Housekeeping notes:
First, linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy with this month's Quick Lit.
Second, if you found me via the above, you can follow me on Goodreads, I'm very active over there.
Third, other book posts this month:
Now, what I read this month:
Grace Grows by Shelle Sumners
For our recent Florida trip I mostly packed books I've read and enjoyed before. This was, I think, my 4th time reading this since my (4 year old) son's been alive. It's a favorite. Story of Grace who lives in NYC with a very predictable and steady life when her life surprisingly interects with a budding musician named Tyler. She tries to keep on her steady life. Things don't go according to plan. It's not high literature but it is charming and entertaining. 4 Stars
The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
Another favorite vacation reread and probably my favorite of all her books. Adrienne comes to Nantucket after a string of bad life choices, looking to make a lot of money. She ends up running the front of the house at a high-end restaurant in it's final year. It's fast paced, just like restaurants may be, with lots of delicious food descriptions that SUPER make me want to visit Nantucket and visit this, fictional, restaurant. It's one of my favorite comfort rereads. 4 Stars
The Beach House by Jane Green
So this whole top row is vacation rereads. One of my favorite Jane Green novels, about the intersecting lives of a handful of adults who all find themselves renting rooms in an old house from an ecentric older woman. They all end up there at a challenging times in their lives and become a little bit of their own family. Also on Nantucket. I had a bit of a theme to my vacation reading. 3.5 Stars
The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand
I had read this 2 years ago when it came out but completely forgot the plot and what happened. I reread it because I heard her latest Christmas book, The Winter Solstice, is also a follow-up to this one. I've read all her books and have enjoyed most of them but they are largely forgettable which makes them excellent rereads! This one follows two best friends living on Nantucket (see: vacation theme) and all the drama they find themselves in. It was fun and perfect for vacation. 3.5 Stars
Lassoing the Sun by Mark Woods
On a completely new note, this wasn't a novel about rich ladies living in Nantucket. It was the memoir of this writer as he spent a year visiting 12 different National Parks while going through some major family stuff. I spent many wonderful vacations in my childhood visiting National Parks and so enjoyed them. I haven't been to nearly all of these (or even heard of them all before reading this) but it made me want to visit (most). Definitely recommend for anyone with an affinity for the National Parks! 3.75 Stars
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Oh man, this book was a bit of a bear to get through. Lucy and Josh are executive assistants for co-managers (??, I forget the exact job title) and they, supposedly, hate each other. Except they obviously don't and actually like each other. I would feel bad spoiling that, but it's not a great book. I should have given up after 50 pages but I, regrettably, stuck with it. I mostly just wanted to knock sense into them and it could have been much shorter. 2 Stars
A Homemade Year: The Blessings of Cooking, Crafting, and Coming Together by Jerusalem Jackson Greer
This was about living according to a liturgical calendar, observing Lent, Advent, and other holidays, largely religious based. I grew up, and still am, Catholic which means I grew up with Lent, Advent, and frequently, at least noting, Saint feast days, although maybe not to the extent shown here. I still found this a worthwhile and interesting read though, about incorporating more meaning into our every day lives. As well as ways to observe some of those times better. It was a quick and easy read. 4 Stars
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
This book took me awhile to get into, partially because I got sick while reading it, but it also just took me a couple hundred pages to get into it. It's about Eleanor Oliphant who lives a very quiet and, mostly, boring life until her life gets tangled up with Raymond as they try to help an elderly man who they found on the ground (passed out? Fallen? I forget.). Her life becomes a little less predictable, a little bigger, as she works through past issues from her childhood. I did like it by the end, and spent much of the book wanting to give her a hug, but also, just not something I was super looking forward to picking up. 3.25 Stars
Echoes by Robin Jones Gunn
Part of my continuing rereading of her Glenbrook series, another book I've read many times. Lauren and Kenton meet online, back 20 years ago when that was very different than now. They have an e-mail correspondence and eventually talk about meeting face to face. It's so dating now but I still really enjoy it, largely for nostalgia sake. 3.5 Stars
Sunsets by Robin Jones Gunn
My favorite of the Glenbrook series. About Alyssa and Brad who live in opposite sides of a duplex and initially seem to hate each other but, SURPRISE, fall in love. Alyssa is a travel agent, which was my dream job as a kid, and that might explain part of my love of it. Also, strong nostalgia here. 4 Stars
Clouds by Robin Jones Gunn
Another Glenbrook book, this one about Shelly and Jonathan who were childhood sweethearts who fell apart right as they were graduating high school. They reconnect as adults and there's a lot of unresolved feelings and emotions to work through. It's a slow start to this one but a very satisfying ending. 3.5 Stars
The Dazzling Heights by Katharine McGee
This was the second book in the Thousandth Floor series, I read the first last winter and had...complicated feelings about it (here). It's YA with an interesting premise - all/most of Manhattan has been overtaken but a 1,000 floor tower where people live and work. The higher you are, the richer you are. It's like Gossip Girl in the future. This one follows most of the teens from the first book with fewer...complicated issues but still plenty of drama. The things I didn't like about the first were mostly resolved here. It wasn't great but I liked the world idea and I'm sure I'll read the third one coming out next year. 3 Stars
Whew...I know what's on my list for the next month - knocking a whole lot off my TBR. What have you been reading lately? What should I be reading?
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