For The Love of Reading.......What's On Your Bookshelf

Welcome to my What's On Your BookShelf post. The #WOYB link party is hosted by Deb, Jo and Sue....all gals I follow on a few other link parties. I love their blogs. Go check them out. #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge

My rating system:

⭐ DNF (which there's a reason), story lacking any depth, grammatical or spelling errors (too many), just did not enjoy it and enough to it that I wouldn't recommend. Don't bother reading

⭐⭐ Story line is a bit all over the place, struggle to read it but maybe it had some redeeming parts. Characters  or story line weren't believable or too unrealistic. I wouldn't want to read it again. Too many storylines going on at the same time. Read it or don't read it.

⭐⭐⭐ Solid story line and characters. I liked it but didn't necessarily LOVE it, but I didn't HATE it either. I may have felt that it dragged on, or had parts that weren't necessary to the story. Maybe was a little hard to follow. Probably wouldn't recommend but it wasn't a total disaster.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ A really great read that I enjoyed picking up each time. I enjoyed it from front to back. The characters and storyline were really good.  As someone said "a truly good book, but missing the cherry on top".  Go ahead and read it

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book knocked it out of the park and I couldn't put it down. OR it was a book that really opened my eyes to something or taught me something about someones life. One I have bookmarked and even taken notes. It left me wanting to read more by the author or more in the series. Definitely go read. 

April found me reading one less book than March. It will be interesting to see how May goes. Some of the books I was "currently reading" in my March post, I didn't finish till May so those will be in next months review. I also think I need to remind myself of my star ratings. I tend to hate giving things less than 4 or 5 but in reading how I was putting it together, three isn't that bad...lol. 

What I read in April:

Weeding Out Lies (Texas Flower Farmer series #1)  by Jackie Layton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

I paused reading Clover Covered Corpse because it was the second in the series and I like to read a series in order whenever possible. This did fulfill my April Murder They Write Challenge with flowers on the cover. This as a great book and introduced us to Emma Justice who leaves her job to follow her dream of growing flowers...of course solving murders wasn't on the agenda, but here she is! I enjoyed this book. It was well put together and fun. I'm looking forward to more in the series. This book introduces us to some great characters. 

Hillbilly Elegy:A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance ⭐⭐⭐

This one was not in my March post because I think I was "in between" audiobooks. This one was on my TBR list for quite awhile, before I even knew who J.D. Vance actually was. Shows how much I pay attention to politics. Anyways, it is written when he is in his early 30's and chronicles his life and the lives of others growing up in the hills of Appalachia Kentucky. I like learning about peoples lives and where they come from. Sometimes it helps us to understand them better. Like I said, I didn't know who he was when I put it on my TBR list, I just thought it sounded interesting. He's worked hard to get where he is today. I'm sure he hasn't done everything perfectly, but kudos to pushing through and past the things that might have held him back. To me it just continues to show that we do not have to stay stuck where we are. We can break out of what is negative in our lives. There is a movie about this that I'd like to watch. 

Glad You're Here: Two Unlikely Friends Breaking Bread and Fences by Walker Hayes ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another memoir type book. I enjoyed this one as well. One of the biggest takeaways for me was what he was willing to do to keep his family intact and also follow his dream. It's also a testament of friendships that are forged through any commonality. Sometimes "faith" tells us we should keep our friendships with those who are like minded and yes, that is true, BUT it's also true that we can find valuable friendships outside of our faith and that's what Craig and his family found with Walker and his family. There were no expectations, just love and friendship. Both authors narrage the book and it was fun hearing their individual perspectives on certain things. 

The Things We do For Love by Kristin Hannah ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was for the passalong book club. I had to speed read through to the end of it (meaning I kind of skipped ahead here and there) because I wasn't going to finish in time to mail it out. It did become predictable and I had a feeling I'd know how it was going to end. There's hope, heartbreak, reconciliation. Most reviewers on Good Reads gave it a 4 or 5 star rating. I enjoyed the dynamic of Angies family. It wasn't painted as a perfect family, but still a family that stuck together even when it was hard. 

What I'm Currently Reading: 

An Irish Bookshop Murder (Mercy McCarthy Mystery #1) by Lucy Connelly

I'm reading this book for my May MTW book challenge which is "a book that will take you on a journey to another place". Well, Ireland is certainly another place. It follows Mercy and Lizzie as they move to Ireland after learning that they've inherited a house and a bookstore from a grandfather they never knew about. Of course there's a murder and the sisters worry that they are suspects, even though they've only just arrived and have no motive. There is a fun group of characters and I'm hoping to read more of the series. There are some definite "hints" as to what might be found in future books. 

We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders #1) by Richard Osman

This one is for our Passalong book club and I'm hoping I can find a category in the 52 book challenge to use it with. Richard Osman is a popular author and I'm hoping I enjoy this book. So far, it's a bit quirky in how it's written. It follows retiree Steve Wheeler who is also a widow and to avoid becoming bored he starts a small "investigation" business taking on simple things, like finding a lost dog, etc. His daughter in law Amy is a "body guard" of sorts..however when a body is discovered and Amy seems to be a target she enlists the help of her FIL. There are hints to who is behind it but I'm wondering if there is more to it (as in someone else that we won't suspect). 

Clover Covered Corpse (Texas Flower Farmer #2) by Jackie Layton

I'm finally circling back around to read this one. I enjoyed the first in the series, so I think I'll like this one as well. Emma is going about her business selling flowers at the local farmers market when she's thrown into another murder. It seems since she helped solve the last one, she's the one her friends turn to, to help clear their names when another murder happens. Should be good. There seems like there could be some romance potential, though I'm not sure if it'll be the police chief or the friend of a friend. We'll see. 

I'm currently on the hunt for a new audiobook to listen to. I try to find ones that will fit a reading challenge category but also be one I'm really interested in. I usually try to stay under a certain amount of hours, but several I have an interest in are on the longer side. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin