Another month has passed and unfortunately, I’ve only had enough time to get my hands on two books to read all the way through. Not that I’m trying to advertise or anything, but for someone doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of time these days, Audible really does come in clutch with fitting time in for books I can’t sit down to read myself.
So what did I read (listen to)?
Well, great question! Both books I read come from very different authors and very different concepts— even the age groups for general interest aren’t close to one another. But each of them held an important story to tell, as all books do, about the human condition itself. So without further ado, here we go:

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

As someone who always went straight for the teen fiction section when the Scholastic book fair showed up at school, I have developed quite a habit for the genre itself so this book was more out of my comfort zone. And I loved it.
Now I’ve had my eye on Big Little Lies for a long time now. Back when my book first came out, I used to peruse bookshelves and imagine mine up there next to it. This one caught my eye every time, in my mind I was thinking, “I want it to be right up next to that one.” I’m not sure exactly what about it had my attention, but clearly it was something because this book is worth the read.
Set up as a murder mystery novel shrouded in the drama of parenthood and catfights (mom-fights?), there were a whole lot of twists and turns I wasn’t expecting. As someone who reads a lot and likes to expect a plot, I couldn’t do that with this novel because it was tricky; this book had some real secrets. Dealing with the concepts of domestic violence, broken homes, sexual assault, and the inner workings of families, there was plenty to unpack in this book.

Even though this novel was long, I wasn’t bored at all— Moriarty found a way to keep my attention all the way through to the ending plot twists. Character wise, I found myself loving parts of them and disliking others, nobody was perfect and I think that’s important in a novel. We have to relate somehow don’t we?
Whether you’re into murder mysteries, romance, comedies, or war stories, Big Little Lies manages to capture it all within its pages and pack a few punches along the way. Though outside my usual realm of books, this book had me thinking that maybe I need to open up my preferences a little bit. Definitely give this one a read.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

With his classics like Looking For Alaska and The Fault In Our Stars, I’ve been reading John Green’s books for years. And while I, to this day, do not see the fascination behind Paper Towns (definitely my least favorite), when people started talking about this bok, I wanted to know why. This month I finally gave in.
Though I would not rank this as one on my top favorites of his books, there were some parts that had me wondering if maybe I should. The way this novel depicted mental

health was incredible— both in the way it can affect countless relationships to how it can impact day to day life, Green really brought Aza’s character to life in her struggles. He was very real in his depictions of certain situations, such as losing a parent or trying to support someone when you just don’t know what they need, and most people can relate to the second part at least. That’s a pretty big part of life.
Plus, what would a John Green book be without its classic love story— of course this was one of those, though I can’t quite say it was full on classic. Because of the characters’ own issues, the relationships within this story hit a lot of roadblocks and the romantic ones were no exception. But I liked that he made things a little different in this book and to me, it seemed like the focus really wasn’t on their love story but on the life story.
The only reasons this wouldn’t quite make it into my list of favorites from the author, I personally could not get into it. Maybe there was too much going on in my own life to get lost in pages of this one, but I feel like that’s part of the reason I seek out fiction; I need to get lost in drama that does not belong to me. Though the message was there, just the kind of life pertaining and guiding type I like, I had a hard time truly connecting to the story and its characters… While I enjoyed the story, it felt like just another book to me rather than a book that I took a piece of with me after I put it down.

If you’re reading this, I think you at least know the kind of book I’m talking about. And if you’re curious about this book, see for yourself if maybe there was something I missed.

Liane Moriarty and John Green are both incredible storytellers, I cannot dispute that and neither can their book sales. But one of those books made it onto my (temporary) favorites list, and one of them did not. So if you think maybe I missed the reasons this book should be higher in my list, feel free to tell me why in the comments below; I would truly love to be proven wrong.

Thanks for joining me again in this fine Tuesday. Until Friday, have a great rest of your week!