A Cozy Happy Life

Finding Happiness in the Coziest of Places

I’m Back!

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Well after almost 1 year, I am back using this blog to talk about all cozy things but mainly books! I have a new yearly goal for myself, 115 books this year, which I am blowing through! Is it weird to thank surgery and quarantine for my reading success? So quick update on my cozy life and what I’ve been doing since I last posted (I’ll blog about these in the next few weeks):

  1. I started reading advanced works and submitting reviews through NetGalley
  2.  I had neck surgery and am just now feeling back to my old self.
  3. I quit my full time job to run my business full time which was by far the most exciting thing to happen to me in a long time!
  4. Our sweet german shepherd Gunner passed away
  5. I’ve read over 100 books which means I have a lot of reviewing to do!

I’m excited to be able to get back into blogging so stay tuned for quite a few more posts! I missed you!

Erin

Review of Winter of the Wolf

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Winter of the Wolf by Martha Hunt Handler

WARNING THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!!

I’m so frustrated with this book! Winter of the Wolf was beautifully written and had me believing this would be a 4.5 star book for me. The writing starts out deep and thoughtful. The subject matter is beautifully handled and as someone who has suffered the loss of a loved one through suicide I appreciated that fact immensely. But then I hit the 85% complete mark and the book was close to ruined for me. It was as if the book was all of a sudden written by a different author and if not that then it just seemed like the author gave up and wanted a quick end. The depth was gone and I felt they almost made light of Sams death. All of the time and work Bean, her mother and Julie spent trying to find answers about the real reason for Sam’s death and we come to find out it was auto erotic asphyxiation. AEA is tragic in itself and I appreciate an author bringing attention to it but I felt it was completely out of sync with this book. And to have the family just seem to not care AT ALL that their son died in this manner was painful to read. They thought for 19 months that their son had died at his own hand, then learned that he accidentally killed himself instead and they all just accepted it instantly and happily. I would have been devastated if I’d found out my loved one had accidentally died, I wouldn’t just go hang out and have a meal as a family and pretend nothing changed. As a reader I became attached to these characters and felt their loss! That’s how well the first 85% was written but the last 15% made me feel I didn’t know these characters at all. I’m so disappointed. I will say I am sure my personal experiences with suicide caused my reaction to the end of this novel. I have spent years wondering what happened to my loved one and I bonded with Bean for her drive to try to find some answers because I can relate to that desire. I give this book a 2.5 because it had so much potential, however, with the casual acceptance of his death and the complete confusion of the last 15%, I can’t bare to give it a higher rating.

April and May Reading Wrap Up

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This is going to be a long reading wrap up because it’s covering two months and I happened to do a good amount of reading both months. I’ll plan to keep my mini-reviews extra mini and maybe do more full reviews on these books for future posts. Yes… I think that will work!

April:

I read seven books in April and I’m thrilled because it kicked off some good reading for May as well. Here are the books I read in April:

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer

This series is the first fantasy type series I’ve ever read. I absolutely loved these books. I think Marissa Meyer is fantastic at writing young adult fantasy novels. I thought the spin on Disney stories was genius and the way she tied these characters into those Disney stories was very creative. Winter wasn’t my favorite of the four books, I think because Meyer had to tie everything together with this being the final book. However, I would absolutely recommend this series. I will do a more in depth write up on the series soon!

The Dutch Wife by Ellen Keith

This book was fantastic. I’m really into WWII books right now and this was such a unique storyline. I had no idea that brothels existed in the concentration camps. It opened my eyes to added horror that existed during that time. I’ve already recommended this book to a few people. I think because it is so different than other books of the same genre this is a must read for everyone. 

Girls of Glass by Brianna Labuskes

My mom recommended this book to me. It touches on some difficult subject matter but the majority of the book it just a great who-done-it? I did NOT see the ending coming and I’m still shocked by who the bad guy turns out to be at the end. The characters are well developed and your heart just aches for all of them and what they’ve gone through as a family. I definitely recommend. 

Spilled Milk by K.L. Randis

Man-o-man talk about difficult subjects. I didn’t really know what this book was about but it had pretty decent kindle reviews so I thought what the heck. I’m glad I read this because I really enjoyed it but it was really hard to get through certain parts of this book. This covers incest between a girl and her father and shows how she was able to overcome. It’s a heartwarming story in the end if you can get past the icky stuff. 

The Things We Do for Love by Kristin Hannah

I will post a longer review of this book soon. I really enjoyed it but not as much as some of Hannah’s other books. The Nightingale is still my favorite book ever so maybe I hold her to a higher standard. I think this is certainly worth reading though. The two main characters are wonderfully developed and incredibly relatable. 

I’m Fine and Neither Are You by Camile Pagan

This just turned out to be an ok read. I liked the story well enough. It’s unique and unlike anything else I’ve read so for that reason alone its worth reading. This wouldn’t top my recommendation list but it was a nice book to pass the time. It was easy to get into and stayed interesting throughout. 

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

My sister recommended this book for me and I loved it. It’s a totally different take on war novels. I’ve read so many WWII books recently that my brain had a hard time recognizing this was actually WWI but that was more my brain’s fault than the author’s. I think this is a really unique story and again is so unlike anything I’ve ever read before. 

May

For the month of May I read nine books. How is that even possible I feel like I need to go back and double check that… yep nine books! That’s my best month this year so far! So exciting! Here are my May reads:

The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection started out as just a free kindle book that I downloaded on my IPad. I thought it sounded playful and fun which is a direction I sometimes go if I feel I’m hitting a reading slump. I ended up loving this book. It’s a little cheesy and definitely a young adult book, written for teenage girls. But hey, my heart still yearns for books like this from time to time. It’s a fairytale type of becoming a princess novel that turned into a series. I did order the full series so I’ll report back as I read them!

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

I didn’t realize this was a book until I happened upon it on audible. I’m ashamed to say that because I give people such a hard time who assume something is just a movie and I wish I could slap myself. This was a great book! It was difficult to read at times and made me think about what I’d do if this situation happened to me. I loved the book but my only critique is that I didn’t like how the author read it on the audible option. She is monotone and uninteresting and I felt like she was just reading from a page instead of telling a story. So that was disappointing. 

Misery by Stephen King

UGH this book. If you read my most recent post (tagged here) you will know of my struggle with Misery. I plan to do a more in depth breakdown of my thoughts because it was such a challenge for me to get through, but man this book had me disliking reading for a while. I did pick up after I published my latest blog so I was thankful for that. That being said, I do not recommend this as a first King book for anyone because I don’t think they will continue reading his books!

The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

This book also started out slow. I am working on a full review for this book too because I think it’s important to explain how much this book changed over time. By the middle of this book I was absolutely hooked. I recommended it to my family and friends and I think its a must read for the times we are in now. 

The Calculus of Change by Jessie Hilb

This book is written by a woman I went to high school with so I think I’d have a little more interest in it than others. She writes about a girl in high school and she writes about the school in a way that reminds me so much of the school we attended. I’m sure she pulled from what she knows! The book was well written and was deeper than I anticipated but I didn’t like how quickly the book ended. The main character’s problems are stretched out throughout the novel and then all of a sudden they end and are tied up with a neat little bow. Endings like that drive me nuts. 

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T Sullivan

Such a cool take on WWII writing. I had no idea this book was a true story and wow it made the whole thing more incredible. The afterward is important to read because it ties much of the book together. I begged a friend to read this once I started because I NEEDED a friend to talk to about this! There are so many times I just wanted to start yelling but no one would know why! I recommend this book as a must read for 2019. 

I am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll

This book was another free kindle read. I’m not knocking free kindle books because I have read a ton of really great ones! I just tend to think these books are advertised because they are less popular, not because they aren’t as good as others. This book had me wondering who did it the entire read. The author did an incredible job of pointing the finger at a number of possible culprits and I fell for it every time! The ending came together beautifully too! I would definitely recommend this.

Honeymoon in Paris by JoJo Moyes

This was more of a short story and I’m not sure if I should actually count it as a book, but Goodreads does so thats good enough for me! This story was just so so. It is a backstory on The Girl You Left Behind so I found it interesting but nothing to write home about.

What have You Done by Matthew Farrell

This book was dark but in a good way. I cruised through it because I had to know what would happen! Its a murder mystery that has you focusing on only one possible killer…. but the end will get ya! This is a book you could easily read in one sitting! It’s a perfect summer read.

Well if you made it through all of that you are a serious trooper! I will be posting some full reviews on some of these books shortly so stay tuned for that!

Erin

Struggling With Misery!

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What do you do when you struggle to get into a book you are reading? I very rarely don’t finish a book but I hate when one book slows down my reading momentum because I just can’t get into it. I never used to be someone who would read multiple books at once, other than maybe a paper book and and audio book. But currently I have four books open because I am so stinkin bored with two of them! One of the books is Stephen King and I absolutely refuse to give up on King! 

The King book I’m having issues with is Misery. It’s just not spooky and creepy like the books he usually writes. The creep factor is what I look forward to with King and so far this is just BLAH! I do have to say, I also had a few issues with Pet Sematary so I’m slightly concerned that maybe Stephen King just isn’t for me and that just is not ok! i have to be into Stephen King’s books… I just have to! Years ago I set a goal of reading all of his books and seeing how I probably own half of them I’ve gotta get more excited about him!

So heres the plan… I will read a little everyday so I don’t feel like I have to deprive myself of reading a book I like until I’m done with Misery. Then hopefully the next King book I pick up will boost me into a Stephen King obsession that I know must be waiting for me! I hope reading a bit at a time is good plan and not like a reading assignment in school because if that’ the case I will end up despising this book! Fingers crossed Misery picks up or I find a way to get through it! 

Did you like Misery? What do you do when you don’t like a book you’re reading but you just have to finish it?!

Erin

December Reading Wrap Up

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Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

Not my favorite Jojo Moyes novel. I think it was cute and a nice read but I was frequently bored and the ending was almost too “happily ever after” for my taste. I prefer realistic endings that lean towards the romantic side but ending that some together in a pretty package just bug me. They are so unrealistic and not relatable. I didn’t finish the other stories because I was over it but I still counted this as a read because Paris for One was the main portion of the novel.

The Witch Elm by Tana French

This one took me a while to complete. I was listening to this on audible and I think it was around 22 hours so it’s not shocking it took me a while. That being said, I liked this book. It was easy to listen to and the characters were well formed. I think the book was a little longer than it needed to be and contained parts that were probably not that important to the overall theme of the book. However, I love the relationships the characters build and overall the storyline is very interesting. The author does a great job of not making the outcome too obvious but instead makes you really try to figure out how-done-it the whole time. Overall, I’d recommend this for readers who like to try to solve the mystery as they go.

After You by Jojo Moyesd

I loved Before You so I was excited to read this. I was a little put off by Paris for One that I had read previously the same month but I heard great reviews and pulled this off the shelf. However, it took me a long time to get into this. My sister had read this and I checked in with her often to be assured it would pick up. It did, thankfully. By the end I really did like this book a lot. I plan to read Still Me soon but after the slow start to this one I’m a little less likely to pick it up anytime soon.

One Day in December by Josie Silver

This was easily my favorite read of December! I LOVED this book! It is incredibly relatable and I love every character in the novel. The relationships are realistic which I really appreciate. I found myself routing for certain couples over others and I have to say I’m thrilled with the ending. This books is sweet and not in a mushy way. It just an easy and wonderful read. It’s not necessarily a Christmas book, although many of the biggest scenes take place during December. But its just enough of a holiday love story that Christmas is just a fun time to read it. I don’t think you can go wrong with this book if you love love and awesome characters.

The White Christmas Inn by Colleen Wright

Ok this was a Hallmark Christmas movie in a book and I totally loved it. I’m such a sucker for Hallmark holiday films and to be able to read a book that was similar to one was so much fun! The relationships are well formed and adorable. Like the films, love happens more quickly than it typically does in real life but I suppose that’s the magic of the season. I recommend this as a easy book to get you into the Christmas spirit. I don’t think people who dislike Hallmark movies will enjoy it but for those who do it’s a perfect book.

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

I was so excited to read this book. I’ve picked it up numerous times and finally decided to listen to it on Audible. I was SO lost in the beginning because of how the sequence of events is written. Picoult starts at the end of the situation and winds back to the beginning as the book progresses. It’s a unique way to read it because you start to learn why certain things happened, but it does take a little getting used to. I thought the characters were relatable for the most part but there are a few you just want to smack! The subject of the book is very controversial and I think Picoult did a good job of showing the varying opinions and values of her characters. It lagged at times so it wasn’t one of my favorite books but I think she did a great job with a difficult subject matter.

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

Ooo what to say about this book! This book had me all kinds of confused. Not just because of what happens in the story but my emotions were all over the place. A lot of readers on Goodreads love this book. As those readers mention there are a lot of twists and turns and you’re always on your toes. I listened to this book and I wish I’d read it instead. There is one horrific scene that I’m sure is difficult to read let alone listen to someone say it out loud. It’s just awful and makes you cringe. I’m sure many people shuddered at the extreme detail and difficult nature of this scene.  The end is surprising but I didn’t dislike it as much as some. Overall, I think this book will be all over the map for different readers and the best option is to just read it and see what you think!

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