2019 Reading Challenge Reviews - Books 38 & 39

If this is your first time visiting Sorority Blogger: Hello! I'm glad you're here.

This year, I've been participating in the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge; you can find out more info in my Overview post or on the Pop Sugar Website.

Here are my book reviews for my 38th and 39th book of 2019:

Book 38: How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper

I gave this book 3/5 stars on Goodreads. 

The prompt I chose for this was "A book that's published in 2019."

Andrew works at a government job where he visits the homes of the recently deceased to try and find out if they have any living relations that need to be contacted. If they don't, he helps with the necessary planning for the deceased. No matter what he thinks, feels, and experiences at work, he still gets to come home to his wife and children and put it all behind him for a few hours (at least that's what he's told his coworkers). The truth, is a bit more complicated than that. When a new employee joins the team, and she and Andrew start to become friends he feels worse and worse about lying to her about the most important aspects of his life outside of work. But if he tells her the truth, will it cost him his job and friendship?

Some of the concepts in this were a little bit dark, and the build was a little bit slow in my opinion. However, I couldn't stop reading to try to figure out Andrew's motives behind the lie, and all of his actions as the book progressed.

Once I figured out why Andrew acted the way he did, I found the last chunk of the book to be a lot more interesting. I started to really appreciate Andrew's growth as a character, and began to root for him.

There were some characters that I wasn't as fond of, and there were some questions I still had towards the end, but overall I thought it was an interesting book. If you're interested in slightly morbid literary fiction, this is a good book for you.

Book 39: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads. 

The prompt I chose for this was "A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover."

This is the second book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. I'll try not to give too many spoilers in case you haven't read the first (or seen the movie).

The series (at least the first two books) follows 4 best friends over their summer vacations. In book 1, they discovered a pair of pants that fit all 4 of them, and decided to use the pants to help them keep in touch while they were all in different places/states/countries for their summer vacations. In book 2, they are a little bit closer together for the summer but still use the pants to help them all keep connected and updated on each other's lives.

In this book, one friend travels to meet a long lost relative, one reconnects with an old boyfriend, one gets a glimpse at college though a camp, and one tries to come to terms with a parent that has begun dating again. Though they all end up having their own drama and stresses, they always make sure to come together and be there for each other when they need each other most.

I love the friendships in this series so far. This book was fun to me, because I hadn't read the first book in years (though I have seen the movie more recently); however, the way the book was written helped me pick up where I left off as though no time had passed between reading them. I found all four main characters relatable, and as I mentioned, I love their friendship. I think this is a great book (and series) for anyone looking for a fun, easy read with an amazing female friendship.