I know, I KNOW. It’s been FOREVER since I’ve popped in here. I promise I’m still alive, life has just been so dang busy! I promise to post an update eventually! For now, here’s what I’ve been reading as of late:

Alright. I loved – and I mean LOVED – the Crazy Rich Asians series, so I had crazy *ahem* expectations for Sex and Vanity.
I can’t say that I felt the same way about S&V as I did with CRA. It felt more dry, less exciting, but I still enjoyed Kwan’s “style” of including random tidbits, translations, and the like in the footnotes. I also thoroughly enjoyed Astrid & Kitty’s “cameo” appearances, which really tied together his style of writing even further.
The main character, Lucie, was just OK. Her road to self-discovery was rather pained and everything about her made me wonder what the heck happened between her escapade in Capri and her engagement to whats-his-name.
I want to say that Kwan tried to address racial issues with S&V but it just wasn’t quite there. The WASPy characters were too much, as were the Asian ones. (Although Mrs. Zao was perfection and everything I expected out of a Kwan character.)
I really, REALLY wanted to love this one, but it just wasn’t quite there for me.
My rating: ★★★½/5 stars
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I know I’m late to the table on this one, so don’t “@” me, mmmkay?
I’ll just go out and say it: Daisy Jones & the Six is wrecklessly wonderful. Every up and down in the story was spiralling out of control and I loved it.
The way Billy & Daisy loathed one another yet came together when it came down to the business of making music really made you think about how artists really get along when they collaborate and work together.
This fictional with Daisy Jones & The Six was so dang believable, I had to keep reminding myself that they aren’t actually a real band. I mean, COME ON.
If this album existed, I’m sure I’d be loving it. That’s all.
My rating: ★★★★★/5 stars
I was really expecting something deeper from Akin.
We have Noah, a 79-year-old widower who’s mission is to make a pilgrimage to his birth country. Then we have Michael, a young boy who apparently doesn’t give a flippin’ flap about anything other than his cellphone.
The synopsis held more promise than what I expected and I felt the storyline fell a little flat. I didn’t mind Akin, but it didn’t hold my attention the same way Room did.
My rating: ★★★/5 stars

I don’t generally reach for short story collections, but as a big fan of Mr. Hanks I couldn’t resist trying Uncommon Types.
There is pretty common theme amongst these stories (the almighty typewriter), and in a few cases there was some character repetition. (Perhaps Hanks couldn’t figure out how to blend all the characters into one, cohesive storyline?)
Anyway, a few of the stories I really wanted more out of – they were on such a great roll and then they’d stop, almost as if they were unfinished.
Regardless, Uncommon Type was fun, especially if you’re a Hanks fan, and it was great to see/read this side of him.
My rating: ★★★★/5 stars

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
This is the second Katherine Center book I’ve picked up, and it was a nice surprise to see a subtle tie-in with How to Walk Away.
I couldn’t help but picture Vic from Station 19 as Cassie in this read; In fact, that’s all I could really think of was the similarities between this book and the ABC television series.
Regardless, I thought it was a pretty great read overall. The love story was expected but not over the top ridiculous and the rest of the storyline was decent. (Woman empowerment, equality in the workforce, etc., etc.) It rather made me smile since my youngest daughter recently declared that she wants to be a firefighter, so we shall see how the world shapes up when she’s old enough.
This was a lovely little “fluff” novel that left me with a smile on my face.
My rating: ★★★★/5 stars

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. In one hand, I loved the racial diversity of the book and the storyline itself wasn’t too over the top. (Despite it kicking off with the most stereotypical and ridiculous way to propose to someone.)
In the other hand, I really had a hard time with the author’s writing style. I felt that she was trying to make it a first-person narrative, even though it wasn’t, which threw me off quite a bit. And is there such a thing as being too descriptive? There was something off about Guillory’s style that just didn’t jive with me.
Sidenote, I also expected more out of the whole crazy ex-boyfriend situation, so that was a bit of a letdown. It almost seemed like Guillory was ready to wrap things up and then she forgot about that part of the book.
Overall, it wasn’t a terrible read, it just could’ve been a lot cleaner.
My rating: ★★★/5 stars