Gaston Library discussion

Oops! I missed getting my April Wrap Up up, so this one is going to cover April and May. This Month I Read…

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins- The first two thirds of this I didn’t hate, but I also didn’t love. I enjoyed seeing all the familiar characters from the original trilogy. Suzanne did a great job at connecting the original trilogy to the story in this book. I did want a lot more from these connections though. Since the book was from Haymitch’s POV and he wasn’t privy to a lot of what was going on with Pultrach, Beetee, etc. I felt a lot was left out. I would have loved to see more details on the beginnings of the rebellion that seem to be in place in this book that culminates in the events of Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Seeing this would have been so interesting rather than Haymitch stumbling around not knowing the depth of what’s happening. The ending though I really enjoyed. It hit me emotionally and I thought it really added to my understanding of Haymitch as a character. I loved the epilogue too.

Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood- This was an ok read, but I had higher hopes for it. The way it sounded to me led me to expect Katarine to be this hidden talented mind hidden behind her brothers for years. That was not the case. She was smart and talented in many ways helping her brothers with the business and social aspects of their aviation journey, but even that felt barely touched on in this book which was disappointing. I did really enjoy reading about this early history of aviation and how the Wright Brothers developed their flight machines though. I was left with a sour taste however at the end when Orville refused to speak with Katharine after she married in her 50’s and moved out of the house. It felt like he was being a whiny baby whose sister wasn’t there to take care of him anymore. I know this rift between the two did really happen so it’s a necessary part of Katharine's story but man I was irritated.

Happy Place by Emily Henry- This was a great read. Emily Henry was always a hit for me. A nice easy to read contemporary romance. I liked the characters and the friend group in the book and thought the story was done nicely. I just had fun reading it, which was very needed.

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy- I decided to go for another easy to read contemporary romance and picked this one up. This is the first of a series by different authors where they take Disney Princess stories and put them into a contemporary romance. This concept has my name written all over it! I really liked it too! They made just enough differences that it was a unique Cinderella story, but also had lots of cute nods to Disney’s Cinderella. The ending was a little unsatisfying but I still enjoyed reading it overall.

What did you read this month? Be sure to share down below!

Happy Reading!