Summer reading is my favorite reading. Ideally, summer reading is when I can do more reading than normal life (other than that blissful week between Christmas and New Years). That doesn't always work quite as I hope but, in general, I am usually able to do more reading over the summer and that makes me happy. Especially over our vacation last week (why this is going up 2 days "late"), when I didn't have housework to do during Sam's nap/Luke's quiet time. I could just read. It was lovely!
I keep my Goodreads very up to date and an currently a bit overwhelmed by that "TBR" number, I post about books and other things on Instagram here, and am linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy.
Two other book posts in the past month:
Now everything else I've been reading!
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
This was a highly anticipated new book from the author of Beach Read which I read last summer and enjoyed enough to put it on my Favorite Reads of 2020 list. This one was about two friends who have long been close friends but never romantic partners. Then something happened a few years ago and they stopped their annual trip together and really all contact. Then things happened to bring them together and they went on another trip, because she made up an excuse for needing to be in Palm Springs right before his brother's wedding. So, they reunite and we slowly find out what has happened on these past trips. I really enjoyed most of it although the ending fell a little flat for me, I chalk that up to being very tired and barely able to keep my eyes open but determined to finish more than a lack luster ending. 4 Stars
The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly
This one very much reminded me of The Forgotten Room in that is was a story about a particular place (a garden, in this case) that meant something to different women spread over different points in time. One was the woman who designed the garden, a few who lived nearby during a War, and then the landscape architect who was trying to repair years of neglect. I was engrossed in all the stories and time lines, especially appreciating a character named Diana. I had pretty low expectations for this one and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. 3.75 Stars
The Works: Anatomy of a City by Kate Ascher
This book went much more in depth into how a city works (in this case, NYC) than I ever expected to know. Like, nitty gritty here is what is in the man holes and what those cables are made of. It was written in 2005, before cell phones completely took over our world so I'm sure some of this is out of date. It was interesting and very well researched (I'm assuming, I couldn't tell you if any of this was incorrect). There were a lot of helpful diagrams and drawings. However, it wasn't the most fascinating read. 3 Stars
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
These authors' books can be very hit or miss for me, I seem to really like about every other one I read and feel ehhhh about the others. This was more of a win though. It has to do with a fancy dating app that matches people based on DNA or something genetic and is supposed to be very successful at making matches, or at least predicting if a match will last. He made the whole thing happen, she's skeptical but hates him already from their mutual coffee shop stops. Then they turn out to be a near perfect match and the company needs the good publicity before it's IPO so...fake relationship! That is very likely to turn into something more! (This is a romance book.) Cliches but fun. 3.5 Stars
Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter
I read his other book earlier this year and was interested to pick this one up too. I'm a much bigger secondhand donater than buyer (I just don't have the patience to shift through racks) and really have wondered what happens to so much that is donated (from this book it sounds like the world needs zero more bowling balls to be made ever). It was fascinating to read about where our stuff goes that can sell here, than can be sold in other countries, how second (or third) hand items travel around the globe. Really learned a lot AND made me want to own no more non-consumable things ever (besides, you know, those sandals I am waiting on Target to deliver...). 4 Stars
Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
Continuing with the Maisie Dobbs series, this was #4 and I'm still not completely sold on them, I am never waiting to pick one up and yet, I always finish them wondering what Maisie will be up to next. Or maybe just if Maisie is going to start to get more interesting. There was a mystery in this one I am completely blanking on and I'm sure she solved it in the end...I am taking a break from Maisie for the summer, too many new books on my TBR to get bogged down with old ones! I expect I'll pick the next one back up in the fall though, I very highly doubt I'll be finishing this series this year! 3 Stars
The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
This has been my Memorial Day weekend read for a very long time and it never quite feels like summer can start until I've started reading this book. I've read it maybe 6 times now and I am still always eager to pick it up again so that's a good sign! Two sisters spend the month of July at their family's ancestral home on Tuckernuck with their Mom and Aunt. All 4 women have romantic problems of different kinds and they are all working through things as they come together and...not talk about their problems. It is so perfectly summer for me. 4.5 Stars
How to Resist Amazon and Why: The Fight for Local Economics, Data Policy, Fair Labor, Independent Bookstores, and a People-Powered Future by Danny Caine
We have been pondering our Amazon use for awhile now and so this book came at the perfect time to cement those choices. It was short, under 200 pages, maybe even closer to 100. Outlined some of the problems with Amazon other than just putting independent bookstores out of business. They have their tentacles into everything on the internet and that much control for anyone (even the government) is a recipe for disaster. It's next to impossible to fully avoid Amazon if you use the internet at all (even Netflix uses Amazon web hosting servers something) but we are certainly curbing our spending there, trying to cut it out nearly completely. (I am reassured that nobody talks, yet, about Target being evil, I still have them!). I'd recommend for anyone who uses the internet. 4.75 Stars
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
I loved the concept of this - a light skinned black girl who passes for white, and passes for a licensed pilot, in order to join the WASPS during World War II. She can fly but the tester wouldn't pass her. That plus if her actual skin color is found out, she'll be in big trouble but she thinks all the risks are worth it because she wants to help in this war. You could tell it was a debut novel but I appreciated the story more than the actual writing. 3.25 Stars
Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger
This was a vacation read and one I pushed through on many nights when I was practically falling asleep holding it. Lauren Weisberger is most known for having written The Devil Wears Prada, a movie I love but a book I've never read (too many people said the movie was better). I have generally enjoyed all her other books which I have read. A bit fluffy, perfect for the beach and/or vacation without being TOO fluffy. Sisters and comparing and living the life you think you are supposed to be living even if it doesn't make you happy. Honestly, a lot of the details are fuzzy but I did enjoy it. 3.5 Stars
The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent
ANOTHER vacation read and one I quite enjoyed. Birdy knows next to nothing about wine. Really, very little. But when she needs a place to stay and a job and her BFF (who is a wine expert) decides to back out of a job in Scotland that comes with housing but expects that you know A LOT about wine well...Birdy takes a chance. And does a lot of googling. The restaurant setting reminded me of The Blue Bistro, one of my favorite books. The Scottish setting was so fun and there was romance. Also a great vacation read! (Heads up for an open door scene, I think.) 3.75 Stars
Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand
I am a completest on Elin Hilderbrand, having read every single book she's written. A lot are forgettable but I know when I pick one up that I am in for a solid, compelling page turner. This, like all, is set on Nantucket, featuring complex women with mostly rich people problems. It had a similar storyline to The Late, Lamented Molly Marx where a recently deceased woman is watching over the life she left behind and the police as they try to solve how she died. It's told from many points of view but not difficult to keep them all straight. I started this one on our long drive home and finished it sitting on my couch in the AC. Perfect for summer reading, even if I won't remember the plot in a month. 4 Stars
Read with Luke
The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian #2: The Accidental Volcano by Jonathan Messinger
Luke loves these Finn Caspian books, just as he loves the podcast. Kids that shouldn't be old enough to do so are flying space ships, making messes, having adventures, and escaping and or/saving weird aliens on strange planets. The chapters are super short and there are the occasional picture. I purchase requested the 3rd from the library because Luke likes them so much. 3 Stars
Snowbound with Betsy by Carolyn Haywood
Surprisingly, he also likes these very old Betsy books that are even decades older than me. This one was set around a few snowy days and we read it in the heat of summer and finished over vacation. It's funny reading how hands off parents were back when these were written (the 50s?) but how engaged the parents are when they are around. I am now taking parenting tips from really old books, it's fine. We just have a few left in the series but we've both really enjoyed these! 3.75 Stars
What have YOU been reading??
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