Nakita Grinie

In 2015, my goal was to read 15 books & I ended up reading 35!!!

This is the most books I have read in a year since having kids. 

Reading is one of my FAVORITE hobbies, so it has been so fun to get back into reading on a consistent basis this past year.

Here are the books I read (in the order I read them):

7 by Jen Hatmaker //  What Alice Forgot // Three Wishes

 Big Little Lies // The Husband's Secret // Hypnotist's Love Story

 The Last Anniversary // Confessions of a Shopaholic // Shopaholic takes Manhattan

 Shopaholic Ties the Knot // The Girl on the Train // Still Alice

Shopaholic & Baby // Mini Shopaholic // Shopaholic & Sister

Shopaholic to the Stars // Party Girl // Sweet Girl

Left Neglected // 11/22/63 // Sharp Objects

 The Island // Beautiful Day // Paper Towns

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo // The Girl who Played with Fire // The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest

  Summer Sisters // An Abundance of Katherines // Crooked Little Lies

Life & Other Near Death Experiences // Bah, Humbug // Long Time Coming

Winter Street // A Family Affair

Liane Moriarty 

{see all her books HERE}

I read all 6 of her books this year and I liked all of them. I keep googling to see if she is coming out with a new book! I really like her writing style. My favorites of hers are probably What Alice Forgot & The Husband's Secret.

 11/22/63 by Stephen King

This was the first (and only) Stephen King book that I have read. 

It was 866 pages....really long, but so well written. 

It is hands down my favorite book of 2015. I made my mom read it & also had Kevin read it. 

Ugh. Shopaholic to the Stars. I started reading the Shopaholic series this year, they are quick, fluff reads. The ending of Shopaholic to the Stars was abrupt. There was no ending, I actually thought my kindle hadn't downloaded the rest of the book. I googled it & the book just randomly ends. So strange. The next book in the series came out in the Fall called Shopaholic to the Rescue. I haven't read it yet because I am so annoyed at the previous book. But, I am OCD and have to finish series, so I will add it to my 2016 reading list :)

 An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. 

I LOVED The Fault in our Stars (read it in 2014) and I also really liked Paper Towns that he wrote.

An Abundance of Katherines I just could not get into. I started reading it when school started and didn't finish it until October because I wasn't motivated to keep reading it.

Several books made me cry!!! What can I say? I'm a crier!
Still Alice
Life & Other Near Death Experiences

Even though the Shopaholic books can be cheesy, they do make me laugh.
My favorite one of the series is the first one, Confessions of a Shopaholic
 

Party Girl & Sweet Girl

 I loved both of these books & fell in love with the characters. They just make me smile. I am super excited about the 3rd book in the series coming out this month,  Smart Girl.

Book that made me cringe:

Sharp Objects 
This is from the author of Gone Girl, so if you have read that book, you know it is a little disturbing. I felt the same way about Sharp Objects . I didn't like it as much as Gone Girl, but they were both page turners & several parts made me cringe & shocked me.

The Millenium Series
which includes
A 4th book in the series came out in the Fall called The Girl in the Spiders Web.
I haven't read it yet, but am hoping to read in the next month or so.

Book that surprised me:
I got Long Time Coming for free on my kindle, so I had low expectations.
I had never heard of the author, but gave it a shot because it was a free book.
I really liked it....there were twists & surprises and I will definitely read more from this author!

P.S. A Family Affair is also free on your kindle & it is part one of a series. It also surprised me...good plot & I am excited to read more of this series!

Book that I got bored reading:
Crooked Little Lies

This book got good reviews, but I got bored reading it. The character development wasn't the best & each chapter bounced from person to person. It was just okay. Usually I can finish a book in less than a week, this one took me almost a month to read because I got bored.

Biggest Beach/Fluff Read: 
Anything by Elin Hildebrand!
{See all her books HERE}
Her books are all based in Nantucket and if you need a quick, light, "beach" read, then you will like her books. I read 3 of her books this year ( The Island, Beautiful Day & Winter Street)

I have a few more of her books on my kindle that I am saving to read this summer.

The Girl on the Train

I read this book in less than 24 hours (when Kevin and I were in Sonoma for the weekend) It is a real page turner!

 7 by Jen Hatmaker

Oh boy...this is a must read.
The tag line of the book is "An Experimental Mutiny against Excess"

7 is the true story of how Jen took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence.
It really made me think about all the excess I have in my life and how gross that can be. It made me think "Do I need this?" when buying something. Really good, challenging book.

Any of Liane Moriarty's books.
All 6 of her books have excellent character development & intriguing stories.
I loved each an everyone of her books.
She is an author who I hope writes more books! 

Author I want to read more from in 2016:
Since I have read all of Liane Moriarty's books, the answer to this is:
Lisa Genova
I absolutely loved Still Alice & Left Neglected
She has 2 more books that I want to read this year
Inside the O'Briens and Love Anthony
All her books deal with a character that has some type of life changing medical condition, they are so interesting (and sometimes heart breaking)

Now...onto books I want to read in 2016!

 I haven't finished it yet (binge watching Making a Murderer last week got in the way of reading!)
 I should be done reading it this weekend....I really like it so far!
After I finish it, I will need to start a new book.
 
Books I have on my Kindle/Bookshelf that I haven't read yet: 

For the Love // Glitter & Glue

My goal is to read 36 books this year! 1 more than last year :)

Linking up with Friday Favorites because reading is my favorite & I hope you liked some of my favorite book recommendations!


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A few reminders.....
Giveaway ends on Sunday Night!
AND, my January Rodan + Fields special is still going on!
For all new preferred customers in January, you get $20 cash back, 10% off your order, FREE shipping AND a FREE Lip Micro-Dermabrasion stick.