Cardigan – BP (similar here, here and here) | Tee – Chaser | Jeans – Free People | Sandals – Treasure & Bond | Bag – Staud | Sunglasses – Amazon

 

I bought this long duster cardigan last year and am happy I get to bring it back out again! It hasn’t been warm enough to wear alone and doesn’t look good with a coat over top. It’s sadly no longer available but I linked a few dusters that are almost identical to it. I thought I would add my recent reading list to today’s post since I have gotten through a ton of books over the past few months. Here is a link to all my other past book reviews if you want any other recommendations.
1. Matchmaking for Beginners – This was a really sweet read and one that I enjoyed immensely. Marnie is engaged and set to be married and looking forward to living a very ordinary and suburban life. After her marriage falls apart after only two weeks, Marnie is forced to imagine a new life for herself. It’s a meeting with her ex-husband’s great-aunt at a family function that sets her off on her new course. Marnie inherits the great-aunt’s Brooklyn brownstone and has to go live there for a few months in order to settle the estate. It’s during this time that she learns so much about herself and figures out what to do with her life.
2. Bad Blood – I loved The Dropout podcast about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos and immediately downloaded this book written by the Wall Street Journal journalist that first published the article questioning her entire company. The book goes much more in depth about her rise to Silicon Valley greatness and ultimately her demise and I found it fascinating. It can get a bit technical and long-winded in places, but for the most part I really enjoyed it.
3. One Day in December – This began quite slow and boring for me, but as the book went on I really came to love the story. Laurie sees a man while riding the bus one day and when their eyes meet, she instantly feels like he is her soulmate. She searches for him every day after that for a year hoping she will run into this mystery man again. Unfortunately she finally meets him at a party as her best friend’s boyfriend. Laurie is devastated but doesn’t want her best friend to know this is the man from the bus stop that instantly stole her heart. Over the next ten years, the dynamic between her best friend, the boyfriend and Laurie evolves and the ending is really sweet and endearing.
4. The Kiss Quotient – From the cover, this book looked like a cute romance novel but the story gets quite racy and a bit graphic in parts about the main character’s sex life which was slightly off putting at times. Stella Lane is a successful econometrician and loves her job, though her love life is non-existent. She has Asperger’s which makes it difficult for her to connect with people and find a boyfriend. So Stella hires an escort to help her learn more about intimacy and then hires him for a few months to teach her how to be in a relationship. The story has cute moments and I actually enjoyed the characters, but the racy text throughout doesn’t seem to fit the tone of the book.
5. Lie to Me – This had the feel of a Gone Girl type story, but sadly it just didn’t measure up. Ethan and Sutton Montclair have a seemingly perfect relationship until one day she leaves a note saying she is leaving and not to find her. Ethan immediately feels like something is not right and sets out to find his wife and understand why she left. A body is soon found that the police think is Sutton and immediately begin investigating Ethan for the murder. There are a ton of twists and turns in the story, but the story ended up falling a bit flat for me.
I read a few more books over the past few weeks, but truly didn’t find them very good. I will mention them here just for those interested: No Exit (I had high hopes for this thriller but it was blah), 99 Percent Mine (I couldn’t even finish this one it was so awful), The Kitchen House (so many great accolades but I had a hard time getting through it) and All the Beautiful Lies (another thriller that was so predictable and uninteresting).
Do you have any good book recommendations for me?! Leave them below!