Books You Might Want to Read — or Gift

I keep track of the books I have read on the Goodreads website. Since I forget all about a book the instant I have finished it, I need to keep track of what I have read so that I don’t read it again by mistake! Of course, since I forget what I have read, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to read something again! I think we have all had the experience of getting part way through a book and realizing it sounds very familiar!

Goodreads allows you to set a book-reading goal for the year. I had somehow set my goal for a very optimistic 100 books in 2025. It really is doable to read two books a week — but this year I noticed I was very, very behind! I changed it to 50, and I am still four books behind! Too much spending time watching manifestation videos instead of reading, I guess.

I used to much prefer reading physical books rather than e-books. I still like the look and feel of print books, but e-books are so much easier to read because the reader  provides its own light, and you can adjust the font size. So, right now I think print books and ebooks are tied. But then —  in come large-print books, which offer both the joy of the print book and the joy of being able to read the type!

Audiobooks, you ask? I think I have “read” one audiobook in my life. I have nothing against audiobooks, but …. I don’t consider listening to audiobooks reading. Audiobooks are like listening to podcasts. Nothing wrong with it at all, but it isn’t reading, just because it also comes in the form of a book. Just my humble opinion.

Since my last “book review” blog post, I have read these books:

Wonderful Tonight by Pattie Boyd – A friend lent this to me, and I started reading it, but the print was very small. I was curious about reading it, so I found the ebook at the library and am really enjoying it. For those of you who don’t know who Pattie Boyd is (because you are too young!), she was married to Beatle George Harrison and then to rocker Eric Clapton. She must be one of the few women married to not one, but two, big rock stars, one right after the other. She was a model in London and met George after she was called to play a non speaking role in their Hard Day’s Night movie. It is a very interesting book, a real look at what it is like to be married to a rock star. Lots of drugs, alcohol, and moodiness. I am about 80 percent finished, and I will probably give it five stars. It is a very good read. *****

Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen – Hiaasen is very popular here in Florida where he lives. He writes humorous, often satirical, books that take place in Florida. I have read a few of his books and liked them. I quit this one after about 30 pages. Too many characters. I read some of the Goodreads reviews, and many said it was not his best book. It is his new one, and real Hiaasen fans might like it. ***

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I didn’t realize that two other books I had read and liked in the past were written by the same author: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six.  Atmosphere is a love story that takes place in the 80s in space starring female astronauts. Five stars *****

One Golden Summer by Carly Fortune – An easy-to-read coming-of-age romance. A nice romance with young people. ****

My Friends by Fredrik Backman – A new one by the author of A Man Called Ove, which is one of my very favorite books of all time. I have read a few of his books, none as good, in my opinion, as Ove.  This book is about friendship, and I did like it. Four stars ****

The Beginners Guide to Parallel Realities by House of Abundance Publications – I don’t remember a thing about it, so I guess I didn’t learn anything. It has an excellent readers’ rating on Amazon, and I gave it four stars without remembering anything.  It is obviously about the universe and quantum physics, which does fascinate me, and ties in with manifestation.****

Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole –  It didn’t seem to help my eating habits, but it is a good book, much of it common sense. I did give it a high rating.*****

Manifesting from the Inside Out with the Law of Attraction by Kate Corbin – I don’t even practice the law of attraction; I am more interested in the law of assumption, but they are very much the same, and it is a good book, particularly because it is free with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited. Plenty of great reviews on Amazon. *****

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult – I read this for my banned book club (which I have since quit since it is a Zoom from California and begins at 10 p.m. my time. I cannot get my mind in gear that late.) I have read a few Picoult books and enjoyed them. And I liked this one, which is about a school shooting, so parts of  it are very intense. But it was not banned because it is about a school shooting. It is banned because of content regarding suicide. Go figure. ****

Your Faith Is Your Future by Neville Goddard – Goddard is the father of the Law of Assumption school of manifesting. He has many books and lectures.  This one has a 4.8 rating and 1400 reviews on Amazon. Four stars from me. ****

A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole – This book is a young adult tearjerker of a romance, but not a silly tearjerker. I loved it, as did 65,000 Amazon readers. *****

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry –  A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. I have read probably most or all of Henry’s books. They get good reviews and sound good with enticing covers and titles. But I am always a little disappointed. I gave it three stars, but 63,000 Amazon readers liked it, earning it a rating of 4.3. ***

You Are the Placebo by Joe Dispenza – Dispenza is one of the most well-known gurus of the spiritual/manifestation/self healing movement. He deals mostly with healing all manner of ailments and diseases by thought alone. He cured a catastrophic back injury or his own. He is trained as a chiropractor. I saw a woman reading it on a plane I was on and was impressed that someone else knew who he was. You can see the stories of people who have healed themselves on his Youtube channel. Good book *****

I do believe the holidays are upon us. Several years ago I wrote a post listing the many reasons why books make great gifts. I may rerun it or redo it this year. Suffice it to say that books do make great gifts — EVEN GRAMMAR BOOKS! Got someone going to college next year? looking for a job? thinking of homeschooling? needing a little grammar and writing brush up? Check out my dozen grammar books and workbooks on this website and Amazon, and everywhere else online where books are sold. Add if you would prefer to support your local brick and mortar bookstore, my books can be ordered from any of them. Please forgive the shameless plug!