Tag: Dune

January 2022 Reads

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With some of the writing a little cringeworthy, it really lowered my opinion of the book. I liked Lindsay and Ryan, but their story didn’t feel complete. Their break up felt forced and inorganic.

3 Stars

Everything I could hope for in a book by The Levy’s. The letters by each actor about their character was definitely the best part of the book. I also loved the behind the scenes stories. I laughed and I cried.

5 Stars

A raw and honest memoir about growing up in challenging circumstances, hitting the lowest lows, but coming out okay in the end. It was difficult to read at times, but at the same time it was inspiring. (BOTM)

4 Stars

Poor Wooley. This book was so good. A great book about adventure, friendship and fresh starts. Found myself rooting both for the boys and against them several times. The book had rich characters and an engaging plot. Towles has done it again. (BOTM)

5 Stars

Very good, especially on audiobook. Learned a lot about Will Smith as a person and professionally that I never knew before. Although, I’m not quite sure he is a great person, he is definitely very egotistical.

4 Stars

A cute romance. I loved Annie, but Patrick was the standout. It was a lot of fun. Glad there was no real break up between the characters. And obviously the Australia bits were the best.

4 Stars

A delightful memoir about a happy childhood. Was fun to read. Loved reading about Ames in the 1960s and 1970s. The whole book was very wholesome and I enjoyed reading it.

4 Stars

Poetry is not the genre for me. Found myself glossing over many poems to just get this over with.

3 Stars

Very interesting book about exploration. It was neat to read about the time and what it took to explore. But, it was also a little dry and boring.

3 Stars

Not the book for me. Too long, there could have been about 500 less pages. Too much rape. Too many contrived reasons for Jamie Claire to be in trouble. Writing not the best. Best part was the Jamie and Claire romance.

Not my favorite of the series, but I still really enjoyed it. You can tell Frank planned to write more books because the ending was a complete cliffhanger and left me wanting more. But I don’t know if it was enough for me to read the Brian Herbert books.

4 Stars

Amazing set up for the new spinoff series. Love the ties to BDB. Love that it seems the series is going to focus on Lydia and Daniel. I’m so excited for the new book that I went to preorder it and discovered I had already preordered it back in October.

October 2021 Reads

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This book moved slower than I would have liked, I wish the romance had started a little sooner, and the break up seemed a bit contrived, but overall I enjoyed the book. I loved Lucie and Tristan together, and wish more pages had been devoted to them together rather than apart. I love how well researched these books are, and how angry it makes me to read about how little women had in so far as independence and rights in the 19th Century. It truly makes me grateful that I live now instead of then. (BOTM)

4 Stars

This was easily my favorite book of the three. I felt the romance was earned more in this one than in the other two. It may be because Hattie has always been my favorite and I was so happy for her to get her HEA. Taking Lucien and Hattie out of London and up into Scotland was brilliant, and definitely gave the story more depth. I loved all the side characters and hope to see them again of there are more books. (BOTM)

5 Stars

I wasn’t quite sure what to think starting this one, with yet another huge time leap between books and 100% new characters, however, I found myself enjoying this one quite a bit. In true Herbert fashion the book is SO MUCH set up, however, I love the way he world builds I honestly don’t care that nothing really happens for the first three fourths of the book. The ending and the revelations in the last fourth are totally worth it. I had a lot of predictions that turned out wrong, but I find myself really looking forward to the final book in the series.

4 Stars

What a great book. Everything in love in a romance and some of my favorite tropes. We had friends to lovers, game dating and only one bed all in one book. Add in a strong independent Latina protagonist I could identify with and you have a book I could devour in a day. I loved the pace of Gabe and Mich’s relationship and I loved their extended families. The book made me laugh, and it made me cry.

4 Stars

What a beautiful book. Really makes you think about the way you live your own life, what is your legend journey? What is your treasure? Are you listening to the world around you? The prose was beautiful. I was moved to tears at points.

4 Stars

Other than the fact that I couldn’t stop picturing Piper as Season 1 Alexis Rose and Brendan as Ron Swanson through the entirety of the book, which made for some interesting visuals when they started bumping uglies, this book was a lot of fun. I enjoy a good enemies to lovers book, and I love a good fish out of water book, and this provided both. The writing was smooth, the characters well developed, and I rooted for them from the first page. I’ve already put the next book on my TBR.

4 Stars

Powerful book about a horrible event in our history. Colbert does a great job contextualizing the massacre in history and bringing the event to life. Written for a teen audience, the book isn’t too bogged down by complex sentences. The history is told concisely and simply and it’s easy to follow and read.

5 Stars

This book was everything I had hoped for in a sequel. It was just as good and beautiful as the first book, and picked up the second after the first book ended. I fell in love with Ari and and Dante even more than I did before. They are so well written. And Ari’s journey was so great. I know it probably won’t happen, but I would love to see at least a short story following Ari, Dante, the girls, the parents, et all maybe like twenty years later, just to see where their lives are. If I don’t get that, I’ll be happy. The ending of this book was perfect. This book was…perfect.

5 Stars

Now THIS was a thriller. Everything that I thought would be a last minute twist happened in the first 50% of the book, and I honestly had no idea how it would end. The book kept me at the edge of my seat and I didn’t want to stop reading. (BOTM)

5 Stars

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve read a lot of these dystopian female heroes books or what, but this one just didn’t wow me. I enjoyed the book okay, but if it weren’t picked for my book club I may have set it aside. The only thing that compelled me to keep reading was the relationship between Immanuelle and Ezra, and even then there wasn’t enough there. I would have loved to see their relationship flushed out. And more of them together. The book wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t AMAZING. I don’t think I’ll be reading the next book in the series.

3 Stars

This was a fun book to read during October. I really liked the Jones girls and I liked how magic was just a thing in the world. And I really like Rhys. I’m a sucker for a Welsh man. (BOTM)

4 Stars

This book was okay. I wanted to love it more, but I just couldn’t get into the way it was written. Too many pop culture references, not a lot of character development, which I know can be difficult in a novella, but can be done. Maybe I was walking into this expecting something different, but whatever I was expecting, this wasn’t it. It just didn’t draw me in. 

3 Stars

September 2021 Reads

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This was a such a fun read. Anna and Keane slowly falling in love and working through the stages of grief together was so beautifully done. I had to Google several of the places they visited while they island hopped, because I just wanted a clearer pictures. The book made me want to sail around the Caribbean, even though I’m severely afraid of water. I wish there was about a hundred more pages so I could spend more time with Anna and Keane.

4 Stars

A touching book about traumatic brain injuries in pro football players told from the point of view of the twelve year old son of one. Written in verse, you won’t be able to get through this book without crying at least once. 

4 Stars

This was a pretty slow read for me, but mostly because I kept stopping and looking things up since I’m unfamiliar with the history of China. The book is very much a slow burn, but it’s totally worth it. The last 1/3 of the book was definitely my favorite and I read it quicker than the rest, and I will definitely be picking up the next book when it is released.

4 Stars

What a good book. Jane Igharo is officially on my auto buy list. This book made me laugh, it made me cry, and it warmed my heart. My only complaint is that it was too short. I could easily read a whole other book about the Jolades. (BOTM)

4 Stars

What a great rom com. I learned pretty early that this started as Reylo fanfic, and other than Adam very clearly being inspired by Adam Driver, I didn’t find that knowledge distracting (it actually made me love the book more tbh). I loved the pacing and characters. And the romance between Olive and Adam was swoonworthy. Ali Hazelwood has been moved to my auto-buy list. (BOTM)

5 Stars

I don’t know what it was, but this book just didn’t click with me. There was something about the style of writing that just really turned me off. I felt at arm’s length with the characters throughout the whole book. I really loved the concept, but the execution could have been better. 

2 Stars

This book was SO WEIRD, but SO GOOD. I love Frank Herbert’s world building, and I love the way he makes you root for characters who have questionable morals. And aren’t even completely human. The most frustrating part was how he didn’t fully lay out what exactly the Golden Path was. But I got it. Just like I figured out what the ultimate goal would be. Yes, I sort of predicted what would happen, but it didn’t ruin the book for me.

4 Stars

This book was so good. The characters were great and really leapt off the page. I loved Annabelle and her spirit. And Sebastian was striking. The history was amazing, and I had to look up when women could finally own property in England, and was quite disappointed in the result. Overall this was a very enjoyable read. (BOTM)

4 Stars

December Reads

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The Twelve Dates of Christmas

This was a cute book to kick off my Christmas month of reading. An easy romance, that had everything I love about a book. It was quirky, light-hearted, and the romance didn’t seem forced. I loved the conceit of the main character trying to find love at Christmas time through twelve blind dates, and I loved the backstory between her and her best friend.

In a Holidaze

I absolutely loved this one. After a disastrous day after Christmas, Maelyn Jones makes a wish, and suddenly it’s Groundhogs Day meets Christmas! Mae needs to try and get her life together, or else she’ll be stuck reliving the same holiday for all eternity.

This book was SO GOOD. I loved Mae and Andrew and the romance that bloomed between the two. And I’m a sucker for time-loop stories. Another feel good romance for the holiday season. (BOTM)

A Warm Heart In Winter

I NEVER skip a J.R. Ward book. And this year’s December release was billed as Blay and Qhuinn’s mating ceremony. FINALLY. But the book was so much more than that. In fact, the mating ceremony is such a small part of this heartbreaking book. If you’re caught up on the series, this is definitely worth the read. It adds to Z’s story, and we get some resolution to the Lesser attack on the Glymera from early in the series. But at the heart of the book, you get to feel and see Blay and Qhuinn’s love for one another, and that is just amazing.

This Time Next Year

New Year’s Eve, 1990, two moms labor together, when they have their babies at the same time, Quinn is the New Year’s baby! Minnie, who was supposed to be named Quinn, misses out by just minutes and also loses her name in the process. What proceeds is a life believing she is cursed at New Year’s. On the Eve of her 30th Birthday, she runs into Quinn, stealer of her name and her luck, and the two form a friendship that grows over the year. A beautifully written book about love, friendship and making your own luck, this is a book that I will probably try and read annually. (BOTM)

Dune

For YEARS, my husband has been trying to get me to read Dune. It’s one of his favorite book series. Over the summer, we learned how to play the board game, and everyone who had read the book understood what was happening, those of us who didn’t, had no idea. So, I finally read the book. I got the audiobook from the library, and I was HOOKED. This book is AMAZING! It’s like Game of Thrones, in SPACE! I was drawn in by the politics between the houses. The book was 21 hours long, and I DEVOURED it. My goal in 2021 is to finish the series.

Anxious People

I had heard a lot of good things about Anxious People, and it has made a lot of the best of 2020 lists, that I was really excited to finally have it come in at the library. And I have to say, this book lives up to the hype. It starts off slow, but keep reading. The payoff at the end is just amazing. The book is beautifully written and deals with so many different topics, and it does it with humor. Seriously, I laughed out loud multiple times. This book is a great study in character and relationships. (BOTM)

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

If you know me, you know I love True Crime. This book is amazingly written. When she wrote it, The Golden State Killer, a name she coined, was still unsolved. Responsible for 12 murders and 50 rapes up and down the California coast between 1978 and 1986, The Golden State Killer, or also known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker, was one of the most prolific serial killers, that no one was talking about. It wasn’t until the 1990s with the invent of more sophisticated DNA technology that all of the cases began attributing themselves to him, since he crossed jurisdictions. A collection of her research, this book puts humanity into the GSK’s victims, and turns them into people, and not just numbers. Make sure you lock your doors at night, and sleep with a light on, this book is going to make you paranoid of every sound you hear in your backyard at night.

No Time Like the Future

Michael J. Fox’s newest memoir discusses his life from about 2016 on. He talks about the back surgery he needed to remove a tumor from his spine, his recovery, his later career when he felt like he would never act again, and finally his decision to officially retire from acting. I listened to this on audiobook, narrated by the author, and you could hear the love he has for his family in his voice as he talked about all of the support they’ve given him over the years. If you are a fan of Fox, I highly recommend this book.

Ready Player Two

Definitely the most disappointing read of 2020. If I could unread a book, this would be the one. I loved the first book SO MUCH. But this one just made me hate Wade. I don’t want to spoil anything, but if you want to know specifically why I hated this book, you can find a spoiler filled review on my Goodreads page, or you can comment or send me a message and I will tell you in excruciating detail why this book is at the bottom of my list.

Love Lettering

This book was really cute. Meg is a professional at handlettering. Reid is an uptight quant on Wall Street. When Reid discovers Meg left a message in his doomed wedding programs, he comes to confront her about it. What follows is a story about finding inspiration in the most unlikely of places, and falling in love with the most unlikely of people. This book was fun, romantic, and you couldn’t help but root for Meg and Reid.