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I’m back with another round-up of some of my most
recent reads, and I’m so excited to share that this month I actually
hosted my very first book club in person!!! I’ve been enjoying sharing
my reads here on my blog and on my
Instagram account,
and a follower commented on one of my posts that I should start up a
local book club! I loved the idea so I put some feelers out, picked a
book and a location, and we just had our very first meeting
on Tuesday
of this week! I had almost SEVENTY people email
me that they were interested in joining, and just under 20 girls showed
up to our meeting. Who knew there were so many book worms like me out there ;) We had a great time meeting some other locals,
sharing some laughs, drinks and apps. We kept the book discussion
pretty low key, not a structured formal discussion
since there was so many of us and we were spread out among two
different tables, but the overall consensus was everyone LOVED the book
and loved meeting up with some other locals, so we are going to be
continuing to meet-up! If you are local to the Philly suburbs and are interested
in joining shoot me an email at
mygirlishwhims@gmail.com.
We met up this week at
Paladar Latin Kitchen in King of Prussia – they
have such yummy drinks and appetizers, it was the perfect spot for a
night out.
I’m already brainstorming our next book and
location, please let me know if you have any suggestions for either (do
you know how hard it is to find a spot to fit at least 25 book worms?!
Hah!)
Anyway…here is the round-up of the past few books I’ve read and my thoughts on each!
By Ruth Ware. Synopsis from Amazon:
What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English
countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful,
compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.
Leonora,
known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer,
unwilling to leave her “nest” of an apartment unless it is absolutely
necessary. When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years
unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an
eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly
agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a
hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead.
Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?”, Nora (Lee?) tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora (Lee?) must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.
This was the book that I picked for our first book
club meet. I picked it because it is written by the same author who
wrote “
The Girl in Cabin 10” which I read and LOVED and the movie rights
were just sold for it to Reese Witherspoon’s
movie production company, so it should be turning into a movie soon as
well! This book was supposed to be a thriller, and I was definitely
freaked out from it at times. There is one scene in the book late at
night where the characters are all investigating
a noise in the night and I LITERALLY got goose bumps and was scared
reading it. I get SUPER freaked out by scary movies, but if a BOOK can
actually give me goose bumps, that’s really saying something!
Overall, I liked the
mystery and thrill of the book but I got very frustrated at how
unrealistic some parts of the book were. Some of the characters seemed a
little too petty and unrealistic…it’s hard to describe
without giving away any spoilers but the main motive behind the crime
that happens in the book seemed so DUMB and unrealistic to me, so I was
frustrated when we eventually learned what that was. There is a scene
almost at the end of the book too where in
typical “horror movie” fashion a character falls ploy to the obvious
villain and I’m like…CAN YOU BE ANY MORE STUPID?!? Hah. Anyway, ranting
aside, besides a slightly unrealistic storyline I still overall really
enjoyed the book and would recommend reading
it, but I 100% think that “The Girl in Cabin 10” was a better book.
This was actually the FIRST book that Ruth Ware wrote, Girl in Cabin 10
came afterwards but that one became popular first. So, read Girl in
Cabin 10 first, and if you like that style of
book this is definitely one you should add to your list as well.
By Paula Hawkins. Synopsis from Amazon:
