“Writers remember everything…especially the hurts. Strip a writer to the buff, point to the scars, and he’ll tell you the story of each small one. From the big ones you get novels. A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is the ability to remember the story of every scar.
Art consists of the persistence of memory.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: pigs, wheelchairs, car accidents, addiction, good novels, broken legs, hairpins, gore, and a ton of painkillers.

The #1 national bestseller about a famous novelist held hostage by his “number one fan” and suffering a frightening case of writer’s block—that could prove fatal. One of “Stephen King’s best…genuinely scary” (USA TODAY).

Paul Sheldon is a bestselling novelist who has finally met his number one fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes, and she is more than a rabid reader—she is Paul’s nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also furious that the author has killed off her favorite character in his latest book. Annie becomes his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house.

Annie wants Paul to write a book that brings Misery back to life—just for her. She has a lot of ways to spur him on. One is a needle. Another is an axe. And if they don’t work, she can get really nasty.

“Terrifying” (San Francisco Chronicle), “dazzlingly well-written” (The Indianapolis Star), and “truly gripping” (Publishers Weekly), Misery is “classic Stephen King…full of twists and turns and mounting suspense” (TheBoston Globe).

“Misery” is, like most of Stephen King’s books – intense, twisted, and very disturbing. In this story, the number one fan (Annie Wilkins) of a famous writer (Paul Sheldon) pulls him from a car wreck, brings him to her house, and “takes care of him”. In reality, he is stuck there because she is keeping him captive, but she’s completely insane and his legs are broken so he has no way out. In return for her “taking care” of him, she forces him to write a new book from her favorite book series just for her.
So as you can probably tell, these are essentially the two characters that appear in the book (with a few exceptions), and the main setting is the room where Paul is being kept. I’m sure you’re thinking that the story sounds a little dull, but I didn’t find it boring at all! In fact, it was difficult to put the book down at times.
The characters were really good, especially Annie’s character. It’s incredible to me how the author was able to create such a realistic crazy and monstrous character with his writing. I can honestly say that this is one of the most memorable characters I have ever read in fiction. It’s impossible to forget Annie Wilkins, the woman gave me the chills!
Paul was also a great character, and what marked me the most about him was how real he felt. His thoughts were very realistic because they were very mixed at times. He wasn’t just scared, he felt anger, he felt superior at times, he laughed too out of despair… all of these emotions made him come out of the paper.
It was so intense that there were times when I was feeling very stressed! For example, when Annie was coming back home and he had to rush back to his place and we didn’t know if he would get there on time! There were a few moments throughout the book that were like this, and it was very stressful to read.
I truly enjoyed reading it! I was very immersed in the story, and even though I was scared at times, it was very difficult to put the book down.

“If anything could confirm that weather isn’t small talk, it’s this. Weather connects us. A shared experience, even when we aren’t in the same place.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: red lipstick, weather-themed clothes, theater kids, college football, weather reports, Jewish holidays, and chaotic bosses.

Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer.

In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.

Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?

A TV meteorologist and a sports reporter scheme to reunite their divorced bosses with unforecasted results in this charming romantic comedy from the author of The Ex Talk.

This was a very fun and unique story! I don’t remember reading a book set in a news station that follows a meteorologist, so that was news to me.
The premise of this book is that the main characters are trying to set their bosses together to bring peace to the news station. If I’m being honest, the plot itself wasn’t very interesting to me – I didn’t care too much about them trying to get their bosses together, so that’s why I probably didn’t rate this a little higher. Also, don’t get me started on that last “conflict” because it was pretty dumb.
The characters were great, but I especially loved the love interest Russel. Not only it is not common to see overweight single dads as male leads (which was refreshing), but I really liked his personality and how kind he was. Ari was a fine main character as well, I don’t have anything to say about her – the depression representation felt very real.
Other things I liked about this book: the weather theme was fun and different, the writing was very easy to follow, and the MC’s backstories were also interesting and added a layer of depth.
Even though I liked this book, I didn’t connect to it as much as I did with the other book by the same author, “The Ex Talk”. I still liked it for being entertaining and an unique story!

“Three years after the murder you called the four of us, now thirteen years old, to your place and told us something unbelievable. Girls that age, even if they’re living completely ordinary lives, are full of doubt and anxieties about their identity, but you called us all murderers. And told us we must either find the man who murdered Emily or else perform an act of penance.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: French dolls, new factories, locker rooms, trauma, Barbie shirts, guilt, penance, and the purest air in Japan.

The tense, chilling story of four women haunted by a childhood trauma.

When they were children, Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko were tricked into separating from their friend Emily by a mysterious stranger. Then the unthinkable occurs: Emily is found murdered hours later.

Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko weren’t able to accurately describe the stranger’s appearance to the police after Emily’s body was discovered. Asako, Emily’s mother, curses the surviving girls, vowing that they will pay for her daughter’s murder.

Like Confessions, Kanae Minato’s award-winning, internationally bestselling debut, Penance is a dark and voice-driven tale of revenge and psychological trauma that will leave readers breathless.

This book was amazing! I’m officially obsessed with this author. I genuinely hope she keeps writing thrillers like this because I’m very interested in keeping on reading them.
This book follows four ten-year-old girls and the aftermath of their friend being murdererd while they were together. The mother of the girl that was killed tells them that either they have to find out who killed her daughter or perform an act of penance by the time the statute of limitations is expired. As a side note, at the time there was a statute of limitations during which criminals could be charged so they had fifteen years to find the murderer. Each other tells their own experience of what happened the day of the murder, so the story is repeated a few time with the different POVs – I personally didn’t mind this, but I can see some readers not liking this.
Just like in “Confessions”, this thriller shows in a very raw way the ugliness in human beings. The undertone is creepy and tense, and there are some twists added to the mix! I personally think the twists from “Confessions” were a little better on the shock factor, but these were okay.
It was very difficult to put this book out because I was very invested in it. I highly recommend this book and her other book “Confessions”. The stories are very different, but they are written with the same style and structure, so if you read any of these books before and liked them, you should definitely grab the other.

“Being smart is the worst thing one can be in modern society. All it ever means is more work.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: pad thai with peanuts, the “board”, inconvenient neighbors, wifi passwords, big piles, angels, committees, new video games, dill, kitties, and… frypans that ruin lives.

In a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone?

Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.

Told in Fredrik Backman’s singular witty style with sharply drawn characters and relatable antics, The Answer Is No is a laugh-out-loud portrait of a man struggling to keep to himself in a world that won’t leave him alone.

This quirky story was so funny, I actually laughed at how loud a few times! If you are familiar with Fredrik Backman’s work, you will definitely recognize his style here.
We have our main character Lucas, who is a very happy and proud loner and introverted guy who just wants to be left alone to play video games and eat pad thai… but a frying pan ruins it all. Well, you’ll need to read it to know what happens!
What I really love about Fredrik Backman is that he is able to write really funny stories and make them wholesome while subtly sharing his views and comments on humanity. He has a really special way of writing that I find fascinating and very unpredictable. For example in this book, a small detail I really liked was how the reader distinguishes the characters by what they were wearing instead of their names – that was a really simple detail but it made the book more interesting!
There were plenty of quotes I absolutely loved, so I’ll leave a few of them here:

“Best to be like dill, Lucas has concluded. Not like basil, the most anxious and ingratiating herb, but also not like cilantro, that conflict-seeking lunatic. Be dill. Nobody cares about dill.”

“Lucas opens the door with the defeated manner of a sausage that dressed itself up as a carrot to avoid being eaten by a bear, only to be found by a rabbit.”

“Absolutely zero people go to therapy because yesterday they were sitting in a comfortable chair, eating a perfect pizza, drinking a good glass of red wine, watching a really funny movie. So that’s how Lucas lives, all the time.”

“I usually keep my peanuts next to a jar of peanut butter, so they understand what I’m capable of!”

It was exactly what I needed to read at this moment. It was a really fun and easy-to-read short story!

“When you choose the path of an artist, nothing is promised, but everything is possible.” – 3.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: entrepreneurial teens, new releases, sabotage, saxophone, cute halmeonies, music school, K-beauty products, K-pop idols, Paris, marketing, competition, sales, and a ton of hi-chews.

A romantic comedy about two entrepreneurial Korean American teens who butt heads—and maybe fall in love—while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school.

There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful student-run enterprise. With each sale, Valerie gets closer to taking her beloved and adventurous halmeoni to her dream city, Paris.

Enter the new kid in class, Wes Jung, who is determined to pursue music after graduation despite his parents’ major disapproval. When his classmates clamor to buy the K-pop branded beauty products his mom gave him to “make new friends,” he sees an opportunity—one that may be the key to help him pay for the music school tuition he knows his parents won’t cover…

What he doesn’t realize, though, is that he is now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor.

Stakes are high as Valerie and Wes try to outsell each other, make the most money, and take the throne for the best business in school—all while trying to resist the undeniable spark that’s crackling between them. From hiring spies to all-or-nothing bets, the competition is much more than either of them bargained for.

But one thing is clear: only one Korean business can come out on top.

When I started this book, I knew it would be a love story, but I had no idea what the premise was about – it turned out to be much more than a romance! I admit I was surprised by the concept and the choice of the plot, but it ended up being a fun story —a business rivalry between the main characters over who sells more K-Beauty products at school. Unique, right?
The characters were okay. I liked Valerie for being a smart and dedicated businesswoman, but she was annoying at times, especially when she pushed her business on others and even put it before her friends and family (which happens for most of the book) – but she eventually learns, it just takes her a while. Wes was nice and sweet, and an okay male lead… but he felt a little bland to me. I was also not impressed with the side characters and I didn’t care that much about them – they were not bad, just not great or memorable.
As far as tropes go, I would definitely describe their relationship as an enemies-to-lovers romance – although the hostility comes mostly from Valerie. And I guess you can look at this story as a coming-of-age kind of story since both main characters do a lot of growing throughout the book. They both deal with a lot of high expectations coming from their family, so I understand their decisions and thought processes.
One thing I liked about this book is the commentary on what it is like to come from an immigrant family. It was interesting when the main characters were talking about feeling like they don’t belong anywhere – that touched my heart!
Kudos to the author for writing a unique and creative debut. It was fun and entertaining for what it was – didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.