Magnolia Mamas : Book Club: November 2021

Happy December friends! Can you believe we are already at the end of 2021?! It seems like this year flew by. We love December for all of it's sparkle and holiday fun. We love it even more so because of all the fun holiday books and movies that come out.

We have a GREAT list of holiday books we shared last week that we plan on digging into this month, but first it's time to chat about what we read in November!

WHAT WE READ...

CARRIE BETH

Y'all know I listen to 99% of the books that I share and Audible has a wish list feature where you can add books to the list so that you can easily keep track of titles you want to read or listen to. I love this feature because anytime someone tells me about a great book I add it to my wish list. Well, my wish list is REALLY long and filled with tons of books. This month I decided to try to make a little headway on this list and listened to 3 books that have been hanging out on my wish list for quite a while.

First up for me was Float Plan by Trish Doller.

The cover makes it seem like a happy go lucky book, and it was happy, but it actually touches on some deeper subjects, too. It follows a woman who goes on a solo sailing trip to the Caribbean after recently loosing her fiancé. They were supposed to do the trip together, so there a lot of emotions involved, but it was fun to see how she overcomes, proves to be stronger and more skilled than she ever would have imagined, and ends up meeting someone pretty special along the way.

Next up was Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

Part of me wanted to listen to this one because I knew I wouldn't hate listening to Mr. McConaughey for 6 hours. I love his accent and as you can imagine he is a wonderful writer/storyteller. It was interesting to hear how his career evolved and to learn the thoughtful way he approaches life. His self-reflections are pretty deep and I enjoyed this one. It was a nice alternative to the types of books I usually go for.

My last book for the month was Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand.

I enjoy all of her novels and this one was no different. It follows a family as they learn terrible news about their husband/father. They end up traveling to St. Johns to learn more about his death and come to find out he was living a secret life. They meet locals, dig deeper, and start to unravel some truths they never knew. It was a quick and easy read and I enjoyed it, but wished the ending had given a little more detail because it left me wondering and wanting to know more. Come to find out this is the first of three in the series so I'll definitely be checking out the others!

JEN

I have a HUGE stack of holiday reads to get through, but for some reason any time I picked up a physical book this month, my brain just couldn't compute. So I was 100% audio reads this month and not one bit mad about it. Here's what I listened to...

K.A. Tucker books have won me over this year. Burying Water was and interesting twist on the mafia romance theme. The story is told from two POVs, linking both past and present. Water wakes up in the hospital with no memory at all. You follow her journey to find out who she is and who she was in her past. I loved her character as well as Jesse, the Wells family, and Jenny. This was a quick and easy listen - highly recommend!

The Love Hypothesis was just plain fun. This little rom-com was equal parts witty banter and slow burn romance. This book has been hyped all over social media - and for good reason. It's a light and easy read, and you can't help but love the cast of nerdy, yet adorable, characters.

Olive is a grad student who tries to do her best friend a favor. The favor ends with her accidentally kissing a random stranger in the science building they both work in. But the random stranger is actually the moodiest, grouchiest, smartest Professor on the staff.

Ooops.

He also happens to be really good looking.

Double oops.

Or maybe not...

The can't put it down story takes off from there. Fake Dating, strong heroine, grumpy hero, best friends you want to hang with your self, a whole lot of steam - The Love Hypothesis has it all. Grab this one and join the hype.

One of Us is Lying reminds me of a murder mystery twist on Breakfast Club. I loved every second of it. Four kids are in detention, but only three of them leave alive. There are a ton of twists and turns as you try to figure out who might have done it. And a lot of fingers point at the three that are left alive.

The ending completely surprised me, but also had me cheering. I know there is a sequel and a new show based off the book and I already can't wait to check both out!

The Wedding Ringer was my last book of the month and from the opening page it was f-u-n FUN! An influencer finds her fiancé and best friend in bed together a few weeks before their wedding date. Now she finds herself both jobless and living with her sister. Until she stumbles into being a stranger's bridesmaid.

I laughed from the start to the finish of this one. It also has a few more serious moments that give the story a little more depth. If you enjoy Christina Lauren style novels, or rom-coms, put this one on your "to-read" list ASAP!

WHAT'S UP NEXT...

CARRIE BETH

Next up for me I'm going to go a little deeper and listen to The Push by Ashley Audrain. It was highly recommended to me and I usually love anything that is about motherhood so excited to dive into this one.

JEN

Okay, I've already started listening to this one, but I can already tell you it is a contender for one of my favorite books of the year. It's most definitely in my top three. Currently about half way through Jodi Picoult's latest - Wish You Were Here.