When I was in college, my then-boyfriend (now husband of 7.5 years) lived in Lafayette while I lived in New Orleans. I moved to Baton Rouge for law school while he remained in Lafayette. I have made more Highway 90 and I-10 drives than I can count.
At some point, I started listening to books on CD. I have always affectionately referred to them as “book tapes.”
Last year (2019), I “read” 15 books via Audible.com. I always listen/read while I drive when there are no other adults in the car, even if it is just the grocery store. I committed to 20 books in 2020. So far, as we sit here at the end of March/beginning of April, I am on my 6th book. I am 11 minutes out of 12 audible hours into my 6th book, and it is by far my favorite of 2020 so far. Do you want to know what it is? You will have to wait. Let’s give credit where credit to my 2019 reads first.
Some of my favorites that I read in 2019 are:
Still Me by Jojo Moyes (truly anything by Jojo gives me life)
Surprise Me and Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (again one of my very favorite authors)
Behind Closed Doors and The Breakdown by B.A. Paris (ok, so at this point in 2019, I started reading psychological thrillers, to while B.A. Paris is an expert)
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (I really did not enjoy this book, but I am enjoying the heck out of the Hulu series)
One Day in December by Josie Silver (this is the most perfect Christmas/month of December book of all time)
I also read several titles by Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena. I love most titles by both.
My first book of 2020 was The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks. This was a super easy/fast read but definitely not my favorite. I did not love the narration and just worried the whole time about the women involved.
I then read All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin. I have read every single Emily Giffin book and have preordered her summer book. She is definitely one of my top 5 of all time. I loved this book. It will maybe be hard to read if you have high school kiddos.
Next up was The Mother-in-law by Sally Hepworth. I really loved this one. I am a sucker for anything and everything Australian. I particularly love Australian narration. There was a Q&A with the author at the end of the book. She brought up that she did not start out as a women’s issues author but it is where her heart always falls.
I loved The Mother-in-law so much that I read another Sally Hepworth book next. I loved the book but it was really hard for me to get through, with no fault to Sally. I read The Family Next Door, but this book goes prettttty deep into the emotions that surround stillbirth and infant loss. It was not the book I needed to read.
Last month (March), I read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and I essentially hated every second.
I am currently reading and LOVING (all 11 minutes that I have listened to so far) Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner. Jennifer Weiner is right up there with Jojo Moyes, Emily Giffin, and Liane Moriarty as my very favorite authors of all time. I will report back in the comments of this blog post with my thoughts once done. You can also follow me on Instagram — rebeccaautin — I have a highlight button with books and thoughts on each!
Next up for 2020, I have:
The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
Big Summer (releasing in May) by Jennifer Weiner
Thirtynothing by Lisa Jewell
The Lies that Bind (releasing in June) by Emily Giffin
The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Happy reading/listening friends. I hope these lighthearted/mind of the Corona titles help you in our time of need.
