September & October Book Reviews

Happy Monday everyone! I am currently finishing this blog post while in bed because I had way too fun of a weekend. After the football game Saturday and spending the day at Disney yesterday, I am SO tired. It will be a reading day for me. 

I didn't read too many books in September alone so I decided to combine it with my October books for one recap. I have a lot of books to share. Let's get into them!

Just Listen by: Sarah Dessen

This is an auto-buy author for many gals but I have just found her books mediocre. This one bored me a good majority of the time. I did find the beginning and very ending interesting but the overall story line bored me. Sorry Dessen fans! :(

Rate: 2 Stars

Becoming Dr. Seuss by: Brian Jan Jones

This is the biography of arguably the most famous author of all time. I would guess almost every child has been read a Dr. Seuss book at some point in their adolescents. I always LOVED the Dr. Seuss books and have several of them stored away for my future classroom already. My dad came to my class dressed as Cat in the Hat one year in elementary school and I plan on making him do so when I teach as well, ha!

I enjoyed this book, but didn't love it. It is definitely long but his life is so interesting. It was cool to learn more about the time period he grew up in, the schools he went to, his many failures, and his major success as an author and illustrator of the books we all love. Because he grew up in the early 1900s he obviously had very different views of women and people of other races. It kind of ruined the image I had of Dr. Seuss a little, but I guess that is inevitable. If you are curious about how Theodore Giesel came to be the infamous Dr. Seuss, than you too should read this book!

Rate: 2 Stars



Evvie Drake Starts Over by: Linda Holmes

This is the story of Evvie Drake in a time in her life where she is getting a fresh start. She lives a rather lonely life after the death of her husband, but when a struggling MLB player rents her extra room, her life begins to change. 

So many people had selected this as a book club pick for the month it came out and so I assumed it must be really good. It was just good. Not anything special if you ask me, but a quick and light read if you are looking for one.

Rate:  3 Stars



The Hideaway by: Lauren K. Denton

This book is about a successful and single business owner named Sara who is brought back to her childhood home in Alabama because of her grandmother's will. Sara has now lost her last remaining family member and is in a crossroads in her life. She intends to quickly tie up loose ends in this small town of Sweet Bay, but finds that she is needed there longer than she anticipated. Will she fall in love with the home she never appreciated? Will she finally discover who her grandmother really was? Are there more parallels in her life and her grandmothers than she cares to recognize?

I loved this book y'all. It wasn't anything super dramatic or gripping but was simply sweet. There is interesting family history, sweet friendships, and a cute romance. I just really liked it and recommend for a peaceful quick read.

Rate: 4 Stars!



Lock Every Door by: Riley Sager

Meet Jules. A heartbroken and just plain broke young woman who is struggling to make ends meet. When she comes across an advertisement for an apartment sitting gig at arguably the nicest Manhattan apartment building, the Bartholomew, she begins to think her luck is finally turning around. Her best friend warns her that this sounds too good to be true and begins to send her articles about the Bartholomews creepy history. Jules, while skeptical, is too excited for the large paycheck to heed the warnings of her friend. However, when other apartment sitters begin to mysteriously disappear, she is thrown deeper into the building's hidden past and must escape before her temporary status becomes permanent. 

Y'ALL. This is one of my FAVORITE books I have read so far this year. This storyline will consume you and you won't be able to put it down. It is super creepy and mysterious but not gory or rated R by any means. You have to read it!!!

Rate: 5 Stars!!!



Christmas at Carnton by: Tamera Alexander

Amid the Civil War and the fading dream of the Confederacy, a wounded solider and a destitute widow discover the true meaning of Christmas- and of sacrificial love.

I picked up this book at the library because I was looking for a "Hallmark Movie" type book and picked this one on a whim based on the cover. Don't judge a book by it's cover because this book was not just fluff like I expected. This is a slow story and I didn't particularly feel attached the to characters but the story is interesting and I had never read a book set during the Civil War before. Overall, it was a sweet read but nothing out of this world.

Rate: 3 Stars



The Turn of the Key by: Ruth Ware

This book is about a young girl who takes a nannying job in a desolate yet beautiful area of Scotland for a family with a newly renovated "smart house". The technology of the house is complicated and begins to do creepy things that scare the nanny. When one of the girls she is nannying turns up dead, she begins to write to her lawyer from prison explaining how she is not guilty of murder. She recounts the entire experience and tries to understand how this could have happened.

This book is so creepy and definitely wasn't fun to read while home alone, ha! I did really enjoy it and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending made me so mad but overall, I really enjoyed the book.

Rate: 4.5 Stars!


Well there you have it! What books did you enjoy this past month?  I will talk to you soon. Happy reading everyone!

xoxo