life_full_ofbooks's reviews
2518 reviews

This book sounded so intriguing to me because I love books that are set on reality tv shows. The premise sounded great, however it wasn’t executed well at all.
Olivia Martin never wanted to be famous while that’s exactly what her on again off again boyfriend, Chuck Walsh, wants. Both of them are broke and Chuck is on Hollywood’s “Hard to Work With” list. When a video of their latest breakup goes viral and they are approached by the producer of Name Your Price, Chuck jumps at the opportunity. All they have to do is survive living together for an entire month. If they can do it they’ll both win a million dollars. Olivia needs the money, but is it worth all the stress and aggravation?
I really wanted to like this, but I just didn’t. I felt like the set up for the plot was over the top, the middle dragged along, and the end cleaned up far too nicely. In addition to that, I forgot myself rolling my eyes and sighing annoyingly more times than any book should cause.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced copy of this. Name Your Price hit the shelves on July 30th.

This has been on my TBR for quite a few years and I finally decide it was time to move it off. I thought this was very cute and it kept giving me very strong vibes of Harold and the Purple Crayon and Where the Wild Things Are.
Milo is a little boy who is bored by everything. When a tollbooth mystery appears in his room one day, he drives through it not expecting much of anything and ends up in a land complete different from home. He meets a ticking watch dog, a humbug, and Kakofonus A. Dischord, the Doctor of Dissonance. He even helps a conductor named Chroma color the world. All of these meetings happen on his way to fulfill the mission he’s given to find and set free the princesses Rhyme and Reason. During his journey he learns life really isn’t boring if you look at it in a different way.
This book is really quite fun and with all of the symbolism and motifs throughout I imagine it would be a really fun book for to teach.

Eliza Levinger has had a tough ten years, ever since her Mom passed away when Eliza was 16. Now, she’s sitting shiva for her Dad when her late mother’s sister, Claude, gives her a letter. The letter is from her mother and Claude explains she had strict instructions not to give Eliza the letter until her father passed away. The letter is a bomb that upends Eliza’s life and has her questioning everything she once believed to be true.
This was a cute book but it didn’t really move me the way I expected it would. I liked Eliza well enough but I really didn’t like many of the supporting characters. I found myself so annoyed with her best friend, her boss, and her brother and that really put a damper on how I felt about the rest of the book.

Wicked (the musical) is one of my top 5 favorite musicals but I’ve never had a desire to read the book it’s based off of until I saw the movie. I spent the last three days listening to the audiobook and all I was left with was overwhelming disappointment.
Wicked takes us through the life of The Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba Thropp. It’s written to be a political allegory and does a great job at covering racism, classism, and what happens when the masses let a person of power think for all.
I was really expecting this to be like the musical (minus the songs, of course) and it wasn’t at all. It’s actually a completely different story and while there were several parts I liked, there was more I didn’t.
I enjoyed Mr. Maguire’s writing style and his creativity, but I feel like he completely missed the point of humanizing The Wicked Witch, which I thought was the objective of this book. All in all I’m glad I read it, but I definitely prefer the musical version- and not just because of the songs.

This is, by far, one of the sweetest books I’ve read this year! Marianne Cronin certainly has a gift of writing feel good books with sweet characters and the best friendships!
Eddie Winston is 90 years young and has lived a wonderful life and while he has loved before he’s never been kissed nor has he kissed anyone. Having been a linguistics professor at Cambridge in his youth, he’s now spending his older years working in a thrift shop sorting through people’s old memories and rescuing the ones he believes mattered to someone. 24 year old Bella comes into the shop to drop off a box and ends up gaining a friend in Eddie. When she discovers he’s never been kissed she makes it her mission to help Eddie find the one who is meant to be his first kiss.
This is the second book of Ms. Cronin’s and it’s just as magical as The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot. Featuring a beautiful friendship many generations apart, a story that will bring tears to your eyes (but not in a heartbreaking way), and a glimpse into the past, this book is essentially a hug for your heart.
I truly hope Ms. Cronin has another book in the works because the world needs more of her writing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for an advanced copy of this. Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love hits the shelves on December 31st.

This is one of the best and most important novels I have ever read. Listen, I’m not going to lie, this is a very hard read, but it’s also a very important one.
Aviva Gat takes us from the atrocities of October 7th through Day 220- May 13th. We follow the journeys of 6 different people- a hostage, a Nova survivor, a soldier, the head of the military, the wife of a terrorist, and an 18 year old Harvard student through the 220 days of hell. Each POV offers something a little different and together they comprise the entire picture.
While this book is a novel, everything in it is complex true. All of the news articles and speeches are actually real (I Googled) as are the places around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
I loved this book not only for the captivating story but also because it was like coming home. Ms. Gat’s descriptions of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were spot on and it made me miss my beautiful Israel more than I normally do.
I know this will be a hard read for some people- some because it feels like it’s too soon and some because they don’t want to believe this is actually happening- especially the parts that take place in Gaza, but this is a book that needs to be read and discussed and shared around.
Thank you so much to the author for an advanced copy of this. The Kindle edition of We Will Dance Again hits the shelves on January 14th while the paperback version was published in November.

Horror is not my genre so when my 18 year old asked if I would read this since she picked it for her AP Lit project, I balked. After a short deliberation, I decided this would be a great way to break out of my comfort zone of historical fiction and rom coms, and told her as long as I could get it through the elibrary I’d read it. Much to my surprise it was available, so I kept my word.
I went into this not knowing what to expect and I have to admit, I actually loved it. It kept me interested and had me gasping at moments throughout. I hate horror movies and while the book played out in my head I kept thinking, “If this were a movie, I’d be closing my eyes and screaming.” Honestly, the book wasn’t as scary as I expected it to be, but it was a lot more entertaining, and the fact that I didn’t have to put it in the freezer is a plus (#iykyk).

I thought this middle grade book was cute. I really enjoyed how the reader learns about Hanukkah along with Holly and I thought the Parent Trap vibe was cute, but a tad unbelievable.
While this wasn’t the best holiday book I’ve ever read I think it’s a great book for the middle grades, which is clearly the target audience. I greatly appreciate the authors trying to give characters that most kids can relate to in terms of how holidays are celebrated nowadays.

As I’m getting older I find myself really loving books with older female protagonists. I am not a grandma yet nor do I work full time, nor am I an empty nester but weirdly I found myself relating more to Jodi in this than any of the younger women.
I loved how spending time with Macallan was Jodi’s top priority and I really enjoyed the antics all three grandmas found themselves in. I found the overall story to be just ok, though. Certain things didn’t add up the way I would have liked them to.

“The hardest thing about aging is how quickly it happens and how slowly it occurs.” - Stanley Tucci, Taste

Stanley Tucci has written another amazing memoir. One would think reading what is essentially someone’s food diary would be a bore but quite contradictory, What I Ate in One Year is fascinating. The entries Mr. Tucci writes takes us through a year of his life using food as the vehicle. Some of the entries are just about what he ate and how he liked (or disliked) it but others are more in depth covering topics such as the death of his first wife, his cancer, and other aspects of his life.
This is such a unique way to write a memoir and much like his first memoir, Taste, this will leave you craving both good food and more of Mr. Tucci’s anecdotes.