Ten books for the month of May. Eleven if you count reading my own book for the final time before release 🙂 Doing pretty good about expanding my book topics. I read a lot of nonfiction this month. I’m finding that I like nonfiction a lot more than I thought possible. What are your favorite nonfiction reads?
Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight
This was a dirty, dirty book. haha.
Everyone said the plot was dump and it was only sex – but I don’t agree. The plotline wasn’t bad. A little cheesy at times, maybe, but there was a logical progression of events.
The one thing I wasn’t a fan of was some of the character “growth.” It might be the part of me that doesn’t like to read romance, but I didn’t like how they slept with the girl and all their trauma was healed.
But not an awful read.
Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
I enjoyed this book. It was witty and I loved the banter between characters. And the Warewolf bits were really well thought out. The characters were also well-rounded and had interesting problems to deal with. And they dealt with them in a realistic way.
My only complaint was the story didn’t really have an arc. Things happened and they were connected along the way, but there wasn’t really a through line or rising action.
I enjoyed it though and tore through it quickly.
Recursion by Blake Crouch
My favorite read of last year,so I did a second read to try and dig a little deeper.
First, still amazing. Loved the suspense just as much as the first time around. And the characters were still great.
This time around I was paying more attention to the how of the book. And I really loved the way the timeline was so fluid. It made so much sense with some of the underlying themes and it told the story in a beautiful way.
I do wish he’d spent a little more time on character relationships and showing the affection. I think the pace of the story didn’t leave any room for a breath and a happy moment.
Still a great read though.
The Anatomy of Genres by John Truby
This book held so much amazing value. I ran out of sticky notes to mark the important bits.
He breaks down every genre in their own chapter with examples and tips and tricks and tropes.
This is a book that will sit on my desk and be used over and over again.
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
This book had a lot more science in it than what I’m used to. I couldn’t always follow what was happening because of it, but overall the story was good.
I felt like there wasn’t enough emotional connection to any of the characters. Logan and his sister, I could understand because of the upgrade thing, but I met his wife and daughter for about thirty seconds and felt like we were supposed to like them and care about them way more than I did.
A good premise though, so I’m not mad
Reclaim You Author Career by Claire Taylor
I’ve been learning a lot about the Enneagram from Claire Taylor and I backed her kickstarter for this book. And it has been incredibly worth it.
Thi has been the most enlightening personality type research I’ve done so far. And I really like how she applies it to our own writing career and also to our characters as well.
This was the first of what is sure to be many reads of this wonderful resource.
I’m No Philosopher but I’ve got Thoughts by Kristen Chenoweth
A quick read from our favorite Good Witch. Read by her in the audiobook so it was even better.
She had some great insights into life and making choices. She also had little side notes of wisdom that I really enjoyed.
This book made me cry. More than once. And I wasn’t expecting that.
But it was really good and a perfect way to fill an afternoon.
This One Wild and Precious Life by Sarah Wilson
This book was very well-written and well researched. A good companion for My Conscious Closet about how we can do better and be better for our planet.
I enjoyed her life stories and felt the emotion in her words when she went through her motherhood struggles.
It got a little repetitive, but I think she did that on purpose. Everyone should read this book and do a little to help the cause and maybe our grandchildren and their children won’t live on a dying planet.
The Mist by Stephen King
A quick King read for a change. It was eerie and got right to the point.
But then it dragged for a while in the middle. Maybe to build suspense. But it felt too wordy. And a character choice in there was a little off and threw me out of the story for a minute.
The action packed ending wrapped it up nicely. But I do wish we’d gotten a little better explanation of what had happened. Like a future newspaper article or something to sum it up?
Another solid month of reading down. For my favorite read, I have to go with Reclaim your Author Career. Check in next week to see my deep dive thoughts.