2019 Reading Challenge Reviews - Books 19 & 20

You can see the prompt list in my 2019 Reading Challenge Overview post or on the popsugar.com website.

Here are my thoughts on the 19th and 20th books that I've read this year.

Book 19: Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown

I gave this book 2/5 stars on Goodreads.

The prompt I chose for this was "A Book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter" 

I'd heard amazing things about this book, and so when my sorority decided to read it for their book club I was excited to join in. The wait to get this book from the library was well over a month, and I took that as a good sign too that it was well loved and going to be a great book.

Unfortunately, for me that was not the case. I love the occasional self-help or leadership book. When we find a good one, my boss and I recommend them to each other. I was hoping to be able to recommend this one to him, but sadly I found the style slow and I felt that it took away from the message that Brené was trying to portray. 

That said, I did think she had an interesting message, and I would love to see one of her Ted Talks. I particularly liked the idea that putting even a small amount of time into making sure your employees are comfortable, appreciated, and not confused with their work will save a ton more time that would be lost by lack of productivity from unhappy or confused employees later on.

Overall, I don't think my boss and I were the target audience for this book, but I would still recommend it to some of my sorority sisters or other colleagues if they were looking for a leadership book.

Book 20: Always and Forever Lara Jean by Jenny Han

I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

The prompt I chose for this was "A Book that you think should be turned into a movie" 

I actually really enjoyed this series. It was perfect for a quick, easy, fun read. The first movie was also adorable, the second one is in the works, and I think they should definitely make this third book into a movie too.

This book finishes the story of Lara Jean's high school years. During it, she has to decide where she wants to go to college, and if she wants to try to make it work with her boyfriend after high school.

Lara Jean really resonated with my past high school self in this part of the series. I also loved scrap booking and thought they made amazing gifts. My high school boyfriend and I also had our ups and downs trying to figure out how life after high school would work for us (turns out not much different since we're still together, but getting here was an adventure).

This volume of the series felt possibly the most realistic to me. I definitely enjoyed it, and felt that it was a good ending for the trilogy.

I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a quick, fun, heartfelt read. It would make a great summer, beach book.