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readingwitherin's reviews
434 reviews
Willful Impropriety: 13 Tales of Society, Scandal and Romance by Ekaterina Sedia
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.
Book needed to go back to the library and hasn’t been holding my interest.
African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals by David Hackett Fischer
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
I made it 48% into this book before calling it quits.
This book while appearing to be about African Founders, is really just about the Africans who were enslaved and ended up making something out of a terrible situation. It doesn't focus on them actually being founders except for two different people who had gained their freedom and made a good life for themselves. But these people still had no actual founding of the country's abilities due to the color of their skin. Did they help out? Yes of course, but the title of this book is misleading in my opinion. Their stories are also told through a white lens once again, taking away some of the power that they would have had.
I had such high hopes for this book when I first saw it, but the more I read, the more I realized that it was just another take on trying to whitewash history.
I do not plan on finishing this book, as I feel like my time will be better spent reading books by black historians telling history as it really is without whitewashing it.
This book while appearing to be about African Founders, is really just about the Africans who were enslaved and ended up making something out of a terrible situation. It doesn't focus on them actually being founders except for two different people who had gained their freedom and made a good life for themselves. But these people still had no actual founding of the country's abilities due to the color of their skin. Did they help out? Yes of course, but the title of this book is misleading in my opinion. Their stories are also told through a white lens once again, taking away some of the power that they would have had.
I had such high hopes for this book when I first saw it, but the more I read, the more I realized that it was just another take on trying to whitewash history.
I do not plan on finishing this book, as I feel like my time will be better spent reading books by black historians telling history as it really is without whitewashing it.
Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.5
4.5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio arc in exchange for my honest review.
Bright Lights, Big Christmas is such a fun book to listen to. I loved seeing a realistic sibling relationship between Kerry and her brother. It was very easy to see that sibling dynamic happening even though they didn't spend a lot of time together before this, they worked together and were able to make the tree stand successful even with all the ups and downs they faced.
I loved the neighborhood that they were in and how friendly everyone was. Everyone knew Kerry's brother and liked him and they were so kind and inviting to them which was so nice to see as well. You can really see this togetherness towards the end of the book and the closer to Christmas it got and how all of the neighbors were going to be sad to see them leaving soon.
One of my favorite parts of this book though was seeing Kerry with Patrick and his son Austin. Seeing Austin help her get back to doing what she loved a little bit and making something together was heartwarming.
Overall I highly recommend this Christmas book as it is a nice and heartwarming story of friendship and how those friends can become family along the way. This book has elements of a Hallmark Christmas movie but it was also so much more than that as well. I look forward to reading more by Mary Kay Andrews in the future as I have hardly read any of their books before.
The audio narrator of this book was great, they kept me engaged and did the different voices for different characters well making it easy to tell all the different characters easily.
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio arc in exchange for my honest review.
Bright Lights, Big Christmas is such a fun book to listen to. I loved seeing a realistic sibling relationship between Kerry and her brother. It was very easy to see that sibling dynamic happening even though they didn't spend a lot of time together before this, they worked together and were able to make the tree stand successful even with all the ups and downs they faced.
I loved the neighborhood that they were in and how friendly everyone was. Everyone knew Kerry's brother and liked him and they were so kind and inviting to them which was so nice to see as well. You can really see this togetherness towards the end of the book and the closer to Christmas it got and how all of the neighbors were going to be sad to see them leaving soon.
One of my favorite parts of this book though was seeing Kerry with Patrick and his son Austin. Seeing Austin help her get back to doing what she loved a little bit and making something together was heartwarming.
Overall I highly recommend this Christmas book as it is a nice and heartwarming story of friendship and how those friends can become family along the way. This book has elements of a Hallmark Christmas movie but it was also so much more than that as well. I look forward to reading more by Mary Kay Andrews in the future as I have hardly read any of their books before.
The audio narrator of this book was great, they kept me engaged and did the different voices for different characters well making it easy to tell all the different characters easily.
Within These Walls of Sorrow: A Novel of World War II Poland by Amanda Barratt
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.
Just can't get back into it right now. I'll come back to it later.
Five Survive by Holly Jackson
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Holly Jackson has done it again!
This book had me on the edge of my seat and needing to know who the person was that was trying to harm them and why. I had several theories throughout this book, and I suspected everyone, but I was still shocked by the ending because of how it all went in the end.
Our main character is Red who along with her friends Maddy, Arthur, and Simon, along with Maddy's older brother Oliver and his girlfriend Reyna are road-tripping to Florida for spring break. Now going into this situation it sounds like it could be rough since no one has ever driven an RV before and that many people in one RV can only lead to them getting on each other's nerves after a while. At first, everything is going smoothly, but then they lose the GPS signal, and then somehow their tires get popped on a small back road leaving them stuck. From here on out things go from bad to worse quickly.
There is a sniper hiding in the woods, who has cut them off from all outside resources and won't let them go until one of them tells a secret by morning or it will be bad for all of them. This of course leads to chaos and all of them trying to find a way to get away from this sniper and to safety, while also trying to figure out who the person is with the secret.
Overall I loved this book. Red is a great main character whose skills with the walkie-talkie are vital since it becomes clear pretty quickly that one of the people in the RV will do anything to save themselves. As the time in the book started to get closer to morning and things got more chaotic we see Red start to put the pieces together, while also finding out things that about the others that she would have never suspected. When she puts it all together in the end it is heartbreaking and extremely chaotic still.
Jackson did such a good job of keeping that chaotic and stressed feeling going throughout the book, while also putting in little bits of hope that maybe just maybe they'll be able to find a way out.
This book is perfect for the spooky season and any season really. If you like putting together a mystery and attempting to solve it then this is the book for you because of how many secrets there are.
This book had me on the edge of my seat and needing to know who the person was that was trying to harm them and why. I had several theories throughout this book, and I suspected everyone, but I was still shocked by the ending because of how it all went in the end.
Our main character is Red who along with her friends Maddy, Arthur, and Simon, along with Maddy's older brother Oliver and his girlfriend Reyna are road-tripping to Florida for spring break. Now going into this situation it sounds like it could be rough since no one has ever driven an RV before and that many people in one RV can only lead to them getting on each other's nerves after a while. At first, everything is going smoothly, but then they lose the GPS signal, and then somehow their tires get popped on a small back road leaving them stuck. From here on out things go from bad to worse quickly.
There is a sniper hiding in the woods, who has cut them off from all outside resources and won't let them go until one of them tells a secret by morning or it will be bad for all of them. This of course leads to chaos and all of them trying to find a way to get away from this sniper and to safety, while also trying to figure out who the person is with the secret.
Overall I loved this book. Red is a great main character whose skills with the walkie-talkie are vital since it becomes clear pretty quickly that one of the people in the RV will do anything to save themselves. As the time in the book started to get closer to morning and things got more chaotic we see Red start to put the pieces together, while also finding out things that about the others that she would have never suspected. When she puts it all together in the end it is heartbreaking and extremely chaotic still.
Jackson did such a good job of keeping that chaotic and stressed feeling going throughout the book, while also putting in little bits of hope that maybe just maybe they'll be able to find a way out.
This book is perfect for the spooky season and any season really. If you like putting together a mystery and attempting to solve it then this is the book for you because of how many secrets there are.
Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen
medium-paced
4.0
This has been one of my favorite cozy mysteries that I've read so far this year!
Riley Rhodes who is a former CIA Librarian (can I just say that sounds like an awesome library job!), and now a manager of a small town ice cream store due to needing a change of pace. The ice cream shop is going to be catering at an event at a local castle, but while there someone ends up dying. This leads to Riley using her CIA librarian skills to use and trying to find out who did it as the small-town police are spread thin and don't have a suspect.
Overall this story was so fun and a nice change of pace for me. Riley was a fun character who was so good at both her management job, as well as being a good friend, and a pretty good detective too. I loved all the little side characters and how they added so much to the story and made it even better. From the owner of the castle, to the person who died assistant, to other people in the community there were just so many that helped bring it all together and showed how much can be going on at once without anyone realizing it until they start looking into a murder.
I can't wait to go back and read the first book in the series before I start the third book!
Riley Rhodes who is a former CIA Librarian (can I just say that sounds like an awesome library job!), and now a manager of a small town ice cream store due to needing a change of pace. The ice cream shop is going to be catering at an event at a local castle, but while there someone ends up dying. This leads to Riley using her CIA librarian skills to use and trying to find out who did it as the small-town police are spread thin and don't have a suspect.
Overall this story was so fun and a nice change of pace for me. Riley was a fun character who was so good at both her management job, as well as being a good friend, and a pretty good detective too. I loved all the little side characters and how they added so much to the story and made it even better. From the owner of the castle, to the person who died assistant, to other people in the community there were just so many that helped bring it all together and showed how much can be going on at once without anyone realizing it until they start looking into a murder.
I can't wait to go back and read the first book in the series before I start the third book!