Recent Reads

horns what she knew the singles game the rocks book reviews

After Perfect, by Christina McDowell: This memoir recounts the author’s experience as the daughter of a lawyer who worked with Jordan Belfort (the Wolf of Wall Street). The family has everything, but it turns out that it’s all built on lies – and when it comes crashing down, she basically hits rock bottom. I feel bad saying this because she went through such a terrible ordeal, but I didn’t love this book. Even though it is an interesting and harrowing story, I just couldn’t really get into it.

What She Knew, by Gilly McMillan: A young boy goes missing and the novel follows the search. This was just okay for me…I was expecting more, maybe a twist or something? I read a lot of thrillers and books about people who go missing, and this just isn’t one of my favorites that I’ve read.

The Rocks, by Peter Nichols: This I loved. The Rocks was such a great, great summer read – not because it was light or fluffy, but just because the setting is SO evocative. I felt like I was in Mallorca, by the sea, could hear the waves…such a perfect backdrop for the story, which was great as well – unique and uniquely told (in reverse), it keeps you intrigued as things reveal themselves slowly throughout the chapters. The characters felt real, and it was beautifully written. I just loved it.

The Singles Game, by Lauren Weisberger: I would say this is the other kind of beach read – super quick and light, easy to get through, and keeps you entertained. Not much more to it than that.

Horns, by Joe Hill: This was definitely my favorite book of the bunch. I absolutely loved it and could see myself reading it again. It’s interesting, Joe Hill writes suspense, or I guess you could call it “horror,” but I saw a quote from him where he said all of his books are love stories. And it’s funny – under all the gore (I mean, only a little bit of gore) and scary and crazy stuff, at its core, this book is a love story. It was just so good – a truly original story, great writing, plus a total page turner, and full of emotion as well.

Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill: Another Joe Hill, which was definitely good, but I liked Horns a bit better. No reason really other than personal preference. This one is a ghost story and also very original and well-written….definitely a page-turner which I would recommend. My Dad absolutely loves this book and he’s the one that got me into Joe Hill, so thank you Dad!

Have you read anything good lately?

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  1. I love your book reviews. We should do a swap at our next date. xoxo

    Published 9.7.16 · Reply
  2. I’m sad to hear you weren’t blown away by The Singles Game. I have it waiting to read on my bookshelf but now I may have to skip it.

    Published 9.7.16 · Reply
    • York Avenue wrote:

      I wouldn’t say definitely skip it…it’s just more of a “chick-lit” book. And if you like chick-lit, I definitely think you’ll like it! I tend to like something that’s a little more “literary,” (or just a straight up thriller/mystery like Girl on the Train) which sounds so pretentious and snooty – not how I mean it! It was a fun and cute book, just nothing ground-breaking for me.

      Published 9.7.16 · Reply
  3. Dorothy wrote:

    Do you know I have been to Mallorca? So I must read about it, thanks! Can you guess when?

    Published 9.11.16 · Reply
  4. Virginia wrote:

    I so appreciate your book reviews!

    Published 9.27.16 · Reply