I'm jumping the gun on this review a little bit. The book doesn't come out until February 5, but I really want to talk about it now, so here we are.
First things first - I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Now, on to the good stuff. I Owe You One is the latest book from author Sophie Kinsella. I liked this one. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads, but it was really more like 3.5 stars for me. Definitely better (for me anyway) than last year's Surprise Me, it didn't quite live up to my love for 2017's My Not So Perfect Life. Honestly though, the only thing holding me back from a higher star rating is that the book made me so mad at times!
Fixie fixes things (hence the nickname). She's a capable, reasonably intelligent doormat to her truly awful family. Seriously, these people are horrible. Her brother is a self-important ass and her sister is a vapid wannabe Instagram influencer who is quite possibly the most selfish character I've ever encountered in all of my years of reading. Fixie's biggest flaw is that she puts up with these people and somehow thinks she is inferior to them. I spent a good portion of the book yelling at her to just tell them off already.
Frustrating as it was at time though, this book has a great heart and a fun story that I did enjoy. Once it gets going (which was in a matter of the first few pages for me), you won't want to put it down. I highly recommend it to all lovers of rom-coms and anyone who has enjoyed Kinsella's previous work.
Friday, January 18, 2019
Thursday, January 17, 2019
A Regularly Updated Blog
Y'all, I don't know why but I just can't seem to get my shit together when it comes to keeping this thing updated regularly. I'm reading. I'm reading a freaking TON! You should see my nightstand (and my Kindle). I keep seeing that Marie Kondo meme going around on Facebook, you know the one:
and it cracks me up so much because, well, add an alarm clock (I'm old school... or just old) and a bunch of charging cables and that's my nightstand right now. Okay, always.
After not meeting my Goodreads challenge goal for the last few years, I blew through my list in 2018 and beat my goal by *drumroll please* 41 books. I had set the goal for 52 (a modest book a week) and ended up reading 93!
I get a lot of people in my real life that ask how I can keep up with all that and my answer is simple - I can't. I enjoy just about every book while I'm reading it. At almost 39 years old, with nearly 35 years of reading under my belt, I'm finally becoming one of those people who understands that you don't have to finish a book if you don't like it. So I can honestly say that I enjoy each book as I read it. That said, my favorites are the ones I can tell you about months later. If a book is just "meh" I won't remember much about it within a few weeks. That's actually one of the reasons I'm so thankful for Goodreads. It has saved me from a few re-reads over the years.
My list of favorites from last year is a LOT shorter than my list of books read. At the top is the one I spent all of 2018 recommending to like everyone I know. Seriously, I got annoying about it - Baby Teeth. If you like suspense and creepy kids, this is the book for you.
I also loved the latest Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child. And I've loved going through all the books in the Bosch universe, by Michael Connelly. I've got one left to go (and another season and a half of the show to get through) and I'm trying to stretch it out and savor it because I'm not sure when the next one comes out.
I thought Still Me, by Jojo Moyes was fantastic. I hadn't been such a fan of Me After You, but I feel like Still Me was the perfect end to Louisa's story.
I liked The Accidental Beauty Queen, by Teri Wilson a lot. It's mindless fluff, but who doesn't need that every once in a while? I miss what I think of as the golden age of chick lit a lot. Back in the mid to late 90s when we were all falling in love with Bridget Jones and Jane Green was just getting started with her fluffier books like Mr. Maybe and Jemima J (which, yes, I know, is problematic, but I can't help it, I still really love that book). The Accidental Beauty Queen (and to a lesser extent For Once in My Life, by Colleen Coleman) reminded me of those early books in a way that I haven't experienced in a long time. The last installment in the Bridget Jones series was so disappointing and Jane Green's books have gotten so much more serious over the years. These were a breath of fresh air.
I read all of Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes books and The Outsider this year and loved them. I'd gotten away from reading King over the last decade or so and I'm so glad I've found my way back. He's been one of my favorite authors since I was a teenager and he never ceases to impress me. His Twitter feed is also amazing.
Oh! I also finally read the Harry Potter series. I know. I know. I'm never going to be one of those people that lists them as their favorite books of all time, but I have to say, I'm glad I read them and I really enjoyed them a lot.
So those are my favorites for the year and hopefully I'll be back with more book recs before this time next year.
and it cracks me up so much because, well, add an alarm clock (I'm old school... or just old) and a bunch of charging cables and that's my nightstand right now. Okay, always.
After not meeting my Goodreads challenge goal for the last few years, I blew through my list in 2018 and beat my goal by *drumroll please* 41 books. I had set the goal for 52 (a modest book a week) and ended up reading 93!
I get a lot of people in my real life that ask how I can keep up with all that and my answer is simple - I can't. I enjoy just about every book while I'm reading it. At almost 39 years old, with nearly 35 years of reading under my belt, I'm finally becoming one of those people who understands that you don't have to finish a book if you don't like it. So I can honestly say that I enjoy each book as I read it. That said, my favorites are the ones I can tell you about months later. If a book is just "meh" I won't remember much about it within a few weeks. That's actually one of the reasons I'm so thankful for Goodreads. It has saved me from a few re-reads over the years.
My list of favorites from last year is a LOT shorter than my list of books read. At the top is the one I spent all of 2018 recommending to like everyone I know. Seriously, I got annoying about it - Baby Teeth. If you like suspense and creepy kids, this is the book for you.
I also loved the latest Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child. And I've loved going through all the books in the Bosch universe, by Michael Connelly. I've got one left to go (and another season and a half of the show to get through) and I'm trying to stretch it out and savor it because I'm not sure when the next one comes out.
I thought Still Me, by Jojo Moyes was fantastic. I hadn't been such a fan of Me After You, but I feel like Still Me was the perfect end to Louisa's story.
I liked The Accidental Beauty Queen, by Teri Wilson a lot. It's mindless fluff, but who doesn't need that every once in a while? I miss what I think of as the golden age of chick lit a lot. Back in the mid to late 90s when we were all falling in love with Bridget Jones and Jane Green was just getting started with her fluffier books like Mr. Maybe and Jemima J (which, yes, I know, is problematic, but I can't help it, I still really love that book). The Accidental Beauty Queen (and to a lesser extent For Once in My Life, by Colleen Coleman) reminded me of those early books in a way that I haven't experienced in a long time. The last installment in the Bridget Jones series was so disappointing and Jane Green's books have gotten so much more serious over the years. These were a breath of fresh air.
I read all of Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes books and The Outsider this year and loved them. I'd gotten away from reading King over the last decade or so and I'm so glad I've found my way back. He's been one of my favorite authors since I was a teenager and he never ceases to impress me. His Twitter feed is also amazing.
Oh! I also finally read the Harry Potter series. I know. I know. I'm never going to be one of those people that lists them as their favorite books of all time, but I have to say, I'm glad I read them and I really enjoyed them a lot.
So those are my favorites for the year and hopefully I'll be back with more book recs before this time next year.
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