alltheradreads's Reviews (1.9k)

Thanks for the free book, @randomhouse! // A main character you’ll root for and relate to and love. A straight male best friend. A baseball player who has the “yips” and can no longer seem to pitch. A Maine setting. Events that felt totally authentic to real life, in the best way. This one was meant for summer reading, especially on a front porch in the evening with a cool drink in hand (which is exactly what I did). It feels like a Hallmark movie just waiting to happen (and I hope it does).

The second half (especially the last like 20 pages) won this an extra star from me, so if you’re finding it slow or just okay, hang in there! Loved Annika and her quirks (and love a main character on the autism spectrum! yay neurodiversity!) and the supporting characters (Janice... WHAT A FRIEND) and the highlights from counseling sessions. Yes, it’s a slower plot, and yes, it’s slightly predictable, but it was also charming and enjoyable.

For some reason, I’ve read so many books by comedians whose shows I don’t even watch... (Tina, Amy, Mindy, now Ellen) and then i wonder why I don’t really click with their humor or their stories...

I have loved other books by Rachel Joyce and this one was no different, even though it did take about 100 or so pages for me to really get into it. This storyline isn’t incredibly unique (quirky, older shop owner has a knack for “reading” guests to the shop and knowing exactly what music/book/etc they need in that moment) but it was charming nonetheless, and the end had me squealing I loved it so much!

Flew through this one and really enjoyed it! Four women confessed to a murder of one man, and throughout all the parallel plot lines and unraveling lives, I didn’t see the ending coming! It wasn’t super dark and twisty but focused more on the females, their friendships, and their personal drama, with transcripts from the detective’s questionings woven in throughout to add the drama. The ending still has me questioning and wondering!!

This is probably going to be a pretty bummer review buuuuut I just have confirmed I am not a fan of this guy. I heard him speak at GLS and wasn’t obsessed but thought the subject matter of this book was interesting enough for me to give it a shot... but it just confirmed how i felt. Not a fan. It felt trite and overly simplistic, and like it came from such a comfortable place of privilege that it wasn’t compelling or convicting at all to me. It just didn’t resonate with me at all or feel truly genuine and it frustrated me. Maybe it’s just my own bias of feeling wary of such prominent and privileged white male pastors who seem to churn out books on hot topics, giving the impression that it’s more about looks and making a buck than it is about true calling and connection to the content... but ANYWAY.

I was honestly was surprised by this one — the cover totally threw me off and I thought it was a memoir instead of the fiction book I was expecting! Turns out, it’s fiction after all! But then I thought it would be a sexy or steamy romance, and it wasn’t that at all either. WHERE WAS MY BRAIN?? Who knows. What this book WAS, however, was the story of an adventurous woman post-breast cancer on a European book tour of her raw and vulnerable memoir and the publicist with his own emotional past who accompanies her on the trip. You can probably guess how it plays out from that sentence alone, and there wasn’t much in this one that surprised me, but it was an enjoyable one night read once I finally understood what i was ACTUALLY reading.

BBT is my girrrrrrl. Finally got around to reading her latest book just in time to hear her speak at Evolving Faith in a few weeks! This one is the story of her teaching a Religion 101 class at Piedmont College and how her own faith evolved as she spent years exploring and teaching the faiths of others. I had never heard the term “holy envy” before but found it so striking — even as a lifelong Christian, there are things about other faiths, practices, and beliefs that I admire, respect, am drawn to, and am intrigued by. The whole idea of “holy envy” is just that— that the learning of other religions would enlighten and enrich our own, that the things I love about other practices would influence and improve my own, that the faith and strength and belief of others would encourage and solidify my own. There is so much to be gained from others and I’m so grateful for the discoveries shared here that remind me to keep discovering on my own, too.