Let’s talk books … again

I set out on a mission in January to read a total of 32 books before the end of the year. How did I come up with this number, you ask? It’s pretty simple…I’ll be turning 32 in October so I figured, why not?

I attempted this challenge last year, and while I unfortunately didn’t meet my goal of 20 books, I did read 12 and I was okay with that. As you can see, I’m aiming a little higher than I did in the previous challenge so the bar is set pretty high.

We’re at the halfway point of the year and I figured I’d update our readers with the books I HAVE finished so far and what’s to come on my to-be-read list. Feel free to send recommendations to me at [email protected].

• The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. For my most recent read, I branched out a little and gave this book a shot. The Cliff Notes version of this book is that it involves secrets, lies and murder. I rated it 3.5 stars only because the author is from London and used a lot of London slang that I didn’t quite understand. The story itself was great!

• Death Row by Freida McFadden. Freida has been on previous lists of books I’ve read. I wasn’t aware this was a short story until my Kindle told me I was 80% finished with the book. I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars. It was a great book, but I felt like the story could have kept going instead of only stopping at 74 pages.

• The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez. Another short, but good story – 4 out of 5 stars. Again, this was a story that I felt could have been expanded on instead of ending at 96 pages. It’s very cutesy, but also with a little bit of mystery/thriller vibes.

• The Tenant by Freida McFadden. The most recent release by Freida and it was 5 stars for me! I flew through this book in about two/three days. If you’ve read one book by Freida, you probably already have an idea of her ability to put a spin on her stories.

• Persuasion by Jane Austen. I’m going to be honest…this book was so boring and took me forever to push through it. The story was great, however, I could not stay awake reading this – 3 out of 5 stars. But I do love reading a good classic book every now and then.

• Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez. Such a feel good book about terrible first impressions, second chances and the joy in finding your perfect match. This was another book that I whizzed through it was that good – 4 out of 5 stars.

• Beach Read by Emily Henry. In need of a good book to take to the beach/on vacation? I gave this 4 out of 5 stars. I’ve read a number of Emily Henry books already and this one is up there as one of my favorites.

• Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. Probably the lowest rated book on my list (so far). I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. At the beginning of the book, there is a list of trigger warnings – personally, some of these “trigger warnings” sounded ridiculous. I think cannibalism was one of them. It’s pretty graphic as far as the content goes, so consider this your warning if that’s not your thing. There are two other books to go along with this one, but I don’t plan on reading them.

• The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose. So far this is the only book on the list that I would give 5 out of 5 stars. I finished it in two days and thought it was a great follow-up to The Perfect Marriage, which I also devoured in about a day or so and gave 5 out 5 stars.

• A Court of Silver Flames, A Court of Frost and Starlight, and A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas. Dipping my toes in the fantasy, I was a little nervous. I’d already read the other books in this series in 2024 and had hoped to squeeze these in there, too, but it just didn’t happen with the 2024 holiday season. However, I will give all of these books 4 out of 5 stars. I’m also dipping my toes into other fantasy books by this author as well.

That’s the list folks! So the question is…what are you reading now, Kelly? Well, I’m glad you asked. I’m currently reading Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry, which is right in my wheelhouse because the main characters are both journalists! They are trying to compete for writing a tell-all book about an heiress who disappeared from the spotlight more than 30 years ago. I’m about 100 pages in and I’m loving it already!

As I said before, feel free to share your recommendations with me. I’ve surpassed my book count from last year and I’m always open to new tropes and genres. Happy reading!