Books Lately: January '17

January was a pretty good month in books for me.  I'm doing another reading challenge this year and am a book ahead of my goal of one book per week so far.  Here's what I read in January:

Everything We Keep, by Kerry Lonsdale

Aimee's fiance James disappears during a business trip to Mexico and instead of standing at the altar, she is attending a funeral for James.  She tries to move on with her life but she can't seem to grasp the fact that James is dead, especially when she is approached by a psychic who assures her that James is alive.  Aimee goes to Mexico in search of James and uncovers secrets that she wasn't prepared for.

This was half and half for me.  The beginning had a few good moments, but then it started dragging out when it took Aimee FOREVER to finally go and look for James.  It's basically a story about love lost and then found.  She goes through the whole "I'm a strong woman" phase where she opens up a cafe after her fiance's "death", finds a love interest who accompanies her to Mexico, breaks up with him and then feels guilty because she still loves her fiance.  That part was predictable to me, but all the secrets were what made it so good.  And the ending!  OMG.  The ending was great and had me wanting more!  Thankfully, I just found out that the follow-up book is set to come out in July 2017 and I've already pre-ordered it.

The Buried Book, by D.M. Pulley

Jasper is abandoned by his mother and left on his uncle's farm with a bible and an extra pair of clothes.  Jasper is only 9-years old and has so many questions as to why his mother left him and when she would be back.  He leaves the farm and sets off on his own to find her and is thrown into a world of crime and corruption and learns the dark secrets about his mother's past which have put her (and now him) in danger.

I thought it was really sad that Jasper had to grow up so quickly on his own and in the way he did.  It's heartbreaking enough that his mother left him without any explanation, then he had to see and experience so many bad things that a kid his age shouldn't have.  This was another really good book that kept me guessing at where his mother went and why and which characters were bad and which ones weren't.  So many twists and secrets uncovered and so much speculation surrounding his mother's disappearance are what kept me on the edge of my seat reading this.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo

Okay, I really don't feel the need to write a summary or review of this book because most of you already a) know what it's about; and b) know from my past few posts that I've already started using the KonMari methods.

The Original Dream, by Nukila Amal

Guys.  I tried so hard to like this book, I really did.  It is so beautifully written, poetic and lyrical.  BUT.  It was just so hard to follow.  I almost quit reading the book altogether.  In fact, I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up while I was still trying to get through this book.  The author tries to bounce in between the dream and the reality of Maya aka Maia (Maya is her real name, Maia is her dream name) and both versions are just way too hard to follow.  I get that dreams are weird and messed up and don't make sense sometimes, but after finishing this book (it took me about 2 weeks to get through just 274 pages) I'm still left scratching my head.  I gave it three stars on Goodreads just because of how beautiful some of the passages were.

 Spilled Milk, by K.L. Randis

Brooke Nolan and her siblings have been abused for as long as she can remember.  The thing is, she didn't know it was abuse until she was almost graduating high school.  How do you know something is wrong when you've never known anything different?  With the help of some very supportive adults and family members, Brooke finally speaks out to put an end to her family's misery.

This story was such an emotional read because of the sexual, emotional and physical abuse that these kids had to go through.  It is based on a true story, on the life of the author, which made me love her character even more.  The fact that she was able to suffer through and survive all of that is enough to inspire anyone to fight back against abuse and it sends such a positive message.  Even though her family wasn't very supportive or appreciative towards her for standing up to her father, she did it because she knew it was something she had to do for them.

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*P.S. If you can recommend any books that fit into those book categories above, please let me know since I have a LOT of blanks to fill!