November Book Roundup

Happy December! Yay for the most magical time of the year!

However, before we get too far into December, it's that time- November Book Roundup! Lord help me with my books this month. I read some really good ones and then...it all went downhill.

I experienced THE book funk of ALL book funks. Oh my gosh, it was brutal. I spent 3 weeks picking up and putting down easily over 30 books. I checked so many books out (mind you, books that I was excited to read and I'm sure will give rave reviews to eventually) but I just could. not. get. into. any. of. them. I was so frustrated! I was in one of my worst book funks ever! I read 30-100 pages in so many of them and then I was too bored or annoyed to continue...but all I wanted to do was read! This book funk started during/after Born to Shine.

SO, on a much lighter note. I said my piece about my book funk, and now I'll be mostly positive in the rest of this roundup! After all, what's better than enjoying this cold/dark weather inside curled up on the couch with a blanket and a good book? There were plenty of good ones this month to still cover...before the funk! If you see them in the graphic above showing that I made it through the end of reading each one, you know they were good or good enough!

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

First things first, I can't call myself a reader and then say that I've never read a Colleen Hoover book. I am, and have been, aware of her anywhere and everywhere. She has practically the most books, but definitely the most library holds for multiple years on end, incredibly high book sales, and such high rave reviews. She literally has 1 million+ ratings on this book alone on GoodReads. I know her fans are cult-like (which romance fans are always a different breed), but her fans are next-level.

Prior to reading this, I actually read a few articles that came across on social media about her extreme fame. I know that Tik-Tok book reviewers gave her another added boost of fame recently, so the article was about that. It goes on to say that her books aren't the highest quality or most respected books, but her stardom and appreciation of her as an author has her considered the best of the best. She even has said that she agrees with this undeserved fame; she reads books by other authors that are SO well-written and she knows hers don't compare. Her Instagram tagline is even "I don't get it either." It's really a crazy Colleen Hoover phenomenon. 

All that to say, I was interested in finally trying out one of her books myself, but I wasn't expecting anything stellar. I thought it would be one of those 50 Shades/Twilight experiences where it's not my style and I'm annoyed by everyone who raves about it when I know they just think it's so good because they only read those few highly-publicized books that everyone else raves about.

I had to be in the mood for this one. It was serious and dark, falling under the young adult fiction and romance genre (that I'm usually not a huge fan of). It does read like a 6th grader wrote it and  very much like a young adult book, but it was somewhat nice to mix up my usual style and genre. I probably would have loved reading this in college or in my early 20s. It was very basic and if it was just a random book I came across, I probably wouldn't keep reading it, but I had to see the hype. It was overall predictable, BUT...

It did have an addictive quality. I don't know why, but I did want to stay in it. I did get invested in the characters. I admire the way that she doesn't make each of the characters ALL bad- they do have redeeming qualities. The ending was great and even gave me chills. That last line, wow. The ending made me realize that it was somewhat worth the hype!

Basically, I'm not jumping on the Colleen Hoover bandwagon, but I will read her books from time to time. If I look at the details, it was not that great, but if I step back and look at the book big picture, it was really good.

Thoughts? I know so many of you have read this one.

The Sporty One by Melanie Chisholm- ⭐⭐⭐🌟

This was an average memoir- nothing to write home about, sadly. I was a HUGE Spice Girl fan throughout my childhood. I had way too many of their posters hanging on my bedroom walls, had the Barbies of Sporty and Baby (my two favorite Spice Girls), I dressed up as them with friends, and I even remembering listening to "2 Become 1" on a cassette tape in Tim's driveway way back when. Sam and I even went to go see one of their reunion concerts in college.

I just wanted to speed past the parts of her solo career and her childhood because they weren't that interesting to me. I was there for the tea on the Spice Girls! She is very respectful to the others, but sadly, that means that there wasn't much behind-the scenes information shared. The content of this book was very surface level, she shared common sense stuff, it was repetitive and not deep or very well-written. She glosses over a lot of things or just briefly mentions them in a sentence or two. She used a lot of English phrases and vocab. and also referred to a ton of older British famous people, TV shows, bands, places, etc. that I was unfamiliar with.

She seems very reasonable, isn't delusional about why/when she was successful and when she wasn't (in her solo career). She seems like she has good intentions, has a good heart, and is down to earth. From her perspective, it all seemed to happen and the Spice Girls' personalities were exactly as depicted in the movie Spice World. It was interesting to realize that they were so brave (being women in the industry back then) and such trailblazers, breaking traditions with everyone- including the Royals!

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan- ⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

Jodi Picoult's books aren't for everyone and she's always very opinionated and forward with her political agenda through them, but this was a really good read, in my opinion. It's heavy, it's long, and some elements of its plot is not unlike many other books, but the execution was so good. There are alternating chapters with timelines going in different directions, so that did get a bit confusing at times.

I could immediately guess what this book was going to be about based on the author that joins her for this book (their author's note at the end added so much to this overall experience of reading this!), so there wasn't a huge element of surprise for me, but this book was very real. It opened my eyes, called for compassion and understanding, and had every aspect thought out and well-developed. It was interesting to learn, helped me to be educated, and was thought provoking.

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ahh, one of my new favorite authors...although she's been everyone else's favorite for awhile now! What took me so long?! Since I've read her two more recent books in the past two years, that made me want to go back and read some of her slightly older ones. She's my Houston girl- love that her books always take place in Texas. This one was very relatable because it referenced her research was done at the Texas Med Center in Houston. It brought me back to my hip surgery and rehab days!

While this one has a deep topic, it's upbeat and lighthearted. The content is definitely not funny, but it is made funny through her wit, wordplay, and clever writing. I usually don't like reading about sickness or medical issues, but I knew this one would be light yet thought provoking. 

Born to Shine: Do Good, Find Your Joy, and Build a Life You Love by Kendra Scott- ⭐⭐⭐

This book was just...meh. I was drawn to it because I'm a fan of Kendra Scott jewelry (huge deal in Texas) and she's a fellow Chicago turned Texas girl. She even has some ties to Houston. However, it is missing that spark that makes me invested in someone else's life story. There were some impressive and interesting perspectives from her as a businesswoman, and a lot I could relate to as I work for a startup, but it's not organized well. It jumps around a lot, isn't smoothly connected, misses important information, and reads out of order. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders but overall this was just pretty average.

Uncharted Waters: A Short Story by Sally Hepworth- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

There's not much to say about this one because it's a short story. I typically don't do short stories, but I love this author. I was desperate for anything to break my reading curse. This had a fun cruise ship setting and it had a few surprises. I think this would have been a great plotline for a full length story too!

Well, how's that for not-the-best-ever reading month? Whew, that was a long post! What should I read in December? I'm excited that next month will have my December book review, but it will ALSO have my End of the Year book review with with favorites of the year (and previous years!). Woo hoo! Happy December reading to you until then!