Mid-month Wrap Up

I've been delayed in getting up this post but as I'm somewhat in a slump, I've not had that many books to tell you about. You may have noticed I didn't post a May TBR- I am trying to mood-read in an effort to get out of my slump.

I read/listened to Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I would definitely recommend the audiobook as it is a full cast and it helps since the book is entirely interview scripts. This was a story of a young messed up singer who joins a band and together they become a huge sensation. Just as they reach their peak, the band breaks up. These interviews help explore why and from many different perspectives. This band felt real, these characters jumped off the page. I wanted to hear these songs they were writing. I loved this book. I gave it 5 stars!

Next I read A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum. This was a multi-generational book about Middle Eastern Muslim women being stuck in undesirable positions and fighting for a better life. It was heart-breaking, illuminating, and angering. The book was split in two timelines, alternating between them each chapter. Sometimes it was repetitive and I was somewhat displeased with the ending, but overall a good read that I rated 4 stars.

Then I picked up a highly anticipated novel: Women Talking by Miriam Toews. This is based on set of true circumstances about a small sect of Mennonite women in Bolivia who were being drugged and raped by male members of the community. The book is an imagined response from those women. Firstly, this book is just a bunch of women sitting around a barn talking about their three choices: do nothing, fight, or leave. I was hoping they would come to a conclusion fairly quickly and then come up with a plan to enact their choice but unfortunately, that didn't happen. They sit around a talk, interjecting seemingly unrelated dreams or ideas which do not further the conversation. The minutes are taken by a man as the women are illiterate and regrettably, we get way too much of his background and his random thoughts. At the very end, they come to a decision but we don't learn much in terms of what it is like afterwards. This would've been better off as a short story since there is way too much filler. I hate-read the rest and awarded it 1 star.

The last book I finished was You by Caroline Kepnes. This was a creepy thriller about a stalker written in second person. At times, it felt like I was person he was stalking. This was a page-turner and I loved the twists. I would definitely recommend the audiobook and I'm eager to see the Netflix adaptation. Overall, I gave it 4 stars.

ARC Review for The Farm by Joanne Ramos

I read The Farm by Joanne Ramos which is a story about a poor immigrant woman becoming a surrogate to try to earn a livable income. All the surrogates (known as Hosts) are required to live on the farm while supervisors control every element of their lives to ensure the healthiest possible babies. Their diets, exercise, and exact whereabouts are always tracked. Even their internet usage and phone conversations are monitored to make sure they don't have any extra stress. This definitely read like a dystopian novel but I actually think nearly everything that happened in this book is realistic, though horrifying. The hosts are not allowed to have their children with them, and visits with their children are used as rewards or punishments (withholding the visits). This book starts to examine the huge discrepancy in lives between the rich and poor but it doesn't do enough. Additionally, the ending was incredibly disappointing. I felt the author made these rich characters seem evil but then sends mixed messages about them at the end. I also felt four perspectives was too many resulting in flat characters. All in all, I didn't enjoy this book and do not recommend it. I ended up giving it 2 stars.


The book is out May 7th, 2019. Thank you Random House for an early copy.