What I Read in January 2019: Including Reese’s Pick Where The Crawdads Sing

Here’s my January wrap up of what I read – it was a great month of reading!

Beach House Reunion by Mary Alice Monroe

I started this series a couple of summers ago when I needed a book on vacation and I found the first book in the series, The Beach House, free on Amazon Prime (it’s currently back on the Prime free list right now). At the time I only used the Kindle app on my phone, but since finally caved and bought a Kindle Paperwhite. I love books, but I love having a Kindle (I surprised myself). It’s so small and I throw it in my purse to take with me everywhere. I don’t really purchase books for it, I tend to find free ones from Prime but also the Libby app which is a fun new lending library app I discovered recently.

Back to the Beach House series…the setting is the coastal Charleston area, Isle of Palms to be exact. I’ve become attached to the women in this story, the “turtle ladies” and their paths through life. This is a light, easy read – one I needed to start the year off and take me to the beach in January. I highly recommend starting with the first book The Beach House. If you love sea turtles and coastal life, I think you’ll really like these books.

I rated this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

You can read more about or purchase Beach House Reunion on Amazon or add it to your to-read shelf on Goodreads, here.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

This book really surprised me and held my interest more than I thought it would. It is a domestic thriller with a lot of twists surrounding a dissolved marriage and soon-to-be marriage connected by husband who seems “too good to be true”. 

I rated this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

You can read more about or purchase The Wife Between Us here on Amazon or add it to your to-read shelf on Goodreads, here.

Winter In Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

I am a sucker for Elin Hilderbrand books and I love her covers as well, how can one not?

Winter In Paradise is the first book of a new series planned by Hilderbrand, but instead of it taking place in her typical Nantucket setting, this story is set on the island of St. John, which I found intriguing. The story unfolds as a woman, Irene Steele, wakes up to learn her husband has died in a plane crash in the Caribbean. To make things more complicated, she also discovers her husband also had a secret life and second family on St. John. Irene and her two adult sons spend time on the island learning about this secret life and trying to understand the circumstances of her their father and husband’s death, which over time, starts to seem suspicious.

I rated this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

You can read more about or purchase Winter In Paradise here on Amazon or add it to your t0-read shelf on Goodreads, here.

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

If you are familiar with Reese Witherspoon’s book club on Instagram, then you probably recognize this book as one of her picks from last fall. She also announced that the book was being turned into a movie, so if it’s on your list of books to read I highly recommend you get started on it because it’s a good one.

This is a coming-of-age story that follows Kya Clark, also known as “Marsh Girl”, as she survives her young life alone in the marshlands of a small town in North Carolina. She is a mystery to those who live in town, but she develops relationships with a few locals which get complicated over time. The story starts with a death of one of the few people in her life – possibly a murder – that eventually unfolds throughout the story. 

I love the natural setting where the story takes place and I can’t wait to see how it plays out on the big screen.

I rated this book 5 stars on Goodreads.

You can read more about or purchase Where The Crawdads Sing here on Amazon or add it to your to-read shelf on Goodreads, here.

180 Seconds by Jessica Park

This wasn’t my favorite book this month, although I know a lot of people who have read it and loved it. It started out great for me, but I struggled finishing it.

The story revolves around Allison who has been in foster homes her whole life, finally adopted at the age of 16. Because of this, she doesn’t get close to many people which is starting to become more of a challenge for her starting her 3rd year of college. She randomly gets roped into a social experiment one afternoon – hence, the title 180 Seconds – and the experiment snowballs into a life-changing journey.

I rated this book 3 stars on Goodreads.

You can read more about or purchase 180 Seconds on Amazon or add it to your to-read shelf on Goodreads, here.

Goodreads Challenge Update

Goal: 50 books

Currently read: 6 books

Are you on Goodreads? Connect with me on Goodreads here.