What I've Been Reading Lately

Good Morning Y'all!

If you happen to follow me on goodreads.com then you know I have been reading a lot lately, just trying to get rid of all the books I have here before we move so I don't have the drag them all around. I was really flying through the books and although I enjoyed most of them I decided not to review them all around here like I have been doing book reviews, but instead I thought I would do an overall review in a shorter manner.

As you know this week is going to be quite busy getting ready to move and then actually getting on the road so I thought this would be a great post to write ahead of time and be able to post so I wasn't MIA the whole week.

So lets get started!

The Pilots Wife by Anita Shreve 

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I really really liked this book a lot! Immediately into it I couldn't put it down, I so enjoyed the style of writing and right off the bat I knew the story was going to be so good. Turns out it was even better than I could have imagined... her husband leads a secret life that she had absolutely no idea about and when tragedy strikes more is revealed about her husband than she ever could have imagined, and to say she didn't deal well is an understatement. If you are looking for a book that will peak early and keep your attention the entire time I highly recommend checking this out! If you are interested you can read the overview HERE. 

Escape by Carolyn Jessop & Laura Palmer

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I honestly think I got this book years ago when I was part of a book club that sent you books every month and I guess I never read it because I nothing seemed familiar when I was reading it. Tales of a book hoarder, you have so many you forget to read some until years later. Anyways I was intrigued when I read the synopsis of this book and found that I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. You may be familiar with the story of Warren Jeffs and his polygamist community, more so about the abuse that took place in these communities. Warren Jeffs is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for the assault of underage girls, amongst other things. 

This is a story of one woman's life growing up in this community and being married off at a very young age to a man much older than her, having 8 children and their escape from a life that no one should ever be forced to live. I was more than intrigued with the story and how although she was raised in this community her entire life how different her childhood was to that of her marriage and raising her own children. This is an excellent book about one woman's strength and courage to give her children the best life they could possibly have. Until reading this book I was aware of why polygamy was widely frowned upon and a little about Warren Jeffs but this book was full of information about a life I could never imagine. 

You can read an overview of the book HERE, and if you get the chance I highly recommend reading it for yourself! 

Fall on your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

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I really enjoy a wide variety of books, I don't tend to read only a specific genre but this book was definitely not for me. I felt like the book was constantly dragging, especially at the beginning. I read on and on and waited for something good to happen and it just seemed to take a long time. Honestly I don't have much to say about this, I just did not enjoy it. The reviews online were really mixed which is not surprising to me, people compared the writing style to that of a grown up VC Andrews who I am not very familiar with. You can read the synopsis HERE on good read, but sadly I would not personally recommend it. 

We are the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

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I actually read some of the reviews about this book before reading the book itself and I came across a lot that weren't very good but I wanted to read it anyways. Books are super subjective and I truly believe that even people who like to read the same type of books can feel differently about books, so if you are thinking about reading a book and find bad reviews I would say read it anyways, you might be missing out if you don't! 

Anyways I really liked this book, even though I hated most of the characters. The book is told through the eyes of the youngest brother of a farm family; early on the only daughter suffers a terrible tragedy and it affects the family in a way that I would like to think no one would expect. The book details how their lives play out after this event, and how one life event can change so much about the course of a persons life. Although this book didn't seem widely popular I really enjoyed it and would absolutely recommend it. 

If you would like to read the synopsis, you can do so HERE.

A Dirty War by Anna Politkovskaya

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If you're not much for history and war stories this book probably isn't for you, but I have to rave about how well written it is regardless. I will say that I haven't read all that much about the Chechen War or truth be told don't remember hearing much about it on the news. This book is a first hand account by a Russian woman about the Chechen War and how although it was said to be ending the conflict was still very real and intense. 

This book is raw and real and goes deep into not only the war but the Russian governments attempt diminish the cause and effects of this war. Sadly Anna Politkovskaya who was a journalist, author as well as a human rights activist was murdered in October 2006 in her apartment elevator under a contract hit and although 5 men were sentenced to prison for her murder in June 2014 it is still unclear who ordered her murder. 

If you are a war buff, I highly recommend reading this book. If you are interested in reading more about the book you can do so HERE, and if you are interested in the author Anna Politkovskaya you can click HERE to read more about her as well. 

So those are a few of the books that I have been reading lately. I think when I am binge reading this is a better way of reviewing books than dedicating an entire post to each book, let me know what you think! If you are reading anything good please do share as I am always on the hunt for a good book! 

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you guys have a great day!!