January Book Review

Hello, and happy Wednesday! Today I'm going to review the books I read this month, and plan on making this a monthly thing. I LOVE to read, and I have ever since I was a kid. However, in the past year since Henry was born, I haven't made the time to read nearly as much as I would like. So I've made a goal to read 50 books this year. It sounds pretty lofty, but if I can consistently read 4-5 a month, I'll be there. So without further ado, here's a look at the 4 books I read in January!

The Dry by Jane Harper was my first book of the month. This is one that I asked to get for Christmas because I'd heard it was so good, and it did not disappoint! Set in a small farming town in Australia, the story centers around the triple murder of a family that is ruled a murder-suicide by the husband/father, Luke. When Luke's childhood best friend, Aaron, comes back to town for the first time in 20 years and starts helping the local sheriff with the investigation, they quickly realize that things are not what they appear. They uncover secrets from the past, as well as work toward solving the murder, and I seriously didn't expect what happened at the end. It was exactly the kind of thriller I like; I couldn't put it down and stayed up until after midnight to finish it! 

The second book I read was Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. This was another Christmas gift, and one that I'd heard great things about, but it fell a little flat for me. The story is about the seemingly "perfect" couple who have some pretty huge secrets, but here's the thing; the secrets were STUPID. Like, they were scary I guess, but the whole thing was just unbelievable and CHEESY AS ALL GET OUT.  I was telling Caleb about the story line and we couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous it was. But here's the other thing; I could not put this book down! I read it in less than 24 hours. So I don't know? I didn't really like the story, but it was a page-turner nonetheless.

 

I took a break from thrillers to read the biography Jack and Jackie by Christopher Andersen. I borrowed this book from my mom and read it in just a few days. I loved it! It was absolutely fascinating and I learned so much about the Kennedy's and the Bouvier's, plus a lot of interesting tidbits about Hollywood and the political scene of the day. The writing was so compelling and thoroughly researched that I felt like I personally knew Jack and Jackie Kennedy at the end. This book took me through the emotional gamut; I was shocked, disgusted, angry at times, laughing at others, and even shed some tears over the tragedy of their lives. 

B.A. Paris has been redeemed in my mind with her novel The Breakdown! This one was much better than Behind Closed Doors. It was still a bit cheesy, but it was very suspenseful. It's about a woman named Cass who takes a short cut home through the woods on a stormy night, and sees a car broken down on the side of the road. The next morning, it's reported that a woman was found murdered in the broken down car, and Cass is tormented by the guilt that she could have done something. She starts receiving mysterious phone calls, and finds herself forgetting everything, like how to use her washing machine. I gotta say that I figured out the gist of what was going on pretty early, but I didn't know who the killer was until the very end. This was a good read overall!

I'm already in the middle of 2 books for February, and can't wait to be back next month with that review!