Another month of reading! Back into a more reliable rhythm with school back in session in August. I try to read for an hour straight near first thing in the morning (as much as I am able) on school days so at least if the rest of the day go awry, I know I got in some time to for me, to keep my spirits up. Still reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with my oldest as we have been for MONTHS (it's a long book) but got through a few shorter chapter books with my youngest. Otherwise a pretty decent variety, I think!
I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy on the 15th!
Jackpot Summer by Elyssa Friedland
This book wasn't really what I was expecting. A somewhat estranged family (or at least a family largely on the outs with each other) become even more split up when 3/4 of them go in on a lottery ticket together that ends up paying big. This causes problems with the sibling who was just mocking them for buying a ticket right before they did. Also, there is a largely forgotten subplot about how they are about to lose their longtime family beach house. I thought the story would end with the siblings rallying to save it together but after being emotional about it they just sell it and it's hardly mentioned again. Also, they made winning the lottery sound terrible. 3 Stars
Summer Fridays by Suzanne Rindell
This was probably my favorite book I read all summer. It had vibes of Grace Grows (a book I've read many times and get sucked in every time) and You've Got Mail (which I watch every fall). Set in the summer of 1999, in the heyday of AOL and AIM (OHHHH AIM...that was mine & Matt's main method of communication through 2 school years). Sawyer is struggling in NYC with her college boyfriend. She befriends her boyfriend's close coworker's boyfriend and they go on Friday adventures together while their significant others are working. They both spend all week living for their Friday afternoons (my first real job post college also gave us Friday afternoons off in the summer!). Just sucked me in and was so charming and about a time that feels both not that long ago and forever ago. 4.5 Stars
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
I somewhat accidentally (library due date approaching) read this the weekend we were actually going to a wedding. A hotel guest is unexpectedly drawn into wedding drama at an exclusive inn in Newport, Rhode Island. She ends up becoming a confident of the bride, on the big wedding weekend, to the point where it changes the trajectory of both of their lives. A bit about rich people, a bit about needing a push to change your life. 3.5 Stars
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
Set inside the writers room of a TV show, with the book's (source material) author and someone she knew in high school who is a producer/writer on the show. They know each other for tragic reasons and she's (author) tried to hate him (producer) for a decade+ but then they are thrown together like this and that's hard to do. I completely forgot the storyline for this one but I gave it 4 stars when I first read it so...I must have liked it. 3.5 Stars
The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip & Dan Heath
This was our book club book for July that I didn't get from the library (hold list) until about July 30th so I read it in August. This was one of my picks (there are 4 of us and we each pick 3 books a year) and I think I'm the only one who has read it, still. I read this a few years ago (when we only had 1 kid!) and still appreciated it today. The opening story in this book I still think about fairly regularly. Here's my original review and another mention on a list on non-parenting books that made me rethink parenting list. 4.5 Stars
A Happier Life by Kristy Woodson Harvey
I found this book shortly before we went to the Outer Banks because it is set on the North Carolina coast (although, not the Outer Banks). Library holds meant I didn't get to read it until we got back. Apparently this is a somewhat popular author but I hadn't heard of her until July. A woman who is a little lost is given the chance to go back to her grandparents' abandoned home near the coast, to fix it up to sell. There is an attractive neighbor, old lady friends, and some mysteries to solve. My biggest takeaway from this book is that her grandmother's name was Rebecca St. James and all I could think of was the 90s CMM artist with the same name. It feels to unique to have two of them?? But maybe it's not. 3 Stars
There I Go Again: How I Came to be Mr. Feeny, John Adams, Dr. Craig, KITT, and Many Others by William Daniels
Our book club read for August which my sister picked for the Mr. Feeny connection but that only ended up being about a chapter of it. I have great fondness for Boy Meets World after watching it twice a day on the Disney Channel at least my freshman year of college. This was just interesting about his life and how early he was put to work as a kid (very young). I didn't know much about his other jobs but still just interesting in a "this is how Hollywood can work" kind of way. 3.75 Stars
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
This was a very food heavy novel, as expected from Ruth Reichl (at one point they eat whole tiny birds, bones, guts and all). Set around 1983 so can't be historical fiction since that's the year I was born...but Paris sounded dreamy for a spell, having the kind of job where you could just take off to Paris for a year?? Nothing was remote dialed in then! Great if you are very into food and/or Paris. 3.5 Stars
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
There are some Rainbow Rowell books I've really enjoyed and others I've been more ehhhh on. This one is somewhere in the middle. It actually has a similar story line to the book I'm currently reading. Old friends who everyone thought would end up together after high school, back in the same room together after 14 years. Will sparks fly?? Should they?? (That seems like the bigger question.) Although there were a few swoony lines in here. 3.25 Stars
Dad Camp by Evan S. Porter
Written by a Dad, about a Dad who is taking his daughter to a "Dad camp" sleep away camp for dads and daughters. She's about to become a teenager, he feels like they are losing their final chances at improving their bond before she's a teenager. A tumultuous time. Things go a bit awry at camp. I appreciated the wanting to bond more and soak in those moments before kids really don't want parents around; I'm a mom with a boy getting too close (11) to being a teenager. Drug a bit at times but really appreciated what it was saying. 3.25 Stars
Read with Sam
Fabio the World's Greatest Flamingo Detective: The Case of the Missing Hippo and Mystery on the Ostrich Express by Laura James, illustrated by Emily Fox
This is a new trilogy I started reading with Sam, while we wait for the library to get the rest of the Zoe Rescue Zoo books. He declared these to be hilarious and loved them although even I had a little trouble keeping track of the characters in the first one. I think he just likes the idea of a mystery because that's now a genre I've read much to him (or at all??). Very brightly colored, lots of pictures, not like a picture book but a lot for a chapter book, and all in color which isn't super common with chapter books I read to him. Just checked out the third one to read to him soon! 4 Stars
The Messy Meerkat & The Rascally Racoon by Amelia Cobb, illustrated by Sophy Williams
There are something like 27 Zoe Rescue Zoo books, our library has maybe 7 and we've bought 10 for Sam as gifts over the last 9 months. I've interlibrary loaned a bunch more but we still haven't gotten through them all (the library couldn't source 2-3 of them through ILL). These are the two we gave Sam for his adoption day and he was very excited about them as he has been for all of them. I have never seen a Racoon as a zoo exhibit but maybe they are a novelty in England?? 3.5 Stars
What have YOU been reading?
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