ShayKay's Books: Work in Progress

1. Alabama	The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson – This book was really good! I loved Leia! She was so quirky and had so much going on that would really break anyone. She is so resilient that she won't allow it to break her. There were some really interesting twists and turns that I honestly didn't see coming and to think that these two little old ladies caused pretty much all of it. I definitely want to read more written by Jackson. The only reason the book isn't a five star is that I just wanted more in the end. I feel like so much of the book was the build-up and the consequences of everything, so the ending was really rushed and thrown together, I think. But I really loved this book. I love how Leia grew up in a family where her father was gone, and her stepsister was having issues sharing the spotlight. By the time the book starts Leia is a grown woman but she still struggles with her life and issues that were created when she was a child, such as the fact that she didn’t really resent her sister but she felt like her sister was prettier than she was, and the part where she tried to call their father dad and her sister literally bit her so hard and then she cried when her dad told she was in the wrong. Then the fact that Leia is a huge nerd was just even more amazing. There was just so much going on in this book.
2. Alaska	Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber – I hated this book! I hated the instalove factor of this book. If this book would have started in the beginning of the summer when Josie first started working in the lodge in Ponder, then it might not have been such a horrible book because we could have started with learning about how Josie and Palmer met and experiencing their connection grow versus being thrown right into the middle. The book does explain some of this stuff, but I don’t think it does a good enough job at really explaining how this couple really started. I just kept getting these crazy creepy vibes and I think it really came from personal experiences that made Palmer’s obsessiveness really creep me out and not enjoy reading this book. If I was reading this book versus listening to the audiobook I would’ve DNF it. I gave the book a 1 out of 5 stars and that is only because of Josie. I really enjoyed her parts of the book, mostly because she acted like a normal person. She didn’t let her feelings dictate her life and she continued with her life and worked out her feelings. I really enjoyed her sections.
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. California
6. Colorado
7. Connecticut
8. Delaware
9. Florida
10. Georgia
11. Hawaii
12. Idaho
13. Illinois
14. Indiana	Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia – This book was set in Wellhouse, Indiana. This book really set off some Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell vibes. I love the way this book was written, character development, and the way this book was set up! Eliza’s story was so amazing, and just like Cath I could really relate to her. Although I don’t have an issue talking to people, I do feel like I connect better to people through writing or online. I love how her identity came out. Her parents didn’t mean to tell the world because they really did not understand how popular her story was until it was too late. Even the events that followed this was sad you honestly could not be mad at the parents because they didn’t mean to hurt her. I just wish that they would have taken the time to really know their daughter instead of pushing her away from the things that she really loved. As a parent you want the kids to experience everything but you also have to experience the things that they love too. I honestly read this entire book in one day.
15. Iowa
16. Kansas
17. Kentucky
18. Louisiana
19. Maine
20. Maryland
21. Massachusetts
22. Michigan
23. Minnesota
24. Mississippi
25. Missouri
26. Montana
27. Nebraska	Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – I loved this story! It was so stinking cute, and I loved how Cath grew throughout the story. However, I only gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars. The book started out so well and I felt so hard for Cath, I think her story was so grabbing. But I think the last third of the book is where the book really lost one star because it got really slow, and then the way it ended just left me with so many questions that were really answered. For example, Cath’s paper and life outside of fanfiction was just a big let down because she never worked on it because she chose that she just wasn’t good enough to do it! I feel like Cath could honestly have done such an amazing job with the assignment if she tried. So overall loved most of the characters such as Cath and Levi of course, and then absolutely hated some of them. I just wish there was more to the story. Most of the book took place in while the girls were in Lincoln at college, but the twins lived and grew up in Omaha.
28. Nevada
29. New Hampshire
30. New Jersey	Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich – I started this series pretty much the same time I started the In-Death story, but I did a horrible job at keeping up with this series as opposed to the In-Death series. Even though this series was really funny I just had a hard time keeping up with it. I’m so glad that I gave the series another chance and reread this book. This time around I listened to this book on Audible and it was such a great choice. I laughed so much throughout this book and I honestly enjoyed this book so much. This series follows a bounty hunter named Stephanie Plum and she isn’t really a successful bounty hunter. She lives in this small neighborhood in New Jersey where everyone knows everything so anything that Plum does her parents automatically find out and start worrying. Then she is involved in a crazy love triangle which is always hilarious. This was an amazing book and I cannot wait to jump into the next one.
31. New Mexico
32. New York	Innocent in Death by JD Robb – I’ve been in love with this series since the second I started it! I love Eve and Roarke and Peabody, and really just everyone in this series. These books are set in the future in New York City. They all follow a lieutenant named Eve Dallas. There are so many books in this series that it can be super intimidating, I believe this actual book was the 24^th book. Even though I absolutely love this world I do not read them back to back because it is so long, and I really do not want to get burned out on this series because I LOVE IT! This particular book we saw a different side of Roarke and Eve, their relationship was truly tested because an old love of Roarke’s appears with a vendetta to hurt them. It takes most of the book for Eve to get her stuff back together and then convince Roarke of what is going on. It was a crazy storyline. This whole series, every single installment have a million different storylines within them. Then the actual murder story in this book! Not only was the murderer a sociopath but it was a ten-year-old kid! I just loved this book!
33. North Carolina	Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks – I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Nicholas Sparks books. Sometimes I either love them and sometimes I just can’t get into them. This book was different though. I loved the first 2/3 of the book, but then I hated the last third. I loved how this story was kind of based off of a true story! I loved the while Kindred Spirit idea! Like all Sparks books this story was based in North Carolina, this one was at Sunset Beach. I absolutely loved Tru and half the time I loved Hope too. But by the end of the story I felt horrible for Hope! I ended up rating the book 4 out of 5 stars. Like I said earlier the first 2/3 of the book was AMAZING! I loved the pace of the book, the characters’ backgrounds, and the story as a whole. But the way things went down with Hope and Tru is where the book took weird turn and it was just so sad! That’s where I started to hate the book. Not because of how it turned out but how it happened really. Was it my absolutely favorite Sparks book? No, but I still enjoyed it.
34. North Dakota
35. Ohio
36. Oklahoma
37. Oregon
38. Pennsylvania
39. Rhode Island
40. South Carolina
41. South Dakota
42. Tennessee
43. Texas
44. Utah
45. Vermont
46. Virginia
47. Washington
48. West Virginia
49. Wisconsin
50. Wyoming