readingwitherin's reviews
1611 reviews

Eve Isn't Evil: Feminist Readings of the Bible to Upend Our Assumptions by Julie Faith Parker

This is an interesting take on some of the most popular parts of the Bible that showcase women. The author tells what she believes is the truth,  while adding in her own personal antidotes about the scripture to make it feel more personalized. I found it an interesting read and one that did make me think a little more about different parts of the Bible in a new way. 

The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris

The more I learned about Ms. Harris the more I wish things were different and we could have seen the future that she wanted to create for everyone. She is a fighter for justice and the people, and I loved learning more about her life from her childhood to her time in congress. I hope she continues on in any capacity she wants to and is able to help encourage the next generation of people in politics that is for the people by the people for all people. 

Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis

3.0

Truthfully I struggled with this book because it was kind of all over the place. I believe that was the point of it, but it did make it very hard to follow along with. This book is truly heartbreaking due to all of the loses that our main character has dealt with, add on the mental health difficulty she is facing, it is a lot for a teenager to deal with. The only real reprieve we see is when she is working in the towns cave system that is a tourist destination. These caves were interesting, but you could tell it was just to give our mc a bit of a break from all that she was dealing with in the rest of her life. Which is okay, it just didn't work for me personally. 

TW: Drug use, sexual assault, murder, death of a parent, and intense bullying. 

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

4.0

This was a fun and quick read. We have childhood friends who have grown apart after a time, but yet have also still cared about each other. They still know each other fairly well, and because of that this short story works. We see them come to realizations that they had been putting aside in order to keep going with the status quo to keep those around them happy. It's a perfect read for this time of year, when we need short books. 

Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson

Heather Cox Richardson covers what has happened in America that led us to this moment in time. it is a comprehensive history, but she tells it in a way that is easy to understand. While the last few chapters focus more on the present day, you will likely know a lot already, the parts before that are eye-opening to see what exactly got us to this point in time. It is one that has several different presidents involved. We see how we've come close to these times before, how we have overcome them, and how we can continue on as a country with just making a few changes to help others and to refocus on what actually matters. 

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

5.0

All of Jason Reynolds book are written so well and are always so impactful because of the stories he tells. This one is no exception and its a gut punch at times with how this teenage boy is going to potentially ruin his life to provide retribution towards the person that he thinks killed his brother. He is terrified though, and on the elevator ride down to the bottom floor of his apartment he meets so many people in his life who have the same thing, and are no longer living. They try to talk him out of and remind him that doing this will not make him feel better or make anyone else's life better. He's faced with hard truths on just a short elevator ride. 

A Must read for anyone who loves Jason Reynolds books and novels-in-verse. 

The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker

3.0

Book Review
The Enigma of Room 622 by Joel Dicker
The Enigma of Room 622 was a book that I was so excited to read because of the premise. However after I started it, it started to become overwhelming with all the other little details that were going on in the book. We have time jumps, and multiple pov's and it gets very confusing to know what is happening in what place.
I think this book had great potential, but due to it's length and all the jumping around it lost me. 

Overall I do think this book is okay, and I will say that reading it on audiobook did end up helping because of how I was able to speed it up and I only really cared about one storyline of the entire thing in the end.

If you like long winding mystery books this one will be great for you! This type of story just doesn't work for me right now.

#bookstagram #theenigmaofroom622 #mysterybooks #readersofthelatearc #babygotbacklog

There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh

4.5

Everybody has secrets, but one person's secrets will get people killed.

We see the vast majority of this book through Luna who is a bit of an unreliable narrator because she is losing her sight. This book has a lot of characters though as the seven of them are all back together and some of them have significant others that are also mentioned. Then we have this mysterious Bea who is a large focus of it, but she is dead and they are all still dealing with her death as it was very sudden and they never really got to say goodbye in any way. Add on to this the creepy old mansion that has it's own secrets and hidden hallways, plus each of the characters in this book has a secret some we find out, some we never do a lot is going on.

Overall I did enjoy this thriller. It kept me on my toes and I was never sure what was going to happen next because of how many different people were involved. At times it even felt like the house became it's own character because of how many secrets it held. Luna surprisingly figured most of the mystery out and was able to piece it together even with all the lies and secrets that were going on around her. Her vision problems were well explained and helped to add to the atmosphere and the unreliability of what everyone was saying around her. Luna had to pay closer attention to all the little things that were happening to figure out what was going on between people and why certain things were not adding up. When the big reveal happened I was a little shocked and it was just wow when you consider how many people had to be involved to make that happen which also made it so heartbreaking.

I'm looking forward to reading more by this author in the future!

Includes:
- Creepy Mansions
- Reunions
- Mental Health

Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

3.0

 

I went back and forth on this book because I extremely dislike the miscommunication trope and this book was full of it! Having said that though when they were working together and letting each other know the important stuff this book was great. It has several laugh-out-loud moments and is a nice holiday story of friendship in different ways. We have the friends-to-lovers trope and then we have the friends who are there when everything falls apart which is very much needed and I love seeing it in more books. 
The Christmas tree farm that our main characters has made is one that is so lovely to picture and is everything that so many of us want to read about during this season. I think this book is good; I could have done it without all the miscommunication.

 

Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber

4.0

 

Macomber is known as Miss Christmas for a reason in the book world and she never disappoints when it comes to Christmas books. 
Alaskan Holiday is told in dual povs of Josie and Palmer. Josie is leaving Alaska to be a sous chef after having worked in Alaska during the summer months in Alaska, Palmer is staying at his place in Alaska where he makes swords. The two had grown close during the summer months, but it is time to say goodbye but neither one of them want their relationship to end, but it is extremely complicated with the distance and the demands of Josie’s job. As time goes on the two stay in touch and Palmer starts thinking of things he can do in Seattle to be closer to Josie. After talking to family and Palmer finally going to visit Josie it’s time for both of them to make decisions on what their futures look like. 
Over this was such a quick read and I enjoyed both Josie and Palmers povs and the lives they had created for themselves. The side characters were good as well and I loved all of them. 
The ending of this one was so good, and I cannot wait to read more by Macomber in the future.