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2021 End of Year Book Survey

Although, I always do a full review of each book reading year. I ran across this fun annual survey originated by the Perpetual Page Turner thanks to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl who hosts the Top Ten Tuesday weekly. I love that it allows me a different way of looking at my reading year so of course, I had to participate.

2021 Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 128 plus
Number of Re-Reads: about 10
Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary Romance Continue reading “2021 End of Year Book Survey”

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2021 Book Year in Review

If anything defines my reading this year, it is contemporary romances and classic film biographies. I binged both like there was no tomorrow.

Unfortunately for the contemporary romances, they all blended together after a while, so that I don’t have strong memories of most of them. This makes me a bit sad as I was especially looking forward to reading this years’ releases from authors, Sally Thorne, Sarah Hogle, Beth O’ Leary and Emily Henry. I did like their books, but none of them stood out to me in the sea of contemporary romances.

I suppose the good news is that I far exceeded my reading goal for the year which was set at 80 books, based on previous years’ accomplishments which hadn’t exceeded 85 in several years. But in 2021 I read over 125 books. Continue reading “2021 Book Year in Review”

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Book Review – Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish by Bethany Turner

SUMMARY

While competing on a national cooking show, the well-liked Southern chef Hadley Beckett has several bad experiences with bad-boy  star chef Maxwell Cavanaugh who has a very public melt-down.

Months later, Hadley is the culinary world’s most popular super-star and Max is persona non-grata when the two are paired together for a new series. Continue reading “Book Review – Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish by Bethany Turner”

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Top Ten Tuesday – My Most-Read Authors

Today’s Topic: Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By

Hosted by: That Artsy Reader Girl

This certainly is an interesting choice for this week’s topic. It could be assumed that most read author would also mean favorite author. However, this is not necessarily the case.

There are authors whose book count is high for me, but my reading tastes have since changed and I no longer care for their writing style or subject. Then there are authors who I adore, but who don’t release new titles as frequently as others, so obviously aren’t on this list.

In any case, it was interesting researching my reading history. I was surprised by some of these numbers!

I have chosen my favorite of each author’s books to feature as a visual.
Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday – My Most-Read Authors”

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2019 Book Year in Review

Well, 2019 was a slower year for me as far as reading goes. Compared to last year’s triple digit stats, I only read about 75 books. Due to some life changes I didn’t have as much time to read as I have in the past. But I’m not complaining.

For the first time ever I was part of a book club in 2019. I was only able to attend three times unfortunately. But because of this I read books I might not have otherwise; The Wedding, The Quiet Game, The Getaway Girls. I also participated in an online book club. The book choice was Charlotte Bronte’s Villette, which I didn’t like nearly as well as Jane Eyre. But I did enjoy discussing it with others online. Continue reading “2019 Book Year in Review”

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Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Took a Chance On

Today’s Topic: Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside of My Comfort Zone

Hosted by: That Artsy Reader Girl

Hmm…it’s not often that I wander outside of my preferred genres or reading comfort zones. So I tweaked this week’s prompt a bit. Instead I’m sharing books that I took a chance on.

Basically, these are books that I didn’t know much about. Books I chose because I fell in love with the cover or maybe the back blurb caught my interest. Generally, they are by authors I’d never read before or I had not read any reviews about them prior to picking them up.

My choices for this Top Ten are recent reads that I really enjoyed. No sense including those that were a bust, right? Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Took a Chance On”

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Book Review – Falling for You

SYNOPSIS

Famously beautiful model Willow Bradford is taking a temporary break from her hectic schedule to work as the innkeeper at her family’s small-town bed-and-breakfast. She was enjoying the peace of her hometown, Merryweather, Washington, right up until she came face-to-face with Corbin Stewart, the man she loves to hate. A thoughtful rule-follower by nature, Willow threw caution to the wind four years ago when she entrusted her heart to Corbin–and suffered the consequences when it all fell apart.

Former NFL quarterback Corbin is forceful, charming, and accustomed to getting what he wants . . . except where Willow Bradford is concerned. Unable to forget her, he’s never stopped regretting what happened between them. When their paths unexpectedly cross again, he’s determined to make her give him a second chance.

When a decades-old missing persons case finds Corbin and Willow working together, they’re forced to confront their past and who they’ve become–and whether they can risk falling for one another all over again. Continue reading “Book Review – Falling for You”

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Book Review -Written in the Stars & Written in the Dust Duology

SUMMARY 

No one is happy about beauty queen Brooke Landgon’s return to Hope Canyon, Arkansas, least of all Brooke herself. Not her old friend Holly Christian, nor Holly’s friend Hunter Pierce, and definitely not Brooke’s first love Gatlin Moore. But after her marriage fails and her grandmother dies leaving Brooke her house, return she does. Brooke has a lot of fences to mend in Hope Canyon, but she would rather hole up at her grandmother’s house and ignore everyone. But that’s almost impossible in a town this small.

Holly is dealing with her own wish to hide after her fiance dies without telling anyone he had broken up with her. She just can’t tell the truth about the town’s golden boy without hurting everyone. So she strikes an odd bargain with her estranged childhood friend. She will give Brooke a place to stay and help Brooke while she fixes up her grandmother’s house if Brooke will act as a buffer for all the well-wishing citizens of Hope Canyon.

But these two ladies are as different as chalk and cheese. Not to mention, there are two men harboring some long-simmering feeling towards these two opposites. Hunter has always been in love with Holly, but was the third wheel in a lopsided friendship with Holly and her fiance Chad. While Gatlin is still boiling mad at Brooke’s abandonment of him years ago.

It’s amazing what the return of a prodigal can stir up in one small town. Change is on the horizon for four people who have forgotten how tight the past can tie people together. Continue reading “Book Review -Written in the Stars & Written in the Dust Duology”