Audio Book Review: Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Pride by Ibi Zoboi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Published: September 2018

Zuri Benitez is one of five daughters living in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York. She has lived in the same house her entire life. When the Darcy's move in across the street, it's clear right from the start to Zuri, that they are from different worlds. But there is something about Darius Darcy that makes her curious. When her sister Jenay starts dating older brother, Ansley, Zuri is forced to face Darius more than she wants. Will she discover that they have more in common than she originally thought?

I was torn between several audio books to listen to when friends suggested I give this one a try. I read Pride and Prejudice when I was a freshman in high school, but I really don't remember it at all. This book grabbed me from the very beginning and I couldn't stop listening until I reached the end. I usually only listen to audio books during my work commute, but with this one, I listened at every chance I got.

Young love is something I think most of us experienced. It seems like the most important thing in your life at the time, but there is so much more in life to discover. When Zuri meets Darius Darcy, she immediately decides she doesn't like him. He is not from her world and he does not understand her or the ethics of living in Bushwick. Will they be able to find common ground, or will they forever be enemies. Their relationship takes a turn when Zuri visits Howard University in Washington, D.C. and Darius offers to drive her home instead of her taking the bus. They have four hours uninterrupted by themselves to see if they can actually be friends. They discover a lot about each other as well as themselves during this journey.

Loved this book highly recommend for everyone.

View all my reviews

To learn more about this book or to order a copy, click the book cover below:

Review: I Don't Know How She Does It

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Published: 2001

I saw the movie for this book before I read it. When I saw the movie, I didn't realize it was a book. I wasn't reading as much back in those days. But I received the sequel, How Hard Can It Be? so I decided to read I Don't Know How She Does It. As a working mother I thought that I would be able to relate to Kate Reddy in this book. Even though I don't have a corporate job, trying to find enough hours in the day to fit in time to do for yourself, your job and your family seems nearly impossible. But I couldn't find the connection in this book. While the book as a whole was good, I didn't find myself invested in it. I wanted to know what was going to happen, but I didn't really care.

I think part of my issue is that I kept thinking the book was set in the United States and then having to transfer myself back to the UK. This is why you never watch the movie first. It gives you a false sense of hope. I don't know if I would have felt any differently about the book if I hadn't seen the movie, though.

View all my reviews


To order a copy of this book for yourself, click on the book cover below:

Review: Genuine Fraud by e. lockhart

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Jule and Imogen are both orphans. But their lives couldn't have ended up more different. Imogen was adopted into a wealthy family at a young age and Jule was sent to live with an aunt. Though they were raised differently, it's this one similarity that draws them to one another. There is just one problem, Jule is look for someone to love and love her in return and once she has latched on to Imogen she will stop at nothing to get it. And Imogen, drops the person as soon as she finds the love she is looking for. How will this work out for this pair.

Book Synopsis

So this book was confusingly good! I gave it 3.5 stars because even though the story kept me interested it was also very confusing. First of all, it starts with chapter 18 and the story is told in reverse chronological order. Then it ends with chapter 19. Every character in this book is absolutely crazy, which isn't a bad thing, but at the end I was still confused.

Jule is a good listener, and that skill alone allows her to make her way into other people's lives without them even realizing she wasn't there from the beginning. She has a great memory and can remember numbers, dates and details perfectly. She has also been trained to use these skills to her advantage. This along with the training she received to be an expert fighter, she can go very far in life as long as she isn't caught.

Imogen is spoiled. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, but she is happy to travel around the world and spend her money until she finds out. Surrounded by friends all the time, she finds it hard to find herself and when she get tired or bored, she just moves on from those people and places to something new.

Jule and Imogen have a unique friendship. They are old school friends, right? They were so close. But what will happen when Imogen is tired of Jule? Will she dump her like the rest? Like I said before I was so confused by the end of this book. I wasn't sure which was truth and what was Genuine Fraud.

View all my reviews

Order a copy of this book for yourself, by clicking the book cover below:

Review--Little Princes by Conor Grennan

Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Conor Grennan is an American traveling the world for one year.  One of his planned stops on his journey is at Little Princes orphanage in Nepal.  After this 3 months stay at the orphanage, he promises the children that he would return in one years time.  Hardly did volunteers return to the orphanage, after they left. Conor was abe to keep his promise and after his return he set out on a true journey...to find the families of the children at Little Princes and other orphanages in the area.  He set up a foundation in order to fund this necessary endeavor.  Many of the children had been taken from their homes by child traffickers with the promise to provide a better life for the children  Many of these parents had no idea where their children were and just as many children thought their parents were dead. Conor ended up staying in Nepal for the next three years helping reconnect Nepal's lost children with their families.

Many times when we do volunteer work whether it is within our own country or abroad, we go into it thinking how much good we are going to do for someone else.  What really is the case is that the volunteer is the one who ends up benefiting the most.  Hearts and minds are forever changed.  We implore our friends and family to help with the cause we are involved in and pray that we are making a difference.  I have never met anyone who has not had their lives impacted by volunteer work.

Conor is no exception.  He has made friends with these children, learned something new about a different culture and has taught us all something new with this book.  Little Princes, has touched my heart and I'm eager to know how the children of Nepal are doing now after all of the help that Conor has brought to the region.  You can find out  more about Conor's work visit http://www.nextgenerationnepal.org/


View all my reviews