This was a great reading month for me. I will stick to reading one book every week as I have finally perfected my night routine. I have my dinner, go on TikTok for a quick laugh, skincare routine and read roughly 100 pages every night before going to bed. I use Libby so most of the books are electronic and roughly 700 pages. By Sunday, I am usually done with the book and share a recap on my Instagram stories! Follow me there for weekly recaps as I only share detailed monthly book recaps on the blog end of the month.
Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan and Jodi Picoult ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I am sorry but loving Jodi Picoult is my personality! This book was co-authored by Jennifer Finney Boylan and Jodi but you could not tell, it was well done and seamless.
Olivia McAfee, a single mother, is raising Asher after leaving her physically abusive husband. Lily, the murder victim, moves to Asher’s town with her mother to start a new life. Everything changes when Asher is accused of violently murdering Lily.
I did not see the HUGE twist because it changed the entire tone of the book and my murder theory! I just wish that the person responsible for Lily’s death faced some repercussions!!
If you are familiar with Jodi Picoult books, you know that she always tackles ethical dilemma issues in her books. For some reason, I felt that this particular book was a little too preachy and did not feel like a fictional book but rather a research piece.
Olivia McAfee is a beekeeper but I felt that there was too much information about bees, honey and beekeeping. There was even a mad honey reference (the title) and honey recipes.
I would still recommend Mad Honey if you enjoy court drama and murder/mystery.
I have to admit it took me a while to realise that Asher’s lawyer was the Jordan McAfee from her other books. Jordan was the lawyer in Nineteen Minutes, The Pact and Salem Falls. I love the Jodi Picoult universe so much.
If you want to read Jodi Picoult, I would always recommend Nineteen Minutes! I think that is Jodi’s best work.
The Club by Ellery Lloyd ⭐⭐
The most boring thriller novel I have ever read. A group of rich people belong in an exclusive luxury club, think of The Wing and during the opening of the latest club few members die. In my own opinion, this is the worst Reese Book Club recommendation after Daisy Jones and The Six!
I did not enjoy the writing, the plot lacked the suspense of a mystery novel. There were too many characters introduced in the first half that I lost track of who is who. Everything felt so confusing and I hated going back and forth trying to understand the plot. There were too many POVs to grasp the storyline. It was so hard to keep up with the POVs because they all sound the same. Everything was so slow and the murder reveal was so meh! I was not a fan!
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book was a reminder that luck and opportunity plays a huge role in success. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about education but lost interest in some chapters. The plane chapter did not appeal to me.
I still loved this book because so many chapters stood out to me. I really enjoyed the ice hockey case study. It reminds me of Asher Fields, the main character in Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult who was also an ice hockey player. This is a sport you start to learn when you are a toddler. The eligibility cut off age for ice hockey reminded me of a chapter I read in Rachel Sherman’s book about affluent housewives in New York. These rich women plan to give birth so as to plan for their children’s kindergarten enrollment.
If you loved Outliers, I would also recommend reading The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students by Anthony Abraham Jack. Back in 2020, I mentioned that this is one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. Feel free to read my 2020 recap of the book.
Anthony Jack also talks about success and how your background affects how you navigate college! It really is the small things like office hours and networking that affects one’s college experience. I think this is a very important book that tackles inequality in elite colleges! Anyone interested in pursuing a career in education should read this!
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud – DNF
I started this book and did not finish. I stopped 50 pages in. This year, I need to stop reading books that I do not enjoy but keep telling myself it will get better. Four words: great gowns, beautiful gowns!
Beautiful Bastards by Christina Lauren ⭐⭐⭐
This felt like the Fifty Shades of Grey wattpad version! The boss and the new MBA intern start gallivanting together! The entire time, I could not help but think about the lack of HR and corporate etiquette! Long story short this is definitely a spicy read! Beautiful Bastards was not a romance novel! It was an erotic novel!
The Wife Between Us ⭐⭐⭐
I had high expectations for this novel! The story did not feel original. A rich man in finance divorces his old wife for a younger woman – tale as old as time! After the divorce, Vannessa is obsessed with the new young woman her ex-husband is planning to marry. Vannessa stalks her replacement to stop her from marrying her former husband.
The first reveal surprised me and I did not expect that! This completely changed the tone of the book and how you perceive all the characters. I enjoyed seeing the progression of Vanessa’s marriage to what led to the divorce and what role each member played in the relationship ending. The reveal at the end was so meh and felt super rushed. I do not understand why the reveal was in the last chapter and executed like that. It was so unbelievable and felt like another average thriller novel.