One of the perks of my new job is that
I ride the Metro for about 25 minutes each way in the morning and afternoon.
While many of you wouldn’t consider the Metro a PERK – as there are lots of
terrible smells and generally odd people interactions – I’m pretty happy to
bury my head in a book and enjoy 25 minutes of (mostly) uninterrupted reading!
I linked to each book on Amazon so you can click through and read the
full description if you’d like. However, I always recommend trying your library
first, because FREE BOOKS!
99 Percent Mine: A Novel by Sally Thorne
Find it here: https://amzn.to/2RV7WDo
The book centers around Darcy Barrett,
who has had a life-long crush on childhood friend Tom Valeska. To complicate
things (of course), she has a boy twin, Jamie who “saw him first” and is his
best friend. Now as an adult, she is thrown into a situation where they are
both single at the same time and stuck in close quarters with each other. You now,
as it goes.
I thought this book was fun and I
liked the lighthearted banter. However, I didn’t really love Darcy. She
describes herself as a dirtbag and honestly she’s pretty selfish and unlikeable
for much of the book. I get that she loves Tom, but really… it seems like he
can do so much better. Of course, everything is a happily after at the end
which is my thing. So all in all I’m going to stick with this book was fun, but
I won’t bother searching out the other book by the author.
Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper
Find it here: https://amzn.to/2YDa05q
This one is another childhood best
friends fall in love book. I’m not sure why I ended up with two books in the
same specific genre… but I did. And I don’t even HAVE any childhood male best
friends in my life! I basically picked up this book because it had a yummy cake
on the front of it. Anyways, this story is about Lucy Brewer, a young widow
that returns to her childhood town. She reignites a friendship with her
childhood BFF, which soon turns to loooooove. There are complications, of
course, but this one is as sweet as can be. Everyone in the book is pretty darn
likeable and this was the perfect ‘beach read’ or ‘metro read’ if you’re me.
Outside the Jukebox: How I Turned My Vintage Music Obsession Into My Dream Gig by Scott Bradlee
Find it here: https://amzn.to/2XrI6gn
Like most people, I’ve come across Postmodern Jukebox performances on
Facebook and YouTube and never really gave it much thought. I randomly picked
up this book at the library and it was incredibly interesting to see how Scott
built up this little idea of giving modern songs a vintage spin and turned it
into a traveling “rotating supergroup” of performers. I found this book super
interesting and highly recommend it if you are interested in how he made a
little YouTube sensation into a full time gig.
Runnin’ With the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen by Noel E. Monk
Find it here: https://amzn.to/2xyFRrY
I’m not a super Van Halen fan or
anything, but I do enjoy my Classic Rock. So when I saw this book as I walked
by I basically was like ‘hmmm… cool’ and threw it in my cart. This book was
written by Van Halen’s manager who worked with the group their first 7 years.
It was pretty darn interesting! To hear about the behind the scenes drama
during the rise (and fall) of the David Lee Roth years. The band did Monk
pretty darn dirty at the end of it and there is certainly some palatable
bitterness, but WOW was it entertaining. If you like behind the music type
stuff or have even enjoyed Van Halen a little bit, this book is a good one!
When you find out the world is against you: and other funny memories about awful moments by Kelly Oxford
Find it here: https://amzn.to/2XtykKp (this book is currently a free read on Kindle Unlimited)
I don’t know Kelly Oxford at all. I’m
not sure if she’s a comedian or an author or writes for television. It’s pretty
unclear. She certainly has a way with words and tells very
cringy/embarrassing/funny stories throughout her book. It kind of threw me
though when it went from being a silly little book about cringy stuff from her
childhood and being a mom, to talking about sexual abuse. I get the importance
of the chapters at the end, but it just felt like whiplash to get from point a
to point b. All in all, it was a fine Metro reading book because about 20
minutes at a time was plenty to read it. I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. It
was okay.
Do you have a book recommendation for me?
Disclosure: Pocketful of Joules is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. All images from Amazon.com.
