Juliette and the Monday ManDates Book Review

Juliette and the Monday ManDates (Gustafson Girls #1) by Becky Doughty

Summary from Goodreads

Juliette Gustafson is heart-broken after waiting nearly ten years for a proposal from her boyfriend that never came. Determining she isn’t “getting over Mike” quickly enough, her three younger sisters come up with The Monday ManDates; an intervention plan requiring Juliette to endure what turns out to be a series of remarkably disastrous blind dates. Between TheraPaul, Frisky Frank, TAZ the rock star, and the stoic Tim Larsen, the Monday ManDates are doomed from the start. Then there’s Victor Jarrett, the police officer with an affinity for pulling Juliette over when she’s at her very worst. But no one is more surprised than Juliette when she meets the one man who can right the wrongs in her past and change her future, if she will only let herself fall in love with him. 

My thoughts on the book

When I first found this book it was labeled as women's fiction or chick lit but I think I would label it more as Christian fiction, which is fine with me!  I enjoyed it and will recommend it to others, including my daughter.  It was a nice read; entertaining, funny, yet serious at times, leaving you with a message of love and forgiveness.  While reading this book there were times when I laughed, times when I got a little teary eyed, and times when I just had to sit and soak up the words.  There were sections of the book that were written so beautifully, like poetry, that touched my heart. The author used some metaphors that I had never heard before but they made so much sense to me and really spoke into different parts of my life.  I found myself even more thankful for my family and my relationship with God.

Juliette and the Monday ManDates is the first in a new four-book series (Gustafson Girls) by Becky Doughty.  This is also the only book by Becky Doughty that I have read so far.  I am curious about what the next books will be about so I will be looking for them.  I am pretty sure that the next book became available May 1st of this year.

All in all, I'm glad that I found this book.  It had a good mix of humor, seriousness, family love and frustrations, friendship, and clean romance.  There were a few things in the storyline that I would have liked to know more about.  For example, character backgrounds and different situations that were left open making me want to know what happens.  But hopefully they will all be told in the other books in this series.

Some of my favorite Juliette and the Monday ManDates quotes

"I need a dog," she said. "One that will love me unconditionally. And eat my cold left- overs."

"Let the words of our mouths Be necessary, kind, and true. Let the secrets we share Be kept safe amongst us few. Let the decisions that we make Be brave, noble, and wise Oogie- boogie- doggy- loogie Wiggly- jiggly- fries! G- FOURce unite!"

"God wanted her to call Him Husband? The words were like a balm to her soul."

"In a sunset's glory, in the awakening of dawn, when I see Your handiwork displayed across the sky. I am amazed, I am in awe. I am in wonder of who You are, that You would love one such as I."

"But his thoughts defied his words, and his heart kept whispering her name."

"Her chest was so tight it almost hurt to breathe, but it was a wonderful pain, and she sighed, reveling in her suffering."

"Every time I see her she's either crying uncontrollably, laughing like a lunatic, or hissing like an alley cat!"

"But tonight, instead of more turmoil, the sight of her was like a cool drink of water to his thirsty heart."

"Her cheek rested against his chest and she listened to the pounding of his heart, the sound of his love for her."

"Forgiveness. It was like pulling slivers of steel from under the skin."

Little Miss Lovesick Book Review

Little Miss Lovesick by Kitty Bucholtz

Summary from Goodreads

Sydney Riley hears voices in her head...

Voices that keep her sane and voices that drive her crazy. The one thing they all agree on - forget Dirk the Jerk and move on.

So Sydney lets her friends drag her into the wilds of Northern Michigan where Little Miss Lovesick, the loudest voice in Sydney’s head, runs into - literally - the perfect man. Is hot fishing guide Matt Engel the man to vanquish heartbreak?

With the vacation flirtation behind her, Sydney is ready to start again. Soon after, however, a difficult - and must keep - client demands Sydney work with his new contractor. Yes, one and the same Matt Engel, hotter than ever and right here in town.

But when Matt’s past comes between them, Sydney wonders how to prevent another broken heart. As the rest of her life spirals out of control, she learns that sometimes a plan isn’t enough without friends to share the load.

Maybe together they can even help Little Miss Lovesick find what she’s been fishing for.

My thoughts on the book

     Where do I begin?! I really enjoyed this book!  There were moments when I literally laughed out loud and my cheeks hurt from smiling.  I will definitely be recommending this book to my fellow book lovers!

     I loved all of the detailed descriptions.  Kitty Bucholtz definitely knows how to explain things to where my imagination was able to paint the pictures perfectly in my mind!  There was a part of the story where it was raining outside and Sydney was wet and cold.  I found myself so wrapped up in the story that I realized that I was feeling chilly and was actually a bit surprised when I looked out the window and the sun was shining with no rain in sight!

     The characters seemed real and they were fun to read about.  When reading a book, I always try to picture the characters in my head and these were easy to picture.  I found myself wishing that they were real people that I could meet!  Maybe not GT quite as much as the others though!!! There were times when I did find myself getting frustrated, but in a good way.  Anxious to see how it was going to end but not wanting it to end too soon either!

  All in all, I really liked this book and can't wait to read another Kitty Bucholtz book!  I actually got this one on my kindle but now that I know that I like the style of this author I'll be wanting to have these books on my ever growing bookshelf!


Some of my favorite Little Miss Lovesick quotes

"Turns out Mom was right about the milk and the cow."

"Love is the most wonderful thing in the world.  You just need to find true love."

"If a butterfly flaps its wings in your stomach, will there be a storm?"

"I put my Godiva chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream in the freezer and pulled out a Healthy Choice frozen dinner.  Don't Laugh."

"My whole life is a series of the worst movie scenes ever."

"That should be a new Crayola color.  I'd definitely start coloring again."

The Selection, The Elite, and The One Book Review

     Ok, The Selection, The Elite, and The One by Kiera Cass were really good books.  I highly enjoyed and recommend them.  I actually saw The Selection on a book recommendation website a while back but I was already in the middle of reading something else so I didn't get it at the time and then I forgot all about it!  Some time last week I was watching a YouTuber who does book reviews and she did a review on The Selection and that reminded me and made me want to read it!  I actually stopped the youtube review because she said that she was going to have spoilers and I wanted to read the book first.  So, I ran out to the library (we don't have ANY books stores around here so I have to order most books online and I wasn't willing to wait!) and I actually checked out The Selection, The Elite, and The One all at once because I knew I would read them all within a week.  So, I read The Selection and then finished watching her review.  I agreed with most of what she thought about it.
     For those who don't know what these books are about, they're kind of like YA dystopian versions of the Bachelor! Haha!  Basically, the world is divided into castes.  Ones are the Royal family and eights are the lowest of the low.  Two's and three's are pretty well off, four's are kind of comfortable, five's struggle, six's are pretty poor, seven's are even worse off, and like I said, eight's are basically homeless.  When the royal family has a child, and that child becomes old enough to marry, their girls (the princesses) are pretty much given to princes in other countries but the boys (the princes) are to stay in the family to become king some day.  What they do is send a letter to all the girls in all castes that are in the age group for them to register to perhaps be chosen to meet the prince and get to marry him some day.  Only 35 out of who knows how many girls are chosen to come and live in the castle to date the prince 'Bachelor style'.  The main character's name is America Singer and she is a five.  She doesn't really want to be a part of the selection because she is in love with a six named Aspen but she knows her family could really use the help (I forgot to mention that the families of the 35 girls that are chosen receive money up until the Prince, Maxon, eliminates them).  Well, once America meets and gets to know Prince Maxon she starts to question everything she ever thought she wanted!
     They are really good books.  Although, America is a bit frustrating at times.  She's very indecisive and that can get annoying, but I can't really say that I wouldn't be the same way if put in her situation!  The books are definitely not stand alone kind of books.  The Selection and The Elite end very open and it's clear that you need to read the next one.  All in all they were very good and I'm glad I read them!  I bought the series a few days later :)

Quotes that I liked from The Selection

"True love is usually the most inconvenient kind"
"It's always the fear of looking stupid that stops you from being awesome."

Quotes that I liked from The Elite

"Love is beautiful fear"
"Sometimes I feel like we're a knot, too tangled to be taken apart"
"It wasn't like I made his world better.  It was like I was his world.  It wasn't some explosion; it wasn't fireworks. It was a fire, burning slowly from the inside out."

Quotes I liked from The One

"Break my heart. Break it a thousand times if you like.  It was only ever yours to break anyway."
"The best people all have some kind of scar"
"I'll love you until my very last breath.  Every beat of my heart is yours.  I don't want to die without you knowing that."

The Fault In Our Stars Book Review

     I had gone back and forth about reading this for so long!  Not because I didn't think it would be good, John Green books are always amazing, but because I knew it would be so sad!  I finally talked myself into reading it and I'm so glad I did!  It was so good!  Sad, yes, but really well written!  I fell in love with the characters immediately.

     For those of you who may not know what this book is about, I'll tell you a little bit about it.  It's about a girl named Hazel who has terminal lung cancer.  She goes to a cancer kids support group, which she hates but her mom makes her go, and one day an attractive boy named Augustus (Gus) comes in.  He's been in remission for a while but he came to support his friend that attends.  Gus flirts with Hazel and wants to hang out but at first she tries to stay distant.  She feels that she is a "grenade" that will go off eventually and she doesn't want to have to hurt anyone else when she dies.  She ends up giving in and hanging out with Gus and, of course, she falls in love with him.  I won't spoil the book for you if you haven't read it by telling you how it ends...I'll just say that it is beautifully sad and absolutely wonderfully written.

     This book is spectacular because even though it is super sad it has awesome quirky, funny moments too!  The character's personalities are very original and witty.  It made me just want to know them or at least get to sit back and eavesdrop on an entire conversation between them!  Well, I guess I kind of did when I read the book!  Anyways, it was really, really good and I highly recommend it!  However, if you can't handle reading about sicknesses like cancer, like if you're a hypochondriac or something, or if you may personally know some people who have cancer (I do so it made it a little harder for me to read) you may have a difficult time reading it.  I heard some one say that they kept putting off reading this book for a while because they have extreme hypochondria and when they would read it they kind of put themselves in Hazel's position and felt sick.  But then they watched the trailer for the movie and it made them be able to put the movie character's faces in their mind when they were reading and it helped a lot.

     So, bottom line, I highly recommend reading this!  It is crazy good, super witty, funny at times yet really sad at others.  All in all it is definitely worth reading!

Some quotes from the book that I really loved

"As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."

" My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations"

"Grief does not change you, Hazel.  It reveals you."

"Maybe 'okay' will be our 'always'."

Ready to Read!

     I Love, love love to read!  It's one of my favorite things to do, ever.  I came across a "Books I've Read" journal that I used to write in a few years ago and started recording my books again recently.  After reading through the journal last night, I decided to start a blog dedicated to writing book reviews.  I'm going to blog some of my journal entries/reviews in the next few days (maybe a few a day) and then I'll do reviews on books I'm currently reading.  I post book hauls and let you know about books I'm starting to read.  I'm so excited about this new blog!  I can't wait to get started!  I'll start posting my past reviews tomorrow.  Until tomorrow...keep reading!!!