Happy August Quick Lit! I've had a really good reading month, lots of 4 star reads and feel like I am finally, maybe, checking books off my TBR faster than I am adding them! It's a good feeling. We had a vacation week at the lake too where I racked up, not quite as much reading as I'd like, but definitely my best week so far this year. That's always exciting and a sign of a good vacation! As well as sleeping 8 hours a night, running consistently, and lots of family time!
One other book post in the past month:
And now everything else I've read!
Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You by Jen Hatmaker
I've read most of her recent non-fiction work, which usually combines faith and family and humor. This was less that, more of the "you can live your own wonderful life and make it yours" encouragement variety but in a lot more words. She advocates getting involved and doing what you can and as well as the "find the real you" stuff. This sounds like a put down and I did find it inspiring in parts and overall a worthwhile read, just not a lot stuck with me almost a month later. 3 Stars
The next Molly Murphy mystery and a short story that followed it, chronologically. I don't read many mysteries because I am easily spooked and I like sleeping at night. I don't think I mind these as much because they are set 100+ years ago (around 1904 now, a year which always makes me think of Samantha Parkington, of the American Girls and I am amazed that I just pulled her last name out, I didn't know I still knew that). And because they are set 100+ years ago, the crimes that Molly faces OBVIOUSLY aren't happening now. I know, it makes very little sense but whatever helps me sleep at night, literally. I appreciate reading how the role of women has changed/not changed and seeing a little bit of NYC history take place (they are digging the subway tunnels in one of the books!). 3 Stars
Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey
This was a really fun follow-up to Waiting for Tom Hanks, which I super enjoyed last summer. I only had a vague recollection of what happened in that book but it didn't matter a whole lot. This one also drops a bunch of rom-com movie references which is fun and made me wish I had a little more time in my life for rom-coms. There's a romance that you knew was coming if you read the first book (I guess I remembered more of it than I thought) and it was fun and charming and perfect for summer. 3.75 Stars
I always count on Denise Hunter's books to be charming with chaste romances but pretty quick to get through. This was that. Rom-com esque but less on the rom. Movie star is hiding from life in a North (??) Carolina B&B on what was supposed to be her honeymoon. She (gasps) falls in love with the innkeeper. It was exactly what I expected it to be and I enjoyed it. 3.25 Stars
Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams
I really enjoy one of her earliest books, A Hundred Summers, but a lot of her recent ones have been hit or miss for me. I still put them all on hold at least a month in advance though! This one was my favorite in awhile - the story of a fictional aviatrix who disappears in a flight around the world. Not a fictional telling of Amelia Earhart even though a few things are inspired by her. Parts reminded me of The Flight Girls, with it's early female flyers, but also, it was fun and adventurous and shocked me more than once. 4 Stars
I'm pretty sure I've read all of Lucy Knisley's graphic novels, all her previous ones have been autobiographical, so I knew I was going to pick this one up. It's a fictional middle grade graphic novel about a girl who is forced to move out of the city to live in the country and work on farm with her Mom and her Mom's boyfriend. It is based on Lucy Knisley's real childhood but it's not strictly autobiographical. It was charming, as middle-grade tends to be, and a quick read. I'll definitely pick up the next in the series! 3.75 Stars
I've been listening to The Popcast with Knox & Jamie for 4 years now I think? I even pay to listen to them. So when Knox wrote a book, I was going to read it, once the library got it and I got to it. We all have reconsidered choices in our lives and this outlined some that he's reconsidered and made me think about some maybe I should reconsider. It was good, and sometimes humorous, food for thought. 3.5 Stars
This was my 100th book for the year and the book Matt got me for my recent birthday. I enjoyed The Royal We the handful of times I've read it and so I figured buying this one before reading it was a safe bet. And it was! It's LONG, 400+ pages and I appreciated the occasional (and obvious, if you pay attention to the royals) nod to Wills and Kate (like the Canada tour that happened both in real life and in the book). It was really fun and perfect reading for lake vacation! 4 Stars
This Won't End Well by Camille Pagan
I was expecting Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine vibes and it was not that which was fine. A woman lost her job for stupid reasons and then picks up cleaning houses. Her fiance has also run away to Paris for an extended trip and she has a mysterious new neighbor next door. Life is taking new directions and I appreciated showing that sometimes life works out, even outside of carefully laid plans. 3.5 Stars
This was not their finest effort. It's about two assistants to a Chip & Joanna Gaines type couple except this fictional version is on the verge of divorce and the two assistants have to keep that under wrap while they release their marriage book. It was a really short read, 300 pages and was still super fast. I don't mind short but this felt like it should have been fleshed out more and was hastily written. It made for a quick read but quick doesn't mean good. 2.75 Stars
Worn on This Day: The Clothes That Made History by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell
On the opposite end was this book that took me much longer to get through than I expected! It goes through a calendar year and has a fashion reference for every single day. Some are very well known: Di & Charles' wedding, 9/11, Jackie Kennedy's pink suit in Dallas. Some are much more obscure and go very far back. There were pictures for maybe 1/3 of the days and I really wish there would have been one for every day because I didn't often know the reference. It was interesting but probably took 5 hours to read. It was a lot. 3.5 Stars
Read with Luke (age 7)
This is a reread to finish the Heartwood Hotel series, a second time. He really enjoyed this but it took us a bit to get through. I think knowing the ending didn't make us rush to pick it up. But this is a charming 4 book series that follows the seasons, starting in the fall. Good place to start when reading full chapter books to kids! 3.75 Stars
Betsy and the Boys by Carolyn Haywood
We got through this book faster even though it was about the same length. We've been slowly reading the Betsy series and they are very dated (written in the 1940s) and I change a few words here and there when reading aloud but they mostly hold up. Times were VERY different back then - the next door neighbor quit her teaching job once she got married and has a full time maid even though she doesn't work or have kids. But Betsy is also trying to get the boys to let her play football with them and I appreciated that, even if it was short lived and I never wanted to play football. 3.75 Stars
What have YOU been reading??
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