Sometimes I don’t feel like writing a full review for whatever reason, either because life is busy and I don’t have time, or because a book didn’t stir me enough. Sometimes, it’s because a book was so good that I just don’t have anything to say beyond that I loved it! For whatever reason, these are books that only have a few paragraphs of thoughts from me.
The Distance Between Us by Kasie West – 3*
//published 2013//
I’ve read a couple of Kasie West books, and I really like them. They’re everything YA chick lit should be – fluffy, funny, a little bit ridiculous, and overall just happy. They aren’t full of ridiculous amounts of angst or sexual dilemmas, just straightforward little stories with likable characters. That said, this wasn’t really my favorite book, mainly because I got so tired of Cayman constantly assuming that she already knows what everyone is thinking/what their motivations are… and she’s wrong a LOT. Consequently, all the misunderstandings seemed like they could have been avoided easily if Cayman would just USE HER WORDS and have some conversations. Despite my aggravation with her at times, I still liked Cayman and basically everyone else as well. Perfectly happy for a one-time read, and I really need to delve into some more of West’s back catalog.
Elizabeth Bennet’s Deception by Regina Jeffers – DNF (#20BooksofSummer)
//published 2015//
I don’t usually worry about updating you all on DNF books, but since this was on my original list for my #20BooksofSummer challenge, I thought I would let you know that it was SO terrible that I didn’t even bother finishing! If you’re interested in the full rant, be sure to check it out on my P&P blog here. Meanwhile, I’ve selected another book to finish out the 20 Book challenge!
The Holiday Swap by Zara Stoneley – 3*
//published 2016//
This was a free Kindle book that I got a while back. This summer, when we’ve been taking the Zeppelin out for the weekend, I’ve been loading some super fluffy Kindle books so I have plenty of spares, and this one totally fit the bill. Two friends have two bad romantic situations and decide to switch homes for a few weeks. While I enjoyed this story while I was reading it, it didn’t really inspire me to find more of Stoneley’s books, and I don’t really see myself going back to this one. It was a little too heavy on the “finding the right man fixes all your problems” (and I say this as someone who is happily married), and so it ended up feeling like neither of the women really grew that much – they just switched out their loser boyfriends for nice ones. It also seemed like it ended kind of abruptly – this is definitely a book that would have benefited from a little epilogue from a few years later talking about how happy everyone is.
The Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Pamela Mingle – 3*
//published 2013//
Yet another book that I really wanted to like more than I did. While this was a perfectly pleasant sequel focusing on Mary, it was just rather unexciting. Lydia shows up with a new scandal trailing behind her, but somehow the story just didn’t quite click together. Many of the characters seemed rather stagnant, and I felt like Henry, in particular, was inconsistent. I did like Mary and it wasn’t a terrible story, but not one that I particularly see myself returning to.
My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse – 4*
//published 1919//
In my quest to read all of Wodehouse’s books in published order, this collection of short stories, many of which feature the Bertie/Jeeves combo, was next on the list. While Jeeves and Bertie made their debut in another short story collection (The Man With Two Left Feet), it is here that they begin to genuinely become the individual characters that are so beloved.
Overall, this collection was much more up to classical Wodehouse levels. While the Bertie tales were my favorites, there were some other solid little tales in this collection. This was the first collection where it felt like Wodehouse genuinely decided that all of this worrying about being serious stuff was really nonsense, and instead just embraced the joy of happy chaos.
Swamp Cat by Jim Kjelgaard – 3.5*
//published 1957//
It had been a while since I picked up a Kjelgaard, and this was another one that I hadn’t read as a youth – so apparently our library didn’t have it! From the title, I assumed that the story was going to be about a Florida panther or a bobcat or some other type of wild cat – but it was actually about a regular domestic cat! Of course, Frosty isn’t really a REGULAR cat, as he learns to survive, and thrive, in the wilds. He of course adopts a young man who lives off the land, and I quite enjoyed the parallel story of Andy and the beginnings of his muskrat farm (right??). All in all, this was a surprisingly engaging tale. I read it as a free Kindle book, but I would definitely like to add it to my hard-copy collection if I can find a copy.
The Aroma of Books 