September Reads

Hi Guys!
     I have my September book post for you today. I read 5 books and enjoyed them all. Anyone else wish they could just hibernate for a few hours (or days, or weeks) and get after all.the.reads?! Without further ado.....here we go!

1. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin: I am a huge Emily Giffin fan (her chick lit never disappoints). This one was a departure from typical Giffin novels but I really liked this new direction. It reminded me a lot of Jodi Piccoult books with the various perspectives that switch. This one is about high schoolers who make bad decisions at a party, the fall out and consequences, and how their parents cope. It dives into sexism, social media issues, parenting, and more. It was a good novel to curl up with this month.

2. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage: THIS BOOK! AHH! Let me put it this way: I devoured it in 3 days (which for a working mom is a feat, ya'll), texted numerous friends that they needed to read it ASAP, passed it on to AJ, and I can't stop thinking about it. I won't give too much away but this one explores psychopathic behavior in a child. Think Bad Seed. Can children be born devious or is this a learned behavior? Is the child really evil? Is there supernatural business going on? Who is abusing who? Who is playing who? This is twisty, freaky, fun, bizarre and perfect for Halloween time. This one is not light and fluffy but dang, it captured me!

3. By The Book by Julia Sonneborn: This one is a chick lit read about an English professor, her fun friends, and a blossoming romance with an old flame. This one is predictable, but cute and fun, nonetheless. I think this would make a fun romantic comedy movie. If you want a novel that's fast paced, cute, and thoughtful, pick this one up.

4. The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah: This one scared me away a bit because it's LONG. But it was worth it! I loved the beautiful descriptions of Alaska and the wonderful female characters we read about. This is a major Girl Power read and I loved the romance. BUT....I am getting slightly sick of reading about weird/abusive family situations (Glass Castle, Educated, Hillbilly Elegy etc). However, this one had a lot of heart to it (and it helps that it's a novel and not real, too, you know?). This would be the perfect book to crack open under a blanket this fall and get lost in the beautiful landscape of Alaska. Warning, keep tissues nearby.

5. Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman an Kim Barnouin: I have mixed feelings about this read. I loved how it was light and easy to understand. It truly made nutrition basics easy to digest (pun intended) and I even loved some of the snarky writing style. I learned great things from this book, like did you know most Americans consume way more protein than necessary? What we're really lacking is leafy greens. I didn't love the push for veganism and felt that some of the "gross out" sections about the meat industry were sort of unnecessary. I will still drink milk and coffee and eat meat (the authors of this book would shun me for that), but it was worth the read for one perspective on healthy eating and nutrition.

I cannot wait to dive into my "To Read" pile next! Here is my list of 2018 reads so far! I put stars by the ones I really liked.

*1. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
2. When We Were Worthy by Marybeth Whalen
*3. Confessions of a Domestic Failure by Bunmi Laditan
4. Of Mess and Moxie by Jen Hatmaker
*5. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
6. Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan
*7. The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell
8. Parent Hacks by Asha Dornfest
9. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
10. The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
*11. Sisters First by Jenna Bush Hagar and Barbara Pierce Bush
12. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
13. Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
14. The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert
15. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
*16. The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani
*17. Sugar by Kimberly Stuart
18. Achtung Baby by Sara Zaske
*19. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sara Pekkanen
20. Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman
*21. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
*22. The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
23. Mindless Eating by Brad Wansick
24. Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
25. Our Father by Pope Francis
26. Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
*27. How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
28. Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
29. You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfled
30. This is Me by Chrissy Metz
31. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
32. The Book of Essie by Meghan Maclean Weir
*33. Calypso by David Sedaris
*34. We're Doing It Wrong by David Michael Slater
*35. Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

36. The Better Mom by Ruth Schwenk

*37. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

38. The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon

39. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

40. There Are No Grown-ups by Pamela Druckerman

*41. Educated by Tara Westover

42. The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

*43. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

44. The People We Hate At The Wedding by Grant Ginder

*45. I'll Be Gone in The Dark by Michelle McNamara

46. People I Want to Punch in The Throat by Jen Mann

47. Hello Sunshine by Laure Dave

*48. My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan

49. When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger

50. From Scratch by Allen Salkin

51. Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

52. Heartland by Kimberly Stuart

53. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin

*54. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

55. By The Book by Julia Sonneborn

56. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
57. Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Savor Your Sparkle,

Leslie