LIFE'S A PEARL

The rest of my September was pretty amazing!

I was feeling all the fall vibes with autumn decorations and Texas Roots pumpkins everywhere. We even made an early trip to the pumpkin patch so Grandpa could experience it during his visit – complete with a hayride, a corn maze, and an impromptu goat rescue.

In terms of reading though, it slowed down as predicted while we spent time with my dad and celebrated Mr. O’s second birthday.

Before the visit though I crossed two more books off my fall tbr and continued on in those series with the second book.

Most of my reading life in the second half of September was dedicated to my nonfiction pick for the Pearls of Wisdom book club – The Good Life by Robert Waldinger, MD and Marc Schulz, PhD.

It was a very timely read with the major point of the book being how important strong relationships are to our health and happiness.

All in all, I read 11 books in September and I have three new reviews to share with you today.

September Reading Wrap Up:

By the Season and Reading Format

Fall Reads

• Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen 🎧
• The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson 🎧
• Dark Lover by J.R. Ward 🎧
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna 🎧
• The Mindf*ck Series by S.T. Abby 📖
• Choosing Theo by Victoria Aveline 🎧📖
• Small Town, Big Magic by Hazel Beck 🎧

Book Club Picks

• That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming 📖🎧
• The Good Life by Robert Waldinger, MD and Marc Schulz, PhD 📖

Next in Series

• Big Little Spells by Hazel Beck 🎧
• Freeing Luka by Victoria Aveline 🎧

Recaps and Reviews

You can find my reviews for Other Birds (4 stars), That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (3 stars), The Kind Worth Saving (4 stars), Dark Lover (3.5 stars), The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (5 stars), and The Mindf*ck Series (5 stars) in my Mid September Reading Recap.

Choosing Theo by Victoria Aveline

Rating: 4 stars

Steam Level: 2.5

This was one of the alien romances on my fall tbr.

The ebook is available through Kindle Unlimited. I did a hybrid read with the audio from hoopla.

From goodreads:

“Being kidnapped by aliens is only the start of Jade’s problems. Thankfully, her rescuers, an alien race known as the Clecanians, are willing to protect her, but she has to stay on their planet for one year and respect the rules of their culture–including choosing a husband. Jade refuses at first but decides to play along until she can find a way back to Earth.

Theo, a scarred mercenary who prefers a life of solitude, is stunned when Jade selects him as her husband. After years of being passed over, he never imagined he would be chosen and neither did anyone else. Only one explanation makes sense…the curvy enticing female must be a spy, and Theo’s determined to break her cover using any means necessary.

As Jade and Theo are forced to spend time together, their chemistry becomes undeniable. But neither can afford to bring love into the equation, especially since Jade seems determined to go home. After all, she can’t possibly stay here, right?”

My Thoughts

I mostly listened to this one on audio. I did switch to the ebook to read a few chapters before bed.

First off the audiobook narrator’s voice (Stephen Dexter) was crazy deep when he voiced Theo and I was a fan!

Aveline built a very unique and intriguing society in this alien world she created. There are many more males than females on this planet. As a result males go to husbandry school to learn how to be good partners in hopes a female will choose them to “marry”.

Marriage is more like our version of dating since nobody has recognized a true mate in over 100 years. Birth rates are very low and this practice is their best option for continuing their species.

There’s quite a bit of political information thrown in that highlighted the differences between their planet and Earth. Some of those differences were better and some were worse. While some readers might not appreciate the political tones, they definitely gave me food for thought.

The romance was a bit slow in this one especially in the first half because Aveline was setting up the world. But once it takes off, I thought Theo and Jade’s connection was really great and I enjoyed this story.

Theo’s mother was from a different planet so he is considered a hybrid. He has a few more primal instincts compared to full blooded Clecanians. Some of his interactions and feelings toward Jade reminded me of a werewolf and we even get a chasing before claiming scene!

I went on to read the second book in the series, Freeing Luka, which was still fun but not as good as this one for me.

I believe the series continues to follow this group of brothers. The audio versions are available on Hoopla at this time so I plan to keep reading.

Other Books in the Series that I Read this Month:

• Freeing Luka (3.5 stars)

Small Town, Big Magic by Hazel Beck

Rating: 3.5 stars

Steam Level: 1

This was another book from my fall tbr under the witchy reads category. I remember it made a splash last fall and was said to have Gilmore Girls vibes, which is one of my favorite shows.

I was nervous for this one after seeing mostly negative reviews. It has a goodreads rating of 3.32 at the time of this writing which is low enough to make me raise my eyebrows. Occasionally though I like to dive into a controversial book and form my own opinion which is precisely what I did.

From goodreads:

“No one has civic pride quite like Emerson Wilde. As a local indie bookstore owner and youngest-ever Chamber of Commerce president, she’d do anything for her hometown of St. Cyprian, Missouri. After all, Midwest is best! She may be descended from a witch who was hanged in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials, but there’s no sorcery in doing your best for the town you love.
Or is there?

As she preps Main Street for an annual festival, Emerson notices strange things happening around St. Cyprian. Strange things that culminate in a showdown with her lifelong arch-rival, Mayor Skip Simon. He seems to have sent impossible, paranormal creatures after her. Creatures that Emerson dispatches with ease, though she has no idea how she’s done it. Is Skip Simon…a witch? Is Emerson?

It turns out witches are real, and Emerson is one of them. She failed a coming-of-age test at age eighteen—the only test she’s ever failed!—and now, as an adult, her powers have come roaring back.

But she has little time to explore those powers, or her blossoming relationship with her childhood friend, cranky-yet-gorgeous local farmer Jacob North: an ancient evil has awakened in St. Cyprian, and it’s up to Emerson and her friends—maybe even Emerson herself—to save everything she loves.”

Reading Experience: Audiobooks vs physical or ebooks?

This book brought up an interesting conundrum in my reading life. I listened to it on audio and I think my reading experience would have been quite different if I’d read it with my eyes.

It definitely started off slow and with a pretty annoying main character to boot. I’ve realized I can push past those things more easily with an audiobook than a physical book or an ebook. But I do think that should be accounted for in my rating.

Have you come across this in your reading life? Where you can tolerate some things in an audiobook but would get stuck on them in a physical book? If so let me know in the comments how you handle it!

My Thoughts

Luckily I enjoyed this book more than most but I do think it suffered from mismarketing.

It isn’t much of a romance but rather more a witchy fantasy set in a small town. There is a slight love story but it is closed door and barely touched on. The majority of the book centers around Emerson coming to terms with her magic and trying to save the town.

I didn’t really get any Gilmore Girls vibes from it either. Emerson is a bit of a female version of Taylor Doosie but any comparison there ended by chapter 3 or 4 when the magic really comes into play.

It seems like a lot of people disliked Emerson, but I found her funny. Occasionally she was a little annoying with her overconfidence but most of the time it seemed like she was aware of it and sometimes poked fun at herself.

I loved the atmosphere. The magic was also fun. There’s a lot of spell casting in this book and development of the magic system.

I also loved the side characters. I’m definitely invested in finally getting Zander and Ellowyn’s story!

I finished this book on a walk and immediately jumped into listening to the second one. That was partly because this story didn’t tie up completely. Which was a little annoying for how long the ending is.

It was enough of a cliffhanger that I would have been pretty upset if I’d read this one and had to wait a year for the second book.

Other Books in the Series that I Read this Month:

• Big Little Spells (4 stars)

General Thoughts on the Series

Obviously I enjoyed the second book, Big Little Spells, more than the first but I had a lot to process with Small Town, Big Magic.

It’s also difficult to discuss the second book without spoilers. I found the romantic story stronger than in the first book but still closed door and there was a little less magic. It has strong themes of making up for past mistakes, dealing with regret, and coping with both anger and grief.

Thankfully the ending wrapped up pretty well since the third book, Truly Madly Magically, won’t release for another year. It looks like that will be Zander and Ellowyn’s story and I’m looking forward to it!

I looked up Hazel Beck while writing this review. I was surprised to see it’s a pen name for an author duo with 200 books written between them.

They definitely seem to be big lovers of the midwest. They have a very fun bio and website under this pen name.

It also looks like there will be a fourth book in the series. I hope it is Georgie’s story! She definitely deserves to get her own book.

The Good Life by Robert Waldinger, MD and Marc Schulz, PhD

Rating: 4 stars

This was September’s pick for Pearls of Wisdom Book Club over on Fable.

From goodreads:

“What makes a life fulfilling and meaningful? The simple but surprising answer is: relationships. The stronger our relationships, the more likely we are to live happy, satisfying, and healthier lives. In fact, the Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals that the strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life.

The invaluable insights in this book emerge from the revealing personal stories of hundreds of participants in the Harvard Study as they were followed year after year for their entire adult lives, and this wisdom was bolstered by research findings from many other studies. Relationships in all their forms—friendships, romantic partnerships, families, coworkers, tennis partners, book club members, Bible study groups—all contribute to a happier, healthier life. And as The Good Life shows us, it’s never too late to strengthen the relationships you already have, and never too late to build new ones. The Good Life provides examples of how to do this.”

My Thoughts

Like I shared at the beginning of this post, this book was timely as I was reading it slowly but steadily while my dad was here and it is all about how close relationships have the biggest impact on our health and happiness throughout our lives.

The book was interesting and some parts were inspiring. It definitely made me stop and think about the relationships in my life. Which ones lift me up. Who I can turn to for support or help. And how easily relationships can be taken for granted, particularly friendships. Often they are pushed aside in the chaos of life but they’re the most beneficial for us to hold onto.

I loved the points the authors made about how some relationships require less time than we realize to flourish and a little change in effort can go a long way.

That hit home with my dad’s visit. We may live 2000 miles apart now but for the week that we are able to visit or he is able to come out, it’s full on quality time. It would be amazing to apply this to friendships too, even if it’s only one girlfriends’ weekend a year.

While that part struck a chord with me, the direction the authors went with this book surprised me. For this Harvard study spanning so many years and being so in-depth, I found the book lacking when it came to sharing actual data and scientific results.

There was a little bit of information from the study in the form of participant’s short answers but those felt a little “cherry picked” to perfectly support the chapter’s premise. Especially without any numerical findings from the study as a whole.

The personal anecdotes kept the book from being too dry but again I was surprised the authors opted to only share 5 or 6 participants’ stories out of such a large study.

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What was your favorite read in September?