I show you my books, you show me yours... vol.26

It's Show Us Your Books Day!  The day hosted by Jana & Steph, the day that makes my goodreads "to read" list grow, and the day I interact with a blogging community of readers.  I love this day of the month.

What I've read since last link-up:

1.  How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathon Tropper - This is one of the only authors in yearsssss that I loved so much, I knew that I must read everyone of his books.  I don't binge read, meaning I don't read all the same author at once.  I sprinkled his books in over time, and now I've read all six of Tropper's published books.  With this one, as always, I love the flawed characters.  I love the dysfunctional relationships.  I love the writing style, the pace, the humor mixed with sadness.  A solid 4/5.

2.  Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon - I know.  A lot of other bloggers and readers have already read this book and fell in love with Madeline and Oliver (or Maddy and Olly.)  My goodreads tells me that 21 "friends" have marked it "to read".  Well, get on it.  It's a quick read and a lovely little book with some valuable lessons.  I'm not one to highlight or remember book quotes, but this one jumped off the page and settled into my heart:  "Just because you can't experience everything doesn't mean you shouldn't experience anything."

3.  The Secret River by Kate Grenville - I felt like I'd read a book assigned by a university professor, and I should write a paper analyzing topics such as poverty and crime, the colonization of Australia, class systems, violence and the mob mentality, entitlement by white settlers and the atrocities committed by them towards indigenous people, money does not equal happiness, the fight of indigenous people to keep their land and their culture, and more. This is my first historical fiction book set during the colonization of Australia, and I appreciated its descriptive writing, as I felt it painted a picture of many scenes and settings. Also, some of the horrors that are committed were difficult to read and to stomach because of the authenticity of the descriptive writing. It is not a fast-paced book, but it is vivid and provocative and a well-written story. 4/5

4.  The Murder House by James Patterson and David Ellis - Do you like James Patterson books? Read this one. Do you like thrillers? Read this book. Twists and turns galore. 4.5/5

5.  One Plus One by Jojo Moyes - I liked this book. I didn't love it, but I liked it a lot.   I enjoyed the support characters more than the mains. 3.75/5 because I give crazy review scores like that.

6.  Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult - So much praise has already been given to this book, all justified and deserved. I'm not sure it's possible to read this book and not be uncomfortable in parts. It is thought-provoking and emotion-filled.  Like others, I felt the ending was abrupt.
Something that I will add that I haven't seen others mention, I couldn't help but hearing echoes at times from John Grisham's A Time to Kill. When Carl Lee tells his attorney, Jake, that they aren't friends. That Jake is his "secret weapon" because, like Kennedy, he is well-meaning, yes, but still a privileged white person. Grisham's book was written close to 30 years ago, but here we are with the same themes and prevalent racism. The comparison of the two books leaves me disheartened that we haven't improved more and bettered ourselves as a society, and I appreciate the reminder from Jodi Picoult that there are ways to continue to learn, grow, and evolve. 4/5

7.  Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens - I liked the idea of this book, but I never fully connected to the main character which made me feel like something was lacking.  Still, I enjoyed it enough to continue being a fan of this author.  3/5

I've shown you mine, now you show me yours...