Fun Weekend Read from the Young Adult stacks!

Bon Bons to Yoga Pants by Katie Cross 

Occasionally I dip into the world of Young Adult Fiction.  This book came up in a list of recommended by the teen librarian and the title was interesting…

It is the story of Lexie, an overweight college student who lives at home with her soon to be married thin beautiful sister and widowed mom.  She misses her father dearly who was also her eating buddy.  She also has an overweight best friend who embraces the Big is Beautiful movement and doesn’t let her weight stop her from - pardon the pun - living large.  Lexie is involved in an online relationship with another college student, Bradley, she has not met in person as they communicate primarily via text and email. 

Her life crises come to head Bradley invites himself as her plus one to her sister’s wedding six months away and realizes she needs to lose weight so she does not scare him away and also looks good in her Pepto Bismo pink maid of honor dress.  

Lexie’s aunt, who is also overweight, invites her to join her at meetings of the Health and Happiness Society, a weight loss support group.  During the six months she explores her unhealthy relationship with food and learns to embrace healthy eating and exercise.  She faces her grief over the loss of father, and how she uses food to avoid dealing with problems.  In the end, as she learns to accept herself for who she is, she successfully loses weight and discovers she has had Bradley’s heart for some time as he fell in love with her inner self all along.

There is really a lot of good stuff in this book.  It’s a fun read.  As a reader who has been battling with her weight for nearly 40 years and suffers from poor body image even longer, I don’t mean to minimize her self-discovery and successes.  The plot just seems so formulatic.  However, the characters are well-written and engaging.  

This is the first in a series and I look forward to the sequels to spend more time with Lexie and Bradley and her circle of family and friends.

Another Winner!!

 

This is the 3rd in the Will Robbie series.   I love Baldacci thrillers.  I was introduced by a friend some twelve years ago when I was working my way through James Patterson’s Cross series and assorted novels by Nelson Demille. Since reading my first novel, First Family, I have been a fan.  

What I enjoy about Baldacci is the the care he takes in the portrayal of his characters. They are so well-written - through description, action, plot, and conversation, you learn about the character as you progress through the novel.  The plots are always well-researched and well-written at an enjoyable pace.  And in the end, you may find yourself, as I often do, nodding to yourself at how believable the storyline really is.

The Target is no different.  Although it is part of a series, it is easily read as a stand alone.  Two of the CIA’s top assassins are given an assignment in North Korea which leads them to Nantucket Island.  The book kept my interest until the last page. Even though the ending is predictable, there is always an element of wonder until the last chapter.

Thumbs up on another good read!  Highly recommend!

 

And moving on from the recent DNF….

 After the weekend’s DNF, I picked up this thriller from Sandra Brown.  The plot involves two sisters, one of which has returned to her abandoned home to discover discover what really happened during the robbery her long-missing and presumed dead father was allegedly involved.  There are, of course, the normal and usual plot twists because of long held secrets.  The characters are pretty standard - unhappy younger sister, devoted and caring older sister, the brooding hero type with secrets, the powerful DA who abuses his power - and of course, there’s romance.  But overall, the story is compelling and well-written.  

I didn’t really think it up to the level of Baldacci and Patterson, but it was a good afternoon read nonetheless.

DNF - The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones

 

Apparently, I was 1/3rd of the way through the book.  It’s tedious.  The plot feels contrived.  The characters are annoying - “oh, if only I was not feeling so insecure/guilty/judgmental, I would not be feeling so suspicious of him/her.  But wait!  I keep finding all this evidence!  But I have feelings…. Is my sordid past catching up with me? Or am I just bored because I gave up my career ambitions for true love?”

One of those books I kept reading far longer than I should, hoping that at some point, the plot will pick up.  ugh

 TWO BOOKS DOWN!

I started off the New Year by reading a YA novel my older daughter gave me. I enjoy the easy read, and I also wanted to make sure that if this made it to the screen, I would know the characters and the storyline premise.  I enjoyed the book so much, I borrowed the second one from the library and am eagerly awaiting  book #3 in the series.

The City Spies are a group of teens and pre-teens, chosen for their super abilities in areas such as computer hacking, code breaking, and pickpocketing.  Almost more important that their skills are that they  are orphans with no family so that they can go undercover and not leave a trail.  They live together with their spy mastermind guardians until their help is needed to (come on, you knew this was coming) SAVE THE WORLD.  Meanwhile, one of their guardians has a secret which he needs their help in solving.

So, like all the fun thrillers out there, this series has all the great elements.  However, the author has a fun lighthearted writing style which makes the reading enjoyable.  I highly recommend this series if you are looking for fun reads for your preteen readers and/or yourself.

There's A New Reading Challenge In Town...

After a lot of thought, I made the decision not to do the PopSugar Reading Challenge next year.  I have not enjoyed it the past couple of years, and I'm going to take at least a year off and focus on a different and new to me challenge:  The 52 Book Club (https://www.the52book.club).

What I enjoy about reading challenges is the scavenger hunt. Pick a prompt and find a book to match.  Some of my favorite prompts are "a book set in the season you were born" or "a book with a title of a song."  I am less all about finding a mixed genre book I have never heard of before and don't really enjoy either genre (I'm looking at you -- graphic novel/science fiction fantasy).  

So here are the prompts for the 2022 52 Book Challenge:

There is a prompt to find a book that is Jane Austen-inspired.  I am so not a big fan of Jane Austen.  So much chatter, so much narration.  Her books make my head hurt. But then there are fun prompts like "From a Villian's Perspective" and "Chapters Have Titles."

I'm looking forward to a new year and a new reading challenge!  Happy Holidays!

CANNOT WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW!

The 2022 PopSugar Reading Challenge will be posted tomorrow, December 1st.  I am so excited and I can’t wait! PopSugar posted a teaser on its IG account that one prompt will be a book written by a Latinx author.  

I don’t have a particular method to working my way through the prompts.  I try to get through what I think will be the tougher prompts early in the year so I don’t get discouraged and quit - which happened in 2020 and almost happened this year, but I persevered.

A lot of the books I read are recommended through a discussion group on GoodReads, another FB page, and of course, friends.  Of course, I’m always happier when I can use books written by my favorite authors, but that does not always easily happen. 

Right now I am trying to patiently wait for next year’s prompts by reading my way through Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series.