Welcome to Quick Lit, where we share short and sweet reviews of what we’ve been reading lately on the 15th of the month.
My collection of recent reads is longer than usual this month, and I hope you enjoy the variety! I certainly enjoying the reading part. In this eclectic edition we have a handful of new literary releases, backlist contemporary fiction, a fun and offbeat romance, a backlist essay collection, a new disability memoir, and one book so close to horror it’s a miracle I even picked it up.
I capture all the books I read in the My Reading Life book journal, which makes it easy to compile a variety of recent reads for our monthly reading chat here.
I can’t wait to hear about your recent reads in comments!
Short and sweet reviews of what I’ve been reading lately
Bluff: A Novel
What a wild ride! I picked this up on the recommendation of Julia Whelan, who narrated the audiobook and mentioned when we chatted for an upcoming What Should I Read Next episode that Kardos's books, in her opinion, didn't get the recognition they deserved. At first this book reminded me very much of Maria Konnokova's The Biggest Bluff, about learning to play poker. In it, a twenty-something magician gets into financial trouble and decides to learn to cheat at cards to raise the extra cash she needs. She finds a mentor who will teach her how to manipulate the deck and dupe her fellow players into giving her all their money, and her once-modest quest to raise small sum evolves into a bigger con. When this story took an abrupt and grisly turn I wasn't expecting, I HATED it and wished I'd never begun it. (I could give you a very specific comp title but I fear it would reveal too much!) I kept reading and the reveal made me forgive everything. Dark, twisty, and utterly absorbing. More info →
The Dead Romantics
I picked this up on a whim, mostly because I knew it was set in the world of publishing, and you know I'm a sucker for book world stories. Florence Day makes her living writing bestselling romance novels that are published under somebody else's name; only one person knows she's truly a ghostwriter and not that author's personal assistant as she claims. This puts her in a tricky spot when she tries to tell her handsome new editor that she—er, her boss—won't be able to meet her deadline. She doesn't tell him the true problem: after a bad breakup, she doesn't believe in love anymore, so she sure can't write about it. But before she can sit down to try and make the words come, her father dies. When she returns home for the first time in a decade she finds the family she loves (and the funeral home they run) the same as they've ever been, even though her father is gone. She also finds a ghost standing at the funeral home front door who looks remarkably like her editor, who seems to have died with unfinished business that's somehow connected to Florence. It sounds bonkers, but it's sweet and fun and—as far as the audiobook was concerned—compulsively listenable. More info →
The Measure
What a dynamite premise! The story begins on an ordinary day. Ordinary, that is, until citizens of the world open their front doors and discover a small wooden box that contains a single string, and each person's string reveals the exact length of their life. The unfolding story had me turning the pages at lightning speed even as it pondered a profound philosophical question: how would your life be different if you knew exactly when it would end? And would you even choose to find out that information, if you could? I really enjoyed the broad cast of characters, and watching how Erlick spooled out each of their individual stories and then slowly brought them into each other's orbits. More info →
Easy Beauty: A Memoir
"I am in a bar in Brooklyn, listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether my life is worth living." So begins Pulitzer finalist Jones's new memoir about living with a disability that is instantly recognizable and "other" to nearly everyone she encounters. Jones employs an interesting circular structure to portray what it's like to move through the world in her particular and unique body. Jones was born with a condition called sacral agenesis which affects her appearance and her ability to easily walk and move; physical pain is a near constant companion. Here she writes of self-consciousness and shame, of believing stories about herself that turned out to be all wrong, of learning to rewrite them. Along the way she tells stories about a a panoply of interesting topics I never expected to encounter here: tons of literary references, Bernini sculptures, Roger Federer, the Cambodian genocide, higher education, the Sundance Film Festival, Beyoncé(!). I'm glad I prioritized reading this in time for Disability Pride Month in July. Content warnings apply, including unexpected violence. More info →
Booth
This is and isn't the story of John Wilkes Booth. In her author's note at the end, Fowler writes that her challenge was to write a story about Booth that didn't center the man, who notoriously sought fame and attention—and didn't deserve any more of it. But she was intrigued by the question (relevant then and now) of what it might be like to love someone who had committed a great wrong. (In the book's final pages the narrator asks, in reference to Booth's mother and siblings, "What is it like to love the most hated man in the country?") I started this book on audio (narrated by January LaVoy) back in the spring and finally finished it at the beginning of this month. Fowler's writing was superb, but I found myself never wanting to pick it up. I'm glad I finished it—even if it did take forever. More info →
Hurricane Girl
Let me start by saying I read this book by mistake—or rather, if I had known what it was about I never would have picked it up! A few weeks ago I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep, so I flipped through my kindle to see what was there. (Alas, I'd just finished my current Kindle read at bedtime.) I already had this downloaded, I'd heard some good things from author friends, why not give it a try? WELL. The story starts with 32-year-old Allison moving across the country to the new North Carolina beach house she'd just acquired with all her savings. For the first time in ages, she's truly happy. But ten days after arriving on the coast her home is swept away in a Category 3 hurricane. Next I expected this plucky protagonist to pick herself up by her bootstraps and put her life back together but Reader, that is NOT what happens! Instead, Allison is dealt a (literally) crushing blow to the head by a man upset she won't sleep with him, and what follows is a surreal, almost dream-like account of her trek home to New Jersey and everything that follows. The publisher says this story "walks a knife's edge between comedy and horror." I never would have begun if I'd read that first, but I didn't—and I'm glad this book took me outside my usual reading lanes. Content warnings abound. More info →
Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give
After reading and loving Calhoun's new release Also a Poet (featured in this edition of Quick Lit), I was eager to read more, and blew through this essay collection on marriage, relationships, infidelity, divorce, and personal growth that came into being because of her viral Modern Love column, and made a hundred highlights along the way. This book would have HORRIFIED me when I was younger, but Will and I just celebrated our 22nd anniversary: we're hardly newlyweds. To give you a taste: "'The first twenty years [of marriage] are the hardest,' an older woman once told me. At the time I thought she was joking. She was not." Or this: "Even good marriages sometimes involve flinging a remote control at the wall." I loved it. More info →
The Midcoast
I read this slow-burning debut in two days and then handed it to my husband Will. In this nonlinear story, a writer named Andrew returns home to the tiny Maine town he swore he'd never come back to, but whose tight-knit community and low cost of living skyrocketed lured him back when his own growing family got priced out of Boston. In the book's opening pages, the writer attends a big bash hosted by local lobsterman Ed Thatch—but by night's end a pack of police cars with blaring sirens crashes the party. From there Andrew (who has a definite wistful Nick Carraway vibe to him) takes us back in time to tell us the story of the Thatch. Ed is well regarded as the local boy made good, who achieved financial success and made a comfortable life for himself by working harder than everyone else. But along the way Andrew, whose history is tangled up with Ed's, began to wonder if Ed's meteoric rise made any sense and begins to sniff around the story. What ensues is a portrait of a well-intentioned man driven to desperate acts, the unintended consequences of the same, and the small town that both satisfies and suffocates. If you pay attention to such things, you may have noticed the critical reviews aren't great—but I really enjoyed both the substance and structure of this story. More info →
Last Summer on State Street
I picked this new release up because of the gorgeous cover and wasn't disappointed. This coming of age debut set in the housing projects of 1990s Chicago unfolds over the course of one summer. As summer begins, we meet three young girls, all about age 11, who've formed a comfortable trio and spend their summer days double-dutching on the hot concrete under the watchful eyes of their neighbors, who have all been alerted they'll soon be displaced and moved (if they're lucky) to a different apartment block. When a new girl joins their friend group the circle, instead of growing larger, is broken, and things will never be the same for any of the four, who are largely left on their own to deal with the escalating threats around them. Beautifully told and utterly heartbreaking. Content warnings apply. More info →
What have YOU been reading lately? Tell us about your recent reads—or share the link to a blog or instagram post about them—in comments.
75 comments
“The Measure” sounds like a book right down my alley. Thanks for the recommendations, Anne!
If you need a wonderful book on grief (your own loss or to help a friend), read this one: “It’s OK That You’re Not OK.” It’s #1 of my top 6 books this month.
See all 6 books here that I recommend:
https://lisanotes.com/books-i-recommend-june-2022/
Thanks for the grief recommendation, Lisa ❤️
There’s a few great beach books in my roundup this month – plus one five star reread that turned out to be amazing on audio!
https://neverenoughnovels.com/2022/07/14/june-2022-mini-book-reviews/
The House by the Cerulean Sea on audio was awesome! A surprising happy read during the Summer of 2020!
I am SO excited about the books I’m sharing this month, including THREE five-star reads that will definitely be making it onto my list of best books of the year.
https://kendranicole.net/quick-lit-july-2022/
Sounds like a great month!
Lots of great summer reads this month—especially audiobooks! Here’s what I’ve been reading: https://www.mindjoggle.com/july-2022-book-reviews/
The Dead Romantics sounds great! I love a story set in the world of publishing too.
Here’s what I’ve been reading:
https://readeatrepeat.net/2022/07/15/books-in-progress-july-2022/
http://www.lindastoll.net/2018/06/read-this-book-because-you-must.html?m=1
Mom died 3 weeks ago. I hope it’s ok to re-share this Quick Lit post.
I’ll be curling up with this beautiful companion to grief in the days ahead …
Linda, I’m so sorry for your loss ❤️
I’ve started the Elizabeth George series and several more really great books! https://susanbowers.typepad.com/in_the_storm/2022/07/what-ive-been-reading-june-2022.html
Books 33-36 of the year: https://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/2022/07/reading-update.html
I’m thrilled to see Hurricane Girl get a mention here. I loved this story of trauma and the gaslighting we do to ourselves and that others do to us. I found it to be a very fast surprising read and not at all dark.
I’m so glad to hear from someone else who’s read it!
I also read Hurricane Girl on recommendations. I did find it dark and uncomfortable.
Wow, what a great and varied list of books. I’ve never even heard of any of them. I need to put these all on my list.
In June I read some non-fiction, some new releases, and celebrated the longest day of the year with a graphic novel:
http://www.allthebooksihaventread.com/blog-1/2022/7/15/show-us-your-books-july-2022
Wow, what a list! I hit on some five-star reads this summer that I am so pleased with, but none compare to the amazing Lauren Wolk. Start with Wolf Hollow and read everything, including My Own Lightning that just released. You won’t be disappointed! (Yes, these books are marketed as middle grade but oh they are so much more.) Other finds on the blog today – https://miathereader.com/quick-lit-reviews-july-2022/
I’ve found myself reading a lot more nonfiction than normal. Here’s my list: https://amandahollandwriter.wordpress.com/2022/07/15/quick-lit-july-2022/
I finally got my reading mojo back after a move across country. Once again my TBR list is growing thanks to these reviews. https://myviewofthehoneypot.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-i-read-july.html
I just finished The Dead Romantics and immediately recommend it to several friends. It was touching and funny and talked about grief in a way that I think many of us after the last two years need to hear. It’s a beautiful book.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, such a diverse group of books here! The Dead Romantics sounds truly bizarre, but I have to admit — I’m a bit intrigued. Your roundups make me want to be so much better about branching out of my normal comfort zone since it’s something you’re so good at!
Here’s what I’ve been reading this summer so far, including Emily Henry’s latest, a children’s series I’ve been meaning to read forever, and more:
https://www.toloveandtolearn.com/2022/07/13/loving-and-learning-lately-45/
The funny thing about The Dead Romantics (besides all the puns and book jokes) is that it isn’t that bizarre. It all flows well. If you like Emily Henry, you will like this!
I love to read memoirs and Easy Beauty sounds like a very interesting one. It is going on my to be read list. The Midcoast also sounds like a great read. I always love to see what you have been reading! I read Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher recently and loved it. It is 900+ pages, but it was so good. I read two great nonfiction books recently too. https://fromourbookshelf.com/june-2022-reads/
My grandma started reading Coming Home a few days ago. Her copy is Large Print and 1,167 pages! I asked her last night if she was enjoying it, and she smiled and said, “Oh, yes!”
I haven’t read any of the books mentioned above, but I’ve put a few of them on my overflowing TBR.
I’ve read several books from the authors in my last newsletter, which is featured below; all the books in this newsletter have one thing in common-San Francisco features prominently in each of these books. Enjoy!
https://sonovelicious.substack.com/p/the-city-by-the-bay
Here’s what I’ve been reading lately!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf7trsmpL90/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
After a somewhat unproductive spring reading season, I am back on track with summer here. Here’s what I’ve been reading lately:
http://www.avikinginla.com/2022/07/what-ive-been-reading-lately-june-2022-scandireadingchallenge-update/
I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer reading season. My goals are to catch up on reading challenges, play along with a summer reading bingo that is happening at work, and prepare and participate in Women in Translation Month #WITMonth in August.
I downloaded Hurricane Girl it sounds perfect for me. I’ve already read, The Dead Romantics, The Measure and Weddings Toasts. All three were good. Ada Calhoun always makes me laugh, cry and think and The Measure was excellent and thought-provoking; would you want to know the length of your life or not? Thanks, Anne.
My reading month was a little disappointing overall but was book-ended by two five-star reads:
*Young Mungo* was more intense subject matter than I realized it would be so comes with a big content warning re: all things tough childhood, but it was excellently-crafted and moving.
And *Last Night at the Telegraph Club* is the best book I’ve read this year!! SO romantic, and rich with historical detail. I found the characters very believable and relatable and the growth in them was exciting. I also appreciated the exploration of intersectional identities and that this was not a story I’d read many times before. I am eagerly awaiting Malinda Lo’s next book!
I have so many books in progress, but only finished a few last month. Here’s my list:
* What Might Have Been by Holly Miller – I picked this up on a whim at our library, sucked in by the title and the interesting book cover. It’s a “sliding doors” type story, which is very well done and enjoyable. And of course, there is some overlap between the two story lines, which added some humor and interest. 4 stars
* Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis. Yes this is the book on which the Brad Pitt movie is based. I am not a baseball fan at all, but I don’t think you have to be to enjoy this book. I am, however, a statistics geek, and I found that aspect of the story absolutely fascinating. 4 stars
* Sister Stardust by Jane Green – This is a fictionalized account of the life of Talitha Getty, wife of Paul Getty, the heir to the Getty oil fortunes. It’s told through the eyes of a small town English shop girl, Claire, who ends up in Talitha’s crowd living a truly bizarre life in Morocco. The book captures the atmosphere well, but it is disturbing and I found it a bit sad. 3.5 stars
* The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova. This was a pick of my book club, otherwise I would probably never have picked this up. The story, told in alternating timelines, is about Orquidea’s early life, her 5 marriages, and the lives of her children and grandchildren. Ultimately, to me it is a story about the bonds of family. It has a lot of magical/fantasy elements, and reminded me a lot of The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow. This is not a genre I read often, but I did enjoy this one. 4 stars
* Watershed by Mark Barr – This is historical fiction set in the 1930’s during the construction of some of the first dams which were part of the Tennessee Valley Authority efforts to prevent flooding of the Tennessee River and provide electricity to rural Appalachia. The two main characters are an engineer who is hiding a terrible professional failure in his past, and a young wife/mother who has left her philandering husband. There were several times where the storyline was in danger of veering off into sappiness and cliches, but happily, it didn’t. 3.5 stars
I’m currently reading Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr and Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand, both on audio. In addition, most of my library holds from the MMD Summer Reading Guide just came in all at once, so I have The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, Upgrade by Blake Crouch, and Portrait of a Thief by Grace Li waiting on my nightstand.
Happy Reading!
Anne, your review of Bluff really has me intrigued!!! I TRIED to read The Measure, because (yes!) what a premise! But by halfway through, I just couldn’t do it anymore.
This month, I really could not put down The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It was totally unbelievable, but I HAD to know what was going to happen, and, oh, the END.
I also inhaled Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Beautifully crafted, this one.
I was pleasantly surprised with Under Gemini by Rosamunde Pilcher. This was a clean romance that was really well written and mostly free of cheese…not something that you see every day.
Here’s where I keep all my book reviews: https://bookdevotions.com/book-reviews-june-2022/
Hi Michelle, I looked for you on Goodreads but there are many of “you”! Can you post your Goodreads link?
we read many of the same books! I almost stopped reading The Measure. I did feel the end made up for the middle. Pun intended: the threads all come together and I am glad I finished it.
I read such an eclectic mix of books this week! One personal development book, one delightful adult fiction selection and one completely uncharacteristic gothic novel that I had to stretch for. I definitely pushed the boundaries of my reading life here. My reviews on in my blog link!
I recently wrote a review about A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus. It’s about 3 kids who were displaced from London during WWII. I LOVED this book and would recommend it for kids ages 9+, as well as ALL adults!
https://brittanydahl.com/blog/a-place-to-hang-the-moon-book-review/
I listened to this one also this month. Definitely a favorite!
we read many of the same books! I almost stopped reading The Measure. I did feel the end made up for the middle. Pun intended: the threads all come together and I am glad I finished it.
I’m just here to boost Last Summer on State Street. It is heartbreaking, no question. But there is also a lot of hope here and I could not recommend it more highly. It has earned a spot on my shelf of absolute favorite books. I read it right after reading What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris, which I also loved. Now its almost two weeks later and I am still struggling to sink into some other book. Nothing else compares to these two beautiful books about two very different Black girlhoods.
Just finished Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson yesterday. It was 5 star for me. Can’t wait to try some times from your list!
It seems this month’s theme for me was “Great sequels to books I loved” and “Excellent rereads.” There was only one major disappointment! https://cocoonofbooks.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-ive-been-reading-lately-quick-lit.html
My TBR list just got loooonnnger! Why do all these books look like want to reads to me? Must be the summer!
These are all new titles to me! Here is what I have been reading lately: https://elle-alice.blogspot.com/2022/06/june-book-reviews.html
I am reading the new Abbi Waxman, Adult Assembly Required. I love all of her books.
Hi Anne, I have been sending your husband’s book list (from several seasons ago) to my father-in-law and he has almost completed the list! Is there a second list? He has LOVED them all!
I was looking forward to Booth as I enjoy the history from that era but I thought it was slow moving and I didn’t care at all about any of the family members.
Just finished Love and Ruin by Paula McLain- first novel I’ve read of hers. It was so fantastic! I’m now going back to read The Paris Wife also by McLain and somehow got down a rabbit hole and also reading
West into the Night by Beryl Markham
I loved West into the Night. I listened to it on audio, and I couldn’t stop listening!
I just put The Midcoast on library hold last night! After our Maine trip earlier this summer I am very interested in books set there! I’m pretty sure The Dead Romantics is on my TBR (if not I’ll be adding it!)
I’m not finding as much time to read as I would like (HOW does summer feel busier than the school year??) but I have, mostly, been reading books that are really enjoyable! My list here: June Reading Recap
I saw The Midcoast noted somewhere else last month as a great read just a couple days before we left for a vacation based in the book’s location of Damariscotta. Not only is the town truly lovely, it boasts both an amazing independent bookstore(Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops), as well as the best secondhand bookstore I’ve ever visited, which has an equally awesome name – Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop. The sign for it sits in front of the library, so after wandering through the library trying to figure out the way, we finally asked a lovely librarian who sweetly left her post, explaining it was easier to just show us the way than give directions. There are chairs in which to sit and ponder a purchase, bright windows, and – wonder of wonders – clean bathrooms! Maine is filled with lovely book stores, and those in tiny Damariscotta are definitely worth a visit.
Just finished The Hotel Nantucket. My first Elin Hilderbrand.
It was a fun Summer read. Not my usual read.
I stayed up till 2am to finish it, to avoid a library fine. There was no way to recheck it with the long wait list.
Started Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin.
I’ll be in Edinburgh in September!
This book is probably more my speed.
I’ve had a slow Summer. So many books I’ve meant to get to and haven’t.
I am only halfway through my goal of 50 for 2022.
I’m currently reading Cover Story by Susan Rigetti, which is an epistolary novel about a conwoman a la Inventing Anna as well as The Woman in the Library, a super meta mystery novel by Sulari Gentill. I only have ~30 pages of the latter left and I still have no idea where it’s going!
I finished Excellent Women and Jane and Prudence both by Barbara Pym. I especially enjoyed Excellent Women as Mildred’s observations about single life are still so on point. I also got into “Olga Dies Dreaming” by Xochitl González. As a Puerto Rican I was excited to read this story. Although it is labelled as a romantic comedy, this is more a family drama. The author tried to cover too much in terms of topics, and that prevents us from getting a better understanding of the characters. The author writes well, but the story needed more focus.
I also finished Sally Hepworth’s “The Family Next Door”, which is not an extraordinary book, but still it was entertaining enough.
I love Barbara Pym! Excellent Women is such an amazing book, but it’s quiet and hard to really sell it. Her observations on singleness as women are spot on and so funny.
I just wrapped up a re-read of the Anne of Green Gables series (one of my all-time favorites) and jumped into Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which has been on my TBR for longer than I’d care to admit. I’m nearly done, and really enjoying it and learning a lot.
I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle many years ago, and I still have flashes of parts of the book. It’s a book I recommend often.
Between last nights ‘Best of Summer’ and this list, My TBR has grown another arms length; Dead Romantics and The Midcoast have piqued my curiosity from this list. Search, Remarkably Bright Creatures and Take a Hint Dani Brown joined my TBR lat night.
I just recently listened to young readers ‘The Magic Tree House 9-16”. I have a 5 year old granddaughter and she loves listening to the stories of Jack and Annie and where Morgan LaFey sends them in the Magic Tree house while I drive her too and from school.
I also finished reading Wives by Tarryn Fisher. If I hadn’t been reading this for my real life book club I might not have stuck with it, but right about page 50 was a hook and I had to read till the end. There were some triggers (is that what they are called).
Currently I’m reading Lessons in Chemistry for MMD book club. I’ve really enjoyed the book until she got the TV show. It seems that has slowed the momentum down. Maybe it’s just where I am in the book.
Also on audio, I’m listening to Sense and Sensibility. Believe it or not, my first Jane Austen novel. I’m not too far in, but am thoroughly enjoying. Looking forward to the watch night.
I had such mixed feelings about Lessons in Chemistry. I listened to it as an audiobook.
My top reads for the month were the fantasy “Uprooted” by Naomi Novik on audio, the nonfiction dig into women’s roles in Disney animation history called “The Queens of Animation”, the magical realism “The Sugar Queen” by Sarah Addison Allen, and the romance in the book publishing world, “By any other name” by Lauren Kate. My two misses were “The Huntress” by Kate Quinn and “The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip” by Sara Brunsvold. Both were well written, but I didn’t care enough about the characters.
My June wrap up
https://readingladies.com/2022/06/30/june-2022-reading-wrap-up/
Only managed to get two books in this month. Felt like a real low considering the past few months.
Uncommon Type, by Tom Hanks
The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave
Loved the stories in the first, found the second entertaining but unbelievable.
Check out tiny reviews and summaries from me and my kids at http://www.theshoreystories.com
I was on a cross-country road trip for the first half of June, and I had grand plans to read a bunch of books, but I didn’t finish a single one until I got home!
In June, I read “Hotel Nantucket” by Elin Hilderbrand, and as I said in my Goodreads review, “A hotel restoration and a ghost; I’m in!” I gave it 4 stars. Then, I finished a history book I had been reading bit-by-bit since January called, “Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities.” It was 800 pages, hence the slow pace, but I learned a lot, and I gave it 4 stars. I finished off June by reading “Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin. I had an ARC of it, and it is on the Summer reading guide, so I jumped right in! I liked it, but I didn’t love it. The main characters were unlikable and never really grew as people, and that bugged me. Still, I liked the representation of living with chronic pain as well as the way it showed women in gaming. I gave that book 3 stars.
Also, thanks to Anne for once again adding to my growing (and groaning) TBR list 🙂
I added The Measure and Wedding Toasts to my to-read list. Sadly my Libby doesn’t have them. But, I did have some excellent reading this month including books recommended here and a follow-up sequel. I share about
Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce
A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
I loved all three and listened to all on audio which was excellent.
My hold on The Measure just came available today. That’s up next. I just listened to a sample of The Last Summer on State Street and is now in my audiobook TBR.
I read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow based on Anne’s recco and absolutely loved it! My fav book of the year so far. I also really liked The Latecomer, there was a particular chapter which was probably the best chapter in a book I have read in quite some time. The Midcoast was another one I liked very much. As I was reading it I thought to my myself that it would be a book Anne’s husband would like. I read a very favorable NY times review of it penned by Lee Cole, author of Groundskeeping and since I really enjoyed that one I picked up Midcoast. I found the writing styles by these 2 first time male authors to be similar. Books I didn’t like so much were Nora Goes off Script and Meant to Be.
Just finished and enjoyed The Messy Lives of Book People.
My recent reads include: The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed, Walking by Erlin Kagge, Flying Solo by Linda Holmes, We Shall Sing a Song Into the Deep by Andrew Kelly Stewart, and The Island by Adrian McKinty.
How was The Annual Migration of Clouds? It’s been on my TBR but I haven’t heard much about it…
I read a slew of Sarah M Eden books, basically all regency romance. It’s unusual for me to read a lot of books by one author. I even get bored quickly with series.
They were all breezy reads, easy to finish in a day or two. It was fun to see the same characters showing up in the different books, and it didn’t matter much that I read the series out of order. An overarching theme in the books is the gentleman’s code, which to me is more relaxing to know they will all be chaste romances.
My favorite was The Best Laid Plans.
On my blog I made of list of Books Like Hatchet, including some specifically for adults.
https://purplecrayonyourworld.com/more-books-like-hatchet/
I am finally catching up with Apples Will Fall, by Liane Moriarty, and oh my goodness, I am LOVING this book!!!! Can’t inhale it fast enough! I love reading about the Delaney family, and while my family was not like that, still, we were 5 kids and in some ways I can relate. This book is just so astonishly RIGHT THERE in voicing the family’s thoughts….Liane has redeemed herself (I did not like 9 Perfect Strangers AT ALL) and I hate for it to end.
Hello Mrs. Bogel! I am 13 years old and I just wanted to say thank you for making this place such a joyful place on the internet! I was wondering if you could maybe record an audiobook reading (Something short) for your podcast? I think that you would be great at it!!! Thank you!
Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give by Calhoun sounds good. I’m engaged and live with my husband to be. We’ve been living together for a year and engaged for almost 3 years. I’m starting to see what alot of couples experience in their relationships. Like the petty arguments, the pet peeves, etc… I’ll be adding this and Last Summer on State Street to my TBR. I’m currently reading The Poet’s House by Jean Thompson, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt,The Gilda Stories by Jewelle L. Gomez. I love The Goldfinch but it’s very wordy and detailed. I might have to DNF it. Happy reading, everyone!
I LOVED Last Summer on State Street–an instant classic and my favorite book of the summer. I linked to my review if you are interested–no pressure on anyone.
I read BLUFF a few years back and loved it!
This month, I read and thoroughly enjoyed THE PATIENT’S SECRET by Loreth Anne White and LISTEN TO ME (Rizzoli and Isles #13) by Tess Gerritsen.
I recently read The Measure after picking it up on a whim at Target. It reminded me so much of Naomi Alderman’s “The Power,” but more character-driven–I really enjoyed it! I love books with a unique premise or featuring dystopian, so that one was a hit for me. I’m hoping it will be trending a bit more as more readers reach for it.