Time to share my recent reads. I am definitely gearing more towards light reading just so that my mental and emotional health can take a break. With that said, “chick lit” as we knew it has changed a bit. Even though the structure is pretty much the same, the stories have more depth, the lead female character is not a damsel in distress needing to be rescued by anyone and the characters are more diverse, racially and in sexual orientation. This current selection includes a lead female character who is on the spectrum, gay characters and a main character who has racially diverse friends. And of course, witches and vampires!
I really liked all of these books and recommend them.
BOOKS
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
This is the 2nd book in the Discovery of Witches Series. The main characters continue their search for a book that may explain the origins of creatures like witches, vampires and demons. If you like the supernatural, this is good stuff. I am listening to this series and really like the performance. It is quite visual and the story is very interesting. The female lead, Diana Bishop, who is a witch, is a college professor who finds out about the strength of her skills in book 1-Discovery of Witches. In this book, she learns how to use her skills, time travels back to the 1500’s and helps to protect her vampire family. She is definitely no shrinking violet!
(Audible)
The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms
This book was unexpected in many ways which I will not give away. The gist is the lead character is a teacher who gets the chance to be in New York sans kids and find out who she is and what she wants her life to look like. It is much more fun than that description, though! One of the things I like about the “new” chick-lit is that none of the characters are all bad or all good. They are all flawed with lessons to learn.
FYI-I was able to read this book for free through my Amazon Prime account (not kindle unlimited). I guess they have books that they make available.
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
This book features a female lead who is on the spectrum and trying to navigate adult life and relationships. She takes a tact that most of us would not that turns out to be quite interesting. Word of warning-this book is very sexually explicit. Not the book for you if you don’t care for graphic sex scenes.
I’ve recently become aware that this book is #1 of 3. I’m definitely going to put the other 2 on my “to-read” list.
(Axis360 app)
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
I have enjoyed books by this author for many years now and this one does not disappoint. The main characters are 2 sisters and it follows their lives from childhood to old age. Nothing happened in this book the way I thought it would and that is good. This was a book that was hard to put down even though it was sometimes difficult to read. There are some scenes in this book that don’t fit the typical chick-lit genre but it is a really wonderful read none the less.
(Axis360 app)
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abi Waxman
My only complaint about this book is that it isn’t long enough! I enjoyed the characters in this book and wanted more time with them. However, the book is very fast paced and if you’re a person who thinks that books get slow sometimes then this book is for you. I read it in about 2 days and that’s because I forced myself to do something other than read! This book is also a treat for those of us who use paper planners. To my surprise, the lead character is a paper planner and we get to see one of her planner pages at the start of each chapter. And in the acknowledgements, the author lets us in on where the planner pages come from! A really fun, fast read that is great during quarantine.
(Axis 360 app)
That’s my April list. I am currently listening to the 3rd and final book in the Discovery of Witches series as well as reading another in the chick-lit genre. I look forward to sharing with you all next month. I also need to listen to my Babes Book Club book soon as well.
Any book recommendations? Share in the comments.
