November... I swear this month absolutely flew by! Apparently I was flying through pages as well! I figured I wouldn't read quite as much this month, but here we are! Only one more month of reading for this year - I've long since met my goal, so now I'm just padding the numbers, ha-ha!
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig - When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean Island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.
Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend's life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.
Rating: ⭐of five - Oh goodness; I'm glad this was my freebie book for my birthday month because I almost couldn't finish it! This book started off really interesting but quickly became a little too odd & just seemed to drag along... it was a slog to finish it & it may be my least favorite book I've read all year. *sigh*
The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand - Nantucket is only two and a half hours away from Martha's Vineyard by ferry. But the two islands might as well be worlds apart for a set of identical twin sisters who have been at odds for years. When a family crisis forces them to band together - or at least appear to - the twins slowly come to realize that the special bond that they share is more important than the sibling rivalry that's driven them apart for the better part of their lives.
A touching depiction of all the pleasures and annoyances of the sibling relationship, The Identicals proves once and for all that just because twins look exactly the same doesn't mean they're anything alike.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐of five - 2024 is the year I discovered Elin Hilderbrand & I really love her style of writing! This book was great; a light read, filled with family & frustrations & eventually, happy reunions & happy endings - it was a great read & I cannot wait to read more of Elin's work! She may be my new favorite writer!
P.S. I Hate You by Lauren Connolly - Maddie Sanderson would be proud to honor her older brother's dying wish, that she scatters his ashes over eight destinations that the adventurous 29-year-old never got to visit before he died from cancer. But in his will, Josh assigned her an impossible partner to help complete the mission - Dominic Perry. Seriously, if Maddie weren't already at this funeral, she would have killed him for this.
Sure, Dom was Josh's life-long best friend. He's also the infuriating man who broke Maddie's heart back when she was naive enough to give it to him. But since insists on following the rules and Josh didn't leave much room for Maddie to argue the matter, they embark together on a farewell trip that spans thousands of miles, exploring new places and revisiting their complicated history along the way.
After a snowstorm leads to a shared bed, Maddie starts to wonder if her brother might be matchmaking from the grave. But when grief also reopens old wounds between them, Maddie will need more than Josh's ghostly guidance to trust Dom again.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐of five - I enjoyed this book; it was my November pick for Book of the Month. The storyline is different from many romantic comedies & while I really loved the story & the characters, I could have done without all the smut. Just saying. 😁I would probably give it four stars without all the unnecessary sexual situations...
Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand - Kelley Quinn is the owner of Nantucket's Winter Street Inn and the proud father of four, all of them grown and living in varying states of disarray. Patrick, the eldest, is a hedge fund manager with a guilty conscience. Kevin, a bartender, is secretly sleeping with a French housekeeper named Isabelle. Ava, a school teacher, is finally dating the perfect guy but can't get him to commit. And Bart, the youngest and only child of Kelley's second marriage to Mitzi, has recently shocked everyone by joining the Marines.
As Christmas approaches, Kelley is looking forward to getting the family together for some quality time at the inn. But when he walks in on Mitzi kissing Santa Claus (or the guy who's playing Santa at the inn's annual party), utter chaos descends. With the three older children each reeling in their own dramas and Bart unreachable in Afghanistan, it might be up to Kelley's ex-wife, nightly news anchor Margaret Quinn, to save Christmas at the Winter Street Inn.
Before the mulled cider is gone, the delightfully dysfunctional Quinn family will survive a love triangle, an unplanned pregnancy, a federal crime, a small house fire, many shots of whiskey and endless rounds of Christmas caroling, in this heart-warming novel about coming home for the holidays.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ of five - Such a great book to kick off the Christmas season! This book was a lighthearted little tale with some Nantucket charm and holiday shenanigans! This is the first of four books in a series and I started book two as soon as I finished book one, ha-ha! So delightful!
Wicked: The Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire - When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?
Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man become a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ of five - This is technically a re-read, & I also listened to it on Audible! I read Wicked years ago (I think in my early 20's) & was inspired to read it again before seeing the new movie that was released this month. I enjoy Wicked & love the alternative look that it gives at all things Oz!
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One more month of reading to go and the 2024 reading challenge will be done... and on to a new one!
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