1. Intermezzo – This had been on my TBR (to be read) list for more than a year so I finally decided to give it a go. Sadly, I could barely get through a quarter of it and had to decide not to finish. It is painfully slow and I could not get into it which was such a disappointment because it was given such great reviews. I usually love a book about family dynamics and the nuances that come with that but unfortunately this was one of the few exceptions. Rating: DNF
2. The Wasp Trap – A typical mystery thriller that kept me entertained but was nothing groundbreaking. LOL Six friends come together to celebrate the life of their deceased professor who brought them all together. They all had worked with him building a dating website based on psychological testing decades ago. But before the dinner can begin, events occur that make all the friends decide if they can really trust each other. The stakes become high and lives are at risk if they can’t be truthful about what happened decades earlier. It will keep you guessing throughout the book and is an easy read. Rating: 8
3. The UnMaking of June Farrow – Between this book and Intermezzo, it put me into a big reading slump and I didn’t finish as many books as I normally do because I read so many in a row that I didn’t enjoy. This had also been on my TBR list for nearly two years but I had to abandon it halfway through because I was not enjoying it at all. It’s a bit fantasy mixed with real-life which I do sometimes enjoy but the pace was way too slow for my liking. Rating: DNF
4. Confessions – What a different book. Not bad, not amazing but really different. The author is actually a former Japanese home economics teacher and current homemaker and wrote this book in her spare time. I believe the book was written in Japanese and translated into English so there is some context that does get lost in translation in my opinion. But that being said, it became an international bestseller so I was really curious to read it! Yuko is a middle school teacher that is dealing with the tragic loss of her 4 year old daughter under suspicious circumstances. Her daughter died on the grounds of the middle school where Yuko works so Yuko decides to hand in her resignation because of the immense trauma she is dealing with. During her last day at the school, she decides to tell her class the details of her daughter’s accident and claims that it was an intentional act. And the people responsible for the act are two of her students sitting in her class. It’s a quick read though I truly had no idea where the story was going until the very end. I enjoyed it though it is not like anything I have ever read before. Rating: 7.5
5. Broken Country – I have seen SO many amazing reviews on this book and was really excited to dive into it. Sadly, it was really hard for me to get through and took me forever to finish. While I did enjoy the ending, the story to get there dragged on and I lost interest many times. Beth and her husband run a small farm and live a quiet life. But this has not always been the case and the tragic events that occurred many years ago drove them to this solitary existence. When Beth’s former boyfriend moves back to town and into the property next to hers, she is forced to face some unresolved feelings and secrets that she doesn’t want anyone to know. There is quite a twist near the end that really shocked me and I ended up enjoying the last quarter of the book. But sadly, it was not a favorite overall for me. Rating: 7
6. Strange Sally Diamond – This book did finally bring back my reading mojo so to speak so I am grateful for that! LOL It’s a wild story and has tons of twists and turns which I always love. Sally Diamond was adopted but the story of her early years is not entirely clear and has been kept for Sally for most of her life. Sally’s birth mother was kidnapped and help captive for nearly a decade by a man in the area, a successful dentist at that! Sally’s mom gave birth to two children while in captivity, one of those children being Sally. When Sally and her mother were finally rescued, the trauma was very difficult for medical professionals to manage. There were two people, a married couple, who became part of her care team and were the most involved in helping Sally recover from this ordeal. They ended up adopting Sally but did not share the details of her childhood to hopefully protect her. After Sally’s father passes and she disposes of his body in an unconventional way, Sally is thrust in the media spotlight and she learns of the details of her early years. Soon after, Sally begins receiving mail from an unknown person that she believes has a connection to her past. The story switches back and forth from the present to the past in a seamless way and really helps to build up the suspense in a captivating way! Rating: 8.5
It’s officially winter and everything on my body feels dry. My skin, my hair and especially my lips. I have products that help my lips stay hydrated all year long but I need to amplify the routine in the winter to avoid dry, cracked lips. You may have a line-up of dry skin products to help your face and body stay moisturized throughout the winter, but using products specifically for the lips is key. This blog post will be a guide on how to keep your lips hydrated effectively and the products I like to use to help with this.
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