Reading Roundup: First Quarter 2020

Hello, friends! I’m doing book reviews a little bit differently this year. I’ll review ARCs and books that I absolutely loved, but I’m going to try and do one quarterly round up. That way, you have one more extended post for quarterly book recommendations.

The first quarter of 2020 has been a little bit self-indulgent. I have spent the last few years only reading new books. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it means I haven’t revisited some of my favorites. These first few months of the year, I read just what I wanted to read.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Read my review.

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Read my review.

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Read my review.

The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul by Danielle LaPorte

Rating: 🌟🌟

My sister recommended this one in my effort to find my passion in 2020. It’s half book and half workbook. The book was poorly laid out and difficult to follow. It was “chapter” after “chapter” of motivational nonsense. I’m still working my way through the workbook section. It’s very repetitive and that bothers me. Don’t ask me to say, do, or write the same thing over and over again. Also, 2020 has now turned to crap, so…maybe we’ll just start over in 2021?

Buy it here.

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

One of the guys at my new beer book club recommended this as part of our “family” theme. It was actually really good! I mean, it kept the twist until the VERY LAST CHAPTER.

Buy it now.

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

This is in the middle of some massive series. Seriously, it’s book 13 or 14. In talking with my book club friends, I picked a book right in the middle of the rough patch of books. I wanted it to be Agatha Christie like, and it just wasn’t. Maybe it was my expectations, but I was let down.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

This was a work book club pick. It had been super hyped in the holiday season, and I was excited to read it. Since it was so popular, it took me a while to get it at the library, which meant that I read it way after the book club discussion. One of our more harsh critics gave it 5 stars on Goodreads, so I was PUMPED. Honestly, I think it was over-hyped because it did not live up to my expectations. I’ll be curious to see where the series goes, but there was maybe one too many “things” happening. Plus, it was one of those that gets started like you should immediately know what’s going on, and that annoys me.

Buy it now.

The Supreme Macaroni Company by Adriana Trigiani

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

HOLY BEAUTIFUL BOOK. I just…it was so gorgeous. I fell in love with Adriana Trigiani after reading The Shoemaker’s Wife and this one did not disappoint. It turns out that The Supreme Macaroni Company was the third in a trilogy, but I did not feel like I missed anything having not read the first two books. In fact, I’ve surmised that I liked it as a standalone book more than those who followed the trilogy.

It just had such a beautiful story of this large Italian family. She also had a few tender moment with her father, and those always get me.

Buy it now. Also, The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani was my favorite book of 2018, so she’s another go-to author.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Another five star read? Absolutely! I love the psychological thrillers that mess with your head and keep you guessing. I highly recommend it.

Buy it now.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Yes, I read three different trilogies in the first three months of the year. It was a lot, and I might be over trilogies for a while, but they were definitely three of my favorites.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

United as One by Pittacus Lore

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Oof. It has been years since I read this series. I somehow managed to keep up with it as they were getting published. Overall, it’s a pretty good series with some interesting ideas. However, I think it may have gone on for maybe one or two books too long. It felt like the author was compensating with really long and detailed fight scenes.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

I don’t think this was Ruth Ware’s best book. After In a Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10, it’s difficult to live up to the hype. It was just a bit anticlimactic.

Buy it now.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Rating: 🌟🌟

I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED WITH CITY OF GIRLS. It had such amazing potential. A young girl moving to New York City in the 1940s. Yes, there was war, but there was also potential. She also moves in with an aunt who owns a freaking theatre. Where did it lose me? With constant alcohol consumption, an incredibly lax attitude about sex, and infidelity. The book is written kind of like a letter. Honestly, if I was the recipient of that letter, I would be PISSED. At one point in the letter, she honestly says, “I’ll tell you about the next 20 years really fast.” Really?

Buy it if you want to, but I still don’t recommend it.

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