Hello, friends! How ARE you? Are you taking care of yourself? Are you remembering to breathe? Someday I will get back on track over here, but man it’s hard. Right now I’m just giving myself grace – I hope you are too.
January was an enjoyable month of reading! I finished four books which makes me happy, and one of them was non-fiction. Come see what I’ve been reading and tell me what I need to add to my never-ending TBR.
My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward: 5 Stars!
Mark and Guilia fell in love when they were 18. After college, they married and started their dream life in San Francisco. When Guilia was 27 she had her first psychotic break that put her in the psych ward for nearly a month. Their world had turned upside down, and what was once safe and happy was now dark and delusional. After she recovered and they had a son, she eventually experienced two more psychotic breakdowns.
This memoir was written from Mark’s perspective and was extremely moving and powerful. It’s written with intensity and reads more like a novel that left me flipping pages with a racing heart.
My heart hurts for the loved ones of the mentally ill. I never thought about the struggles they face until Mark waded through all of them while trying to protect his wife, himself, and eventually their son.
After Guilia is released from the hospital, there is so much anger and remorse built up between them and the rebuilding of their relationship is invaluable to any relationship.
Beautiful, heartbreaking, and encouraging.
Other books I want to read centered around mental health:
Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Last Thing He Told Me: 4 Stars!
This was our book club choice for January. Owen Michaels disappears one day, but before he does, he manages to get a note to his wife Hannah that simply says, Protect Her. He’s referring to his sixteen year old daughter Bailey, who wants nothing to do with her new stepmother. But when law enforcement begins questioning Owens whereabouts, the two of them embark on an adventure to discover who Owen really is and what he might be hiding.
I found this to be a completely compulsive read. I loved that it was a suspenseful mystery without a killer lurking in the background and trying to find out who their next victim might be. It was fun to try to guess what secrets they would uncover and how they were going to move forward with their lives.
That said, most of us found it to be a bit far-fetched and left us with a bit of hmmmmming. When I got to the ending, I wanted a little more of something, but I still can’t quite figure out what it is. I really enjoyed the way she wove the current timeline with the back story of Owen and Hannah getting to know each other. Overall, it was a fun read!
Other Reese’s Book Club picks that I enjoyed:
Seven Days in June – 5 stars! You can read my review here
Such a Fun Age – 4 stars! (Another book club pick!)
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows – 4 stars!
Queen Move: 4 Stars!
This is the third book in the All The Kings Men series that I read last year. Although this one can technically be read on its own, I highly recommend reading the other two first. I felt like Kimba’s character and personality were more developed in the other books, and it helped to know about her before starting Queen Move.
Kimba and Ezra had been best friends since they were six months old. But after a sudden fight between their parents when they were teenagers, Ezra and his family swiftly moved away and contact between them was cut off. Twenty years later they meet again and now their connection is undeniable.
Part second chance lovers and part friends to lovers, Queen Move was full of fire. Kimba is a badass, put up with nothing heroine, and Ezra equally matches her with his sweet and gentlemanly demeanor. Not too gentlemanly though, because Ezra was HOT and even though he brought the steam, I wanted more of him. Kennedy Ryan moved me with her writing once again, combining real, deep characters with honest life issues. Although I really enjoyed this one, I found some of the plot twists to be too much and unnecessary – too painful for the characters.
Other Friends to Lovers books to check out:
Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating – 5 stars!
Love and Other Words – 4 stars!
People We Meet on Vacation – on my TBR
I also read Writers & Lovers by Lily King last month, but it was a total miss for me. Sometimes books that fall into the “Literary Fiction” category go over my head. I couldn’t understand why this book mattered – I didn’t care about the characters or their stories.
Looking for more book recommendations? Check out all of my book posts here!
What was your last 5-star read? Do you have any that you would recommend I add to my TBR?
Becca @ Life’s A Pearl
Yay! It made me happy to see a new reading review posted. With a little peek at your beautiful bookshelves! I’m glad you found some great reads last month.