Sarai Henderson's Blog, page 166

December 2019 Wrap Up

Well, December was an amazing month. There were some good books and some bad. Some sad stories and some amazing ones. That's why I love books. The story, its never the same from book to book. It makes you feel and think. That's the joy of the story. Lets wrap up all the books from December.











 I can't believe I read that many books that were four stars. That's just insane.
I hope you read some pretty fantastic books. As always, leave your books in the comments below and if you have any suggestions for me, let me know.

Book Review: Symptom of a Heart Break by Sona Charaipotra

Title: Symptoms of a Heart BreakBy: Sona CharaipotraGenre: ContemporaryPages: 304Release Date: July 2nd, 2019Publisher: ImprintRating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads: The youngest doctor in America, an Indian-American teen makes her rounds―and falls head over heels―in the contemporary romantic comedy Symptoms of a Heartbreak.
Fresh from med school, sixteen-year-old medical prodigy Saira arrives for her first day at her new job: treating children with cancer. She’s always had to balance family and friendships with her celebrity as the Girl Genius―but she’s never had to prove herself to skeptical adult co-workers while adjusting to real life-and-death stakes. And working in the same hospital as her mother certainly isn’t making things any easier.

But life gets complicated when Saira finds herself falling in love with a patient: a cute teen boy who’s been diagnosed with cancer. And when she risks her brand new career to try to improve his chances, it could cost her everything.

It turns out “heartbreak” is the one thing she still doesn’t know how to treat.

In her solo debut, Sona Charaipotra brings us a compelling #ownvoices protagonist who’s not afraid to chase what she wants. Symptoms of a Heartbreak goes from romantic comedy highs to tearjerker lows and is the ultimate cure-all for young adult readers needing an infusion of something heartfelt.
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Review: This was a fun Doogie Howser kind of story (if you don't know who Doogie Howser is, Google it.) The main character was smart and funny, but still so young and dealing with young people problems. How do you balance life as a doctor with your friends in high school? Can it really be done? There was a sad underlying tone to the story with the friend who died of cancer. It is brought up throughout the story, bringing the character back down to earth and giving her drive to push through the tough stuff. I really enjoyed this book. It was worth the read.

Book to Movie Review: A Simple Favor

Happy New Year's Eve!!!!!! I can't believe we are here. The last day of 2019. The last day of the decade. Its been a fantastic year and I'm ready for the next.

Recently, I watched the movie called A Simple Favor. It was a psychological thriller that had a fantastic ending, but also left me with many questions. Naturally, I wondered if there was a book involved in this story, and of course there was. The book answered some of my questions, but I was still wondering if this could all really happen. I guess it doesn't matter because in a story, you make up anything that you want.

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She’s your best friend.
She knows all your secrets.
That’s why she’s so dangerous.
A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.

Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems.

A Simple Favor is a remarkable tale of psychological suspense—a clever and twisting free-fall of a ride filled with betrayals and reversals, twists and turns, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. Darcey Bell masterfully ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing story that holds you in its grip until the final page.
IMDB link to trailer

The book by Darcy Bell, was actually a wonderful read. I love the dark thrillers where someone goes missing, but you can feel that there is something strange about the circumstances. 
I loved the actors picked to portray Stephanie and Emily. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are two amazing actors that are under appreciated at times. 
The questions that arose might spoil the ending for you, so I will keep them to myself. I will say that it has to do with Stephanie and her half brother. We will just leave it at that. If you read the book you will know what I'm talking about. 
I really did enjoy both the book and the movie. It was worth the time. 
What are your thoughts on this pair?

Weekly Menu #332 And The Book Of The Week

Hello Monday! Last Monday of the year. I can't believe we've gotten this far. This last week was a rough one. Two of my boys came down with the flu. It was terrible. It lasted days of high fever and a cough. I nearly went stir crazy being stuck in the house for that long. Of course, it started the day after Christmas. I'm just glad it wasn't on Christmas day. We all were able to enjoy a wonderful day with family. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too.
This weeks book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, a classic. I'm getting a jump start on my reading challenges for next year. I didn't work on them as much as I had wanted, so I thought I would read as much as I can in the first part of the year before I get bogged down with review requests. What are you reading this week?

Monday- Chicken Udon
Tuesday- Crantastic Turkey Burger
Wednesday- Fajita Style Chicken Drumsticks
Thursday- Beef Pastitsio 
Friday- Sirloin Steak and Caramelized Onions
Saturday- Sweet and Sour Shrimp Stir Fry
Sunday- Leftovers Night

Sunday Confessions #24

This is the last Sunday Confessions of the year. 2020 is only a few short days away and damn, I'm excited. The new year has so much promise, I can't wait. Lets get on with this weeks confessions.

Sunday Confessions #23~Weekly Menu #331 And The Book Of The Week~Movie Review: Bright Lights~Book Review: The Last Human by Zack Jordan~2020 Book Challenge Picks~Book Review: Havenfall by Sara Holland

Weekly Menu #332 And The Book Of The Week~Book Review: Symptom of a Heart Break by Sona Charaipotra~Book Review: Belle Revolte by Linsey Miller~Sunday Confessions #25


Super excited to read both these books.

Goodbye to 2019, hello 2020. I hope you read some wonderful books in the coming year.

Book Review: Havenfall by Sara Holland

Title: Havenfall
By: Sara HollandGenre: Urban FantasyPages: 320Release Date: March 3rd, 2020Publisher: Bloomsbury YARating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads: A safe haven between four realms. The girl sworn to protect it--at any cost. New York Times bestselling author Sara Holland crafts a breathtaking new contemporary fantasy perfect for fans of Melissa Albert and Holly Black.
Hidden deep in the mountains of Colorado lies the Inn at Havenfall, a sanctuary that connects ancient worlds--each with their own magic--together. For generations, the inn has protected all who seek refuge within its walls, and any who disrupt the peace can never return.

For Maddie Morrow, summers at the inn are more than a chance to experience this magic first-hand. Havenfall is an escape from reality, where her mother sits on death row accused of murdering Maddie's brother. It's where Maddie fell in love with handsome Fiorden soldier Brekken. And it's where one day she hopes to inherit the role of Innkeeper from her beloved uncle.

But this summer, the impossible happens--a dead body is found, shattering everything the inn stands for. With Brekken missing, her uncle gravely injured, and a dangerous creature on the loose, Maddie suddenly finds herself responsible for the safety of everyone in Havenfall. She'll do anything to uncover the truth, even if it means working together with an alluring new staffer Taya, who seems to know more than she's letting on. As dark secrets are revealed about the inn itself, one thing becomes clear to Maddie--no one can be trusted, and no one is safe . . .

Sara Holland takes the lush fantasy that captured readers in Everless and Evermore and weaves it into the real world to create a wholly captivating new series where power and peril lurk behind every door.

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Review: Can I just say that I am a big fan of Sara Holland. She always writes about fantastical worlds that fit well within our own, this book is no different. There is a magical world linked to our own, and linked to so many others. Some dangerous and some not as much. Some have been closed off to our world forever, but how then did a dangerous creature from one of these lost worlds, a creature that supposedly killed her brother, make its way to our own? These are the questions that need to be answered and they will be in the most wonderful way. Dive into these covers and find out what happens.  
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

2020 Book Challenge Picks

With 2020 only days away, now is the time to update your book challenges and make new ones for the coming year. Here are my Book challenges of 2019 and what I plan on reading in 2020.

2019
Gilmore Girls Book Challenge30/341This one is going to take me a while.
Star Wars Book Challenge4/196I just started this one a few months ago, so again, gonna take me a while.
Read Around the Country Challenge13/50I also just started this challenge, but I have a feeling it will go fast.
100 Books to Read Before You Die Challenge30/100I'm really excited for this challenge.
Goodreads Best Books of 2018 Challenge21/21Finished this challenge up about a week ago. I can't believe it took me so long, lol.
2020
Books Set in Scotland0/18
I found a wonderful list of books set in Scotland, the land of my ancestors. I can't wait to dive into this list.
It's going to be so hard picking which list I want to start on first. As long as I'm reading something, I'm going to be happy. 
What are your New Years reading resolutions?
Let me know in the comments below.

Book Review: The Last Human by Zack Jordan

Title: The Last Human
By: Zack JordanGenre: ScifiPages: 448Release Date: March 24th, 2020Publisher: Del Rey BooksRating: ★★★☆☆
Summary from Goodreads:  The last human in the universe is on the run from a godlike intelligence in this rip-roaring debut space opera.

Sarya is the civilized galaxy's worst nightmare: a Human.

Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy.

Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again.

And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth--that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is--impossibly--the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago.

That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered.

Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship--with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands--Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth.

What if humanity's death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table--and a second chance for humanity?

The Last Human is a sneakily brilliant, gleefully oddball space-opera debut--a masterful play on perspective, intelligence, and free will, wrapped in a rollicking journey through a strange and crowded galaxy.
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Review: I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. We are thrown into an amazing world where humans are extinct and throughout the story we find out why. It really was an interesting concept. Halfway through the book, I felt like the story slowed down a bit and it was hard to trudge through. If you can get through it though, the ending is worth the read. 
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Movie Review: Bright Lights

Title: Bright LightsGenre: BiographyRelease Date: January 7th, 2017My Rating: ★★★★☆IMDB Rating: 8/10 StarsCast: Summary from IMDB: An intimate portrait of actress  IMDB Trailer
Review: I never really knew the story behind Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. I've seen some of their works, but that was about it. This movie really tells what it was like to be these two wonderful people and it's told from their point of view.
I loved hearing the stories coming from the mouth of those who lived it. A wonderful movie worth watching. 

Weekly Menu #331 And The Book Of The Week

Can you believe that Wednesday is Christmas?! I sure can't. This year has gone by so fast and so many wonderful things have come of it. I can't wait to see what 2020 brings me and my family. I hope you had a wonderful year as well.
This weeks book is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I've been obsessed with the TV show. My husband and I binged the whole first season and now I can't wait for season two. In the meantime, to keep my mind busy, I'm going to read the book... and maybe the second book... We shall see.Lets get on with this weeks menu. Enjoy!

Monday- Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wrap
Tuesday- Cheesy Brunch Bake
Wednesday- Fajita Style Chicken Drumsticks
Thursday- Greek Avgolemono Chicken Soup
Friday- Mexican Beef Lettuce Wrap
Saturday- Chicken Udon
Sunday- Leftovers Night