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notesbynnenna's Reviews (513)
About- A young woman struggling with depression; a realistic portrayal of someone dealing with a mental illness.
Why I picked it– I’ve been meaning to read this for over a year now. It’s a classic and I’m glad I finally got to it.
Thoughts- Our main character, Esther, battles depression and the entire time I was reading this, I really felt for her. At the beginning of the book, she’s living the dream and doing a summer internship in NYC. After the internship ends though, her plans for the rest of the summer don’t quite work out and the depression starts to take a hold of her. Esther feels so alone and although she seems fine on the outside, she’s really hurting on the inside. Plath’s writing is beautiful and I thought this book was really good for anyone who wants to understand mental illness better. This is one of those books that I think will stick with me for a long time.
Why I picked it– I’ve been meaning to read this for over a year now. It’s a classic and I’m glad I finally got to it.
Thoughts- Our main character, Esther, battles depression and the entire time I was reading this, I really felt for her. At the beginning of the book, she’s living the dream and doing a summer internship in NYC. After the internship ends though, her plans for the rest of the summer don’t quite work out and the depression starts to take a hold of her. Esther feels so alone and although she seems fine on the outside, she’s really hurting on the inside. Plath’s writing is beautiful and I thought this book was really good for anyone who wants to understand mental illness better. This is one of those books that I think will stick with me for a long time.
About- A young witch who is Half-White (good witch) and Half-Black (bad witch).
Why I picked it– I’m pretty sure Eva Chen instagrammed a picture of this book a few months before it came out, so I mentally added it to my list.
Thoughts- The good: interesting premise, fast pacing, interesting details in this world of witches. The not-so-good: underdeveloped characters, the romance was not really believable, and the ending felt a bit rushed. Overall, I thought this book was entertaining, although I had some problems with it. It’s the first book in trilogy and I’ll be checking out the next book to find out what happens and see if it addresses any of the issues I had with the first one.
Why I picked it– I’m pretty sure Eva Chen instagrammed a picture of this book a few months before it came out, so I mentally added it to my list.
Thoughts- The good: interesting premise, fast pacing, interesting details in this world of witches. The not-so-good: underdeveloped characters, the romance was not really believable, and the ending felt a bit rushed. Overall, I thought this book was entertaining, although I had some problems with it. It’s the first book in trilogy and I’ll be checking out the next book to find out what happens and see if it addresses any of the issues I had with the first one.
About- A young woman gets married to a widower, but feels that she is constantly in the shadow of his first wife.
Why I picked it– This is another book that was on my list of top 10 classics I want to read or reread.
Thoughts- This book was excellent. I almost want to tell you nothing about this book except for, go read it. I didn’t know too much going into this book and I think that’s the best way to approach it. I wanted to read some spooky/creepy books this month in keeping with the theme of Halloween and this one fit the bill. The characters are fascinating and the plot is a slow burn, which I thought worked perfectly in this case. That’s all I’m saying about this one- let me know if any of you have read it!
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Deliciously chilling. The structure of this book is brilliant and the writing is excellent. Ugh, that ending was perfect. And so was the beginning.
Why I picked it– This is another book that was on my list of top 10 classics I want to read or reread.
Thoughts- This book was excellent. I almost want to tell you nothing about this book except for, go read it. I didn’t know too much going into this book and I think that’s the best way to approach it. I wanted to read some spooky/creepy books this month in keeping with the theme of Halloween and this one fit the bill. The characters are fascinating and the plot is a slow burn, which I thought worked perfectly in this case. That’s all I’m saying about this one- let me know if any of you have read it!
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Deliciously chilling. The structure of this book is brilliant and the writing is excellent. Ugh, that ending was perfect. And so was the beginning.
About- Amy Poehler’s (of Parks and Recreation, SNL, and The Upright Citizen’s Brigade fame) memoir.
Why I picked it– Hello? Amy Poehler’s book? That’s all you had to say!
Thoughts- I listened to the audiobook version and it was fantastic. I’m not normally an audiobook person, but it’s narrated by Amy herself and that convinced me. The whole book felt very honest and relatable. Amy’s writing just makes you feel like the two of you are old pals. If you like Amy Poehler, I’d say you should definitely pick up this book. If you liked Bossypants or Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, I’d say you should buy this book. Basically, anyone with a sense of humor should buy this book! I’m glad I listened to the audiobook, but I also ordered the physical copy because I want to own it and flip through all of the pictures.
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I listened to the audiobook and it was wonderful. I still need to get my physical copy, but this might be my favorite of the memoirs by funny women.
Why I picked it– Hello? Amy Poehler’s book? That’s all you had to say!
Thoughts- I listened to the audiobook version and it was fantastic. I’m not normally an audiobook person, but it’s narrated by Amy herself and that convinced me. The whole book felt very honest and relatable. Amy’s writing just makes you feel like the two of you are old pals. If you like Amy Poehler, I’d say you should definitely pick up this book. If you liked Bossypants or Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, I’d say you should buy this book. Basically, anyone with a sense of humor should buy this book! I’m glad I listened to the audiobook, but I also ordered the physical copy because I want to own it and flip through all of the pictures.
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I listened to the audiobook and it was wonderful. I still need to get my physical copy, but this might be my favorite of the memoirs by funny women.
About- A teenager named Thomas wakes up in a strange location with no memory of his past and must fight to make his way back home.
Why I picked it– I know this book is pretty popular and the movie adaptation came out earlier this year.
Thoughts- I was rather disappointed by this one. This is one of those books that did not live up to the hype for me. I thought it was pretty repetitive in the beginning and I didn’t find the main character compelling. I never really felt a connection with the characters, so I wasn’t invested in the story. Maybe I’m getting a little tired of dystopian YA fiction?
Why I picked it– I know this book is pretty popular and the movie adaptation came out earlier this year.
Thoughts- I was rather disappointed by this one. This is one of those books that did not live up to the hype for me. I thought it was pretty repetitive in the beginning and I didn’t find the main character compelling. I never really felt a connection with the characters, so I wasn’t invested in the story. Maybe I’m getting a little tired of dystopian YA fiction?
About- A rich, young girl whose father dies and leaves her penniless.
Why I picked it– Last month was Children’s Literature Month and I wanted to fit at least one kids book in.
Thoughts- I absolutely loved this movie as a kid and the book is just as charming. I really like the message of making the most out of a bad situation. I also enjoyed the main character’s big imagination. Those were my favorite scenes in the movie- when the things she imagined came to life. If you’ve seen the movie and liked it, I think you would also enjoy the book as well.
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This book is so sweet. I think it's a good one to read during the holidays because there's a bit of magic and miracles.
Why I picked it– Last month was Children’s Literature Month and I wanted to fit at least one kids book in.
Thoughts- I absolutely loved this movie as a kid and the book is just as charming. I really like the message of making the most out of a bad situation. I also enjoyed the main character’s big imagination. Those were my favorite scenes in the movie- when the things she imagined came to life. If you’ve seen the movie and liked it, I think you would also enjoy the book as well.
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This book is so sweet. I think it's a good one to read during the holidays because there's a bit of magic and miracles.
Review for Books 1-3:
The Selection series consists of The Selection, The Elite, and The One. I read all three last month and feel like I need to review them all at once. A coworker recommended the first one to me if I was in the mood for a light, easy read.
Let me get this out of the way: these books are total fluff and aren’t all that good. In fact, they’re pretty bad. Yet, somehow, I still read the entire trilogy. So I guess they can’t be entirely bad because for some reason, I kept reading. It’s described as a mix of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. In this fictional kingdom, when the prince is of marrying age, eligible bachelorettes apply for a process called The Selection. Out of the many entries, 35 are selected. Once they’ve been chosen, they move to the palace and compete for the prince’s affections until only one is left.
I’m not sure why this was compared to The Hunger Games because it’s nowhere near as brutal or vicious as some of the events that take place in those books, but I could definitely see elements of The Bachelor in these books. The main character, America is a whiny brat. Yeah, that’s kind of harsh, but I think it’s true. She cries and complains constantly, she’s weak, and her entire existence seems to revolve around boys, boys, boys. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to find love, but it seems that she’s so wrapped up in the boys in her life that her own identity is barely there.
I’m going to limit myself to just three more complaints because I could rant about these books for a while: a love triangle that goes on for way. too. long, characters that are one-dimensional, and dialogue that’s so bad in some places that it’s laughable. By the last book I was rolling my eyes so hard and intermittently yelling, “Whyyyyyy?” and “What?!?” I’m sure my family wondered if I’d been struck with some kind of book madness. If you’ve read these books and liked them, please tell me what you liked about them. If you’ve read them and didn’t like them, please commiserate with me in the comments. If you haven’t read them yet, I’d give these a pass.
I feel a little sorry that I’ve given these books a bad review, but I had major issues with them. However, as I said, I did read all three of them, so there must be some redeeming qualities, otherwise I would have stopped reading and thrown the book across the room (just kidding. I find it really hard to stop reading books once I’ve started. Also, I wouldn’t have thrown it because I was reading these on my iPad and I really like my iPad).
The Selection series consists of The Selection, The Elite, and The One. I read all three last month and feel like I need to review them all at once. A coworker recommended the first one to me if I was in the mood for a light, easy read.
Let me get this out of the way: these books are total fluff and aren’t all that good. In fact, they’re pretty bad. Yet, somehow, I still read the entire trilogy. So I guess they can’t be entirely bad because for some reason, I kept reading. It’s described as a mix of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. In this fictional kingdom, when the prince is of marrying age, eligible bachelorettes apply for a process called The Selection. Out of the many entries, 35 are selected. Once they’ve been chosen, they move to the palace and compete for the prince’s affections until only one is left.
I’m not sure why this was compared to The Hunger Games because it’s nowhere near as brutal or vicious as some of the events that take place in those books, but I could definitely see elements of The Bachelor in these books. The main character, America is a whiny brat. Yeah, that’s kind of harsh, but I think it’s true. She cries and complains constantly, she’s weak, and her entire existence seems to revolve around boys, boys, boys. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to find love, but it seems that she’s so wrapped up in the boys in her life that her own identity is barely there.
I’m going to limit myself to just three more complaints because I could rant about these books for a while: a love triangle that goes on for way. too. long, characters that are one-dimensional, and dialogue that’s so bad in some places that it’s laughable. By the last book I was rolling my eyes so hard and intermittently yelling, “Whyyyyyy?” and “What?!?” I’m sure my family wondered if I’d been struck with some kind of book madness. If you’ve read these books and liked them, please tell me what you liked about them. If you’ve read them and didn’t like them, please commiserate with me in the comments. If you haven’t read them yet, I’d give these a pass.
I feel a little sorry that I’ve given these books a bad review, but I had major issues with them. However, as I said, I did read all three of them, so there must be some redeeming qualities, otherwise I would have stopped reading and thrown the book across the room (just kidding. I find it really hard to stop reading books once I’ve started. Also, I wouldn’t have thrown it because I was reading these on my iPad and I really like my iPad).
Review for Books 1-3:
The Selection series consists of The Selection, The Elite, and The One. I read all three last month and feel like I need to review them all at once. A coworker recommended the first one to me if I was in the mood for a light, easy read.
Let me get this out of the way: these books are total fluff and aren’t all that good. In fact, they’re pretty bad. Yet, somehow, I still read the entire trilogy. So I guess they can’t be entirely bad because for some reason, I kept reading. It’s described as a mix of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. In this fictional kingdom, when the prince is of marrying age, eligible bachelorettes apply for a process called The Selection. Out of the many entries, 35 are selected. Once they’ve been chosen, they move to the palace and compete for the prince’s affections until only one is left.
I’m not sure why this was compared to The Hunger Games because it’s nowhere near as brutal or vicious as some of the events that take place in those books, but I could definitely see elements of The Bachelor in these books. The main character, America is a whiny brat. Yeah, that’s kind of harsh, but I think it’s true. She cries and complains constantly, she’s weak, and her entire existence seems to revolve around boys, boys, boys. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to find love, but it seems that she’s so wrapped up in the boys in her life that her own identity is barely there.
I’m going to limit myself to just three more complaints because I could rant about these books for a while: a love triangle that goes on for way. too. long, characters that are one-dimensional, and dialogue that’s so bad in some places that it’s laughable. By the last book I was rolling my eyes so hard and intermittently yelling, “Whyyyyyy?” and “What?!?” I’m sure my family wondered if I’d been struck with some kind of book madness. If you’ve read these books and liked them, please tell me what you liked about them. If you’ve read them and didn’t like them, please commiserate with me in the comments. If you haven’t read them yet, I’d give these a pass.
I feel a little sorry that I’ve given these books a bad review, but I had major issues with them. However, as I said, I did read all three of them, so there must be some redeeming qualities, otherwise I would have stopped reading and thrown the book across the room (just kidding. I find it really hard to stop reading books once I’ve started. Also, I wouldn’t have thrown it because I was reading these on my iPad and I really like my iPad).
The Selection series consists of The Selection, The Elite, and The One. I read all three last month and feel like I need to review them all at once. A coworker recommended the first one to me if I was in the mood for a light, easy read.
Let me get this out of the way: these books are total fluff and aren’t all that good. In fact, they’re pretty bad. Yet, somehow, I still read the entire trilogy. So I guess they can’t be entirely bad because for some reason, I kept reading. It’s described as a mix of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. In this fictional kingdom, when the prince is of marrying age, eligible bachelorettes apply for a process called The Selection. Out of the many entries, 35 are selected. Once they’ve been chosen, they move to the palace and compete for the prince’s affections until only one is left.
I’m not sure why this was compared to The Hunger Games because it’s nowhere near as brutal or vicious as some of the events that take place in those books, but I could definitely see elements of The Bachelor in these books. The main character, America is a whiny brat. Yeah, that’s kind of harsh, but I think it’s true. She cries and complains constantly, she’s weak, and her entire existence seems to revolve around boys, boys, boys. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to find love, but it seems that she’s so wrapped up in the boys in her life that her own identity is barely there.
I’m going to limit myself to just three more complaints because I could rant about these books for a while: a love triangle that goes on for way. too. long, characters that are one-dimensional, and dialogue that’s so bad in some places that it’s laughable. By the last book I was rolling my eyes so hard and intermittently yelling, “Whyyyyyy?” and “What?!?” I’m sure my family wondered if I’d been struck with some kind of book madness. If you’ve read these books and liked them, please tell me what you liked about them. If you’ve read them and didn’t like them, please commiserate with me in the comments. If you haven’t read them yet, I’d give these a pass.
I feel a little sorry that I’ve given these books a bad review, but I had major issues with them. However, as I said, I did read all three of them, so there must be some redeeming qualities, otherwise I would have stopped reading and thrown the book across the room (just kidding. I find it really hard to stop reading books once I’ve started. Also, I wouldn’t have thrown it because I was reading these on my iPad and I really like my iPad).
Review for Books 1-3:
The Selection series consists of The Selection, The Elite, and The One. I read all three last month and feel like I need to review them all at once. A coworker recommended the first one to me if I was in the mood for a light, easy read.
Let me get this out of the way: these books are total fluff and aren’t all that good. In fact, they’re pretty bad. Yet, somehow, I still read the entire trilogy. So I guess they can’t be entirely bad because for some reason, I kept reading. It’s described as a mix of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. In this fictional kingdom, when the prince is of marrying age, eligible bachelorettes apply for a process called The Selection. Out of the many entries, 35 are selected. Once they’ve been chosen, they move to the palace and compete for the prince’s affections until only one is left.
I’m not sure why this was compared to The Hunger Games because it’s nowhere near as brutal or vicious as some of the events that take place in those books, but I could definitely see elements of The Bachelor in these books. The main character, America is a whiny brat. Yeah, that’s kind of harsh, but I think it’s true. She cries and complains constantly, she’s weak, and her entire existence seems to revolve around boys, boys, boys. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to find love, but it seems that she’s so wrapped up in the boys in her life that her own identity is barely there.
I’m going to limit myself to just three more complaints because I could rant about these books for a while: a love triangle that goes on for way. too. long, characters that are one-dimensional, and dialogue that’s so bad in some places that it’s laughable. By the last book I was rolling my eyes so hard and intermittently yelling, “Whyyyyyy?” and “What?!?” I’m sure my family wondered if I’d been struck with some kind of book madness. If you’ve read these books and liked them, please tell me what you liked about them. If you’ve read them and didn’t like them, please commiserate with me in the comments. If you haven’t read them yet, I’d give these a pass.
I feel a little sorry that I’ve given these books a bad review, but I had major issues with them. However, as I said, I did read all three of them, so there must be some redeeming qualities, otherwise I would have stopped reading and thrown the book across the room (just kidding. I find it really hard to stop reading books once I’ve started. Also, I wouldn’t have thrown it because I was reading these on my iPad and I really like my iPad).
The Selection series consists of The Selection, The Elite, and The One. I read all three last month and feel like I need to review them all at once. A coworker recommended the first one to me if I was in the mood for a light, easy read.
Let me get this out of the way: these books are total fluff and aren’t all that good. In fact, they’re pretty bad. Yet, somehow, I still read the entire trilogy. So I guess they can’t be entirely bad because for some reason, I kept reading. It’s described as a mix of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. In this fictional kingdom, when the prince is of marrying age, eligible bachelorettes apply for a process called The Selection. Out of the many entries, 35 are selected. Once they’ve been chosen, they move to the palace and compete for the prince’s affections until only one is left.
I’m not sure why this was compared to The Hunger Games because it’s nowhere near as brutal or vicious as some of the events that take place in those books, but I could definitely see elements of The Bachelor in these books. The main character, America is a whiny brat. Yeah, that’s kind of harsh, but I think it’s true. She cries and complains constantly, she’s weak, and her entire existence seems to revolve around boys, boys, boys. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to find love, but it seems that she’s so wrapped up in the boys in her life that her own identity is barely there.
I’m going to limit myself to just three more complaints because I could rant about these books for a while: a love triangle that goes on for way. too. long, characters that are one-dimensional, and dialogue that’s so bad in some places that it’s laughable. By the last book I was rolling my eyes so hard and intermittently yelling, “Whyyyyyy?” and “What?!?” I’m sure my family wondered if I’d been struck with some kind of book madness. If you’ve read these books and liked them, please tell me what you liked about them. If you’ve read them and didn’t like them, please commiserate with me in the comments. If you haven’t read them yet, I’d give these a pass.
I feel a little sorry that I’ve given these books a bad review, but I had major issues with them. However, as I said, I did read all three of them, so there must be some redeeming qualities, otherwise I would have stopped reading and thrown the book across the room (just kidding. I find it really hard to stop reading books once I’ve started. Also, I wouldn’t have thrown it because I was reading these on my iPad and I really like my iPad).
In the summer of 2013, I read my first Jojo Moyes book, Me Before You, and became a big fan of her work. Since then I’ve read The Last Letter From Your Lover and The Girl You Left Behind and really enjoyed both of them. When I heard she had a new book coming out earlier this year I was pretty excited. Based on my track record with her books, I was pretty sure that I’d love it.
I went into this book blind, meaning that I had no idea what it was about. I could not let the final book in the Selection series be my last book of the year, so I wanted to squeeze in one more book in the last couple days of December. I think when I tried to borrow this from the library earlier in the year there was a huge queue, but luckily it was available when I went to check it out last month.
Unsurprisingly, I really liked this book; maybe even more so because I didn’t know what to expect. Jess is a single mom in the UK and barely making enough to get by. She has two kids: a step-kid from her ex-husband and her natural daughter. When her daughter has the opportunity to attend a very prestigious private school on a scholarship, Jess tries to do everything in her power to make her daughter’s dream a reality.
That’s only part of the story, but since I didn’t know anything about the plot before I started, I feel like that’s all I want to reveal. I will say that there are shenanigans revolving around getting her daughter into this school that lead Jess to cross paths with a unlikely hero named Ed, who’s going through his own major problems.
The reason why I enjoy books by Jojo Moyes so much is that she’s a gifted storyteller. She really has a talent for bringing her characters to life. I have no trouble connecting to them; I feel like they’re real people. Also, she’s not afraid to touch on difficult topics, such as bullying, in a way that feels authentic. If you haven’t checked out any of her books yet, I think you should.
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I love the way that Jojo Moyes brings her characters to life and she's also not afraid of tackling difficult subjects. I was totally into the story of this dysfunctional family and this was a good book to round out my 2014 reads.
I went into this book blind, meaning that I had no idea what it was about. I could not let the final book in the Selection series be my last book of the year, so I wanted to squeeze in one more book in the last couple days of December. I think when I tried to borrow this from the library earlier in the year there was a huge queue, but luckily it was available when I went to check it out last month.
Unsurprisingly, I really liked this book; maybe even more so because I didn’t know what to expect. Jess is a single mom in the UK and barely making enough to get by. She has two kids: a step-kid from her ex-husband and her natural daughter. When her daughter has the opportunity to attend a very prestigious private school on a scholarship, Jess tries to do everything in her power to make her daughter’s dream a reality.
That’s only part of the story, but since I didn’t know anything about the plot before I started, I feel like that’s all I want to reveal. I will say that there are shenanigans revolving around getting her daughter into this school that lead Jess to cross paths with a unlikely hero named Ed, who’s going through his own major problems.
The reason why I enjoy books by Jojo Moyes so much is that she’s a gifted storyteller. She really has a talent for bringing her characters to life. I have no trouble connecting to them; I feel like they’re real people. Also, she’s not afraid to touch on difficult topics, such as bullying, in a way that feels authentic. If you haven’t checked out any of her books yet, I think you should.
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I love the way that Jojo Moyes brings her characters to life and she's also not afraid of tackling difficult subjects. I was totally into the story of this dysfunctional family and this was a good book to round out my 2014 reads.