The biggest pull this book had on me was its title – how controversial is it to say you’re glad your mom died? And then I saw who wrote it and became even more intrigued. I knew of Jennette McCurdy through iCarly, a show my sister and I watched on Nickelodeon when we were younger. I always liked Jennette’s character, Sam – she was rambunctious, loved food, and was often a great source of comic relief. On the outside, it would seem that Jennette had it all. Who wouldn’t love to be famous and be a co-star on a popular show? It wasn’t until I read her memoir that I learned she actually hated acting, and it was her mom’s dream, not hers.

Hey, it’s me (Shari – or as I go by these days, Ri 😊)! It’s been a while since I’ve been on this space, but I recently finished reading Ace and just had to TALK ABOUT IT.

It’s hard to describe everything I took away from this book. There were so many moments when I wanted to pull out a highlighter and underline paragraph after paragraph (not my copy, so I resisted 😆) as I saw myself in the experiences of the author and other aces interviewed for the book.

I’ve been out of the reviewing game for soooo long even writing mini reviews feels foreign to me. I’ve also been behind my reviews because life’s been so busy since March buuuuut I’m trying to get back to my bookish life so let’s DO THIS. 😎 (Also please bear with me cause I’m rusty LOL)

Happy Monday, friends! It’s hard to believe we’re already on the second month of 2019 but with a new month comes more mini reviews. 😉

This week I want to share with you my reviews of the following books:

I enjoyed them all for different reasons and I would recommend checking them out if you’re looking for something to add to your TBR.

Here’s our set of mini reviews this week!

Shari’s Minis:

"Hilarious and charming. The most lovable duo since Frog and Toad." --NYT-bestselling creator of the Dog Man and Captain Underpants series, Dav Pilkey

Narwhal and Jelly . . . and Otty?! Exuberant Narwhal and skeptical Jelly test the waters of adding a new friend to their pod when they meet Otty the super-adventurous otter in the fourth book of this blockbuster early graphic novel series!

Dive into three new stories about the joy of adventure and the power of friendship! In the first story, Otty the otter makes her debut splash; while Narwhal greets her with immediate enthusiasm, Jelly's not so sure about her...mostly because he worries she'll take his place as Narwhal's best friend. Readers will easily see why Narwhal's so excited to meet Otty, a boisterous explorer who even has an aunt who's a real live sea captain! But readers will also relate to Jelly's uneasiness seeing his best friend making a new pal.

Jelly tries to work out his jealousy in story two, and in story three, the new trio say "Ahoy, adventure!" and discover they all have more in common than they thought . . . including a love of waffles! Jelly also takes over the "Super Waffle and Strawberry Sidekick" comic providing a sidekick's-eye-view of defeating the dreaded dEVILed egg!