Running with Annie: A Journey of Loss and Growth

As I listened to "Running with Annie" by Miranda Kell, I found myself drawn into the world of the protagonist, Annie, who embarks on a journey to train for a marathon as a way to honor her late friend. The book follows Annie's transformation from a teenager struggling to cope with loss to a young woman learning to overcome grief and find herself through running. I really liked this one - I love the running aspect of it, makes me want to run even though I am horrible at running. If you watch me run, you would probably laugh and I would laugh with you.

Annie's journey is not without its challenges, but she perseveres, driven by her desire to honor her friend and find a way to move forward. Each week, Annie trains with a particular trainer, who pushes her to reach new heights and helps her confront the emotions that have been holding her back. I love how it was handled - overcoming the grief and how it was all about growing up and stuff like that. Even in this book, each week she trains with a particular trainer and she has to run a certain distance and time and she writes a little note by it and it's like you know day something and distance three miles and she writes a little note by it.

The running aspect of the book is one of my favorite parts - it's relatable, realistic, and inspiring. Kell does an excellent job of conveying the physical and emotional demands of training for a marathon, as well as the sense of accomplishment that comes with reaching new milestones. I love how Annie keeps track of her progress in a journal, writing down each day's distance and time, and reflecting on what she's learned about herself along the way.

For me, "Running with Annie" is my favorite book by Miranda Kell that I've read - I've only read two others, but I still really like this one. I would give it a four out of five, definitely recommend it to anyone who loves running or is interested in contemporary fiction. If you're looking for a story about overcoming adversity and finding inner strength, this book is a great choice.

In contrast, my next review is for "20 Girls" by Sophie Kellman. This is an adult contemporary novel that defies the author's usual genre of romance. Instead, it follows Laura, a young woman who is struggling to cope with a series of personal losses, including her boyfriend's breakup and the death of her great aunt. However, things take a turn when she starts to see her great aunt's ghost, named Satie, who was known for being quite annoying.

The book is hilarious, with Sophie Kellman's signature wit and humor shining through on every page. I love how the author tackles complex themes like grief, family dynamics, and female relationships in a way that feels both authentic and entertaining. The romance in the book is also subtle but sweet, adding to the overall sense of warmth and connection between the characters.

One quibble I have with the book is Satie's behavior - at times she can be quite shrill and annoying, much like a 5-year-old who doesn't get what they want. However, this only adds to the humor and lightheartedness of the story, making it all the more enjoyable. Overall, I give "20 Girls" four out of five stars - it's a Sophie Kellman book, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and engaging read.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello everyone today's going to be a different type of video it's going to be a contemporary review mashup so pretty much in this video I'm going to be reviewing three books very very quickly I will leave annotations at the bottom for each individual review if you want to click on one of them to take you to that review now these all these reviews are going to be spoiler-free and very very quick I think I might do more of these videos I want to do more review videos but sometimes I don't have enough to say to Garner an entire like seven to eight minute video so I decided maybe I'll do like you know a mashup of particular genres that I've read now this month I have been reading a ton of contemporary so I thought I would take three of the Contemporary reads I've read recently and make them into a view mashup so if you're wondering what type of books are what books I will be reviewing in this video I will be reviewing a little something different by Sandy Hall breathe Annie Breathe by mirand Kelly and 20s Girl by Sophie canella so stay tuned if you want to hear about more of these books without being spoiled so the first book I'm going to talk about is a little something different by Sandy Hall I was sent this for review by spoon reads and this comes out in August I believe this book is actually about two characters named Leah and Gabe but coincidentally enough there is so many point of views in this book and none of them are from Leah and Gabe so you're getting everybody's point of view but Leah and Gabe now the whole story behind this is Leah and Gabe are perfect for each other they are Beyond perfect and everyone knows it and everyone can see it but them so like I said the story follows so many different point of views like of their best friends of their siblings of a squirrel that's right a squirrel a Bist and stuff like that it's just about how people perceive them and how they should be together now overall I did like this book it's a cute read I'd say um if you are a fan of contemporary and you're looking for a quick fast cutesy read you can knock this out within a day I did like I will say it wasn't like mind-blowing or anything I don't go into a lot of contemporaries expecting like my mind to be like that was amazing I go into a lot of contemporaries if I'm being honest just for looking for a cutesy love story and that's exactly what this was so it was cute it was fun it was just it's it's all about you know two people that belong together and can't see it but you can you're like get together get together already so if I could rate this one I would give it a three out of five it wasn't my all-time favorite contemporary but it was definitely a cute one and I'm glad I read it because it was a cute one so I definitely recommend you read this if you're a fan of contemporary the next book I'm going to talk about is breathe Annie Breathe by Miranda Kelly this book is out right now I believe I was sent this to review by Source Fire books um anyway um this is actually part of a series I believe it's the fifth book in this series now with this series series you don't have to read all of them you know in order to read this one you don't have to read them in order I think you can read a mismatch there's nothing going to be spoiled for you there will be you know certain characters from previous books that pop up but it's not going to spoil you I don't think so I haven't read the entire I think it's the 100 Oaks series I think I've only read books two and three I decided to read this one because it the premise sounds amazing it's about a girl named Annie who is training for a marathon she's training for a marathon in honor of her deceased ex-boyfriend who was also training for a marathon she wants to finish it in honor she wants to do it for him so it's all about her journey with that it's all about her journey of you know overcoming the loss of a loved one and stuff like that I really like this one I love the whole running aspect makes me want to run even though I am horrible at running like if you watch me run you would probably laugh and I would laugh with you but I did like this book I thought Annie was a likable character there were some quirks about her like she kind of blew up on certain people and got mad and I was like oh but I'm like well she's a teenager and she just lost you know her her boy her ex-boyfriend so that's totally understandable but I love the running aspect of it I love the overcoming of the grief and how it was handled and just you know kind of growing up and stuff like that even in this book each week she trains with a particular trainer and she has to run go write on here you probably can't see it sorry it's like you know day something and distance three miles and she writes a little note by it and I like it how like got that journaling aspect to it but I really like this one I got to say this is my favorite book of Miranda Kell that I've read and I've only read two others but I still really like this one I would give it a four out of five so if you're into running definitely read it if you're into contemporary and you know stuff like that definitely read it the last book I have to talk about I don't have with me because it was a library book and it's actually an audio book and that is 20 Girls by Sophie canella this is my third audio book by Sophie canella it's like my sixth one that I've read chance I have to listen to an Sophie canell book I take it cuz I love her audio books I highly recommend if you are sopie canella listen to them because they're hilarious this one is um quite different from her usual ones I will say her usual books are full of romance and stuff like that and that's pretty much the whole you know thing it's an adult contemporary but this one kind of had a different spin on it it follows a girl named Laura who um is not things aren't going so well in her life right now her boyfriend just broke up with her her business isn't going so great and her great aunt died and that's not a huge deal but because she was never even close to her but during the fer of her great aunt she sees her great aunt's ghost and her great aunt died I think she was like a 100 maybe but her Ghost came back of like when she was the 20s and when she was in her 20s and coincidently enough you know when she was in her 20s it was the 20s so um it's Laura can only see her great aunt as The Ghost and the ghost name is Satie her great aunt obviously and it's all about like you know her and sti's relationship it's about family and it's about like you know it's got that ghost aspect but it's hilarious it's beyond hilarious I love this book there was romance in it too so if you can never disappoints in the romance Department it's all about you know Satie the ghost trying to find her necklace and stuff like that and trying to figure out you know why she's still here and you know how can all that kind of stuff it's it was a very very funny funny book I really enjoyed it the only qualm I had about it was since I listened to it Sati was quite annoying like there was points where she would be like yelling and I'm talking about like the narrator would yell about stuff like she's like do what I want and it was like shrill like it was bad like she it was acting like a 5-year-old not getting what she wanted at a toy store and I'm like you're a grown woman you're a ghost but you're a grown woman okay um so that was the only thing I did not like about it was Satie was kind of just like I was like oh my gosh you are annoying as mess but overall it was a Sophie canella book and I just can't help but love Sophie canella books so I give this one a four out of five I highly recommend it if you're a fan of contemporary and if you're interested in venturing into the chicklet world if you guys like this kind of different video of a you know mashup of different reviews please leave a comment let me know you liked it so I will do future ones in the future mhm anyway that is all for me and I will see you guys later byehello everyone today's going to be a different type of video it's going to be a contemporary review mashup so pretty much in this video I'm going to be reviewing three books very very quickly I will leave annotations at the bottom for each individual review if you want to click on one of them to take you to that review now these all these reviews are going to be spoiler-free and very very quick I think I might do more of these videos I want to do more review videos but sometimes I don't have enough to say to Garner an entire like seven to eight minute video so I decided maybe I'll do like you know a mashup of particular genres that I've read now this month I have been reading a ton of contemporary so I thought I would take three of the Contemporary reads I've read recently and make them into a view mashup so if you're wondering what type of books are what books I will be reviewing in this video I will be reviewing a little something different by Sandy Hall breathe Annie Breathe by mirand Kelly and 20s Girl by Sophie canella so stay tuned if you want to hear about more of these books without being spoiled so the first book I'm going to talk about is a little something different by Sandy Hall I was sent this for review by spoon reads and this comes out in August I believe this book is actually about two characters named Leah and Gabe but coincidentally enough there is so many point of views in this book and none of them are from Leah and Gabe so you're getting everybody's point of view but Leah and Gabe now the whole story behind this is Leah and Gabe are perfect for each other they are Beyond perfect and everyone knows it and everyone can see it but them so like I said the story follows so many different point of views like of their best friends of their siblings of a squirrel that's right a squirrel a Bist and stuff like that it's just about how people perceive them and how they should be together now overall I did like this book it's a cute read I'd say um if you are a fan of contemporary and you're looking for a quick fast cutesy read you can knock this out within a day I did like I will say it wasn't like mind-blowing or anything I don't go into a lot of contemporaries expecting like my mind to be like that was amazing I go into a lot of contemporaries if I'm being honest just for looking for a cutesy love story and that's exactly what this was so it was cute it was fun it was just it's it's all about you know two people that belong together and can't see it but you can you're like get together get together already so if I could rate this one I would give it a three out of five it wasn't my all-time favorite contemporary but it was definitely a cute one and I'm glad I read it because it was a cute one so I definitely recommend you read this if you're a fan of contemporary the next book I'm going to talk about is breathe Annie Breathe by Miranda Kelly this book is out right now I believe I was sent this to review by Source Fire books um anyway um this is actually part of a series I believe it's the fifth book in this series now with this series series you don't have to read all of them you know in order to read this one you don't have to read them in order I think you can read a mismatch there's nothing going to be spoiled for you there will be you know certain characters from previous books that pop up but it's not going to spoil you I don't think so I haven't read the entire I think it's the 100 Oaks series I think I've only read books two and three I decided to read this one because it the premise sounds amazing it's about a girl named Annie who is training for a marathon she's training for a marathon in honor of her deceased ex-boyfriend who was also training for a marathon she wants to finish it in honor she wants to do it for him so it's all about her journey with that it's all about her journey of you know overcoming the loss of a loved one and stuff like that I really like this one I love the whole running aspect makes me want to run even though I am horrible at running like if you watch me run you would probably laugh and I would laugh with you but I did like this book I thought Annie was a likable character there were some quirks about her like she kind of blew up on certain people and got mad and I was like oh but I'm like well she's a teenager and she just lost you know her her boy her ex-boyfriend so that's totally understandable but I love the running aspect of it I love the overcoming of the grief and how it was handled and just you know kind of growing up and stuff like that even in this book each week she trains with a particular trainer and she has to run go write on here you probably can't see it sorry it's like you know day something and distance three miles and she writes a little note by it and I like it how like got that journaling aspect to it but I really like this one I got to say this is my favorite book of Miranda Kell that I've read and I've only read two others but I still really like this one I would give it a four out of five so if you're into running definitely read it if you're into contemporary and you know stuff like that definitely read it the last book I have to talk about I don't have with me because it was a library book and it's actually an audio book and that is 20 Girls by Sophie canella this is my third audio book by Sophie canella it's like my sixth one that I've read chance I have to listen to an Sophie canell book I take it cuz I love her audio books I highly recommend if you are sopie canella listen to them because they're hilarious this one is um quite different from her usual ones I will say her usual books are full of romance and stuff like that and that's pretty much the whole you know thing it's an adult contemporary but this one kind of had a different spin on it it follows a girl named Laura who um is not things aren't going so well in her life right now her boyfriend just broke up with her her business isn't going so great and her great aunt died and that's not a huge deal but because she was never even close to her but during the fer of her great aunt she sees her great aunt's ghost and her great aunt died I think she was like a 100 maybe but her Ghost came back of like when she was the 20s and when she was in her 20s and coincidently enough you know when she was in her 20s it was the 20s so um it's Laura can only see her great aunt as The Ghost and the ghost name is Satie her great aunt obviously and it's all about like you know her and sti's relationship it's about family and it's about like you know it's got that ghost aspect but it's hilarious it's beyond hilarious I love this book there was romance in it too so if you can never disappoints in the romance Department it's all about you know Satie the ghost trying to find her necklace and stuff like that and trying to figure out you know why she's still here and you know how can all that kind of stuff it's it was a very very funny funny book I really enjoyed it the only qualm I had about it was since I listened to it Sati was quite annoying like there was points where she would be like yelling and I'm talking about like the narrator would yell about stuff like she's like do what I want and it was like shrill like it was bad like she it was acting like a 5-year-old not getting what she wanted at a toy store and I'm like you're a grown woman you're a ghost but you're a grown woman okay um so that was the only thing I did not like about it was Satie was kind of just like I was like oh my gosh you are annoying as mess but overall it was a Sophie canella book and I just can't help but love Sophie canella books so I give this one a four out of five I highly recommend it if you're a fan of contemporary and if you're interested in venturing into the chicklet world if you guys like this kind of different video of a you know mashup of different reviews please leave a comment let me know you liked it so I will do future ones in the future mhm anyway that is all for me and I will see you guys later bye\n"