Happy Monday! How was your weekend? I had a relatively low-key weekend. A friend came over on Friday for a writing night and I went on a shopping trip that included a stop at Lush (more on that later this week). After church on Sunday I spent the rest of the day clearing out my Bloglovin’ feed (I can’t remember the last time I was at zero unread posts!) and reading.

Speaking of reading, I wanted to talk about a few books that I’ve read recently. I’m planning to switch up these book review posts a little bit, so this might be the last “reading roundup” that I write. I’ve enjoyed writing reviews for the book tours that I’ve participated in recently and would like to dedicate that kind of attention on the other books that I read, instead of quick reviews, as I’ve been doing with these posts. I’m still thinking about how to incorporate them into my blogging schedule, but I’d like to start to writing book reviews more often so that I only have one (or two) books to discuss in each post.

So here’s (possibly) the last reading roundup!

The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know About America’s Economic Future by Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Scott Burns

This book basically discusses the trouble that the U.S. is in financially and explains how the country got to this point. The authors give their idea of what needs to happen with the national budget in order to try to pull out of debt and ends with ways that the reader can prepare for their own economic future, as well as the future of their family, in the event that the country doesn’t make the changes it needs to in order to pull out of debt.

As you can probably tell, this isn’t my typical read. A coworker and I have started a book club, where we get to choose every other book to read. This was his pick for the first book and I’m really glad that I read it. It’s not the most uplifting book to read, but the authors presented the economic situation as it was at the time that the book was written with humor, which definitely helped while reading this book! I appreciated that the author’s pointed out what both Republicans and Democrats did to help bring the U.S. to this point. They also discussed the social aspects that have contributed to the economic future of the country, which was fascinating to read about. This book was written in 2004 and last year they released a new book, which I recently checked out from the library. (So did my coworker!) I really appreciated reading this book as we prepare for elections, and I’m sure I’ll appreciate the new book as well.

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia lives in a world where couples are paired up by the Society to match ideal mates. So when Cassia hears that she’s been matched with one of her closest friends Xander, she believes that he’s the choice for her. But then she sees another face across the screen and it’s the face of another boy she knows, Ky. The Society has assured her that seeing Ky’s face was a rare glitch, but Cassia can’t stop thinking about him.

This book has been on my radar since it was released, but I didn’t picked it up until now because I’ve heard mixed reviews about it. I’m so glad that I gave it a chance, because I really enjoyed it! I will say that I had trouble imagining how society got to the point that it’s at in this novel and Xander and Ky weren’t standout characters for me (although after the first book, Xander stood out a bit more than Ky), but I really enjoyed following Cassia’s story. I loved her family and learning about them and their different experiences with the Society. I also enjoyed following Cassia as she started to question their way of life and grew suspicious of the Society. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did well. She really brought Cassia to life! After I finished this I immediately checked out the second audiobook from the library!

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Note – I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. A huge thank you for the opportunity! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sophie Kinsella’s debut YA novel is about Audrey, a fourteen-year-old whose life has been disrupted by an anxiety disorder following a bullying incident at school.

I love Sophie Kinsella, so when I found out that she was releasing a young adult novel, I was really excited! Once I read the synopsis, I was curious to see how she’d handle the subject matter. I wouldn’t describe this book has being funny, but it wasn’t a heavy novel either. I loved that the characters were a little quirky, as the characters in the Kinsella novels that I have read are. I quickly grew to love Audrey as a character–as well as other members of her family. I found her mother to be a little too over-the-top, however the more that I learned about her, the more that I understood why she did the things she did (even if I wouldn’t have). Sometimes it felt like Audrey’s recovery was moving a little fast, but I also thought that the book needed to move at the pace that it did in order to be a standalone. As I read, I wondered what someone who has an anxiety disorder would think of the novel.

That being said, I really liked this book. As I stated earlier, I quickly grew to love Audrey and was invested in what happened with her. I also liked many of the side characters and, even with the over-the-top actions of her mother, I really enjoyed that part of the storyline. I liked that the parents were present in this novel, as were Audrey’s siblings. Kinsella included transcripts of a home video in the narrative and I loved how the transcripts added to the story. As usual with Sophie Kinsella novels, I teared up a time or two as the book came to an end.

HAVE YOU READ ANY OF THESE? WHAT HAVE YOU READ LATELY?

// PS – My last reading roundup and a book discussion for The Buried Giant.

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