Pajamas | Socks

I still have our Greece Travel Diary to post on the blog, but with winter in full effect, all I want to do is to stay under the covers and get swept away by a good book.  While my reading habits have gone through different phases over the years, I have been a reader since childhood.  For me, books are an escape and believe it or not, it’s a very relaxing activity.  Through books, I have gained new insights into people, places and cultures, all in the comfort of my own home.  I read whenever I get a chance to and it’s something that I look forward to doing each day.  There’s nothing quite like getting lost in a story as the rest of the world around me fade away.

Of course, that all changed the day I became a mama.  During the first three years after the birth of my little guy, I was a hot mess and I often felt like I was in a fog.  Suddenly, my time is not quite my own anymore and I wasn’t prepared for how different life would be with the addition of a child.  Surviving the day while keeping a tiny human alive became my norm and I struggled to find my rhythm let alone a consistent reading schedule.  I lost my way and I stopped reading entirely.  Yes, I missed it, but between the mechanical routine of the day to day and getting my son to sleep through the night, life was busy, and I was too overwhelmed for anything more.

Things have changed.  Life is still busy but much more manageable.  My son is a kindergartener now and I am a lot less sleep deprived.  We have long since found a routine that works for us and I also started reading again.  In fact, at the end of 2018, I challenged myself to read more often and set a goal of reading one book a month.  Now that 2019 is over, I am happy to report that I have surpassed that goal and read a total of 14 books last year.  2 more than my goal and I am so pumped about my reading progress! Not only has it motivated me to read more but it has also inspired me to start book reviews on the blog.  

With all that in mind, today, I am sharing my thoughts on a couple of books below.  So, sit back, grab a cup of your favorite beverage, and here we go!  

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was one of the books I read last year, and I cannot put into words how incredible this book was.  It is written so beautifully that made it hard to put down.  I loved the characters, especially Evelyn, and the story line.  While there was indeed scandal, there was also a beautiful story about love, regret and heartache.  It’s one of those books that will stay with you for a long time and you’ll forget that Evelyn is, in fact, a fictional character.  This book also really put things into perspective that no matter how glamorous someone’s life might look; their struggles are not all that different from any of ours.  

The Wife Between Us – Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

This is a book best gone into blind and the synopsis says its best, assume nothing.

Engrossing and addictive, The Wife Between Us has so many twists.  It’s a wild roller-coaster ride of a book with an unexpected ending.  There was a lot of misdirection that caught me off guard in a couple of places and nothing was what it seemed.  Just when I thought I had things figured out, I could have not been more wrong and I never saw the ending coming, it blew me away!  

The Wife Between Us is a story about the complexities of marriage and what it entails: the good, the ugly, and the really ugly! So, if you are looking for a book that will keep you on your toes, give The Wife Between Us a try.   It is an addictive page turner, well worth the read.  

Don’t You Forget About Me – Mhairi McFarlane

Sometimes you just need those cute, feel good books and when I read the synopsis for Don’t You Forget About Me, I was hooked.  Unfortunately, it just wasn’t what I was hoping for and this one fell flat for numerous reasons.  

Although categorized as a rom com, Don’t You Forget About Me is not a simple, straightforward love story that I was expecting rather it was focused more on self-discovery and growth with dark undertones.  Some very serious topics were discussed in the book which, in my opinion, took away from the fun, lighthearted story I was expecting.  That said, I had a hard time getting into the story and I wasn’t connecting with the characters.  I had trouble and struggled with the flow of the book.  So, while the ending tie everything up nicely, I ultimately wasn’t on board with overall theme of the book.  

The Woman in the Window – A.J. Finn

There is so much more to this book than first meets the eye.  At first glance, it comes across as another book about a woman who witness a crime through a window.   But it’s so much more than that.  Told from the perspective of a former child psychologist and main character, Anna, we find out that she suffers from agoraphobia and spends her life trapped inside her home.  As the story unravels, we closely witness her mental battle with herself as she tries to figure out what is real and what is imagined.  

While I cannot say that I was hooked straight from the very beginning, it wasn’t long before I was pulled into the story.  Once I got into it though I couldn’t put it down.  It had a boatload of twists I wasn’t expecting, and I didn’t guess the ending correctly at all.  It surprised me how it all turned out.  

All in all, I would say, The Woman in the Window is a thoroughly engaging psychological thriller.  

Now it’s your turn! Have you read any of these? What are you currently reading?

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