There's something about Moyes books that makes me just eat them up. This story, similar to The Last Letter From Your Lover, bounces back and forth in time: present day and the German occupation of France during WWI. The connection is a painting entitled The Girl You Left Behind and by the end of the book, I felt like I could clearly visualize it in my head. Beautifully told story and I love her characters, even though they're heavily flawed (and often a damsel in distress *eye roll*) they are written with humor and wit.

I decided to give this book a shot since one of my favorite bloggers (Everyday Reading) really loves it. It was fun and fluffy - good brain candy. But it seemed like I was reading a formula for how to write a Recency period piece/how to write Austen. I could tell you EXACTLY what was going to happen after 20 minutes of reading. Yes, it unfolds exactly how you think it will and I kinda wanted to hit the main character over the head about a dozen time. Would be good for a drinking game, for every time she uses the word BLUSH (or blushed, blushing, blushed, etc.).

Joshilyn Jackson has popped up on my Goodreads feed quite a lot over the years, and even more so on social media lately with her latest novel: Someone Else's Love Story. I thought I'd start with her first book, and it did not disappoint. It grabbed me from the first pages and didn't let go. It's a little bit family drama, a little bit murder-mystery with a dash of humor. Super quick and powerful read.

Oh, I was excited to read this book! My Name is Memory is one of my all time favorite love stories and this seemed to have a similar vibe, dealing with the past, present, future. Alas, it was very similar to Terminator, without Ahhhh-nold, and a bit hokey. Still a fun and fast read, but I got the feeling I was being lectured on how we take so many things for granted in the present day.

This book packed a pretty solid punch from the beginning and I was immediately drawn into Kate's story as she tries to unravel the mystery of her daughter Amelia's apparent suicide. It was highly suspenseful and I honestly had no clue how all of it would come together until I was reading the very last pages. It was also a rather interesting (and horrifying!) commentary on how teens interact today and just really well done.

As with the first two books, Taylor concludes this fantasy series with such originality, action, snarky humor, beautiful writing and an unforgettable love story. The way she brought it all together was fascinating, surprising, well plotted and above all, a satisfying ending. Quite a feat to end a trilogy with a great book - bravo!

What can I say, this was a predictably entertaining read. I had read a number of the blog posts in this collection of essays. However, it was fun to settle in with a physical book for a good laugh. Her inner dialogue and bouts with depression are extreme, but there is some nugget in each of her stories with which we can all identify. My favorite is her story about being attacked by a goose. Good stuff.

I thought I was kind of done with dystopian stuff, but had to read this book based on a friends recommendation and all the hype surrounding this self-published novella turned novel. There were lots of familiar elements from classics like The Giver and The City of Ember, but enough originality to keep me intrigued. Howey is a master of pacing and creating characters you feel invested in - which is kind of a bummer, because he tends to kill them off early in the book. But I devoured it and definitely want to read the Shift prequels.

I adored If I Stay and it's sequel Where I Went (maybe even more than the first book) by Forman. I figured this was the summer of the Just one Day series. It starts off similarly to that old romantic flick Before Sunrise, but then the one day encounter ends about halfway through the book and we follow our heroine Allyson back home from her Paris fling and how her encounter changes her. A decent coming of age novel, but I think Forman has a pattern of delivering a better story with her sequels, because I ended up liking Just One Year much more.