Gaston Library discussion

Hello and welcome to another reading wrap up! As a reminder, this year I’ve decided to partake in the PopSugar Reading Challenge, which is a set of 50 prompts which you read a book to match, so I’ll be including those prompts and my progress in these wrap ups. For more info check this website: https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen....
I’m currently at 7/50 for the PopSugar Challenge.
Now onto the Wrap Up!

This month I read…

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert- This was a really fun and refreshing Rom-Com read for the modern era. I liked it alot and thought it did an excellent job of mixing in serious elements and issues with the Rom-Com elements. And can I just say that I loved the cat, he may have been the best part of the book. haha.
This was for the Popsugar Prompt: A romance novel by a BIPOC author.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna- This was a fun one to dive into. Loved the concept and the story was very engaging and kept me interested. However, it for some reason started to fall apart for me a little towards the end. I think it was because the writing just seemed mediocre to me. The story was engaging enough to keep me going, so I still rated it high and was definitely worth the read.
This was for the Popsugar Prompt: An #OwnVoices Science Fiction and Fantasy Book.

How Lucky by Will Leitch- This one surprised me in a good way. It was a fun and thrilling mystery that kept you turning the pages wanting to know what happened next. On top of that the author did a really excellent job with the main character. The main character has SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) and I thought illustrated what life is like with an illness like that very well, and the author did an excellent job with his characterization in general even outside of his illness.
This was for the Popsugar Prompt: A book with a protagonist that uses a mobility aid.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han- I listened to this one on Audio. Sigh. I wanted to like this one a lot. I’ve heard good things about it and I liked Jenny Han’s To All the Boys series pretty well. But man, there was a lot I could not get past. The main character is pretty clueless and annoying and she ends up with someone who is portrayed as an absolute jerk. I thought about continuing with the series in case it got better, but googled who the series has her ending up with and read the plot synopsis and it just sounds like it gets worse.

Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon- This was just a pretty good book until I read the author's note at the end. The pace moved nicely, but I just didn’t understand the motivation of the Journalist and her husband particularly so that took me out of the story some. Then the author revealed how much actual history was entwined in the book and WOW. While the story is completely fiction and how the author imagines this could have happened on Hindenburg (and she stresses COULD) all the characters are real people from the Hindenburg with real backgrounds given. She quotes a website (http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot....) in the author's note and man did I fall down a rabbit hole reading more about these people. It is fascinating.
This was for the Popsugar Prompt: A book set on a cruise ship, plane, or train.

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

Happy Reading!

February, being a short month, kept me to only 17 books.

Technical Threat - I read three of the Westin Force books, most were typical paranormal (shifter) romance. But I simply had to read this one after seeing Nonna - a old woman who had aggressively adopted one of the military super secret men - in one of the earlier books. Yes, the secret man ended up with a good woman for him - but a lot of the book is devoted to his relationship with the older woman who decided she needed people to love and care for and went out and found them. The book was everything I hoped for.

Gray Widow's Walk - Another series where I read three books. (Gray Widow's Walk, Web and War) by Dan Jolley - I love superhero prose and Dan Jolley has written for some of the big comic names out there (DC). This series has a lot of horror tropes. If you like superheroes, you may really enjoy this series.

I read two interracial romances with "fake dating" until it became real dating. The different takes between the two, with very similar plots, was interesting. The Tiger's Fake Date and The Ex Proposal.

Final mention is Blood, Sweat, & Tears: Bubba the Monster Hunter Season 5, a collection of novellas. I was glad to see Bubba return to Earth and the first two novellas of the collection basically reestablished him back to the normal humor baseline. The third set up the fourth, which was an amazing emotional ride.

Erin wrote: "February, being a short month, kept me to only 17 books.

Technical Threat - I read three of the Westin Force books, most were typical paranormal (shifter) romance. But I simply had..."

Fake dating is always makes for a fun romance novel! I think the next in the Brown Sisters series (Take a Hint, Dani Brown) involves fake dating.