Lucky Man (Michael J. Fox)

Why I have this book: I bought it years ago for my Kindle for inspiration on handling health struggles with positivity.

I listened to the first half on audio that I borrowed from the ebook library, but because my loan expired before I finished it, I ended up reading the second half on my Kindle copy.

I guess the fact that it expired before I finished it is telling. I didn't NOT enjoy it. I just wasn't engrossed enough, I guess.

I enjoyed it more when I was reading. Maybe it was because I could read it faster than listening to it. I also wondered why I was reading stuff I didn't remember hearing in the book when I was trying to figure out where I was. Like I would read something and think, "Oh, okay, I remember this." Then I'd read on and it would be something I didn't remember. Then... there's something I definitely remember. I don't know if the audio version was abridged (and I'm too lazy to look it up), or if my mind just wandered so much that I missed parts.

In any case, it was interesting to get a peek into the background of Hollywood life and celebrity. I admire Michael and Tracy's long and committed marriage and family life. It was moving to see how he worked his way through his health and other challenges. Overall, I feel like he kept his head better than many celebrities do.

I gave it three stars on Goodreads.

There was some swearing, including the F-word. He talks about some of the pitfalls of celebrity life (drinking, casual sexual relationships, etc.) Nothing is in detail. 

Dear Mr. Knightley (Katherine Reay)

Why I have this book: I bought it for my Kindle back in 2015. I'm not sure why... probably saw it as a recommendation somewhere.

I liked this book a lot. If I could have used decimals to rate it on Goodreads, I'd have given it a 4.7. As it was, I felt like I would have liked the ending to be drawn out just a bit more to work through all the angst, so I gave it a solid 4. There were times while I was reading, though, that I felt like it was worth a good 5 stars.

It was a clever, upbeat (even thought there were some hard topics), engrossing story, and I'm so glad I finally read it!

Clean. I can't even think of any swear words, so if there were any, it wasn't even memorable. There were some tough situations that were implied, but not delved into too deeply.

Inside Out and Back Again (Thanhha Lai)

Why I have this book: I've had it on my Kindle for years. I don't know why I bought it... maybe because it was only $1.99. I'm sure I must have seen it recommended somewhere, though.

I didn't realize until I opened it that it was a such a quick read. I enjoyed this poetic memoir (fictional, but based on the author's life experiences) very much. It's about a young girl (ten-years-old) who is a refugee from Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. It's a great reminder that people are people as we have so many refugees coming to the US every day. We have more in common than we realize.

I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

Clean.

I'm Still Here (Kathryn R. Biel)

Why I have this book: I got it for free on my Kindle back in 2015. 

Okay, so I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit, but I only gave it 3 stars on Goodreads just because of the swearing.

Outside of the swearing, it was an engrossing and enjoyable story to read. Even though there were some heavy topics, it still was pretty light-hearted and humorous.

There was a lot of swearing, including the F-word and using the Lord's name as an exclamation of emotion. There were a handful of non-married "sexy times," but it wasn't descriptive beyond them removing their clothing. There was some talk of a possible suicide and drug addiction.

In Between (Jenny B. Jones)

Why I have this book: I got it for free on Kindle over six years ago.

I liked this book. I almost liked it four-stars worth... like maybe 3.7. I'm still torn between three stars or four for Goodreads. I guess it's four stars for it's genre, so I'll just do that. (Genre is Christian Fiction for Teenagers.)

It's actually the first of a series of six books, but after I read the summaries of the other books, I decided to just stop with this first one. Looks like there's some tough stuff coming up in the next books, then the last three books seem to be more Romantic Christian Fiction and more for young adults.

Clean.

The Passing Storm (Christine Nolfi)

Why I have this book: It was an Amazon Prime First Reads option this month or last month...

I gave it two stars on Goodreads. The story itself was good, but there were some uncommon words used more than once (which interrupted the flow). There was at least one pretty big unanswered question (where was Griffin the night he was supposed to meet Rae in the parking lot?), and there was a lot going on that didn't feel quite fleshed out like it could have been. It was a weird combo of depth and surface writing.

It was also hard to get into at first. Lots of hints at whatever was going on, but not enough mapped out to really sink into the story for a good chunk of time.

And... I can think of at least three times that one character "flicked" another character on the nose. And not in a mean way... it was like a little affectionate gesture, I guess. Maybe the author meant "tweaked her nose," and not "flicked her nose." That seems like it would be painful, right?

Overall, it kept my interest, but it was just okay. I don't like that the "bad guy" didn't have to pay for his crime. Women should never give that kind of evil a pass, in my opinion. Maybe it's more complicated in some circumstances, but in a book like this, maybe it sends the wrong message. I don't know.

There may have been some mild swearing. A rape occurs, but it's not graphically described. A child is born out of wedlock. A high school couple have the hots for each other. The story also deals with death.

Land of My Heart (Tracie Peterson)

Why I have this book: I got it free about six years ago on my Kindle.

I gave this book 1 star on Goodreads. It was pretty boring, the character development was weak, and considering the number of tragic events that occurred within the storyline, you'd think they'd be handled with a little more depth. Ditto the relationship a couple of characters develop with God... it's all pretty shallow in description.

It was hard to push through to the end, but it's done and if nothing else, it counts toward my book goal on Goodreads for 2021. Haha.

Clean. It's a Christian book.