I’m linking up with Anne @ Modern Mrs. Darcy to share some of the books I’ve been reading lately. The idea is to share small, mini reviews of your recent reads and then to check out reviews from other bloggers, thus making sure that your book wish list is never ending.

Remember When by T. Torrest

I had mixed feelings towards this book. I could relate to the main character, Layla, in a lot of ways but felt alienated by her sometimes also. She is a very complex character who often seems to have characteristics that are at odds with each other, which I suppose makes her pretty realistic, but as a reader it was sometimes hard to tell where she was coming from. The love story is adorable and the concept for the book is pretty unique – I found myself quickly hooked on the plot and downloaded the 2nd book almost immediately after finishing the first – so there you go! Note: This is a fairly graphic story – the characters in the book are pretty realistic, flawed teenagers who make some less than stellar choices. Which is pretty typical for real life but I probably wouldn’t recommend this book to a young teen. I think it is actually probably more likely to be enjoyed by older readers anyway – half the fun of this book is the 80’s references anyway! REALLY LIKED 

Remember When 2 by T. Torrest

This sequel picks up 10 years after the first books leaves off, so it’s now the year 2000 which should feel a lot more current and yet, if you think about it, it’s still 15 years ago! We were barely online back then! Layla has grown up a lot, but in my opinion she still has a lot of growing to do – she and Trip continue to make a lot of the same mistakes with each other and occasionally they were almost too frustrating, but I continue to root for them and you better believe I bought book three pretty much immediately after finishing this one. LIKED

Giant Days #1 by John Allison

My first foray into graphic novels. This takes place at a college and centers around three friends who are pretty different but still really close. Very funny, great artwork – it just ended too soon! Need to get my hands on the 2nd one. REALLY LIKED 

The Wishing Spell (Land of Stories, Book 1) by Chris Colfer

I’ll admit, I was skeptical about reading this book – what are the odds that a kid on Glee would also be a decent writer? Apparently the odds were good. This was a well written, interesting story with characters that you can root for and surprise twists that you may not see coming (or maybe you will). I am probably a little old for his target audience and it did occasionally feel that way while reading it, but I think my son, age 9, will really love this one. REALLY LIKED 

Right now I’m reading a handful of books. My book club is discussing this year’s UW Big Read: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson which I’m enjoying but having a hard time following when I’m exhausted at night after a long day. So when I need something lighter, I’ve been rotating between The Summer Before by Ann M. Martin, a prequel to the Babysitters Club series and The Royal We by Heather Cocks is currently the book loaded on my kindle app when I want something to read while out and about – it’s kind of a fanfictionalized version of Kate and William’s love story.

What are you reading?