ADVENTURER. LEADER. STORYTELLER.
Ashley's Book Corner
One of my New Years Resolutions for the 2023 year was to read more and rediscover my love for reading. As a student I found myself getting bogged down in so much academic reading that I didn't have time to read the many books that I have purchased over the years. I started sharing my progress here as I make my way through my TBR list and apparently even inspired some of you to pick up some of these books or ones that had been sitting on your shelf! Although 2023 is over, I am NOT ready to stop reading, so this will be a space for me to keep sharing my reading with everyone. Below you can find archive galleries of previous years as well as my current reading list for whatever year we are in. I've also started a GoodReads account, so feel free to follow me there as well!
Books of 2024
How to Talk to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell was such an enjoyable read! I initially expected this book to be based on skill sharpening regarding talking to strangers, so although it wasn’t necessarily what I expected, I am still happy to give it such a high rating because of how easy and enjoyable it was to read. The stories selected perfectly support each of Gladwell’s theses and are well researched.
A great way to start off my 2024 reading!
Kate Quinn's The Rose Code is a stunning work of historical fiction filled with everything you could possibly want: adventure, friendship, mystery, suspense, romance, heartbreak, hope…she has truly left no stone unturned. Our three heroines and their relationships with one another are so beautifully developed and her attention to detail as the book progresses is masterful.
If you like The Crown, The Imitation Game or Call the Midwife, you will LOVE this book. I would love to see a screen adaptation one day because I just want more and more of this story.
Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim is a stunning debut novel. I love historical fiction and getting to experience another culture and piece of history through this book was incredibly refreshing.
The story was original, the characters were well-thought out and enjoyable, it was an overall good read! The reader gets a little bit of closure but it wasn’t quite enough for me. Unless an author is planning a sequel, I like to finish my books with no further questions and I still had some about some of the characters. A solid 4.5/5.
How lovely it was to be back at Cooper's Chase with the Thursday Murder Club in Richard Osman's latest installment The Last Devil to Die.
Although admittedly not my favorite of the books in the series, my investment in the characters, their relationships, and the new murder the club solves has not diminished. I felt as though this book was building up towards a longer series, but now we have to wait until Osman feels ready to return to the gang in Cooper's Chase after his new endeavor scheduled to come out this fall.
Well researched, thought out, and thorough, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan attempts to answer a question most people ask themselves after reading The Diary of Anne Frank: Who betrayed Anne Frank and the Secret Annex?
I can walk away from this book certainly with more overall knowledge on Amsterdam during WWII than I did before I read it, and convinced that the cold case team’s conclusion is a very plausible and well-argued one that should absolutely be considered by future historians and researchers.
I absolutely love the idea of On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton. I was pulled in with the story of three sisters and a hungry stage mom, but stayed for the story of the tearing apart of San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood.
I really liked each of the characters but wish we got to spend more time with them throughout the book. My complaint is that the book just felt unresolved. I prefer ending a novel knowing how things end for the characters and I didn’t quite get that with this novel.
I fell in love with Katherine Center after How To Walk Away and was so happy when I got my hands on Things You Save In A Fire. This book is exactly what you expect it to be. It addresses some tough topics and the theme of forgiveness is such an important one, but it fell a little flat for me in how predictable most of the story was.
Although I wasn’t completely sold on the plot, there is just something about Center’s writing. She knows how to keep me engaged as a reader. She is a wonderful writer and I look forward to more of her works.
From this day forward, Stephanie Meyer shall no longer be known as author of The Twilight Saga to me, she is author of The Host. I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book, but I would argue that this was my favorite book I have read by Meyer.
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A LONG, but well-built dystopian, sci-fi novel with a wonderful first person narrator who I would put up there with Katniss and Tris. The character relationships and growth are AMAZING! There is just a lot of exposition, but if you are willing to stick with it, you won't regret it...at least I didn't.
Home by Julie Andrews is possibly the first book I have ever read where I thought, "Man, I wish I had listened to the audiobook!" Julie Andrews has been one of my performance heroes and role models for AGES so I was all too excited to pick up this book. The content of the stories was incredibly interesting, but the writing just didn't quite do it for me. I could hear how much more agreeable they would be if I heard them in her voice.
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A solid 3.5/5 because the content was there, it just felt as though written word was not the best vehicle for it.