Whoa I read. Whoa I liked some books. “Whoa …”, said Joey Lawrence. And woe is me, if you don’t know why that’s hilarious. Cuz it is. Super, super hilarious. Or not. Seriously, who knows. My humor is weird but what I read last month wasn’t … that weird. I don’t think. Some self-help. A little murder. You know, the normal.
Also, quick note for Disqus Users: I went into my profile and noticed that many of my comments are pending on Blogger sites. I’m cool if you don’t want to approve my comment but I mentioned it to a fellow friend who was unaware this was happening. Since I like getting comments and assume you do too – just thought I’d point out that you may have unapproved comments in Disqus, including possibly mine. And I swear my comment is brilliant. Like Shakespeare brilliant. Or not.
The Books I Loved, Liked and Loathed
No love or loathe books this month but a lot of like books.
The Books I Liked
These are the books I liked, from most liked (4 stars) to liked (3 stars).
The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney
Book Description: When Abbie wakes up with no memory, her husband claims she was the perfect wife but is he hiding a deeper secret about their marriage?
Book Review: I really enjoyed Delaney’s The Girl Before. He tends to write books with a lot of moral ambiguity, unlikeable but fascinating characters and a good twist or two. And one twist in his latest books happens at the end of page 5. So first and foremost: BE CAREFUL about the reviews you read if you like being surprised, like me. That’s actually a terrible lie. I hate being surprised but I like them in books … mostly. This particular surprise intrigued me, which is a great way to start a book. It did drag a bit in the middle (I can be a severely impatient reader) but I liked it overall (not quite as much as The Girl Before) and thought the ending was very good, particularly the last few paragraphs. Unfortunately, this is also unveiled some major plot holes (IMO) and and you do have to suspend a certain amount of belief, which I struggled with at times. Also, a part of you will fear a time when you don’t actually have to suspend belief and this could happen. Dun, dun …. DUNNNNNN.
To Read or Not To Read: Yup. Mystery/thriller fans should enjoy this. Note: Abbie and Tim do have an autistic son (as does the author) and some readers praised how he was written and some were less enthused (more around the treatment used versus his portrayal), I wanted to mention this as autism can be a trigger for some.
Stop Doing that Sh*T: End Self-Sabotage and Demand Your Life Back by Gary John Bishop
Book Description: Bishop shows us how to break destructive patterns in order to live the lives we desire.
Book Review: Hello, my name is Tanya and I am self-saboteur. When I stumbled upon this book, I immediately knew that I had to read it and ended up with mixed feelings about it. He brought up excellent points and I now have a better understanding of why I self-sabotage, which is good, but (yes, there is a BUT) the solution or fix was … to quote him “shit”. Well, that’s not fair either. He may be actually right but doesn’t really delve into how to apply a fairly abstract solution. He gives it 50 pages out of 227. It’s possible that I am simply being resistant in continuation of my self-sabotaging ways. This is possible. It’s also possible that it is light on the solution because he’s either: A) Got a future book to write and sell. B) Doesn’t have it fully defined either. C) Or both.
“Human beings are much more engrossed with the task of getting to the goal than actually achieving it or, God forbid, facing the horror having to permanently deal with life AFTER they’ve done something they’d always wanted to do.”
To Read or Not To Read: Yes. If you self-sabotage, I do think that 3/4s of the book will be incredibly helpful and eye-opening. You may find his fix fantastic and easy (if so, please reach out to me so we can discuss!) or your right brain may rudely overrule your left brain and need more details. Regardless, I do think it’s worth the read.
The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard
Book Description: Allison’s ex-boyfriend has been imprisoned since confessing to five murders 10 years ago, but when women begin dying in the same manner, he will only talk to Allison.
Book Review: I found the premise of this book to be very intriguing because I have an unhealthy affection for books with serial killers. And to be clear, I do not have an unhealthy affection for actual serial killers. They scare the living bejesus out of me. Overall, this was a good, pass-the-time book. It never hit the highs I wanted but I read almost too many mysteries, so it’s not always easy to WOW me these days. I wasn’t particularly shocked by the “twist” ending, although I imagine plenty will enjoy it. I found it to be a little “on-the-nose”.
To Read or Not To Read: Sure. It’s not one that I’d rush out to get but it’s a good plane or travel read.
TL;DR: What I Recommend
Well, overall I had a good month and recommend all the books I read. Mystery fans should enjoy The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney and The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard. Also note, the books are not gory or nightmare-inducing. I have found high-stress thrillers (my favorite) to increase my anxiety these days and these books did not do that. Not sure if that is good or bad! 😀 People who suffer from self-sabotage should check out Stop Doing that Sh*t. I found his insight valuable and if I find the initiative (no guarantee that I will), I plan to write a more detailed review of it.
To More Great Books
I have NetGalley books to read but I am not going to promise to read any of them, which hopefully means that I’ll read a ton of them! Yup, I’m trying a little reverse psychology on myself. Let’s see if it works! As usual, I’m linking up with Jana and Steph for the very best link-up, Show Us Your Books. Be sure to check it out and see what everyone read last month.
Your turn: Tell me what good or bad books you read last month!
Tanya
I don’t know who Joey Lawrence is so clearly I’m missing the joke.
All the books you read sound good. Or at least you made them sound good.
The Perfect Wife sounds interesting!
I don’t consider it a spoiler if someone talks about something I will find out in less than a minute and a half of reading. As you know, I hated that book. Not into artificial intelligence period and absolutely not into men creating what they mean to be a perfect robot woman.
The Catherine Ryan Howard sounds good!
Um just went to goodreads…I’ve read The Liar’s Girl. LOLOL
As soon as I saw you make that comment about spoilers on The Perfect Wife, I just skipped the rest. I like to be surprised. & I think I’ve read & saw this sort of story a dozen times, but I always still love it.
FYI – Since I’ve gone back to Blogger, I can’t respond to your comments (BOOOO!!!!!) – it comes up as No-Reply & I cant find your email anywhere!!!! So if you dont want to turn your replies back on – at least send me your email so can… I’m special like that 😉 LOL
Oh my gosh, I haven’t read a self-help style book in years. I see them now and I’m like “nope”. I used to be fully on the self-help train though. It’s almost like having a baby made me realize I had little to no control anyway lol.
I’m glad this one helped you though! Especially if you can recommend it to others.
I agree with the spoilers comment. That’s why I try hard not to divulge much on my reviews. I need to check out that wife book.
Im so two minds about picking up the perfect wife.
I dont know why disqus does that! I went on some time and saw a whole slew of comments I needed to accept. I felt so bad. People probably thought I deleted their comments sighs
Joey Lawrence! I thought he was soooooooooo cute back in the day, lol 😀
I hate when self-help books are like, see all these things and behaviours? This is you! But in order to fix all that, just believe in yourself and it’ll totally happen! 🙁 Um no. That is not helpful at all.
Okay, The Liar’s Girl sounds super interesting!
I keep seeing mixed reviews on The Perfect Wife, but I might give it a try.
I loved Blossom! I read The Girl Before but I’m not in a rush for The Perfect Wife.
ugh that happened to me with disqus, by the time i noticed, months had gone by and i felt silly replying months later lol. i need to check again, just in case. i am very intrigued by the self sabotage book. also, the perfect wife wasn’t on my list, but i am adding it now!
Fellow Blossom fan here! And I too HATE surprises! I enjoyed The Girl Before but I just read Steph’s review of this book and am torn as to whether I should give The Perfect Wife a try. It sounds like my kind of read, but I’ve actually been in a slump trying to finish my current read and I want to read a really good book next!
Hmm I might try The Perfect Wife sometime but I was sort of meh about his other books so we’ll see. Glad you are getting some good reading in though!!!
The Perfect Wife looks like something I would like!!
You had a great reading month! I always feel like I’m missing out when I skip popular thrillers but I know my anxiety and the high drama or suspense just doesn’t work for me. I cruise through those books, but it always puts me on edge. I’ve read some where my body actually shakes during the twist. I much prefer historical fiction, mystery, & romance I think 🙂 For now anyway. That can always change.
The Perfect Wife sounds like the sort of book I’d enjoy as I like a book with surprises. Thanks for the tip about reading reviews.