Bout of Books 22 Day 7 Wrap Up

Wow…. I can’t believe that Bout of Books is over already! It went by really quickly, but hey, at least I hit my goal of finishing Jack & Jill but James Patterson! I started on page 124 of this book at the beginning of the readathon and finished it on day 7 which means I read a total of 342 pages! I know some people may not see that as a lot but it’s a lot for me!

I hope you had a good time during this Bout of Books!

Bout of Books 22 Day 6 Wrap Up

GUYS I ACTUALLY READ A LOT ON DAY 6 I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

It may not seem like much to some people but compared to my progress so far in this BoB, day 6 was an amazing reading day. I started on page 240 of Jack & Jill by James Patterson and ended on page 363. Yeah, you read that correctly, I ended on page 363!!! I read 123 pages!! And I am only 103 pages away from finishing the book!! I am making it my goal today to finish this book before Bout of Books 22 is over.

Bout of Books Day 5 Wrap Up

Wow, day 5 was actually the worst reading day so far…. I only read 7 pages of Jack & Jill….. I made it to page 240…. I’m not setting a goal today since I know I won’t get much reading done. My goal is to read in all of my free time. It’s the beginning of a long weekend here in Canada, and a lot of people I know don’t have many plans which means they will want to hang out and take away from my reading time. Oh well, that’s just how life goes sometimes…

Bout of Books 22 Day 4 Wrap Up

Surprise, surprise, I did not reach my goal again but I was sooooo close! I started on page 194 of Jack & Jill and ended on page 233. I tried so hard to make page 238 but I literally fell asleep as I was reading, twice! I don’t really have a goal for today but I’m hoping to get around to page 300ish.

Hope you’re reading is going well!!

Bout of Book 22 Day 3 Wrap Up

I still did not read as much as I wanted to…. but I did read more then yesterday so I guess that’s a plus. I started on page 168 and ended on page 193 of Jack & Jill by James Patterson. That’s only 25 pages…. Le sigh….. My goal for day 4 is to read to page 238 which marks the halfway point of my book. Hopefully I read more then that but who knows anymore.

Hope you’re reading lots this Bout of Books!

Bout of Books 22 Day 2 Wrap Up

Well today was a worse reading day than yesterday, but I visited with family and went to The Eagles concert so I’m not too upset that I only read 14 pages. Still Jack & Jill by James Patterson, I read from page 154 to 168. Day 3 should be better though because I’ll be back home tonight.

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton

Title: Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe
Author: Preston Norton
Release Date: May 22, 2018
More information on Goodreads.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Disney Hyperion, for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was really excited to read this one! Jock and social outcast band together to make their high school a better place? Sign me up! It’s a little more complicated than that though. The jock, Aaron, has a near-death experience and believes that God told him that he needs the help of the social outcast, Cliff aka Neanderthal, to make their high school a better place.

Personally, I found the beginning a little rocky but I do understand why it needed to be that way. We get introduced to the characters and their way of life before Aaron’s accident. The beginning was probably my least favourite part about this book, but it get’s so much better from there!

Almost all of the characters seemed to have some sort of depth and personality to them, even if they were mentioned briefly. It’s a nice change because secondary characters can usually end up being pretty flat and predictable so that was a nice change. I also loved seeing all of the character development, or lack thereof, going on because it made the story feel more real. In real life, people don’t always change when something big happens, so it was nice to have a couple characters who didn’t really change when we would expect them to.

The outcome of this book and how things played out definitely took me by surprise, things did not exactly turn out the way I was expecting, but I liked it better that way because my current issue with most YA is that it is getting pretty predictable. It’s nice being thrown a curve ball once in a while.

I think my most favourite part about this book though is I finally understand, or at least have some knowledge, about what is happening in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is not crucial to see the film before reading this book, and I’m not even sure if I would recommend the movie (it’s really weird), but the movie plays a pretty significant role in this book so the decision is up to you. (I watched the movie a couple years ago, I did not watch it for this book.)

I apologize if this review is pretty vague, I really did not want to spoil anything and I’m almost positive I didn’t. But I HIGHLY recommend this book! It’s not very often that I give a book 5 stars, but this one deserves it. I feel like there is so much good content in this book, so much insight to ingest, that I will probably reread it in the future.

Bout of Books 22 Sign Up

Wow! Bout of Book is already on round 22? That’s insane! I think my first BoB was like 8 or 9? and I’ve only missed 1 or 2 since then so this is about my tenth Bout of Books!
Here’s the official what’s what about Bout of Books if you don’t know about it already.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

If you’re not already, you should follow me on either Twitter or Goodreads and also maybe Instagram since that will be mostly where I will be updating throughout the week. I will try do to daily updates on my blog but I can’t promise anything on May 14 and 15 because I will be out of town visiting family so I’m not sure how much time I will have to read/make updates. But I will try my best!

So far the only book that I want to finish is the book I’m currently reading – Jack & Jill by James Patterson. I’m currently on page 96 of 466 but I’ll be farther along once the readathon starts. Anything else I read during that week will be a bonus. I might try to focus on audiobooks since I can listen to those and do my other hobby, knitting/crocheting, at the same time.

Are you participating in Bout of Books? Let me know! We can support each other along the way!

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth

Title: The Family Next Door
Author: Sally Hepworth
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
More information on Goodreads

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was really excited to read this book. The story follows the lives of three women who all live in the same neighbourhood. They are all also keeping pretty huge secrets, and when a new neighbour moves in, their secrets are ready to burst free. I apologize for the short review, I was not a huge fan of this book so I do not have a lot to say.

The main story follows Essie, and to me, it seems as though the other 2 characters’ secrets were added to make the book longer and to break things up a little bit. I am not going to spoil anything, but the story probably would not have changed had the book just focused on Essie’s story. The other story lines were not as exciting and I found I would either stop reading or I would skim through their POVs. Which is probably why it took me so long to get through this one.

I think this type of fiction, “Women’s Fiction,” is just not my cup of tea and that is why I was not a fan of this one. Not that it was bad, just not the genre I enjoy. However, if you like “Women’s Fiction,” then you will probably like this book.

Sometime I Lie by Alice Feeney

Title: Sometime I Lie
Author: Alice Feeney
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
More info on Goodreads

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book follows the story of Amber, who is in a coma, and how she got there. It alternates between three different timelines, her current situation being in a come, the days leading up to how she came to be in a coma, and a diary from when she was 11 years old. This was one reason why I really enjoyed this book. The alternating perspectives helped hold my interest. If the entire story was told from Amber being in a coma, it would get very boring real quick.

With the different timelines came the different possibilities of how she came to be in a coma, and who doesn’t love a who-done-it? I definitely guessed that part wrong, and it kind of came as a shock to me, which was nice. There were also two big twists at the end that had me shook! I won’t spoil anything but I love twists and this one was pretty big.

As for the characters, they fell a little flat for me, not super dimensional but I also didn’t mind it that much since I feel like adding too much about who the characters are would lead to long, boring stretches which I would not be a fan of. Although, the ending definitely left room for a sequel so hopefully the characters would develop some more depth in a sequel. I would most definitely read a sequel.

If you’re looking for a fun read with some twists that will blow you away, definitely check this one out!