This is a bit of a change from all the travel blog posts, but when you travel you tend to go through lots of reading material. The commute to my internship takes about an hour and 15 minutes each way, so I’ve been averaging on one book a week. For you, this means more book recommendations! See what I have to say about these novels.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. This was an interesting one to read on my commute to work, as that’s how the mystery/thriller begins. The main girl was very much an anti-hero. Throughout the book, there wasn’t really a character to root for, but they were written perfectly for this story. The ending managed to shock me to a point where I was unable to hide my reaction around the other commuters. Though I never read Gone Girl, the movie was incredible and I can understand why people link this book to it. Definitely read The Girl on the Train if you loved Gone Girl.

Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple. This one was really cute. I loved how it was mystery meets quirky comedy. The writer did some work on TV shows; I can particularily feel the cues of family disfunction from Arrested Development. This story pieces together Bernadette’s daughter’s inner thoughts, and email transcripts/letters from the other characters to solve the mystery of what happened to Bernadette – the odd mother who kept to herself.

J’Adore Paris by Isabelle Lafleche. This was a year long project to finish reading. It was a cute book but maybe my attention span was lacking whenever I picked it up. It’s the sequel to J’Adore New York, but you don’t need to read the first one to understand the second. I bought this book before studying abroad in Grenoble for the sole purpose of discovering life in France. Isabelle was great at describing Paris – it did it’s job of igniting even more excitement to go abroad!

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Though I don’t watch The Big Bang Theory as much as everyone else in the world, it’s hard not to picture Sheldon as this main characte. At first I wasn’t into the idea of him just looking for a compatible wife, but then he met Rosie, who’s completely wrong for him. The Wife Project is put aside and it ends up being a fun tale of an intelligent introvert coming out of his shell and experiencing how fun life can be when you break your mundane/strict routines.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler. As a big fan of SNL, comedy autobiographies, and the Amy Poehler & Tina Fey duo, I was really looking forward to reading this book. I got the audiobook, which I really recommend you to do even if you prefer physical copies of books, like I do. The readings are done by Amy herself, with cameos from other celebrities like Seth Meyers. It’s her telling the stories directly to you. This book may not have lived up to my expectations but it was really insightful and Amy shares a lot of great life advice in it.