February- Meagan's Book Club Pick

 

I am so excited for February's book club pick! Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli is a beautiful story of grief, regret, acceptance, community, and family. I flew through the audiobook a few months ago and couldn't not believe this was the authors debut book!

We will be reading this one together in anticipation for our Zoom discussion with the author! For me, whenever I hear more about the book from the author, I can't help but feel more connected to the story. I am so excited to learn more from Onyi and how Someday, Maybe came about. I hope you read along with me this month! 

For the synopsis:

"A stunning and witty debut novel about a young woman’s emotional journey through unimaginable loss, pulled along by her tight-knit Nigerian family, a posse of new friends, and the love and laughter she shared with her husband. Onyi Nwabineli is a fresh new voice for fans of Yaa Gyasi, Queenie and I May Destroy You.

Here are three things you should know about my husband:
1. He was the great love of my life despite his penchant for going incommunicado.
2. He was, as far as I and everyone else could tell, perfectly happy. Which is significant because…
3. On New Year’s Eve, he committed suicide.

And here is one thing you should know about me:
1. I found him.

Bonus fact: No. I am not okay."

CW: suicide

Bestie Book Club: The Housemaid

It's hard to believe I was in Hawaii two weeks ago...I am having Hawaii withdrawals big time and I wake up feeling like it was a total dream. Were we even there?? Did my eyes see those breeching whales and breathtaking sunsets?? Take me back! 

While we were in Hawaii with our best friends, we decided to do a bestie book club and it was so much fun! If you are going on vaycay with your bestie this year, plan on a book club! We had so much fun squeezing in pages any chance we could get and discussing along the way. We chose to read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden and omggggg it was so good! 

The Housemaid

But you know me too well and of course I have a few thoughts and critiques about The Housemaid. It was shockingly similar to The Last Mrs Parrish...tooooo similar, imo. However, the ending through me for a loop and I cannot wait to read the new book in the series. One of the reasons why this was a great beach read was that it had quick chapters and often times left you on a cliff hanger...so of course you had to read one more chapter! Overall, I gave this a 3.5/5. I could have used a more original storyline and a bit of steamy romance. 

My Top 9 Romances

For as confident as I am when recommending books, I have the hardest time recommending romances. This is mainly due to the wide range and subjective view of steam. What is low steam for one might be a drop in the bucket for another. As avid readers, we should be able to set our own boundaries and have the will power to put books down when they reach their content threshold. Since so many of you look to me for recommendations, I will caveat these 9 romances with my steam range. For some reason, I can't use a flame emoji, so for the sake of this blog post, each 💋 is a "flame" on the steam scale.

💋: only kissing

💋💋: quick and not descriptive sex scenes

💋💋💋: open door with graphic writing but the sex isn't the entire plot of the story.

💋💋💋💋: open, graphic, and mainly about sex.

I hope that makes sense! Here are my top 9! You don't see any 💋💋💋💋 mainly because that is my threshold and those books get put down eventually...ha ha

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Valentine's for Book Lovers

If you're looking for a few gifts for Valentine's Day... *hint hint* 

1: striped pajamas

2: cozy blanket

3: bathtub caddy

4: large tote

5: book light

6: candle

7: frother

8: cookbook

9: favorite mug

January Book Club Discussion

January has come to an end and we went out with a bang by having the best discussion for Signal Fires. Wow! That book was even better the second time through! I loved discussing the different themes with you all and appreciate your vulnerability and shared experiences. 

To recap for those that weren't able to attend:

• Themes discussed:
• Grief, Regret, Connection
• What does signal fires mean to me?
• definition: light signal, a beacon that can be seen from a distance.
• everyone experiences their own moment of being a signal fire when we need help and we also in turn see others in their signal fire moment and come to help. A very reciprocal relationship.
• Discussed Theo and Sarah and the consequences after that fateful night.
• The relationship between Waldo and Shenkman
• The relationship between Waldo and Ben

I pulled quite a few discussion questions from Dani Shapiro's website and that helped guide our discussion! Please enjoy watching!