Open Book

★★★★/5
Genre: Memoir
Read if you like: Pop Culture, Early 2000's, Female Memoirs, Celebrity Gossip

Open Book by Jessica Simpson was our Pittsburgh bookclub "bonus book" for April, and came highly recommended by one of my all-time besties Michelle. I don't usually read celebrity memoirs, but Michelle listened to the audiobook and loved it and we generally have similar taste so I decided to give it a go! I got my libro.fm copy from my favorite bookstore, Bethany Beach Books, and devoured it in a day and a half.

The Giver of Stars

★★★☆ (3.75/5)

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes was a book I was both hesitant and excited to start. There had been so much hype about it that I expected it to be decent, but having read a Jojo Moyes book years ago, wasn't sure if I should expect a lot of fluff. Also, I believe this is her first attempt at historical fiction so I wasn't sure how that would affect her storytelling style. I have to say - I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book! The concept of a female-driven team of traveling librarians was a little unusual to me at first, I'll admit, but it was definitely something I was interested in learning more about. Moyes instantly creates characters that you can invest in, which set the framework for a good read off the bat. 

The Secrets We Kept

★★★★ (4/5)

Happy 2020 everyone! So excited to be kicking off with my first 2020 review, and The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott was a great way to start the year. I should preface by saying that I love most historical fiction, but I am especially into Russian historical fiction. I have absolutely no idea why (I've never actually been there), but if you were to check my favorites bookshelf on Goodreads, you'd see that 3/30 are Russian historical fiction. That's a solid 10%! So needless to say, when I saw the description of this book and found out it was also a Reese's BookClub pick, I was immediately on board (I was on hold at the library for WEEKS)- the book takes place shortly after the cold war across Soviet Russia and the US, has three very strong female protagonists, plus spies helping to spread manuscripts of Doctor Zhivago. Count me in!

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

★★★★ (4/5)

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is a WWII novel based on the true story of Lale Eisenberg (later Lale Slovak) during his imprisonment at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It's the first read of our new quarterly "Ya-Ya" Book Club (don't ask on the name), and I'm so happy this is what we started with! It has received a ton of hype and I feel like I finally got to find out what all the fuss has been about.

Before We Were Yours

★★★★

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is a gripping novel that sheds light on a dark time period and draws you in with compelling characters and a fast-paced mystery.