China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

These are the two sequels to Crazy Rich Asians, and I liked them less than the original. The swearing really started to bug me by the end, and I felt like the author just kept trying to come up with more and more wild displays of wealth to shock the reader without adding much to the plot. I liked Astrid's plot throughout these books of the trilogy, but I was disappointed that Nick and Rachel weren't as involved. I don't know if I would read another one after these; I felt done with them.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

I watched this movie on our plane flight out to London last summer, and LOVED it. So I've been meaning to read this trilogy forever. I really liked the storyline as it followed the movie, except it seemed like the f-word was on every page of this book. Three times each page. It was definitely a fun story though.

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

This book was totally different than what I expected from the cover and the blurb that I read about it. It looks like it's going to be a cutesy quick-read romance chick-lit novel, and it starts out like that, with lots of talk about Instagramming and influencing and Daphne's life as a plus-size influencer. But then it takes a sharp turn and becomes a murder mystery, which is so much fun. I have to say that I definitely suspected who the murderer was--I just knew something had to be up there. And I was a little not impressed with her romance, but I enjoyed this book just the same. I thought the premise and the writing were both great. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

I did not love this book like I did the Hunger Games when I first read those books. This book is the prequel to that series, about President Coriolanus Snow when he was a teenager, so it provides some interesting backstory to the Hunger Games, but it was missing the fun romance and any sort of likable and relatable characters that you get in the original trilogy. I really disliked Coriolanus, felt no interest in his romance, and I felt like the ending was weird. I had to force myself to finish it, honestly. 

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

This was a great book to listen to with so much information that was really useful in this civil rights movement right now. I felt like DiAngelo did a good job of describing white privilege and white fragility in a way that most white people would be able to recognize and respond to appropriately. It was definitely worth the listen.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Everything Rainbow Rowell has written is good. After listening to Landline a few months ago, I got on a kick where I really wanted to read Attachments, but our library didn't even have an e-book copy of it (and definitely not an audiobook copy, which is what I really wanted), so I kept putting it off. But I've had lots of time to read while nursing lately, so I've been blazing through books like nobody's business, so I'm trying to check off some books that I've always been meaning to read off my list. I absolutely loved 99% of this one, about Lincoln, a tech guy who is hired in 1999 at a company to read any suspicious employee emails and make sure no one is sharing anything wrong in their work emails. He begins to fall in love with a woman who is always emailing with her friend while they share their life stories with each other, even though he's never met her and she doesn't know he exists. This book was fantastic 95% of the way through, until the very end where they finally meet, and I was super confused by the way they met each other and why it had to happen that way... But I loved the romance and the build-up and how we got to know the two women who were emailing back and forth to each other gradually, just like Lincoln did. Rowell has such a great voice and does such a good job of writing excellent dialogue.

Textbook by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I've loved everything Amy Krouse Rosenthal has done, although I've only read many of her children's books. But every single one of her children's books are cute and fun and worth the read. (Her Little Pea is possibly one of the best children's books ever. Period.) I have meant to read this memoir-ish book of hers for years, and finally checked it out from the library a few weeks ago. It ended up only taking about an hour to read, because each page has only a few words on it. There are some stories she's written about her life and family, then there are just some observations, all randomly placed throughout the book, and there are even interactive sections where she gives you a number you can text to respond to what she's said. I thought it was really cute and fun to read, but also so poignant knowing that she has passed away. I think she must have known she was dying while she was writing this book, because there are several parts where she writes about how beautiful this world is and how she doesn't want to say good-bye, and it honestly made me tear up knowing that she is now gone. I really like her and I loved reading this.