Category: What I Read

I had SUCH a great reading month. I really enjoyed the books… one book I loved SO much – like almost as much as some of my 2022 faves. It was light and fun and made me want to stay up all night and read. Now I’m looking forward to starting some holiday books for the season!

What good things did you read this month?

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here.

And you can follow me on goodreads here!

WHAT I READ IN OCTOBER 2022

Scandalized – 5 stars

I LOVED this book so much. It was the exact thing I wanted to read at the time. The story follows two friends who knew each other growing up, run into each other on a random night and sparks fly. It takes off from there and oh man I just loved.this.story. It is steamy, but it’s not cringey if that makes sense.

It Starts With Us – 4 stars

I loved It Ends with Us and I reread it a few months ago in preparation for this. I will say that this book is everything I wanted it to be – it starts right at the very end of It Ends With Us and moves forward fast. There isn’t a ton TO the book but I got the story of what I wanted. I did like it and was satisfied with the ending. I don’t think it needed to be written, but I totally appreciate it!

Drunk On Love – 3.5 stars

I just finished this one over the weekend and it was super cute. I love Jasmine’s books and look forward to them every year. The story follows Margot who has a one night stand only to show up at her business (a winery! how fun!) the next day and learn the same guy is their new hire. It’s cute and a light read and moves quickly.

Love On The Brain – 4 stars

Got this one in my October book of the month box and it did not disappoint! It has one of my favorite tropes – enemies to lovers – and the story follows two coworkers who do not get along but have to work on a project together. This is such a fun quick read – I didn’t love it as much as this author’s previous book The Love Hypothesis, but it did come close.

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Hi hi! Here for my favorite reading recap of the moth.

I had so many books I wanted to read in September and ended up reading only one on my list – with some other randoms in there too! It was a mostly good reading month. I enjoyed the books I read but didn’t LOVE them all. See below for details! What good things did you read this month?!

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here.

And you can follow me on goodreads here!

WHAT I READ IN AUGUST 2022

Lessons in Chemistry – 4.5 stars

Oh my gosh – a must read for sure. I loved it. This story follows two chemists in the 1960s, a man and a woman and the differences, discriminations and heartbreaks in their career paths. This one absolutely got me – it is heartbreaking but also so good and also really funny. It makes you root so hard for Elizabeth in the end. And makes you very happy we’re out of the 60s.

The It Girl – 4.5 stars

Looooved this one. I love Ruth Ware’s books and this one did not disappoint, plus I was feeling thriller-y. This story is about a group of friends at college – one of them ends up dead. Years later, it’s uncovered that the murdered may NOT be the murdered and ooooh it’s a good one. This jumps between past and present, which is one of my favorite ways to learn a story. There are so many twists in turns in this one too!

Things We Never Got Over – 3.5 stars

I’m so torn on this one! I did like the story, but I didn’t love one of the main characters. This follows a girl who leaves her fiance at the altar, escapes to her twin sister (who is “evil”), only for the sister to leave her with her niece that she didn’t even know exists. She meets a guy in town and a love story ensues – but I just didn’t love the love story! I had a hard time find Knox super likeable. I did however love Naomi’s niece!!

Tell Me Lies – 3.5 stars

I started watching this Hulu and it was one that I had never read! So naturally I downloaded and FLEW through it in two days. It’s different from the show in some ways for sure. The story follows a girl who meets a secretive guy the minute she gets to college – and she just can’t get away from him. They can’t get away from each other but he is not a great and they are even worse together. Once you start reading, you can’t stop. At the same time, I hated so many people in this book that I don’t know how much I actually LIKED the story.

The post What I Read in September 2022. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

This was a good reading month! There were some I didn’t LOVE but overall I’m glad I got through these all in August. I ended up reading a ton, I also went back and reread a few of my Colleen Hoover, Taylor Jenkins Reid and Emily Henry faves – it’s like comfort reading.

I’d love to hear below what you read this month!

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here.

You can follow me on goodreads here!

WHAT I READ IN AUGUST 2022

The Summer Place – 3 stars

Jennifer Weiner is always a go-to read for me every summer and has been for years. This story follows a family wedding happening in Cape Cod. Tons of family drama, confusion, misunderstandings. I love Jennifer’s writing so much but this story was a little outlandish for me. It was still a good read, but the entire time I was like “no this isn’t possible” and “this is not happening” – ha!! Parts were slightly frustrating but I still enjoyed the overall story and ending.

It Happened One Summer – 2.5 stars

Oh man, I am really on the fence about this one. It has such great reviews but it missed the mark a bit for me. The story follows Piper, a socialite who ends up being sent to a small town that her father was from. She is sent by her stepfather after she throws a massive party, her sister tags alone, and it is a cute story about how they will survive in this little town. It is a romance, but the romance scenes are what I just couldn’t grip. It almost seemed like the two characters turned into different people during the scenes – it was very graphic and cheesy and cringy – like it almost reminded me of scenes from that movie The House Bunny. Ha! Overall a cute story, but the romance scenes lost me.

Hook Line and Sinker – 3.5 stars

This is actually book #2 from the one above and I enjoyed it more! This story follows Piper’s sister from the book above. I thought it was a little deeper and I did enjoy it – the sex scenes were no where near as cheesy. I liked the storyline for both and generally found it interesting – it’s about alaskan kind crab fisherman, so I found myself googling about that at like 3am after reading. This also has so many tropes I enjoy – friends to lovers, etc. I loved both of these characters more than the main ones in the first book.

The Last Housewife  – 4 stars

I read this after listening to the author on the bad on paper podcast. The story follows a girl who ends up revisiting a (very!) traumatic past and dealing with the fall out from it. There are tons of trigger warnings for this and a lot of the book is suspenseful but disturbing. It’s not usually the kind of read I enjoy but the writing it SO GOOD and I actually liked it. I just couldn’t read it in the dark… for real.

Summer Love – 4 stars

We know I live for a Nantucket novel! This story follows four strangers who rent basement rooms in a hotel and start a friendship – then reunite 25 years later at the same hotel. I got hooked early on and read this quickly, it was a great summer book. Highly suggest if you’re a Nantucket lover and still in beach/summer mode for a few more weeks.

The post What I Read in August 2022. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

It was a lovely little reading month! I LOVED two books and really really really liked the other two – overall great. I still have so many left on my TBR list this summer! This time of year is so exciting in books and I looked forward to reading every night.

You can find some mini reviews and thoughts on the books below. And in case you missed it, I shared my summer reading list here.

I’d love to hear below what you read this month!

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here.

You can follow me on goodreads here!

WHAT I READ IN JULY 2022

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – 5 stars

Oh my gosh, I loved this so so so much. I had heard it was good but I was blown away with how much I loved it and could not stop reading. And it’s about video games! The story follows two people who went to college together and end up creating a hugely popular video game. So heart warming and heart breaking and everything. I cannot recommend this one enough.

The Bodyguard – 4 stars

This was a fun read and I always love this author’s books. The story follows a girl who is assigned to be the bodyguard for a famous (hot!) actor – someone like Ryan Reynolds, etc. It’s a little predictable but also a fun and cute read. Moves fast and you want to see what happens next, always rooting for the love story.

The Anthropocene Reviewed – 5 stars

I read this on a whim and absolutely loved it. I don’t think it can be classified as a memoir, but it’s basically John Green reviewing ALL sorts of things, like scratch and sniff stickers, different foods, teddy bears, video games, etc. It’s amazing. His storytelling is incredible and this is so interesting and hilarious at times.

Flying Solo – 4 stars

Really enjoyed this one too! Her previous books is one of my favorites so I was excited to read this. The story follows a girl who is cleaning out her aunt’s estate and finds some treasures with a few mysteries attached. It’s very cute and a light easy read. I liked it so much.

The post What I Read In July 2022. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

It’s summertime and my all-time favorite reading season. There are SO many good books out right now.

We had a doozy of a month at the end of April/start of May, and by the time I got to my book post, we were more than halfway through the month. I decided to combine everything into one post, so this is what I’ve read since April. Oooh lots of good reads here.

You can find some mini reviews and thoughts on the books below. And in case you missed it, I shared my summer reading list here.

I’d love to hear below what you read this month!

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here.

You can follow me on goodreads here!

WHAT I READ IN APRIL & MAY 2022

By The Book – 3.5 stars

I love everything Jasmine writes and am pumped to get two (!) books from her this year. So this story is actually described as a modern day retelling of beauty and beast. The story follows Isabelle who works in publishing and gets assigned to work with a nightmare author. The premise is super cute and it’s one of my favorite tropes. I will say that I didn’t love this quiiiite as much as her other books, but it was still great.

Part of Your World – 4 stars

Enjoyed this one so so much. I also love everything Abby Jimenez writes. The story follows an ER doctor who ends up having a fling with a hot younger carpenter (I like this trope too) – but is it really just a fling? I love how Abby’s books are always light and easy to read (in a good way) but also have a TON of depth here. This book deals with emotional/mental abuse and deeper issues, but is still incredibly enjoyable and lovely.

One Night On The Island – 3.5 stars

I was super excited about this one and ended up… just not doing it for me. It was good and I enjoyed it more towards the end, but I just didn’t end up loving the story. Parts of it were a bit odd. The story follows a dating columnist who takes a trip to an island – and ends up in a double booked room with someone else. It had a slow start. There wasn’t much spark for me!

The Good Left Undone – 4 stars

This was my first Adriana Trigiani book and it won’t be my last. Admittedly, I am not very into historical fiction. This was SO good though. I absolutely loved it. The story follows a family in Italy and spans generations. This family is incredible and I loved reading the detail. The writing is phenomenal. I can’t wait to go and read more of her books.

Wahala – 3.5 stars

This book is crazy. The friends are nuts! The story follows a group of friends in London and another friend comes into the picture and things go haywire. I didn’t like this as I read it but then liked it after I finished. It was a bit of a thriller and you just didn’t know where things were going to end up. This kept me on my toes and I did end up liking the ending.

Book Lovers – 5 stars

Words can’t express how much I loved this one. I loved Emily Henry’s books from day one of Beach Read. And I can now say that this one is my fave of all three. The story follows a literary agent who has a connection with a grumpy editor and most of the story takes place in a Stars Hollow-like town. If you’re a book freak like I am, the description of all the book stores and reading in this will warm your heart. Book stores are my favorite place! This is one of my favorite reads of the year so far!

The post What I Read In April & May 2022. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Can’t believe we are through the first quarter of the year! I have SO many books I want to read but seem to be stuck at about four per month for the moment. My TBR list is huge right now. I am so very excited because next month my summer reading list drops and I cannot WAIT! It’s my favorite season for reading and the books are getting deliciously wonderful.

Also – ugh guys I dropped the ball on our book club the last two months! I promise to return next month. I am juggling so many balls and that one fell!

I’d love to hear below what you read this month!

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here.

You can follow me on goodreads here!

What I Read In March 2022

The Club – 2.5 stars

This was a costco purchase for me, ha! Every now and then I feel like a thriller and this one was a bit crazy. The story is about an exclusive club that opens an island resort and things go very wrong. It picked up a bit towards the end but otherwise it was fairly slow and just wacky. Not very believable, and not in a super fun way.

The Unsinkable Greta James – 4 stars

I enjoyed this one so much. Made me want to go on an Alaskan cruise! The story follows a musician who has a meltdown that goes viral – and finds herself on a cruise with her father after her mother dies. This story was everything I wanted – lighthearted and emotional and so good. I didn’t love Conrad as a character, but still really loved this story overall.

Olga Dies Dreaming – 4 stars

I ended up liking this one a lot too. It was a big slow for me to get into. If I would have had longer chunks to read, I think I would have got into the story quicker! It follows a wedding planner diving into her family’s secrets, which sounds a bit light but this novel has an incredible amount of depth. It gets into the history of Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria which I didn’t know – and while hard to read, I did enjoy.

The Wedding Veil – 4.5 stars

I was SO excited when I realized Kristy Woodson Harvey’s latest book was out at the end of March! She’s become one of my favorite summer reads but I secretly love that her books release in the spring. I admittedly am not the biggest historical fiction fan but I flew through this so fast and really enjoyed it. The story follows four generations of women with a family heirloom of a wedding veil. I LOVED these characters. They were so fun and this was so fun to read. I think it’s my favorite book of hers yet!

(This is not sponsored but there are a few bookshop affiliate links above! Thank you for reading!)

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I had a pretty good reading month even though we had a busy month. I am ALWAYS in the mood to read but man, I really had to prioritize it a few times this month to get in some time. I liked everything I read and really loved one of them.

This is the time of year that I start getting really excited for all of my favorite authors’ summer novels that will come out soon. Looks like there are going to be a ton of fantastic books. It makes me want to reread all the Elin Hilderbrand and Emily Henry books! I might do one or two this month if I find I have the time. Those books are such feel-good ones for me this time of year.

I’d love to hear below what you read this month!

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here.

You can follow me on goodreads here!

And you can join our secret facebook group here for the book club!

What I Read in February 2022

Black Cake – 5 stars

Absolutely LOVED this one. I could not put it down. The story is a family drama, but in a different way: a woman dies and leaves a voice recording for her children. That recording tells a story and there are tons of twists and you just want to keep reading and figure everything out. I enjoyed this so much and sped through it – it’s one of those books that made me want to stay up all night. It can be a little tricky to keep up as it does switch POV quite a bit, but it is so so good.

Reckless Girls – 4 stars

I liked this one a lot – I really loved The Wife Upstairs last year and I also read this after reading the book above, hence my 4 stars. But this was good too! The story follows a couple who meet two women and are hired to sail with them to a mysterious island. Definitely creepy with twists and turns

The Seat Filler – 3.5 stars

This was cute. The story follows two people who meet when Juliet is a seat filler and ends up next to a heartthrob celeb. The author actually wrote this book after meeting Adam Driver! I really loved the story and the characters – it was a fun, light read and super quick too. I usually enjoy everything Sariah Wilson writes.

Last Girl Ghosted – 3 stars

I was in a thriller mood and reached for this one, which I had on my fall reading list. The story follows a couple who meet through a dating app, but the guy completely disappears. I liked this but whoa, it was dark and kind of crazy. I wanted to scream at Wren for chasing after him. It lost a bit of speed for me halfway through. Still somewhat of a page turn though!

 

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Ahh! I’m a month late and finally sharing my reads for the last two months. These past two months have been quite possibly the busiest/fullest time I’ve ever had in my life and I just couldn’t get to my list. Better late than never… again. I’ve still been reading and almost always choose reading in my downtime over anything else, but never got to put up my mini reviews here.

Now, I did read mostly holiday books this past month and even in November. I unapologetically love them as they just heighten the spirit for me. And I’m really glad they are becoming more of a thing.

Also, I completely dropped the ball on my goodreads list this year. At some point midway throughout the year my kindle disconnected from my goodreads account (it has always automatically synced what I’m reading and finishing, which is incredible) and I never went in and fixed it. Not sure if I will go in and manually add all my books, but I may just start fresh now this year with 2022’s reads. You can follow here if you’d like!

P.S. you can also join the book club! We have the instagram and secret facebook group here. All of the book club interactions have really been taking place in the FB group!

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here. I’d love to hear below what you read this month!

What I read in November & December 2021

The Holiday Swap – 3.5 stars

Alll the christmas reads this month! This was a cute read. The story follows a chef who is a judge on a cooking show in LA and her twin sister who still lives back home in the mountains. The chef loses her sense of taste and smell (ha!! hits a little too close to home right now, right?!) and asks her twin to switch places. I liked the love interests even though the stories were predictable and it was cute. Kind of Hallmarkish but what else can we expect from a christmas book! If you love holiday stories, it may be a good one to add to your list for next year. I just compare every holiday book to the Winter Street series and have high expectations.

The Santa Suit – 4 stars

I really enjoy Mary Kay Andrews books so was super excited for this. I enjoyed it but I also love anything Christmas, so that helped. The story follows Ivy who is recently divorced and buys an old farmhouse. She finds a note in the closet with a santa suit and decides to follow up and see if what the note says ever happened and came true. This was so cute and I kept thinking of Gilmore Girls/Stars Hollow with the town. It is a bit predictable and reminded me of a Hallmark movie which I don’t usually go far. Slightly cheesy but still cute and a good holiday read.

A Season of Second Chances – 5 stars

I LOVED this book! It’s one of our January book picks too! The story follows Annie who decides to leave her husband after years of infidelity and ends up becoming guardian of a historic home. Kinda sounds similar to the above, right? Ha! I loved the characters in this, it was just the kind of feel good read I was looking for. The friendships are amazing and I love Annie’s sons too. It’s a good one.

How To Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days – 3.5 stars

This is SUCH a cute book. It’s super light and funny and enjoyable and good if you want to escape for a bit. The story follows Lu and her best friend who decide to try to find Keanu Reeves and get him to call off his wedding because Lu thinks she is perfect for him. I mean it sounds absolutely nuts to write out but it’s a cute adventure. I don’t know much about Keanu at all but you don’t need to be a super fan to follow. I loved the ending as it’s one of my favorite tropes of all time, I don’t want to spoil it much more. It’s a fast read if you need something fun to binge-read!

A Magical New York City Christmas – 3.5 stars

NYC at christmas has always been one of my favorite places. While reading this I got Home Alone vibes in 2021, even though they talk Eloise at the plaza which I never got into. The story follows Sabrina who stays at The Plaza for work – not as a guest. But she meets a guy at the bar and pretends to be a guest who can afford it. The guy is not what he seems either and it’s just filled with lots of NYC christmas feels. Super cute read, light and enjoyable. I loved the ending too.

(This is not sponsored but there are a few bookshop affiliate links above! Thank you for reading!)

The post What I Read in November & December 2021. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Ahhh another better-late-than-never book update!! I read some good ones last month. It looks like I’m holding steady at about three or four books a month since Jordan was born. Still doing most of my reading at night and even sometimes in the middle of the night when I feed him – I should go back to sleep but I get sucked in and keep reading! This is my life, prioritizing books over sleep. Ha.

I am super excited for reading these next two months – there are SO many holiday books out. If you haven’t seen my fall reading list, you can find it here!

Let me know what you’ve been reading down below!

P.S. you can also join the book club! We have the instagram and secret facebook group here. All of the book club interactions have really been taking place in the FB group!

You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here. I’d love to hear below what you read this month!

WHAT I READ IN OCTOBER 2021

The Ex Hex – 4 stars

This book was too cute! It was perfect to read in October – a little Halloweeny if you will. The story follows Vivienne who puts a spell on an ex boyfriend that breaks her heart. They reconnect nearly a decade later and it appears that the hex worked. It’s a super fun, feel good and fun read. Not sure if I’d be totally into it if it wasn’t Halloween season, but that really helped. It made everything extra festive! Would love to know if you read this.

Apples Never Fall – 4 stars

This was our book club pick for October! I really liked it. Oh the family drama! Her characters are just SO good. It took me a little while to get into it but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. The story follows Stan and Joy, a married couple with 4 children. Joy disappears and all signs point to Stan. Halfway through until the end of this book was pretty crazy.

Christmas In Peachtree Bluff – 4.5 stars

Oh oh I was so excited to read this. Full disclosure, Kristy Woodson Harvey offered to send me this book when I shared my fall reading list on instagram. I was so pumped. I LOVED it. I am such a sucker for holiday books, which is funny since I don’t love Hallmark movies, haha. The story has lots of family drama and a big hurricane in Peachtree Bluff (sort of gave me Elin/Winter in Paradise vibes!) and I loved the ending. It was so heart warming. I think this might be my favorite Peachtree Bluff book yet!

The High 5 Habit

I love Mel Robbins. She literally got me through the first few months of the pandemic when she went live every single day in the afternoon. I love her attitude, her story, and how she doesn’t come off as gimmicky self-help. She is just very real and relatable. I listened to this on audible and enjoyed it so much!

(This is not sponsored but there are a few bookshop affiliate links above! Thank you for reading!)

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