned.

Close Enough to Touch by Victoria Dahl
Published August 28, 2012
Pages: 384


For makeup artist Grace Barrett, Hollywood isn't the land of golden opportunity. It's the land of difficult divas, cheating boyfriends and unemployment. So when her great-aunt offers her a free place to stay in Jackson Hole, Grace thinks she'll spend a little time in the sticks to figure out her life, and then move somewhere exciting to live out her dreams. But it turns out that there are a few more thrills in this small town than Grace was expecting….Cole Rawlins is a rugged Wyoming cowboy born and bred. Yet he can't help but be drawn to the fascinating big-city girl who moves in across from him. He wants to get close enough to Grace to see past her tough facade, but if he does, she might see the real Cole. The one with a Hollywood history gone bad. As they discover a sizzling attraction, it becomes harder for him to keep his demons at bay—and those fires from long ago may burn them both.

They'll need more than scorching-hot passion to make this opposites-attract affair work. But if they can learn to trust one another enough to reveal their secrets, they just might have a chance at forever. (from Goodreads)

There will be spoilers. You have been warned.

Here are some thoughts shared during our book club discussion after reading Close Enough to Touch:

• This selection was another break away from the mostly young adult that we normally read. We wanted to go lighter and read a "sexy" story.
• Of all our members, I am the only one who had read a book by Victoria Dahl before and I thought she would be a fun author to introduce to everyone. I didn't pick which book, but someone thought the whole cowboy thing was appealing so Close Enough to Touch was selected.
• Cole was a swoon-worthy character and many of us fell in love with him. One person wasn't convinced that he was "a real cowboy" but I came to his defense explainging that he didn't do many "cowboy-like" things because he had fractured his pelvis, broke his leg, and was out of commission. (This also explained why he hadn't been intimate in a year and a half - his appeal made this difficult to believe).  His ruggedness was extremely appealing.
• Grace's physical description reminded us of Rooney Mara's in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (with a little more meat on her bones)
• The story was humorous and entertaining - filled with characters that seemed genuine. 
• The secondary characters had their own stories and we wanted to know more about them (and we will because there will be companion novels). There was a moment between Eve and Cole where there appeared to be a slight glimpse of tension that led me to wonder if there was something between them in the past.
• Not too sure that it was so believable that both Grace and Cole spent periods of their life in L.A. and then other people that they know just happen to show up in Jackson Hole. This was too coincidental.   
• I was certain that at some point Grace would hear Cole through their shared apartment wall which would have left Cole with some explaining to do. 
• Loved that the apartments that Grace's Aunt Rayleen owned were nicknamed "The Stud Farm" because she only rented out to men.   
• The tension and lack of communication and all of the secrets was frustrating because their physical chemistry was electrifying. Why can't they just get over themselves, forgive each other for unintentional mistakes and be together already!! 

A favorite moment:

Cole has taken Grace up into the mountains showing her the land he hopes to own one day. After showing her his favorite spot, she says:

     "It's incredible." The word seemed wholly inadequate, but she couldn't think of something that captured the miracle of this view."
     They stood in silence for a long time, and Grace tried to absorb as much of it as she could. The beauty, yes. But the peace, as well. And the wonder. It had been a long time since she felt wonder. But standing before this expanse, she felt like a child, as if there were millions of things she couldn't know and never would. It was a relief from the feeling that she'd seen everything already and found that none of it way very good. (page 103)

I like this because it's not about sex or relationship but being in awe of something overwhelming - finding beauty, finding peace and seeing possibilities.

Close Enough to Touch created many new Victoria Dahl fans. Several members have already started some of her other books. And I just picked up a copy of Be Mine: Sizzle\Too Fast to Fall\Alone With You which includes a story about Grace's friend Jenny.

       Goodreads *Amazon* IndieBound

I'd like to invite anyone to join in on the discussion and share your thoughts on Close Enough to Touch!! Just leave your thoughts in the comments! Thanks

Up next for Provisions and Paperbacks