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The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle 4/5
Lily has ADHD and Abelard has Asperger's.  They "meet" in detention and form a connection that is surprising to them and sweet to read about.  The author has ADHD herself, and she wrote the book from Lily's point of view.  It was fascinating to get a glimpse into the thought processes of someone struggling with that.  I never had much of an understanding before.
 
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys 4/5
I didn't learn until after reading that this is a YA book.  It's told from the points of view of four people who end up on the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship in World War II that ultimately sinks.  I had a hard time following the characters at the beginning, but once I had them all straight in my mind, I was hooked.  It's a very compelling story.
 
A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro 4/5
The fourth and final book in the Charlotte Holmes series!  I really liked this series.  I kind of wished for a different ending, but it wasn't a bad ending, and overall, it was fitting.
 
The Selection 4/5
The Elite 3/5
The One 3/5
by Kiera Cass
I just plowed right through these because they're kind of fluffy and I was hooked.  In the kingdom of Illea (basically the U.S., but now a monarchy with a caste system), Prince Maxon must find a wife through a process called The Selection.  One girl from each of the 35 provinces is chosen and sent to the palace.  They compete in a Bachelor-style contest, with Maxon eliminating girls one by one.  America Singer didn't want to enter The Selection, as she already had a secret boyfriend, Aspen.  But she is chosen and goes to the palace.  The more she gets to know Maxon, the more she likes him and actually wants to win the competition.
 
While the first book was really good, the next two weren't as good.  The whole thing was really drawn out and could have been just one book.  America does a LOT of waffling between Maxon and Aspen and it's annoying.  Part of my annoyance is that she's 17, and I'm skeptical about how much a teenager can really know of true love.  If I was a teenager reading this, I probably would have completely sympathized with her indecision.  There are a couple more books and novellas about other characters, but I don't think I'll continue.
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How to Stop Time by Matt Haig 5/5
I loved this story.  It was intriguing and heartbreaking.  A touch of science fiction.  The main character is Tom, who appears to be about 41, but is actually 400-something years old.  He's not immortal, and he doesn't travel in time.  Instead, he has a condition that causes him to age very slowly, about 1 year for every 15 years that pass.  The condition begins at puberty, so up until age 13, Tom grew at a regular rate.  He was found by the Albatross Society, which is a group of people who have the same condition.  They help him get set up with a new identity in a new location every few years.  Tom's latest life is as a history teacher in London.  He is drawn to another teacher, despite the Albatross Society's rule about never falling in love.  He is also constantly searching for his daughter, who was born with the same condition, and whom he hasn't seen in centuries.  A beautiful story.
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Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard 3/5
I'm only a little familiar with Eddie Izzard as an actor and comedian.  Mostly I know him as the voice of Reepicheep in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the voice of Miles Axelrod in Cars 2.  But I heard his memoir was good so I gave it a try.  It was good, although a little boring by the end.  For the audio book, he kept giving these footnotes that he said weren't in the regular book.  That was interesting, how he kept going off on tangents.  I enjoyed his sense of humor.
 
Two Across by Jeff Bartsch 1/5
This book was really disappointing and I wish I hadn't wasted my time on it.  The premise sounded interesting, and it seemed like it was going to be a fun, quirky, romantic story.  Stanley and Vera start out as teenagers who win the National Spelling Bee in a tie.  They become friends.  Stanley's mother wants him to go to Harvard, but he just wants to make crossword puzzles for a living.  Vera is good at math, and also learns how to make crossword puzzles from Stanley.  They fake getting married in order to get money.  After they part ways, Vera creates a crossword puzzle that contains clues to Stanley about where to find her.  Then it got really repetitive.  Vera leaves and Stanley doesn't know where she's gone until he discovers a crossword puzzle with clues for him.  That happened a few times.  Their relationship was weird, I think because of the lack of emotion.  The whole thing fell flat and it was tedious to get through.  The ending was okay, but by then I didn't really care.
 
Homeschool Sex Machine: Babes, Bible Quiz, and the Clinton Years
JV Superstar: A Christian College Odyssey
Naked Side Hugs: Homeschool Assassins, Sharks, and the Search for Jesus' Drummer
by Matthew Pierce 5/5
Matthew Pierce has a blog that I follow and a podcast that I listen to (Fun Sexy Bible Time).  I check out his Twitter sometimes, even though I'm not on Twitter.  He has an irreverent, humorous take on all things Christian culture.  These are three e-books that he's written and I was very impressed.  Where some online writers have a hard time switching between various mediums, Matthew is really good at it.  He has a distinct voice with each of Twitter, blog, and books, and I enjoy them all.
 
These books aren't long.  All together, they're probably the length of a regular novel.  The first book is a recap of his childhood, being homeschooled in a fundamentalist Christian household.  The second book is a recap of his college experience.  The third book went in a different direction.  He's still writing in the first person, and he's still the main character.  But the third book is most definitely fiction, not a memoir.
 
Mr. Right-Swipe by Ricki Schultz 3/5
Rae is an elementary school teacher who's been unlucky in love.  Her friends convince her to try finding a guy online.  She has some dates, but they don't work out.  Then she matches with someone she knows in real life, Nick, aka Hot Sub Guy, from her school.  Hilarity ensues.  I got kind of a "Sex and the City" vibe from it, even though I've never really watched that show.  So that's just from my limited knowledge of it.  The book was entertaining enough, but not that great.
 
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins 3/5
Sophie is a teenage witch.  After a love spell at the prom goes wrong, she is sent to a boarding school for Prodigium (witches, faeries, and shapeshifters).  She's never been around any other people like herself, let alone had any training on how to use her powers.  It's all new to her.  She befriends her vampire roommate.  The popular girls try to get her to join their witch coven.  She crushes on a hunky warlock.  It took me a bit to get into it, but I ended up liking it.  I want to know what happens in the next book.
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The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro 4/5
The third book in the Charlotte Holmes series!  I thought this was going to be the final book of a trilogy, but the author has a fourth book listed on Goodreads.  It's supposedly coming out next year.  That's great because I would like the story to continue!  While the second book was kind of confusing, this one was more straightforward.  The only thing missing was the interaction between Charlotte and Jamie.  For the first 75% of the book, we were following both of their storylines, but they weren't together until closer to the end.  They're terrific characters though.
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You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham 5/5
This is an excellent resource for anyone who's trying to budget wisely.  I appreciated the conversational tone and inspiring stories.  I've looked into the YNAB software before, and I'm familiar with their "rules."  But it was nice that the author didn't write this book telling people to go buy his software.  He mentioned that it's available, but he also said you could follow the same idea with your own spreadsheet or with a paper and pencil.  Mostly, he just gives his philosophy about how to use money, and I think it's sound advice.  I especially enjoyed the chapter about teaching kids how to budget.
 
Totally His by Erin Nicholas 3/5
The third and final "Opposites Attract" book.  This one is about the third roommate, Sophie.  Sophie owns a theater and enjoys acting and putting on plays.  When her theater catches fire, a dreamy police officer named Finn comes to her rescue.  Finn has a large, boisterous family, while Sophie has purposefully avoided getting involved with big families.  Her dad is a con man who tends to take advantage of anyone Sophie gets close to, so she tries not to get too close to anyone.  Sophie and Finn can't help but fall for each other, and her dad wastes no time in weaseling himself into Finn's family, "borrowing" money and being given a place to stay.  Sophie finds that she really likes being accepted as part of Finn's family, but she thinks she needs to stay away in order to protect them from her dad.  I enjoyed the story, and I liked Sophie, but my favorite of the three is still the second one.
 
The Humans by Matt Haig 4/5
Math professor Andrew Martin has solved the Riemann Hypothesis, a major breakthrough in the field of math.  However, the highly intelligent aliens who keep watch over everything that happens in the universe believe that humans are not ready for this breakthrough.  The aliens know it will lead to not only the destruction of humans, but the destruction of other parts of the universe, including themselves.  So they kill Andrew Martin and send one of their own to Earth, disguised as Andrew Martin, to make sure the knowledge of the solution goes no farther.  In addition to destroying all the evidence, this alien must kill anyone who had knowledge that the solution even existed.  This book is written from the perspective of that alien as he navigates the strange world of living as a human, and as he comes to understand the beauty of humanity.  It's a lovely story.
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Forever Mine by Erin Nicholas 3/5
The second of three "Opposites Attract" books.  I liked this story even more than the first one.  This one focuses on Maya.  She's into martial arts and training with weapons like swords and bo staffs.  She used to be a police officer, but she was injured in the line of duty.  Now she owns a studio where she teaches weapons training and stuff.  She meets Alex, a hunky doctor and they immediately hit it off.  However, Alex has recently learned he has a 9-year-old daughter, the result of a one-night stand.  He's trying to not let anything distract him from catching up on the nine missed years of being a dad.  But he lets Maya distract him anyway.
 
Someone to Love by Mary Balogh 3/5
I liked this one okay, but it wasn't that great.  I guess I gave it 3 instead of 2 because I liked it well enough to want to read the second book about the Westcott family.  The setting is England in the late 1700s.  Anna Snow is 25.  She grew up in an orphanage, never knowing who her parents were or where she came from.  She learns from a lawyer that her father, an earl, has recently died, and she is to inherit his fortune.  She goes to London where her new-found family members (a grandmother, some aunts, and cousins) intend to refine her appearance and manners so she will fit in with high society.  Surprisingly, she catches the eye of the Duke of Netherby.  She seems to think he's pretty great too, although I don't know why.  He's always talking (or thinking) about how bored he is with whatever people bring up as a topic of conversation.  Very standoffish.  I'm guessing the rest of the series is about other members of the family, so maybe their love interests will be more likable.
 
Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence 3/5
This author is a librarian, and she's weeding the collection, removing books that are no longer being checked out, or are in too poor a condition to continue being checked out.  The first part of this book is full of letters to certain books.  Some are love letters, some are break-up letters.  It's witty and entertaining, especially when I've read the book she's writing to, but even still when I've never heard of it.  Then the second part of the book takes on a different format and it wasn't nearly as interesting.  She basically has some different lists of books, and she tells a little about the plot of each one, or just gives reasons why you should read it.  A little paragraph, much like the one I'm writing now.  I added several books to my "to-read" list - books from both parts of her book.  But I wish she'd kept up the letter format instead of switching to lists and descriptions.

My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith 3/5
My first thought about the title was that the bulldozer must be a metaphor for something.  But no.  There is a literal bulldozer in this story, and the main character drives it around the Italian countryside.  The main character is Paul, a well-known Scottish author of books about food and wine.  His next book features the cuisine of Tuscany, so he travels there to get first-hand knowledge and to have peace and quiet for writing.  Also, his girlfriend of four years has just broken up with him, so it's a good time to get away on a retreat.  When there are no rental cars available, he ends up renting a bulldozer.
 
Like so many of AMS's books, this book is cozy and interesting and a little funny.  The plot is light.  There isn't much action.  There's a feeling of taking life slowly, savoring all the beautiful pieces.  Strangers end up having intriguing conversations with each other, and at least one of them comes away knowing more truth about life.  It would be nice if that happened in real life with strangers.
 
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan 5/5
This story has two characters named Will Grayson.  They are both 16 (I think) and they both live near Chicago.  They both have teenage troubles, but for different reasons.  One Will is trying to navigate adolescence with two rules: don't care about anything and shut up.  But he finds it difficult especially because his best friend Tiny is very large, very loud, and flamboyantly gay.  The other Will hates everyone and everything, except for his online friend Isaac.  This Will hasn't told anyone he's gay, except for Isaac.  The two Wills don't know each other until a chance encounter in the city.  After that, their lives are a little more intertwined.  It's just the kind of heart-wrenching, character-driven story that I love.

At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider 4/5
I took a trip around the world this month by listening to this book.  Tsh, her husband Kyle, and their three kids (ages 4, 6, and 9) spent 9 months (one school year) traveling around the world.  Tsh and Kyle were both able to work from anywhere, and they were already homeschooling the kids, so really, the kids could have school anywhere.  They sold their house in Oregon, put most of their belongings in storage, and packed one backpack each.  I probably won't remember all the countries they visited, but the list includes: China, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Morocco, France, Italy, Kosovo, Turkey, Germany, and England.  It was fascinating to hear about the different places and how the kids handled all the traveling.  I imagine my kids wouldn't handle it nearly as well.  I'm not sure I would handle it either.  I would enjoy traveling to different parts of the world, but my ideal situation would be to go to one place for a couple weeks and then return home.  And I could do that 2 or 3 times a year.  (In this hypothetical scenario in which I have lots of money to travel.)  Spending 9 months traveling doesn't sound fun to me.  But it was fun hearing about it from people who enjoy that kind of thing.
 
I also really enjoyed the meet-cute flashback of when Tsh and Kyle first met on a country road in Kosovo.
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Only Dead on the Inside: A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse by James Breakwell 3/5
I read an advanced copy of this through NetGalley, but by the time I finished it, the book was already released.  I guess you could say it didn't hold my interest terribly well.  But it's funny.  The author is a 30-something guy with 4 daughters, ages 2 to 7.  I follow him on Instagram and Twitter because he posts funny things that his kids say.  (And I don't even have a Twitter account.  I just check his feed periodically.)  The IndyStar newspaper has recently hired him to write a weekly column, and I think those are more entertaining than this book.  I like his sense of humor, but the book lost me on a couple of things.  First, I'm not into zombie stuff.  Second, where his humor works in short bursts (social media and a newspaper column), it got tedious in a longer book form.
 
Completely Yours by Erin Nicholas 3/5
This is the first of three "Opposites Attract" romance books by this author.  The opposites in this case are geeky adult women and the hunky men who fall for them.  These women are best friends and roommates, so they each show up in each other's books.  They are into "geeky" things like video games, super heroes, and cosplay.  This first book focuses on Kiara, a video game designer.  When she and her friends are at a local Comicon, the roof partially caves in, causing many injuries.  Zach is one of the EMTs who comes to the scene.  That's how he meets Kiara and they live happily ever after.
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Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley 4/5
Henry's family owns a used bookstore that includes a section they call the Letter Library.  The Letter Library is filled with books that are not for sale.  People can write in them, underline their favorite parts, and leave letters for other people to find.  Henry has on-and-off relationship with Amy, but his best friend is Rachel.  When they were 15, Rachel left a letter for Henry, confessing her love for him, in the Letter Library.  He never responded to the letter, and she moved away for three years.  Now, Rachel is back in town and working at the bookstore.  She is reluctant to tell anyone what happened during the three years she was gone, but she and Henry pick their friendship back up.  And they both start to realize there could be romance there too.
 
Beaudry's Ghost by Carolan Ivey 3/5
Carolan Ivey is the pen name of a woman I know from my old church.  (Her real name is Carol Goodman.)  I knew she had a couple of paranormal romance novels published, but I'd never read one until now.  The writing was impressive, and the characters were interesting.  The storyline was a little hard to follow, and I noticed things in the plot that didn't make sense.  But paranormal romance isn't something I usually read anyway, so maybe I'm just not clued in.
 
The story is about Jared Beaudry, a Union soldier who was killed in the Civil War.  He's a ghost who wants revenge on the man who killed him in an undignified manner.  Taylor Brannon is a present-day Civil War reenactor who has a "psychometric ability" to get in touch with ghosts.  Jared takes over the body of another reenactor, hoping that if he can live through a reenactment of the battle in which he died, his soul will be satisfied and he will move on to the afterlife.  But then, a bunch of other spirits from the original battle, including the man who killed Jared, take over the bodies of reenactors and they don't know it's a reenactment.  And that's where it started getting confusing.  I just went along with it, and tried not to think too much about the things that didn't make sense.
 
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman 5/5
Eleanor is 30 years old.  She doesn't have any friends, and misses many social cues.  She works as an accountant and sticks to her routines.  Weekends consist of frozen pizza and enough vodka to get her through until Monday.  She accidentally starts a friendship with Raymond, the new IT guy at her office.  The two of them witness an old man, Sammy, falling on the sidewalk, and help him by calling an ambulance.  Sammy is very grateful and now Eleanor has two friends.  However, Eleanor is actually not completely fine, as she suffers from depression, brought on by her tragic past and upbringing in the foster system.  With Raymond's help, and the help of a therapist, Eleanor probably will be fine, eventually.
 
Why was the Partridge in the Pear Tree?: The History of Christmas Carols by Reverend Mark Lawson-Jones 2/5
This wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be.  I don't know if that's because the histories aren't that interesting or because the author didn't tell them interestingly.  I think the history of Good King Wenceslas was the most interesting.  I was starting to think that it would make a good book or movie, until I found out what happened afterward.  I don't remember the details, but it wasn't a happy ending.
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Flawed by Cecelia Ahern 4/5
I've enjoyed several of Cecelia Ahern's other books.  This is her first YA novel and it was really good!  It's pretty much in the same vein as The Hunger Games and Divergent, although this is less violent.  There's a weird, strict society in the future and a teenage girl accidentally stirs things up.
 
The society in this case is concerned with perfection.  If anyone is shown to make a mistake and have bad judgment, they are branded as Flawed.  Literally branded with the letter F.  The Flawed people have to live by different, stricter rules than everyone else, and everyone else looks down on them.  Celestine North is a perfect 17-year-old.  She is dating dreamy Art Crevan, the son of the head judge of the Flawed court system.  She believes what society tells her - that Flawed people are inherently bad so it's okay to treat them like scum.  However, in a moment of compassion, she helps a Flawed person, which is against the rules.  Now she too is Flawed and her world can no longer be the same.
 
Everything That Remains by Joshua Fields Millburn (and Ryan Nicodemus) 3/5
This book is written by The Minimalists (theminimalists.com).  My sister told me about their documentary on Netflix, so I watched that, and then I decided to read this book, one of their three.  It's not their first book, but it's the one they recommend reading first.
 
These two friends were successful in the corporate world, making lots of money and buying expensive things.  But they were unhappy.  Joshua broke out of that routine first and became a minimalist.  Ryan followed suit when he saw a noticeable change in his friend.  Their main message is that too much stuff keeps us from focusing on what's really important in life.
 
I think it's not a bad message.  It's similar to Marie Kondo, and only owning things that give you joy.  The Minimalists are always asking themselves if something adds value to their lives.  If it does, keep it.  If it doesn't, get rid of it.  They do this with material possessions as well as things like relationships and time commitments.
 
Some of the Goodreads reviews really ripped this book apart, mostly for the writing.  I can see where they're coming from, but I still liked it.  It's a message that I feel like I can apply to my life in my own way, not necessarily in exactly the same way as the authors, and I think that's how they intend it.  To them, minimalism just means not owning unnecessary, excess stuff.  Putting that into practice is going to look different for everyone.
 
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay 4/5
The best way to describe this book is to talk about how vulnerable Roxane Gay was in writing it.  She completely opened herself up and wrote about weight, self-image, various struggles she's had, and how people treat her.  She talks about being raped when she was twelve, and how that was a turning point in her life.  It affects her even now into her 40s.  I could relate to some of the things she talked about, but there were also many parts that made me realize how I could be more understanding of others.  Very compelling book.
 
Perfect by Cecelia Ahern 4/5
The continuation of Flawed (above).  Unlike The Hunger Games and Divergent, this isn't going to be a trilogy.  It's just these two books.  It's a good story, and I liked the conclusion.  The audiobook reader was perfect for the voice of the main character, and it's written in the first person, so that part worked well.  However, she was not very good at switching up her voice when other characters are speaking.  I think she tried more for the second book than the first.
 
Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus 3/5
This is a pretty short book.  It's like a follow-up to their other book (above), although they wrote this one first.  After you get rid of most of your stuff, or maybe as you're in the process, it's easier to start focusing on the things that really matter in life.  This book is about how to figure out what really matters.  I'm skeptical that two 30-somethings have figured out the meaning of life, but maybe they have.  According to them, there are five values to focus on for a meaningful, balanced life: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution.  I think all five of those are good things.  I'm not sure those are the ONLY five values to focus on.  Maybe I would add faith.  Or maybe faith becomes a part of each of those five in a different way.  Anyway, if I think about this book as listening to everything these two say and following their lifestyle exactly, I get annoyed.  But as a book giving me things to think about in order to have a more meaningful life, I like it just fine.
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Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum 4/5
This was a recommendation from my library back when I filled out the survey to get five book recommendations.  At the time, I saw that the audiobook is read by the same reader as another book I had recently listened to, and I was already getting tired of her voice.  When I needed physical books to take with me for jury duty, I remembered this one.  I'm glad I read the physical book because there was a lot of email, IMing, and texting.
 
Anyway.  The story is about Jessie, a teenager who has just moved to L.A. from Chicago with her dad.  She has to adjust to living in a new house with her new step-mom and step-brother, and she's really having trouble adjusting at her new school.  One day, she gets an email from Somebody Nobody, a person at her school who wishes to remain anonymous.  SN wants to give her advice about fitting in and who to be friends with.  Jessie and SN write back and forth a lot.  He refuses to tell her who he is, and she tries to figure it out, because they've become really good friends.  It's a cute teenage love story.
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The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro 3/5
Right after finishing the first book, A Study in Charlotte, I started this second book in the trilogy.  I like this modern version of Holmes and Watson.  I didn't score this one as high as the first book because the end was super confusing.
 
The story takes place shortly after the end of the first book.  (The first book was pretty much their fall semester at boarding school.)  This book takes place during their winter break.  Charlotte and Jamie spend their break together, first at Jamie's house and then at Charlotte's.  However, while at Charlotte's house, her uncle Leander goes missing, and they must solve the mystery of where he is and rescue him.  Leander was in the middle of trying to solve his own mystery about art forgeries in Germany, so Charlotte and Jamie travel to Berlin.  They figure if they can solve the art forgeries mystery, then they'll also find Leander in the process.  Keep in mind these are 16-year-old kids traveling around Europe and doing detective work by themselves, but whatever.  It's fiction.
 
And now I have to wait until next March until the final book comes out.
 
Running with a Police Escort: Tales from the Back of the Pack by Jill Grunenwald 3/5
I stumbled on this while on a sub shift at the library.  I saw in the upcoming events booklet that "This Cleveland librarian will be talking about her new book..."  I was intrigued because she's a local author, and she's a librarian, and she's a runner who is usually one of the last people to cross the finish line.  I thought I'd like to read her book and go to the author event.  I did both!
 
I liked the book, but not enough to buy it and have her sign it at the author event.  She writes about what her life was like before she started running, and why she started running.  (Jill's sister had sent her an email expressing concern for Jill's unhealthy habits.)  She wrote about getting started with running and building endurance.  Then she wrote about each race in pretty much the same way.  "I couldn't believe I signed up to do a [5K, 10K, half-marathon].  I thought it was going to be really hard, but I trained anyway.  Turns out it was really hard, but I finished.  And I was in last place."  The races had some differences of course, but it seemed repetitive.
 
I think part of the interest for me was that Jill lives in a Cleveland suburb, so I was fairly familiar with all of the places and landmarks she referred to.  I also like how she doesn't worry that she doesn't look like a runner, or that she's so slow at running.  That part is inspiring.
 
The author event was cool.  Not huge - about 40-45 people.  Jill talked about her story of running, which I already knew from reading the book.  Then she read an excerpt, which was neat to hear in her voice.  The best part was the Q&A because people asked questions that weren't answered in the book.
 
A Mile in My Flip-Flops by Melody Carlson 1/5
In choosing another modern Christian romance, I guess I got confused.  I thought this was the same author as the really good one I liked last month.  It wasn't.  Lots of annoying things in this book, but I was still prepared to give it 2 stars until the end.  Then the ending was really stupid.
 
The story is about Gretchen, a 32-year-old kindergarten teacher.  18 months earlier, her fiance broke up with her four weeks before the wedding.  She still hasn't quite gotten over it.  Now it's the end of the school year and she decides to spend the first part of her summer break flipping a house.  She knows exactly how to do this because she watches HGTV all the time and her dad is a retired contractor.  Her dad has some health problems so it turns out he can't help her much with the renovations.  Instead, he recommends she hire Noah to help.  Noah is a carpenter and a single father.  Gretchen's dad tried to play matchmaker six months ago and get them together, but she wasn't interested because he's too gorgeous (?) and also divorced.
 
Annoying things about this book:
  • There are tedious conversations going over every detail of a plan.  And tedious descriptions of taking care of pets.  I don't need to know every time she lets her dog out or feeds her dad's cats.
  • The timing of events seemed way off at the beginning.  Like saying school ended in a week, and today is Wednesday, but later, school ended on a Friday.  And she has six weeks to renovate the house - the first week is clean-up, then she takes a week off (on such a tight deadline?), but somehow she still has five weeks left.
  • Gretchen buys Noah's daughter some clothes so she can help at the house without worrying about getting her nice clothes dirty.  The new outfit consists of overalls, a t-shirt, and flip-flops.  And Gretchen buys flip-flops for herself too.  Why are these people wearing flip-flops while renovating a house?
  • How does Gretchen not know what a circuit breaker is?  Even I know and my dad is not a retired contractor.
  • Gretchen is really judgmental.
  • Gretchen's response to new information is always, "Oh."
  • Gretchen calls her best friend Holly to come RIGHT NOW and look at this house she wants to buy.  Holly can't come right this second because she has plans.  It's her father-in-law's birthday.  Gretchen gets angry and jealous about this.  She's seriously mad that Holly isn't available at a moment's notice.
  • At this point, I'm sure none of you are going to read this silly book, so I'll tell you the ending.  Noah secretly puts in an offer on the house, but he has one condition.  Gretchen goes to the house to talk about the condition with her potential buyer, and she's surprised to find Noah there.  Then he proposes marriage and she says yes.  While I believe it's possible for a whirlwind six-week romance to result in many years of wedded bliss, that isn't exactly what happened here.  They weren't dating or romantic with each other during the six-week renovation.  They had one semi-date when Noah offered to escort Gretchen to a friend's wedding.  But she wasn't even considering it a date.  And a couple weeks later they shared one kiss.  And the next thing you know, they're totally in love and engaged?  That's pretty far-fetched.
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My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick 3/5
I had listened to The Boy Most Likely To a couple years ago, not knowing that it was a second book that focused on different characters. This book was the first.  While I knew some of the events of this book before I read it, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of it.  It's about 17-year-old Samantha, whose life seems so easy and perfect.  Her mom is a state senator.  They have a big, luxurious house, and Samantha attends a private school.  However, Samantha isn't such a fan of her pristine world, and instead, longs for the world of her next-door neighbors, whom she watches from her bedroom balcony.  Her neighbors are a big family with eight kids.  They're always playing in the yard, swimming in their pool, and being generally noisy and rambunctious.  Then, Samantha meets Jase, the neighbor boy who is also 17.  They start dating, but she has to keep it a secret from her mom.  Then things happen that force everyone, especially Samantha, to make difficult choices.
 
I'd put this in the genre of teen romance drama.  It's a good story, and well-written.  The drama doesn't really come from the romance though. Samantha and Jase are basically perfect as a couple from the start. The drama comes from other events that happen to them.
 
Away with Words: An Irreverent Tour Through the World of Pun Competitions by Joe Berkowitz 4/5
Pun competitions are a real thing!  I had no idea.  I saw an article online about this author and his new book.  I thought it sounded really interesting!  And it was!  This book focuses mainly on two pun competitions: the monthly Punderdome 3000 in New York City and the annual O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships in Austin, Texas.  The two competitions have different structures, but the basic idea is that contestants have a topic and a time limit, and they have to come up with as many puns as they can.
 
One of the cool parts about this world of pun competitions is that there are contestants who are well-known in that world, and I was able to find YouTube videos of them competing.  So I could read about their stories and then also see them on YouTube.  
 
The Two of Us by Victoria Bylin 4/5
I read an advance copy of this book through NetGalley.  It's a contemporary Christian romance, which I was in the mood for, and this one was really good!  Mia is a 29-year-old nurse practitioner in Denver.  She's had two broken engagements and isn't in a hurry to meet anyone new.  Her 18-year-old sister, Lucy, calls her with the news that Lucy is pregnant and going to Las Vegas to marry her boyfriend, Sam.  Mia is shocked, but flies to Las Vegas to be the maid of honor.
 
Sam's mother was a police officer, but she died three years ago in the line of duty.  Sam asks his mother's former partner, Jake, to be his best man.  So Jake also flies to Las Vegas.
 
Then Mia and Jake meet and it's all cartoon hearts.  Except that Mia is planning to permanently join a medical mission group and she'll be sent to a different country for the foreseeable future.  So she tries not to get involved with Jake.  Plus, due to past relationships, she has trust issues.  But with her feelings for Jake and her commitment to the mission group, she is torn about what to do.
 
It's a book about wanting to follow God's plan, but not knowing exactly what that is, and about learning to trust.  I felt like the characters and story were relatable, and not eye-rolly.  I'm interested in reading other books by this author.
 
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro 4/5
Technically finished this book this morning (August 1), but I don't care.  I want to talk about it now.
 
16-year-old Jamie Watson is the great-great-(etc.)-grandson of Dr. John Watson, the friend and colleague of Sherlock Holmes.  Jamie is sent from London to a boarding school in Connecticut on a rugby scholarship.  There he meets Charlotte Holmes, the great-great-(etc.)-granddaughter of Sherlock.  When one of their schoolmates turns up dead, Jamie and Charlotte are the prime suspects, and they have to work together to clear their names.  Charlotte, like her ancestor, is already very good at noticing details and piecing clues together.  Jamie, on the other hand, is new to the business of solving murders.
 
I thought this idea for a modern Holmes and Watson was very clever.  The story is interesting too.  Some of the reviews on Goodreads are from people who already love all things Sherlock, and they tended to think this story didn't bring anything new to the fandom.  Maybe my perspective is different because I'm not familiar with all things Sherlock.  I've read some of the original stories, and I liked them, but I haven't watched the movies or TV shows.
 
This is the first book of a trilogy and I'm looking forward to reading more!
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May 2017

Stranger Than Fanfiction by Chris Colfer 3/5
I didn't realize Chris Colfer was an author!  He's Kurt from Glee!  Apparently, he also has a series of children's books.  This is a YA novel.
 
This book is about Cash Carter, a 22-year-old TV star, and four friends who have just graduated from high school.  The four friends are big fans of Cash's TV show, and they're very surprised when Cash takes them up on their (joking) offer for him to join them on a pre-college road trip.
 
All five of them have a secret that they haven't told the others, so of course, the secrets are all revealed by the end.  It was a good story.  The writing was fair, but not great.  I'm a fan of Chris Colfer, but maybe he wasn't the best choice as the voice for the audiobook.  There were too many times where it sounded like he was reading the book instead of acting the book.
 
The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion 3/5
Adam Sharp is a professional database architect and amateur pianist from England.  He and Claire have been together for 20 years, but never married.  They seem to have let their relationship drift into the realm of friendly roommates, rather than two people in love.  22 years ago, while working in Australia, Adam fell for a actress named Angelina.  A lot of the first part of the book is a flashback to show the time that they were together.  In the present, Angelina emails Adam out of the blue.  She is married to another man, but the emails quickly become flirty.  Angelina invites Adam to spend a week in France with her and her husband.  Then there are unexpected turns everywhere, and it all works out in the end.
 
This is the same author of The Rosie Project, and boy, these two books are verrrry different.  Where The Rosie Project was funny and charming, The Best of Adam Sharp is nostalgic, and full of characters making questionable choices.  I was engrossed in the story, despite the questionable choices.  The relationships were well-written, and the emotions were complex.  But if you read it, just don't expect The Rosie Project.
 
 
June 2017

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak 4/5
The Birch family is rarely all together for holidays anymore, especially since the older daughter, Olivia, is often away on medical mission trips.  It's almost Christmas, and she is about to return from fighting an epidemic in Africa, and has to be quarantined for seven days.  Her family decides to be quarantined with her, so they spend Christmas together at the old family estate in the country (somewhere in England).  The dad, Andrew, used to be a war correspondent, but now he reviews restaurants.  The mom, Emma, is dealing with a medical issue that she's keeping a secret.  The younger daughter, Phoebe, has just gotten engaged.  It's amazing how much happens to them and how many surprises they get during this one week of their life.  But that's why it's an interesting story.  I liked the format and how the secrets were revealed to different characters at different times.
 
A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams 3/5
This is a love triangle set in 1920's New York City.  Theresa is a married 40-something woman with a 20-something boyfriend, Octavian.  He wants to marry her, but she prefers their current arrangement, since divorce is so frowned upon in high society.  Theresa's brother is all set to marry 19-year-old Sophie, and it seems that Sophie is willing to marry him, until she meets Octavian and falls for him.  Octavian can't help but be swept away by Sophie too.  Throw in family secrets and a murder trial, and this is now quite a story.  I liked it, but I thought it got confusing near the end.  I understood how it all turned out, but the way it got to that wrap-up lost me a bit.
 
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 4/5
This is different from the books I usually read.  It's a suspenseful, mind-boggle of a story.  Jason has a happy life with his wife and teenage son in Chicago.  He is a physics professor at a small college.  One night, he is abducted and taken to an abandoned warehouse.  The next thing he knows, he wakes up in a lab facility and the life he knows is no longer reality.  His wife isn't his wife.  They have no son.  A bunch of scientists seem to know who he is, but he has no memory of them at all.  Jason has to figure out where he is, who he is, what is real, and how to get back to the life he knew.  Ultimately, it's about the choices we make, and how each choice, even small ones, shape our lives.
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The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer 2/5
I thought the premise sounded interesting.  The main character is on the run from her former employers.  She works hard to stay anonymous and sets booby traps in her house every night, in case they have found her and have come to kill her.  This has been her life for three years when one of her former co-workers contacts her.  He says they have one last job for her, and if she helps them, she will be free to live a relatively normal life with no one chasing her.  The book started off so well.  It was interesting and mysterious.  There was suspense for a while.  And then it went downhill.  A sudden, unrealistic romance was introduced.  There was way too much description of everything from emotions to what was inside a toolbox.  It got too long and tedious.  The mystery and suspense were gone.  Overall, it was just okay.
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One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak 3/5
A book of short stories by that writer/actor from The Office.  Some of the stories are very, very short.  Overall, they are creative and have an element of surprise.  I really enjoyed reading this.

Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman 3/5
I liked listening to this book read by Nick Offerman (AKA Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec.)  He's interesting and funny.  He told about his childhood and how he got started in show business.  He's also fairly vulgar.  I didn't realize that he's married to Megan Mullally, who played his ex-wife on Parks and Rec.  It's funny how in many ways, he's a lot like his Ron Swanson character.  He has woodworking skills and likes to be out in nature.
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Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple 3/5
Bernadette is a genius architect who hasn't created any buildings in a long time.  Her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, goes to a private school in Seattle.  The other moms of kids at the school think Bernadette is eccentric, but she didn't seem that weird to me.  Just kind of a recluse.  Which is okay for the most part, because her husband makes lots of money working at Microsoft, and Bernadette can hire out most of her tasks to a virtual assistant in India.  Bee starts planning a family cruise to Antarctica.  Bernadette has some altercations with the other moms.  And her husband thinks that maybe Bernadette needs to spend some time in a mental hospital.
I liked that this book made me care about Antarctica.  Honestly, I didn't even know that regular people could take a cruise to Antarctica.  I thought only scientists went there.  I wasn't a big fan of how most of this book is told through letters, emails, faxes, and other correspondence.  I don't mind that in some books, but not so much this one.  (For example, there was a part where two spouses were faxing each other, and I thought that was weird.  Why weren't they talking in person, or at least emailing?  This book isn't set in the past when faxing was common.)  Also, Bernadette was the best character, and, as you can tell from the title, she goes missing, so she wasn't even around for a big chunk of the book.  I mean, Bee is the main character, not Bernadette, but Bernadette was my favorite.  Anyway, it's a good story, clever, well-written.  The things that bothered me meant that I just liked it, not loved it.
Black River by S. M. Hulse 3/5
For my library internship, my supervisor wanted me to attend a book discussion.  I searched for one that was at a fairly close library branch, was being held at a time that I could attend, and would be discussing a book I was willing to read.  Also, bonus if I could find the book on the shelf at the library where I'm interning, instead of having to request it and wait.  This was the book, and I liked it.  The main character is Wes Carver.  He used to be a corrections officer at a prison.  About 20 years ago, there was a riot at the prison and Wes was held hostage and tortured by one of the inmates.  Now, Wes's wife has just passed away, so he's on his way back to their hometown of Black River, Montana, to spread her ashes.  Coincidentally, this is at the same time that the inmate from the riot is up for parole, and Wes has the opportunity to speak at the parole hearing.  It's not the kind of book I would have chosen on my own, and in many ways, it was very sad.  But overall, very well-written and thought-provoking.  I can see why it was chosen for a book discussion.  Also, going to the book discussion made me like the book even more, as we examined the character relationships and certain plot points.  It just got me thinking about it more than I normally would have.
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld 2/5
This is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in Cincinnati, and there was a lot that annoyed me.  The parts that I liked were the ones that were most true to the original book.  The modernized parts didn't improve anything, and usually didn't make any sense.  I didn't find much to like about Liz.  She's very pushy with her family, taking charge of things that really aren't her business.  For example, her parents are deep in debt, so it's clear to Liz that they need to sell their big house and downsize to something smaller.  But instead of letting her parents handle it, she gets a real estate agent and starts decluttering the basement herself WITHOUT TELLING THEM.  Liz doesn't even live there anymore!  Why is she getting involved?  And later, her actions are praised as an example of how she selflessly takes care of her family.  And her family was just the worst.  Only Jane was likable.  I liked Liz and Darcy together, but it was hardly enough to redeem the book.  Overall, I didn't think it was well-written, and the chapters were ridiculously short, often ending abruptly.  I guess the 2 stars are because at least it kept my interest.
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Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot 3/5
I finally got around to reading the last Princess Diaries book! (It is the last, right?) It was cute and I liked it. Not as funny as the earlier books, but maybe that's because Mia is 25 now. No longer a teenager. The books are so much better than the movies. I love Julie Andrews and all, but Book-Grandmére is a much funnier character.

Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer 4/5
It's difficult to describe what this book is about.  There are characters, and they do things, and things happen, but there isn't an overarching plot.  I guess it's a character-driven novel?  The characters are the Bloch family - Jacob and Julia, with their three boys: Sam, Max, and Benjy.  They live in Washington, D.C.  Jacob and Julia's marriage is rocky.  They are planning Sam's bar mitzvah, even though Sam doesn't really want a bar mitzvah, and neither Jacob nor Julia feel particularly religious.  But they are Jewish, and that's what you do when you're Jewish.  Jacob's cousin from Israel comes to visit.  While he's visiting, there is an earthquake in Israel.  The book is about the characters, and their relationships.  It's kind of sad, but beautiful.  Jonathan Safran Foer is an excellent writer.  I like character-driven novels when they're well-written.
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I didn't post for October or November because I didn't finish any books then.  I finished one in December.

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven 4/5
Libby is 16.  When she was 13, she was named "America's Fattest Teen" and had to be cut out of her house.  Now, she's lost a lot of weight, but she's still pretty big.  She's finally going back to school.  She is confident and excited and loves to dance.  Jack is 17.  He has prosopagnosia, which means he can't recognize faces.  No one knows this about him, except that he tells Libby.  They become unlikely friends, and then maybe more!  Kind of like a Rainbow Rowell book.  I really liked it.  Although I have no idea why it's called Holding Up the Universe.
[identity profile] hestergray.livejournal.com
I never got around to posting these two from September.  October has been a dud so far for books.  I've started a few, but now I'm kind of hooked on listening to podcasts instead.  So there might be no books in October.

Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris 3/5
I knew a little about Neil Patrick Harris before listening to this book.  Now I know a lot more, and he seems like a delightful person.  I knew he had hosted the Tony Awards one year, but apparently, it was four years.  I didn't realize he was so involved in lots of Broadway musicals and plays.  He even won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical in 2014.  After playing Doogie Howser, he had a difficult time breaking into other roles, but I'm glad he persisted and was able to do so.

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller 3/5
Overall, a pleasant book.  But also weirdly unexpected, with some plot holes that I could complain about.  Olivia (Livvy) leaves her job at a prestigious dinner club in Boston and goes to Vermont where her best friend Hannah lives.  Livvy ends up starting a new job as a pastry chef at an inn owned by an old woman named Margaret.  She also starts falling for Martin, the son of Margaret's best friend.  Based on the title, I was expecting Livvy to be like a fish out of water being in the country, but she really wasn't, so the first half of the book wasn't what I was expecting.  Then the story took a weird turn and the second half of the book became predictable and kind of cliche.

Even though the title says Livvy is a city baker, she didn't seem like a "city girl" to me.  She plays a banjo and grew up attending contra dances.  Her new employer, Margaret, gives her an old sugarhouse to live in, and Livvy thinks nothing of it.  It has to be heated by a fire furnace and there's a bathtub in the middle of the room.  (Although later they talk about how there's no indoor plumbing in the sugarhouse?  But she never complained about that.)  She has no cell service, and she doesn't find it at all frustrating or inconvenient.  She asks Margaret if she can get a landline in the sugarhouse.  Margaret says no, and Livvy doesn't even care.  Sometimes Livvy will have a thought like how she can't imagine growing up in a place that doesn't have any record stores.  But that's about as far as her city girl background goes.  The only thing that shocks her about small town life is how much gossip there is.

I still liked the book, but there were a lot of things that just didn't match up with what a character had said earlier.
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A Love Like Ours by Becky Wade 2/5
The third book in the Porter family series.  It's an okay Christian romance story, but for me, this one went over the edge of cliché and preachy.  This one is about Jake Porter (brother of Bo and Ty).  His childhood friend Lyndie moved away with her family when she was ten and he was twelve.  Now it's 20 years later and she's back in town.  Jake is the trainer on the thoroughbred horse farm that Bo manages.  Lyndie gets hired on as an exercise rider.  She and Jake start having feelings for each other, but Jake doesn't want to admit it because he is so closed off from anything that might make him happy.  He's so tall, dark, and brooding that in her mind, Lyndie refers to him as Tall, Dark, and Brooding, like it's a nickname.  I'm also realizing that these book titles have nothing to do with the story itself.  They're so generic, you could switch the titles around on the different books, and it wouldn't make any difference.  (The first two are Undeniably Yours and Meant to be Mine.)

Her One and Only by Becky Wade 3/5
The fourth, and final (I think), book about the Porter family.  This one was back on par with books one and two.  Mostly predictable, but still enjoyable.  Plus, this one had elements of a mystery to solve and some action scenes.  Dru is the fourth Porter child, and the only girl.  She is ten years younger than Jake, the youngest boy.  She's a very tough, no-nonsense kind of girl.  Like her brothers, she had been a Marine.  Now in her mid-twenties, she works for a security agency as a bodyguard.  She gets assigned to Gray Fowler, a professional football player who has been receiving threatening letters from a stalker.  The book is about solving the mystery of the stalker, trying to stay out of danger, and Gray and Dru trying to not fall for each other.  Overall, I liked it.  I'm interested in reading more by this author.

Side note: Dru had been mentioned in the previous books, and when I finally got to her story, I was expecting to learn what Dru was short for.  Like Drucilla or something.  But no.  I guess it's not short for anything.

All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes by Betsy St. Amant 3/5
This is a cute book - another light-hearted Christian romance story.  Kat is a 26-year-old, living in a small town in Louisiana.  She works in her aunt's bakery where they sell chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cupcakes.  On her own time, Kat experiments with lots of different cupcake flavors.  She longs to sell them in the bakery, but her aunt only wants to stick with the standard flavors.  (Why?  That makes no sense.)  Kat's best friend is Lucas.  He is the high school football coach.  They have romantic feelings for each other, but they're both too scared to do anything about it, for fear of ruining the friendship.  Kat is very insecure about everything because no one except Lucas believes in her abilities as a cupcake baker.  So Lucas surprises her by signing her up for a cupcake baking competition TV show.  The grand prize is a one-year internship at a prestigious bakery in New York City.  Kat agrees to do the competition because she wants to get out of small-town life.  Lucas didn't realize what the prize was when he signed her up, and now he's stuck because if she wins, she'll be out of his life for a year or more.  Oh, what to do...

I thought it was kind of adorable, even though there were a lot of elements that I don't think would happen in real life.  I get that they don't want to lose their friendship, but they're not teenagers.  She's 26 and he's 28, and they've been friends for ten years.  I find it hard to believe that neither of them ever even hinted at something more than friendship.  Also, I don't get why Kat's family makes her feel so worthless, especially since her father is a pastor.  I'd think they'd be more loving and supportive.

Take a Chance on Me by Susan May Warren 2/5
This story wasn't quite what I was expecting, so maybe the only okay rating isn't the fault of the book itself, but of my expectations.  I found this one at the same time that I started the Porter Family series, only this one wasn't available digitally and I had to wait for the CD version.  This is the first in the Christiansen Family series, and I was laughing when I saw all the titles because they're all songs that I know.  (This title is an ABBA song.)  I thought this would be a light Christian romance story just like the Porter family.  I think it was kind of trying to be a light Christian romance, but it had this dark undercurrent of past events that made it a bit of a downer.

The story is about Darek Christiansen, the oldest of six Christiansen siblings.  He is a widower with a 5-year-old son.  He lives in the small town of Deep Haven, Minnesota.  Ivy Madison comes to town as a new county attorney.  They kind of start dating, but they only have like three dates, and suddenly he feels like she's had such a huge impact on his life and he's in love with her.  The back of the book makes it sound like the entire story is about Darek and Ivy.  But no, there are actually two other main characters, Jensen and Claire, who I think have a more interesting storyline.  They're old friends who haven't talked in a while.  Jensen helps Claire with a project, and they start a little romance.

I'll probably try the second book in the series to see if it gets any better.  Maybe the next one won't be bogged down with super sad events.  (Not that books with super sad events are all bad, but it helps to have the right expectations.)

Foodist: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Dieting by Darya Pino Rose 4/5
I really enjoyed this book.  The author is basically saying that processed food is bad for us.  Instead, we should eat real food: vegetables, beans, eggs, fruit, meat, and cheese.  Vegetables are the best.  Sugar is the worst.  But she also says that you don't have to eat perfectly all the time to be healthy.  You can enjoy unhealthy things sometimes, but she recommends making sure it's quality enough to be worth the calories/fat/sugar/salt.  Good advice overall.  I also liked the sections on changing bad habits and adopting good habits.  She recommends making changes slowly, focusing on one or two changes at a time, until they become habits.  Then keep those habits and focus on changing something else.

Even though I liked the book, some things annoyed me.  I felt like she was judgmental at times, like looking down on people who don't practice mindful eating.  Also, she seems to assume certain things about people, especially people who want to lose weight.  For example, she talks about cooking a LOT.  She talks about how important it is to cook at home, and how anyone can learn to do it, and how it's not as daunting as it sounds.  She seems to think that overweight people don't/can't cook, and they eat at restaurants all the time, which isn't the case at all.  But I think she talks about it so much because for her, it was a game-changer.  She didn't really know how to cook before, and then she learned how to cook healthy things at home.  Well, it's possible to cook lots of unhealthy things at home too.  I'm not sure if she's thought of that.

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg 3/5
This book takes a look at relationships and communication, and comparing today's methods of romance to those of past generations.  It was really interesting, and funny because it's Aziz Ansari.  My only gripe is how he kept saying that I was lazy for listening to the audiobook instead of reading it myself.  I'm pretty sure he was just joking, but I didn't think it was funny.  Jokes like that usually contain at least a half-truth of a person's real feelings.  I found it insulting.  There are a lot of reasons people listen to audiobooks.  I don't think laziness even makes the list.  But other than that, I enjoyed the rest of the book.

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