This book was WILD and I really enjoyed it (even though I had NO CLUE what I was getting into!) — think Gossip Girl meets How to Get Away with Murder with dashes of Gone Girl and Sherlock Holmes...

It tells the story of privileged teenagers at an elite private school, cliques that are next level, outsiders trying to be insiders, secrecy, drama, suspense, huntin' shootin' and fishin', and a whole darkness underneath it all that's nothing like you would expect... It completely had me hooked from start to finish.

If you like teenage dramas and thrillers and books that you’ll fly through on the edge of your seat, grab this one!

Thanks to Blogging for Books for this one!

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This cookbook is AMAZING. As a gluten-free vegan, I'm always looking for recipes that are a great balance of healthy, delicious, and enjoyable, and these are PERFECT. It takes the thinking out of eating, and makes it so easy to enjoy a balanced and hearty meal without complicated ingredients or insane cooking time. I'm a huge fan of this cookbook already and know I'll be devouring these recipes for a while to come! From bowls to bakes to skillets to salads, this cookbook has it all and keeps food interesting without being overcomplicated, and every single recipe looked absolutely incredible. With cookbooks, I'm usually used to seeing just a handful of recipes I'd actually cook and enjoy, but this one, there wasn't a single one that didn't look GREAT to me. What a win!

I loved every word of this book. It’s been a while since I’ve truly wanted to savor a book and not just fly through it, but this one was one to read slowly and soak up. It was absolutely the book I needed to read in this season, and I’m so grateful for @josaxton’s heart and wisdom and love in #thedreamofyoubook. The way she wrote the letters that opened each chapter, the way she brought stories from Scripture to life in fresh ways, the way she shared her own story... all beautiful and deeply meaningful to me. All the love for this one.

The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life from Louie Giglio is an excellent resource if you’re curious about worship and what it means (it’s so much more than singing at church!). Throughout this book, he focuses on different lines of his overall definition of worship: “Worship is... our response, both personal and corporate, to God— for who He is! and what He has done!” — it’s helpful, honest, easy to understand, and a short read with great discussion questions included too (perfect for reading with friends or a small group). Thanks for this one, Blogging for Books! (While helpful for many, I’m sure, I didn’t personally find much about this book to be new or terribly exciting.)

I was SO pleasantly surprised by this book. The plot was so well crafted, and the story was so engrossing and well written. I have loved reading fiction books like this one throughout this year that clearly address current events and hot topics in America right now without beating you over the head with it-- it was subtle yet incredibly powerful. Addressing racism, segregation, education, relationships, marriage, adoption, and all the aspects of family and community life in such an artful was is incredibly impressive, and this book did it VERY well. The varying characters in this story all won me over and I connected with them easily, despite them being very different. The struggles in the plot felt real and believable as well as relatable even though my own life looks different. I really, really enjoyed this one and didn't want to put it down! I can't wait to read more from this author.

Thanks to Blogging for Books for sending me this one to review!

This was such a fun read (and i needed a solid fiction book after several duds!) and so strangely relevant to our political climate in America right now even though it was written before our election season. Amanda is a reporter and the book follows her career, love life, and just drama in general, and it’s so entertaining without just being fluff. I flew through this one and wanted to read more like it! This is 100% the kind of light fiction i love mixing into my reading life (and would love to watch as a movie too!). // Thanks, Blogging for Books, for sending me this one!

Goodness, I just love Nouwen. His words are always incredibly moving, powerful, and convicting, all with a gentleness and love. He speaks truth wonderfully, while telling stories beautifully. I've read many of his works, but still reading the selections compiled here into short daily readings felt fresh and new. I appreciated that the themes were varied from day to day, with the selections coming from different books and works of Nouwen instead of the same one for weeks on end. Each day had some thought-provoking concept, without being anything overcomplicated or time consuming. Most days were just one or two solid paragraphs, so this book would make a great accompaniment to a daily quiet time or a time of meditation. The inside flap says this book's goal is to "empower readers to claim their central identity as the Beloved of God and live out that truth in their daily lives" and I think it accomplishes that perfectly.

I could NOT get into this one. I tried, and gave it about 75 pages, but the characters didn't click with me at all and the writing style seemed forced and awkward to me. I was hoping this would be a post apocalyptic story similar to Station Eleven, but it didn't come close for me. I appreciated that it was set in 2020 so it was a little more believable than some that seem more abstractly placed in time, but I still just couldn't connect with the plot or the setting really. This might just be a wrong book, wrong time kind of thing, but I wasn't willing to keep going with this one to see if it would eventually grab me. It's off to the "abandoned" shelf for now! 

This book was one that intrigued me because of the topic, but also intimidated me a little bit too. Evicted is all about "poverty and profit in the American city" -- not exactly a light, easy topic! But seeing that it was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of The New York Times Book Review 10 best books of 2016 as well as a NYT bestseller (and a winner of many more awards too!) sealed the deal for me and I knew I had to read this one. I'm on a mission this year to read more books that challenge me, open my eyes to the reality and experiences of others, and push me to get out of my comfort zone and start understanding so I can start working for change. This book did all of those things.

It's told through stories, in a way that makes it easy to read and very convicting and personal, too. There were times that the stories felt a little disjointed or lengthy, but overall, I appreciated that the story wasn't told through facts and stats, but instead through story and real people's experiences. I found myself empathizing and sympathizing with so many of the characters (real people!) and being shocked at how easy it is to fall on hard times and lose everything. My experience has been nothing like that, and my eyes were opened to even more of my own privilege as I read this book.

Many parts of this book were shocking, sickening, and sad. All in all, it was incredibly well-told, helpful, illuminating, and moving. It wasn't always fun to read, but I'm grateful to have read it, and know that it has helped change me and soften my heart toward people and circumstances I might otherwise have been quick to judge and turn away from.

Highly recommend this one.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review!

This one was an unexpected read for me, and a little outside of my normal fiction preferences. It's offbeat, a little dark at times, has strong sexual themes and some twisted characters, a lot of art and acting and personality quirk themes... it's an interesting one for sure! It held my interest but the end didn't satisfy me like I hoped it would, but I am a big fan of character development so I appreciated that this focused on a few key characters and really painted interesting pictures of them throughout this book! (ps-- this one was sent to me by Blogging for Books to review!)