I took a bubble bath today. Well, I didn’t have anything to make the bubbles, so it was really just a bath with some calming lavender salts. Regardless of the kind of bath I took, I spent 40 minutes in the bath thinking about my life.
Naturally, I took a (very) full glass of wine – I am currently obsessed with Narcissi’s Black Raspberry wine – my phone (for music purposes only, I am very anti-social media when it comes to relaxing) and a book for entertainment. I honestly try my hardest at self-care. I keep a steady skin care regiment, I use a eye mask a few times a week, use hair masks on the weekends, and moisturize every inch of my annoyingly dry skin. I try my best, I really do, but there isn’t a self-care task I love more than a bubble bath, wine, music, and my current best seller.
A while ago, thanks to my love of Reese Witherspoon, books, and a lack of ideas for my Christmas list (circa 2020), I decided I would read every book from Reese Witherspoon’s book club. Thanks to boredom, I created an entire spreadsheet of all of the books included complete with columns, highlights, and a section for notes.
To add to my super nerd status, I couldn’t wait to start reading and complete this list. Once I finish a book, I will update this chart, so make sure you check back!
| Book Title | Author | Own Book | Genre | Rating and Comments |
| Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine | Gail Honeyman | √ | Fiction-Drama | 9.5/10 – beautiful. I fell in love with Eleanor and all her quirks. I wish there was a little more with Raymond but the twist at the end was perfect! |
| The Alice Network | Kate Quinn | √ | Fiction-Drama | 8/10 – great storyline. I enjoyed Eve’s character the most. Could easily find myself reading this again and again. |
| The Lying Game | Ruth Ware | √ | Thriller | 8.5/10 – slow moving and then an abrupt end. The cheating was unnecessary between Isa and Luc |
| Little Fires Everywhere | Celeste Ng | √ | Fiction-Drama | 6.5/10 – there was a lot of hype for this book and I honestly was not that interested. It was nice, but too many storylines for my liking. The messages were good, but it was not necessary for Bebe’s story. Also, not a fan of a mom treating her daughter like that… |
| The Rules of Magic | Alice Hoffman | √ | Fiction-Drama | 10/10 – have read twice so far. Prequel to Practical Magic. Beautiful story and great imagery |
| This is the Story of a Happy Marriage | Ann Patchett | √ | ||
| The Last Mrs. Parrish | Liv Constantine | √ | Fiction-Drama | 9/10 – loved this! The twist was great! I could see myself reading this book repeatedly. I LOVED the three parts with different POVs. |
| Braving the Wilderness | Brene Brown | |||
| The Light We Lost | Jill Santopolo | √ k | Fiction-Drama | 9/10 – beautifully written, but predicable ending. I loved that it was written like a letter to Gabe but then the end was an actual letter to their son. |
| Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows | Balli Kaur Jaswal | √ | Fiction – Drama | 7/10 – this was a fun story to read. I enjoyed learning more about the culture. The author mixed in different story types, which made this a compelling story. |
| Happiness | Heather Harpham | √ k | ||
| You Think It, I’ll Say It | Curtis Sittenfeld | |||
| Something in the Water | Catherine Steadman | √ | Thriller | 4/10 – Too much detail on unnecessary things. They were in so many places in the book it was hard to pick up on what was important and what was not. I really wanted to like this book, but I probably won’t read it again. Good concept, though. |
| Next Year in Havana | Chanel Cleeton | √ | Fiction-Drama | 8.5/10 – beautiful story. Will read the sister’s other stories. The storyline was predictable, but I still really enjoyed this book. |
| Still Lives | Maria Hummel | √ k | ||
| Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens | √ | Fiction-Drama | 10/10 – WOW. I loved every minute of this book. Beautiful. It reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes. |
| This is How It Always Is | Laurie Frankel | √ k | Fiction-Drama | 5/10 – eye opening book with a good story. I just could not get into it. |
| The Other Woman | Sandie Jones | √ | Thriller | 9.5/10 – Read this is about 24 hours. The twist at the end got me. |
| One Day in December | Josie Silver | √ k | Fiction-Drama | 7.5/10 – A easy to read love triangle story. It’s cliché but I enjoyed the story and would read again. |
| The Library Book | Susan Orlean | √ | ||
| The Proposal | Jasmine Guillory | √ k | Fiction-Drama | 6/10 – Cute and fun to read. It’s a very basic book but was lighthearted. Very predictable but would probably read again. |
| Daisy Jones & The Six | Taylor Jenkins Reid | √ k | Fiction-Drama | 9/10 – SO GOOD. I actually thought that this was a true band and a true story. It is supposed to be based on Fleetwood Mac which makes this so much cooler. I read this so fast over Thanksgiving. Would love to possibly write my own story in this format – interview |
| The Night Tiger | Yangsze Choo | √ | Fiction – Drama | 8/10 – Very interesting story concept. This was a delightful book to read. I could see this being turned into multiple stories! |
| From Scratch | Tembi Locke | |||
| The Cactus | Sarah Haywood | √ k | Fiction – Drama | 7/10 – I liked this one for the cliche story type. The main character is drab (but that’s the point), she falls for someone not her type, and it ends happily ever after. |
| Whisper Network | Chandler Baker | √ | Fiction-Drama But w/ Murder | 4/10 – The beginning of each chapter was written in a different tone/POV from the rest of the chapter – almost like they were summarizing a feminist point before actually going into the story. I am all for feminism, but I wish there was just one tone/POV. It was slow and confusing. Just too many characters and POVs. |
| The Last House Guest | Megan Miranda | √ | Fiction – Suspense | 6/10 – I was very excited to read this one, but it fell short for me. Compelling, but I expected more of a thriller. |
| The Secrets We Kept | Laura Prescott | √ | ||
| Fair Play | Eve Rodsky | |||
| The Giver of Stars | Jojo Moyes | √ | Fiction – Drama | 8/10 – Moyes is a fantastic author. I loved her Me Before You series and now I love this one! Her writing style puts you right there in the saddle delivering books. Great story! |
| Conviction | Denise Mina | √ | Fiction – Slight suspense | 7/10 – I enjoyed this one. To be honest, it is not super memorable, but it was an easy read and a good concept. It tied in with a podcast. |
| Such a Fun Age | Kiley Reid | √ | Fiction | 7/10 – I was very excited to read this one as I saw it featured everywhere. It was a good read with relatable characters. It was predictable, but still a good read. |
| The Scent Keeper | Erica Bauermeister | √ | Fiction – Drama | 8.5/10 – such a cool concept for a story. Everything is told from scents! I flew through this book because I have never read anything like it. |
| The Jetsetters | Amanda Eyre Ward | |||
| Untamed | Glennon Doyle | √ | ||
| The Henna Artist | Alka Joshi | |||
| The Guest List | Lucy Foley | √ | Thriller | 8/10 – little bit of a slow start and not enough closure for Hannah. Good twist on who the killer was and who was killed |
| I’m Still Here | Austin Channing Brown | |||
| Everything Inside | Edwidge Danticat | √ k | ||
| The Last Story of Mina Lee | Nancy Jooyoun Kim | √ | Fiction – Drama w/ some suspense | 6/10 – I liked how this story wove together stories of the mom and daughter separately. It’s an interesting story where you learn a lot about the culture. Definitely eye opening. |
| His Only Wife | Peace Medie Adzo | √ k | ||
| Group | Christie Tate | |||
| The Chicken Sisters | KJ Dell’Antonia | √ k | ||
| Outlawed | Anna North | √ k | ||
| The Sanatorium | Sarah Pearse | √ | Thriller | 8/10 – this satisfied my thriller needs. Semi-predicable and a little bit of a letdown for an ending. Is there going to be a sequel? |
| Infinite Country | Patricia Engel | |||
| Northern Spy | Flynn Berry | √ | Suspense | 7.5/10 – Once you get past the first part of the book, you will not be able to put this down! The plot of the book was good and easy to follow. |
| The Last Thing He Told Me | Laura Dave | √ | Suspense | 9/10 – I absolutely loved this one! The past few book selections were good, but this one blew them out of the water! I highly recommend. |
| Seven Days in June | Tia Williams | √ k | ||
| The Paper Palace | Miranda Cowley Heller | |||
| We Were Never Here | Andrea Bartz | √ | Suspense | 9/10 – Yes! This was an easy, yet great read. I finished in one sitting because I could not put the book down. Great twist, characters, and ending! Highly recommend. |
| L.A. Weather | Maria Amparo Escandion | |||
| Sankofa | Chibundu Onuzo | |||
| The Island of Missing Trees | Elif Shafak | √ k | ||
| Lucky | Marissa Stapley | |||
| Honor | Thrity Umrigar | |||
| The Christie Affair | Nina de Gramont | |||
| The Club | Ellery Lloyd | |||
| True Biz | Sara Novic |
If you have read any of these books, drop a comment and tell me what you loved about them! Or if you have any book suggestions, I am always on the lookout for a good book.
As always – Love, KT
KTwrites 