A Snarky Reading Recap – June 2019

The last time I wrote one of these was July 2018. Which… wow. I needed the hiatus – I’m not sure I’ll ever find the words to explain how much I needed it, but I did. And now I’m back, and I couldn’t be happier. Reviewing books brings me so much joy. I really hope that comes through.

For those of you who have been around for a while, my rating system remains the same.

Let’s do this!

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A Snarky Reading Recap – June 2019

Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright

At the beginning of the month, I drove across the entire Midwest by myself, and this was what I listened to in the car, believe it or not. And I loved it. Jennifer Wright has such a neat, dry sense of humor when it comes to the unsettling subject matter of this book, and I found myself laughing out loud at parts. Plus, it was fun to update my parents during the drive by saying how much I was enjoying “the disease book.” I doubt I’ll do a full review of this one on the blog, but if you’re into well-researched history and a little gallows humor, this is a book you’d probably enjoy.

Rating: 4 dogs petted

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Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

I AM planning to review this one in full, probably in a month or so. Therefore, I’m not going to give too much away here. But here’s some background – I got a paper ARC of this book more than a year ago and finally decided to pick it up when I was feeling like reading a thriller. And boy, if you’re not super well-versed in the genre, you’ll probably like this one a lot. I found it to be a bit predictable. But I’ll get into all that when I review it on the blog.

Rating: 2 dogs petted

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All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick

If you had the chance to read my review, you’ll know that I love Kit Frick. And I’ve been missing Pretty Little Liars, and this filled a bit of that void for me. And I was stupidly surprised by the ending too! All good things!

Rating: 4 dogs petted

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A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey

I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author, and I found that I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much in any other format. Comey reads with feelings, and I found him to be a compelling storyteller. I don’t think everyone will love this – it was a fairly divisive set of events when it was happening, and I don’t think a lot has changed since then. But the retelling of it by Comey was well done, and I’ll be recommending it to people I think will enjoy it. I will not be writing a full review on the blog.

Rating: 3 dogs petted

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Parental Guidance by Avery Flynn

You’ll have to read my review on this one, because I enjoyed this romantic comedy so much. Squee!

Rating: 4 dogs petted

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Screen Queens by Lori Goldstein

I have a hard time rating this book, now that I’ve sat with it for a little while. The writing left something to be desired, but the plot and characters took over after a while and I got super invested. There were twists and turns and my stomach knotted with the unfairness of it all several times. Which is why. in thinking back on it, it sucks that the writing wasn’t totally up to snuff. In any case, you can certainly read my full review, but when I look back at it even a week or so later, I feel like this story goes deeper and is more important than anything I wrote in that post. This story needed to be told, definitely. And that’s what I’m going to stick with.

Rating: 4 dogs petted

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Game of Spies by Pamela Mingle

Meh. I wanted to like this – the Mary, Queen of Scots angle sounded so fun! But the writing and pacing weren’t on point at all. You can read the full review if you want the details.

Rating: 0 dogs petted

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I’m so happy to be back. Happy reading!