2019 Reading Challenge Reviews - Books 23 & 24

I'm really loving the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge. It's been helping me with a couple of reading related things I struggled with in the past. First, it's helping me always have a next book ready to read, so that I haven't hit a point so far this year where I don't know what to read next and end up reading nothing for a few weeks. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it's been helping me broaden my reading horizons and read books that I wouldn't normally have read. Many of these have been really interesting, and I'm so glad I took the time to check them out.

For more information on the challenge, check out my Overview post, or visit the Pop Sugar website.

Book 23: The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

I gave this book 3/5 stars on Goodreads.

The prompt I chose for this was "A book about a hobby"

This book was recommended to me by other individuals who are participating in the challenge as well. I wasn't sure what book to choose for this prompt, and when multiple people mentioned this one, I thought I'd give it a try. (There are groups dedicated to the challenge on Goodreads, and this has been a life saver with finding some books).

When I started reading this book, I wasn't sure how much I was going to end up enjoying it. I thought it could be fun because my mom has always loved knitting and crocheting and I went to multiple knitting clubs with her growing up, so I thought it would make me feel closer to her. I think it succeeded but there were definitely some highs and lows along the way.

Georgia and her daughter own a yarn shop in NYC, and slowly over time a group of women end up coming together in the shop once a week to meet and learn to knit. The book follows the lives of all the women in the group, while focusing mostly on Georgia and her daughter. The women of the club begin to become close, and true friends. They begin to help each other through all of the ups and downs that enter their lives, when "the unthinkable happens".

First, it took me a bit to get into the book. It had, in my opinion, a bit of a slow build. However, once I got into the book, I began to really enjoy it. I felt like all of the characters became really developed well, and I was invested in what would happen to each of them.

The story line began to intrigue me, and then when I reached the point of "the unthinkable" I was shocked. Although I knew something was going to happen, I didn't expect what did, and it changed the whole story for me. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit thrown by the plot twist, although it was written very well. 

Overall, I did think the book was cute, even if the plot twist threw me, and I would still recommend it to friends that enjoy books that discuss mostly relationship and character building with potential for tear jerking. 

Book 24: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

The prompt I chose for this was "A book written by two female authors."

A friend of mine recommended this book for a light, easy, fun read, and I'm so glad she did.

This book is pretty much a royal fan fiction with a lot of similarities to events or rumors regarding the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and how they met. However, there were a TON of differences as well.

Even knowing that it has a lot of fan fiction aspects, I still adored this book. I thought it was really cute and a fun stand alone book even if you don't know much about the Royal Family.

An American college student does a semester of study abroad, where she (without realizing at first) meets the Prince and future King of England. The book goes through their relationship with each other, their families, and their friends as they finish college and begin life leading up to a Royal Wedding. It starts from their first meeting, through when they realize they're falling in love, right up to the vows.

I thought this book was cute, funny, and light-hearted. Although, it is longer than most of the books I recommend for summer reading, I still think this one is a perfect summer/beach read.