The Next Person You Meet in Heaven

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness... I absolutely loved this book. From page 1 till the very end.
If you loved the first book "The 5 people you meet in Heaven" - you'll love this. I think even more.
This was a heart tugger. But had some deep insight & thoughts about life & living & how we're all connected.

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In this enchanting sequel to the number one bestseller The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom tells the story of Eddie’s heavenly reunion with Annie—the little girl he saved on earth—in an unforgettable novel of how our lives and losses intersect.

Fifteen years ago, in Mitch Albom’s beloved novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the world fell in love with Eddie, a grizzled war veteran- turned-amusement park mechanic who died saving the life of a young girl named Annie. Eddie’s journey to heaven taught him that every life matters. Now, in this magical sequel, Mitch Albom reveals Annie’s story.

The accident that killed Eddie left an indelible mark on Annie. It took her left hand, which needed to be surgically reattached. Injured, scarred, and unable to remember why, Annie’s life is forever changed by a guilt-ravaged mother who whisks her away from the world she knew. Bullied by her peers and haunted by something she cannot recall, Annie struggles to find acceptance as she grows. When, as a young woman, she reconnects with Paulo, her childhood love, she believes she has finally  found happiness.

As the novel opens, Annie is marrying Paulo. But when her wedding night day ends in an unimaginable accident, Annie finds herself on her own heavenly journey—and an inevitable reunion with Eddie, one of the five people who will show her how her life mattered in ways she could not have fathomed.

Poignant and beautiful, filled with unexpected twists, The Next Person You Meet in Heaven reminds us that not only does every life matter, but that every ending is also a beginning—we only need to open our eyes to see it.

Catching Christmas

Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A really cute book. Picked it up at the library & didnt even know what it was about. Pleasantly surprised to see it had a faith based background in the story. & while this book could be really sad in moments, it really showed how to live life full of joy & expecting what Heaven is like.
This would totally be a cute Hallmark movie!

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This Year, Christmas Comes Just in Time 

As a first-year law associate, Sydney Batson knows she will be updating her resume by New Year’s if she loses her current court case. So when her grandmother gets inexplicably ill while she’s in court, Sydney arranges for a cab to get her to the clinic.

The last thing cab driver Finn Parrish wants is to be saddled with a wheelchair-bound old lady with dementia. But because Miss Callie reminds him of his own mother, whom he failed miserably in her last days, he can’t say no when she keeps calling him for rides. Once a successful gourmet chef, Finn’s biggest concern now is making his rent, but half the time Callie doesn’t remember to pay him. And as she starts to feel better, she leads him on wild goose chases to find a Christmas date for her granddaughter.

When Finn meets Sydney, he’s quite sure that she’s never needed help finding a date. Does Miss Callie have an ulterior motive, or is this just a mission driven by delusions? He’s willing to do whatever he can to help fulfill Callie’s Christmas wish. He just never expected to be a vital part of it.

“Terri Blackstock’s latest offering touches tender places with its quirky characters and stirring plot. Catching Christmas explores what happens when the paths of a disenchanted Taxi driver collide with that of an overworked attorney. Blackstock weaves a compelling, romantic tale that is sure to get you into the Christmas spirit!” —Denise Hunter, bestselling author of Honeysuckle Dreams

“Blackstock’s Catching Christmas is not your average romance. Darling and laugh-out-loud cute, it makes the reader think about the important things in life. I read it in one gulp and wished there was more. Highly recommended!” —Colleen Coble, USA TODAY bestselling author of the Hope Beach series and the Lavender Tides series

When Dimple Met Rishi

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Definitely thought this was a cute book, a fast read & super sweet. It was interesting to see some of the Indian culture. I will say, Dimple aggravated me towards the end of the book but I was happy with the ending of it.

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Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

Beartown

Beartown by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had no idea what to expect going into this book.
I just knew it had to do with hockey.... & didnt know how powerful & impactful the story was wrapped up in the world of hockey in this small town of Beartown.
I have to say, it made me nervous at first with all the characters in this book - I am someone who writes down character names to keep everyone straight & it literally was two pages long with everyone in this town. But by the end, I felt like I was a member of the town & knew everyone by name & by personality.
& SO many personalities.
I really dont want to say a lot to give away the book if you've never read it before so you can have the stomach punch that I had reading it.... but I closed this book feeling so many emotions, which just shows me now invested I was in the story.
I just love Backman's writing & glad I finally got around to this one.
& sort of torn on going into the next book "Us Between You" because I thought Beartown wrapped up so well. But I dont want to not know about some of my favorite residents of this small town & how they are fairing the summer after the town nearly became divided.


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People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world. 

An American Marriage

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was going to give this one 3 stars because at the end, I wasn't too happy with how it all turned out - but then the more I thought about it, the more I realized how invested I was in this book & how there really was no good ending that could happen, & it hit me how much I really did love the story & the REALNESS of this story & I liked it more than I thought I did.
This really was tough to read at times, & frustrating & honest. Some books just have that glaze over them that doesnt seem like real life - this one just felt like it could be someone's memoirs in a way. I really enjoyed the 3 different points of views in the story as well. Perspective is always different from another's point of view. I especially loved it in this story of a marriage falling apart & a best friend who was there in the midst of struggles.
I was glad for a rainy day to sit & finish out the story.

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Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together. 

The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All the feels!!!!!
This was written so beautifully & so heart felt. I felt like my own heart was being pulled in every direction & broken for everyone throughout the story.
I haven't seen the movie yet on this one but now I feel like I have to check it out.

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A captivating, beautiful, and stunningly accomplished debut novel that opens in 1918 Australia - the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife who make one devastating choice that forever changes two worlds. 

Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby's cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. 

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom's judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them. 

M. L. Stedman's mesmerizing, beautifully written debut novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel's decision to keep this "gift from God." And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another's tragic loss

Girl, Wash Your Face

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I would have given it 3.5 stars if half star ratings were a thing here...

& I could have potentially given it 4 stars if I didnt do the audiobook on this one.
I typically dont do audiobooks but I'm now in love with the Hoopla app from the library where I can listen to audiobooks on my phone & this was the first one that popped up.
This is why audiobooks make or break for me - the reading & the voice.
I struggled with the book because mainly of Rachel reading the book herself. Her voice just came across as very young & almost whiny at points & it just irked me, feeling like some 'kid' was giving all this life advice. It also irked me with how much she talked about raising her business & all her accomplishments - just came across as braggart more than anything. Again, I think if it was read, & not listened too, I may have had a different outlook on it.

Same with the info in the book. I did get so much out of it & loved her inspirational thoughts, but some of it was just so simple & repeated that it just left me rolling my eyes. I get it - write things down. Focus on positive. You're a runner. You've made this incredible company. Fingers crossed for your Hawaiian dream home on your dream board.

Saying all that, I did laugh at points of the book & I did take away some meaningful thoughts & did feel inspired at points. So that's why I'm keeping it middle of the road.
I totally do think its a good read to pick up - but I know I would have had a total different experience reading it in my own infliction & mind. & I may just do that down the road.

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ounder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Chic Media, Rachel Hollis has created an online fan base of hundreds of thousands of fans by sharing tips for living a better life while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own. Now comes her highly anticipated first book featuring her signature combination of honesty, humor, and direct, no-nonsense advice.

Each chapter of Girl, Wash Your Face begins with a specific lie Hollis once believed that left her feeling overwhelmed, unworthy, or ready to give up. As a working mother, a former foster parent, and a woman who has dealt with insecurities about her body and relationships, she speaks with the insight and kindness of a BFF, helping women unpack the limiting mind-sets that destroy their self-confidence and keep them from moving forward.

From her temporary obsession with marrying Matt Damon to a daydream involving hypnotic iguanas to her son's request that she buy a necklace to "be like the other moms," Hollis holds nothing back. With unflinching faith and tenacity, Hollis spurs other women to live with passion and hustle and to awaken their slumbering goals. 

The Wife Between Us

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Would like to give 3.5 stars*
I saw everyone reading this & excited to find it in the library.
I was into it from the first chapter & it held my attention it all the way through. Love the little turns & surprises in the story. I will say, I wasn't as shocked by Daniel as I think I'm supposed to be - I think I've read a lot worse in books about some crazy characters.
But I did enjoy the twists throughout the book. You really have to pay attention because the story jumps back & forth throughout & it could be easy to get lost in what period of time you are in.

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When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement.
You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves.
You will assume the first wife was a disaster and that the husband was well rid of her.
You will assume you know the motives, the history, the anatomy of the relationships.
Assume nothing.

The Outsiders

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I cant believe I had never read this book. I remember the movie so clearly & reading the book, I could envision it all over again. & of course, the book is so much better. I even had to look up the movie cast to get who played who so I could envision them while reading. I'm a sucker for Patrick Swayze in my mind for any novel. But it was just as heart wrecking reading it as watching it on the screen. This is one book that I can say was really true to the movie - or vice versa. Glad I took the time to read it. Stay Golden Ponyboy

View all my reviews The Outsiders is about two weeks in the life of a 14-year-old boy. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser

The Vegetarian

The Vegetarian by Han Kang
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I know I'm not on the majority of this.
This book just left me disturbed & bothered, which shows a book moves you - but it just left me angry that I wasted my time.
I think something got lost in the translation for me & just the story with 3 different points of views of a woman who seems mentally is, it just made me glad to close the cover & walk away from it.

View all my reviews Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. And as her passive rebellion manifests in ever more extreme and frightening forms, scandal, abuse, and estrangement begin to send Yeong-hye spiraling deep into the spaces of her fantasy. In a complete metamorphosis of both mind and body, her now dangerous endeavor will take Yeong-hye—impossibly, ecstatically, tragically—far from her once-known self altogether.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book gave me chills. I'm not a person who cares for futuristic books but this was sort of creepy how you can see similarities on how this world is headed - a world full of offended people, of lack of connection with humans, having technology being a focal point & most disturbing, having books taken away so the knowledge of digesting information can be controlled. I could have done without some of the writing one one area, but thought other areas of it was described beautifully. All in all, I did appreciate the message behind the book. Kind of shocked this is a school read because it does have some violence & disturbing scenes in it - but I do appreciate the younger generation receiving the point of this book.

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Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family." But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn't live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known

Surprise Me

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My first Sophia Kinsella book. Cute. I actually was surprised at some turns in the book & didnt see some things coming. I also laughed at Sylvie & the way she thought & really appreciated how it all ended. I also now want a job working in a museum.
I'll be trying out more of this authors books to see if they all have the sort of fun wit about them with that extra touch of drama.

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After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other's sentences. However, a trip to the doctor projects they will live another 68 years together and panic sets in. They never expected "until death do us part" to mean seven decades.

In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring. But in their pursuit to execute Project Surprise Me, mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that start to threaten the very foundation of their unshakable bond. When a scandal from the past is revealed that question some important untold truths, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all.

Into The Water

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Whew... this book felt forever long. & complicated... & in the end, I was just "meh"
From the same person who wrote The Girl on a Train, I knew I was in for a good mystery - which I'll give that much, I continued reading because I had to find out how it would all end - the "Whodunit?" part of the story.... but getting there was tough.
There's just so many characters in this book - SO MANY - & it was constantly changing POV - which I'm usually OK with - but I literally had to keep a list of characters near me so I could remember who I was switching to on each chapter.
& in the end, I wasn't too impressed with it all.

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In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help. Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind. But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped. And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . . .

It Ends with Us

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am so emotionally vested in this book. It wasn't what I was expecting & I didnt realize the topic this book was going to take but man, it held me in. I was rooting for each person in their own way - to be stronger, to get help, to get better, to walk away, to stay... what a wonderfully written book this was. Completely grabbed me in. & I loved the history in the story of Atlas & Lily growing up & reading her journals from being a teenager. I really am glad I finally got around to this book. What a insightful look inside of domestic abuse. Loved reading the epilogue as well to find out more about the story behind the book. Makes it even more powerful to me.


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Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up
— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

One of Us Is Lying

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I just devoured this book. So anxious to see what the real story was behind a guy dying after a group of teens were in detention together. The story held me to the very end. I just for some reason envisioned these kids as the gang from Riverdale - I mean, someone died, so it fits. It's like a Breakfast Club meets Riverdale meets Dateline Mystery. I just loved seeing the characters evolve into their true selves & developing relationships together & seeing how they handled themselves when their truth they tried to keep secret came to light. I also was taken back by surprises & twists in the book & in the end, I didn't figure out the mystery of it all, which makes me like a book even more. I also feel like the end was summed up pretty well giving me a 'tied in a bow' ending I feel like I can leave all the characters behind in. This totally could be a movie... or at least a season on Riverdale :)

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Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. 
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. 
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? 
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them."

The Last To Let Go

The Last to Let Go by Amber Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting story of how a family deals with abuse & the after effects of a mom who no longer can take the abuse. You root for the 3 kids who are left behind & handle the situation so differently. I felt like something was missing in the story, like it didn't connect fully with me, but I still got through it fast as I was anxious to see how it would all turn out.

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A twisted tragedy leaves Brooke and her siblings on their own in this provocative new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used To Be.

How do you let go of something you’ve never had?

Junior year for Brooke Winters is supposed to be about change. She’s transferring schools, starting fresh, and making plans for college so she can finally leave her hometown, her family, and her past behind.

But all of her dreams are shattered one hot summer afternoon when her mother is arrested for killing Brooke’s abusive father. No one really knows what happened that day, if it was premeditated or self-defense, whether it was right or wrong. And now Brooke and her siblings are on their own.

In a year of firsts—the first year without parents, first love, first heartbreak, and her first taste of freedom—Brooke must confront the shadow of her family’s violence and dysfunction, as she struggles to embrace her identity, finds her true place in the world, and learns how to let go.

Far From the Tree

Far from the Tree by Robin Benway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fast read for me & I just enjoyed seeing the stories of these 3 siblings come together to find more of what connects them but each in their own world.

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A contemporary novel about three adopted siblings who find each other at just the right moment.

Being the middle child has its ups and downs.

But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including—

Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.

And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him. 

Hillbilly Elegy

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I keep seeing everyone reading this & giving amazing reviews.... & the whole time I'm reading this, i'm like, "I dont get it". To me, it was boring & ordinary & nothing groundbreaking or earth shattering. Maybe because it just felt like reading a lot of my own family history? Mamaw & Papaw in this book sounded exactly like my own grandparents, some of the relatives in the book sounds just like my own family & the situations that I read in reviews that people are in shock about, just sounds like ordinary life. I mean, I do live in Kentucky but never considered our family "Hillbilly"... maybe I need to rethink that.


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From a former Marine and Yale Law School Graduate, a poignant account of growing up in a poor Appalachian town, that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class. Part memoir, part historical and social analysis, J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy is a fascinating consideration of class, culture, and the American dream.

Vance’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love.” They got married and moved north from Kentucky to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. Their grandchild (the author) graduated from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving upward mobility for their family. But Vance cautions that is only the short version. The slightly longer version is that his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and mother struggled to varying degrees with the demands of their new middle class life and they, and Vance himself, still carry around the demons of their chaotic family history.

Delving into his own personal story and drawing on a wide array of sociological studies, Vance takes us deep into working class life in the Appalachian region. This demographic of our country has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, and Vance provides a searching and clear-eyed attempt to understand when and how “hillbillies” lost faith in any hope of upward mobility, and in opportunities to come.

At times funny, disturbing, and deeply moving, this is a family history that is also a troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large portion of this country. 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was not prepared for how much I loved this book.
Everything about it.
I'm not even sure I knew what the story was going to be about but kind of liked that it unfolded in such a beautiful tale of the life of A.J. Fikry & his bookstore & the people that came into his life because of the shop.
This so far is my favorite read of the year & am sad to see it go, but so glad I got to spend some time in Island Books.

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As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

We are not quite novels.

We are not quite short stories.

In the end, we are collected works.

A. J. Fikry's life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died; his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history; and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island—from Chief Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who's always felt kindly toward him; from Ismay, his sister-in-law, who is hell-bent on saving A.J. from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who persists in taking the ferry to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, he can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, though large in weight—an unexpected arrival that gives A.J. the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J., for the determined sales rep Amelia to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light, for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.'s world. Or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn't see coming. 

Running- Getting Started

Running - Getting Started by Jeff Galloway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've always been intrigued by the Galloway method & getting back into running, I wanted to check out how his method worked for the beginner.
This is a perfect book for a real beginner in running. With tips on how to do safe runs & things such a diet & equipment. & it starts you out really slow - not like the plans that have you running 3 miles on day 1.
I got this from the library but glad to look through it -it reminded me of a few things that I forgot & I am really going to try & implement his method when I lace back up.

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Running - Getting started will take anyone, at any level of fitness, into the running lifestyle. Jeff Galloway, a US Olympian in 1972, has helped over 150,000 people into running while reducing or eliminating aches, pains, and injuries suffered during most training programs. Jeff offers a step-by-step program that is easy to use and easy to understand. Included will be lots of tips on nutrition, staying motivated, building endurance, shoes, stretching and strengthening, and much more.