Tag: book reviews

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The Emma Project

The Emma Project by Sonali Dev – The Rajes #4

There was a lot to like about this book, which was the conclusion to The Rajes series by Sonali Dev. I liked how she used the theme from Emma but updated it for a modern audience with a plot about two people who do good works for society in different ways. I also liked the gender reversal of the Emma and Knightley characters, much like she did in the first book with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. And I was glad that Esha got some screen time, so to speak, although I find her whole situation to be quite odd.

If you are a fan of Austen adaptations, I would definitely recommend giving this whole series a try. I do think it’s best to read them in order because the cast of characters grows with each book, and it is helpful to know what has happened with the other characters in previous books.

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A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – Time Quintet #1

A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newberry Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O’Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg’s father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

I don’t know why I didn’t read this as a young girl; somehow I missed it. Reading it now for the first time, I wanted to love it, but I just didn’t. It seemed like a pale imitation of C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy (I loved the first two books of that series as a teenager), and it fell flat for me. I realize that may be an unpopular opinion, and I wouldn’t want to squelch anyone’s love for the book. I just didn’t connect with it.

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The Bride Test

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang is book two of The Kiss Quotient series.

This is a fun romance with a quirky twist and a few spicy scenes. The author is autistic and drew on her own experience while writing this series in which each book has an autistic main character. I had read the first and third books in the series but missed this one, so I wanted to fill in the gap.

I really enjoyed this story about Khai Diep, who believes that he has no feelings and is incapable of having a relationship. His mother takes the initiative to bring a woman from Vietnam to the United States to be his fiancee, giving her the summer to convince him to marry her. Their relationship has a lot of twists and turns and some miscommunications, some of which are due to the issues brought up by Khai’s autism.

I think this whole series has great autistic representation, along with an entertaining romance.

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What I Read This Week – August 2nd

I finished three books this week. Here are my super short but sweet reviews!

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After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I loved the journey this book took me on. I am so glad I started reading her books and that there are still more for me to catch up on! 

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The Nantucket Restaurant by Pamela Kelley

I always enjoy Pamela Kelley, and this was no exception. This was a great, light-hearted read.

⭐⭐⭐

What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

This was okay, kept my interest just enough that I do plan to read the third book in the trilogy hoping for some closure.

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What I Read This Week – July 26th

This week I only finished 2 books. I try to read 1 nonfiction book every month, and this week I read my nonfiction selection for July. Even though I do want to read nonfiction, I still have a mental block that makes me resist picking it up and diving in, so having the objective goal of 1 per month helps me stay accountable.

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Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry by Beth Allison Barr

This book gives an account of how we have seen women in ministry treated in the Bible to medieval times to the present. The present/recent history deals mainly with the SBC, a conservative denomination in the US.

I have to admit I skimmed some of it, but I did find it very interesting how women have been moved out of leadership roles into often unpaid, non-leader ministry, especially in terms of the role of the pastor’s wife.

If you are looking for a good discussion of women in ministry, this is a good choice. For more general info on how women are treated in conservative circles, check out her earlier book The Making of Biblical Womanhood, which I highly recommend.

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Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory

I loved this one! The characters were so well done and the relationships (both friendly and romantic) were so realistic. I really enjoyed her writing style, and I appreciated that even when there were miscommunications, they weren’t cringe-inducing but instead opportunities for growth and honesty.

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What I Read This Week – July 19th

Three books per week seems to be my sweet spot. Since I have started posting weekly updates, all but one has had three books on it.

Here’s what I finished this week:

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Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

I loved this book! The story centers on Helen, who signs up for a wilderness survival course in an attempt to take back her life after a divorce. Although there is a romantic plotline, this book is much more than that, and I felt challenged and inspired by her adventure and the things she learned about life through the experience and the people she met along the way. Highly recommend and now I’m going to watch the movie!

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How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry

This is a charming novel about a woman who tries to keep her dad’s bookshop running after his death. The story goes back and forth between the present day with Emilia and the cast of characters living nearby and the past where we learn how she came to be.

I have to admit there were almost too many characters in this one for me; I kept getting Mia and Emilia mixed up. That could be because I was switching between this physical book and another book on my Kindle app, so I wasn’t giving it my full attention. Also, I have read so many books about bookshops lately that they are starting to blur together. Those things are on me, though, so I would definitely recommend reading this one.

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More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

This was a nice follow up to the first book. I liked hearing what was happening with the characters I had grown fond of and even found myself liking the main character’s aunt Momoko better in this one.

What is your favorite book that you have read recently?

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What I Read This Week – July 12th

I finished 3 books this week. It could have been 4, but I kept jumping between 2 different books, so they are both half-finished.

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Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev – The Rajes #3

I really enjoyed this one. I felt it had more similarities to Austen than the previous book in the series did, and I loved getting into Yash’s story. I am looking forward to book 4.

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The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland – Lost for Words #1

I actually read the second book in the series before I was aware this one existed, but I don’t think I lost too much by reading them out of order. This book centers on Loveday, who is in the second book but not the main focus. She has had a lot of sadness in her life and the book shows how she struggles to overcome it, flipping back and forth between the past and the present. It has some heavy themes, especially of domestic violence.

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Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand – Paradise #1

Hilderbrand’s books are usually a quick read for me, and this was no exception – I read it in one sitting the other afternoon. I enjoyed this story of a woman whose husband dies but turns out to have had many secrets. It was a fun story, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

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What I Read This Week – July 5th

I finished three books this week, two of which were 5 star reads.

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The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

I can’t settle on any one word to describe this book. It was weirdly interesting, at times profound, but also a bit odd in places. I did enjoy it, but nowhere near as much as The Midnight Library.

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Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

I am not sure how I missed reading this growing up, but I am so glad I have rectified that oversight now. This was a profoundly moving story that I connected to even as a middle-aged adult. I can see why it has been so well regarded for all of these years and recommend picking it up if you haven’t read it before.

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Yoga Pant Nation by Laurie Gelman – Class Mom #3

It has been six years since I read book #2 in this series, but I had no problem jumping back in with Jen Dixon and her ongoing role as class mom for her son Max. This was a fun, well-crafted novel with great characters and engaging storylines. Highly recommend!

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What I Read This Week – June 28th

This was a slower week for reading – I spent more time with my jigsaw puzzles than with my books. I did end up finishing two books, one fiction and one nonfiction.

Fiction

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree – Legends & Lattes #0

I loved this book! Viv is such a great main character, and I love how the supporting characters become like a family to her. This was a fantastic prequel to Legends & Lattes!

Nonfiction

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Toward Racial Justice by Jemar Tisby

I found this follow up book to The Color of Compromise to be both educational and challenging. I appreciated how Tisby expanded on the A.R.C. of Racial Justice that he had shared in the earlier book. A.R.C. stands for awareness, relationships, and commitment, and he explains what each of them means and why they are all needed. Highly recommended!

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What I Read This Week – June 21st

I finished three books this week, two fiction and one nonfiction.

⭐⭐⭐/5
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev – The Rajes #2

I was really looking forward to this after reading the first book in the series, which is based on Pride & Prejudice. This one is based on Persuasion, which is my favorite Austen book, but I had trouble connecting it to that novel. Yes, there is the second-chance romance between Ashna and Rico, but there is also an equally prominent storyline of the troubled relationship between Ashna and her mother. There are a lot of good topics explored in this book, but some of them are quite heavy and I also would have enjoyed it a lot more if I wasn’t looking for the Austen connection while I was reading.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod – Austentatious #1

As you can tell from my first book this week, I am a sucker for an Austen spinoff, and this was an enjoyable entry in that category. I liked the colorful characters and found the queer romantic storyline a lot of fun!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships by Matthew Vines

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has questions about the American evangelical church’s views on same-sex relationships. It takes a lot of courage to examine beliefs that you have been fed all of your life, and Vines shows how he and his dad wrestled with this topic and found freedom on the other side.