Obstinate, Headstrong Girl

Current Book: The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty Current Audiobook: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

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Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Synopsis: “Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways”

Rating: (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) 5/5

Review: This was my second read from Taylor Jenkins Reid and I absolutely loved it. Reid has a great skill for writing historically and bringing in both truth and fiction of the era. I loved Daisy Jones & The Six and LOVED The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. The way that sexuality and individuality is spoken about is wonderful and so very enjoyable to read. Highly recommend! 

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Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Synopsis: “ In the opening pages of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol. This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While “scholarshipping” at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship–and innocent love–that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept. Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel’s dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family’s belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice–words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago. Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart”

Rating: (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) 5/5

Review: I absolutely loved this book! It focuses around an unfortunately seldom acknowledged part of history that is absolutely heartbreaking. I was in love with the characters from the very beginning and am so glad to have read this book. I would recommend it to absolutely anyone! 

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Book Review: The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

Synopsis: “Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not only the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. And then imagine that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive…

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. But that letter is about to change everything—and not just for her. There are other women who barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they, too, are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.”

Rating: (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) 4/5

Review: As always, I am a huge Liane Moriarty fan. She has a way of writing about dark and thrilling topics while still holding on to humor in her books. I greatly enjoyed The Husband’s Secret and would recommend it to anyone who liked her other novels! While it was a little darker and more sinister than some of the other novels she’s written, it’s still an engaging page turner I didn’t want to put down.

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falling asleep while reading a book is so sexy

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Book Review: One Last Stop by Casey McQuinston

Synopsis: “For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures.

But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train.

Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.”

Rating: (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) 5/5

Review: I saw this book all over social media so of course I had to give it a read, and I loved it! This is one of the few books I have spent an entire day reading in nearly one sitting. I was a little hesitant because of the supernatural lesbian-displaced-in-time thing, but it didn’t feel overdone or taken too far. One Last Stop was such a fun read and I enjoyed every chapter of it!

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Books Read in June!

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Not Pictured:

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers (Audiobook)

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Nine books for the month of June!

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remember.

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Book Review: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Synopsis: “Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.”

Rating: (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟) 4.5/5

Review: I love how real this book felt! Every character had such depth that made it feel like I was reading true story of the 70s rock band. There was so much emotion behind the story and I loved learning about Daisy and The Six! I look forward to my next Taylor Jenkins Reid book!

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Used Bookstore Haul!

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

One Last Stop by Casey McQuinston

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

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im a creep im a bimbo or whatever radiohead said

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READ A BOOK ToDAY

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Soft Smokes (2008) By Kate Jenkins

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Book Review: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Synopsis: “Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over—she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over...”

Rating: (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) 5/5

Review: I have yet to dislike a Liane Moriarty book. Every single one has been a delight to read, and so funny yet thought provoking and sometimes even emotional. I loved What Alice Forgot! While I was a little apprehensive, the premise being a little silly, I was so quickly engaged with the story and its characters. I very highly recommend yet another Moriarty book!

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