Some lovely summer transitioning into Fall reads coming your way!
I really liked “Great Big Beautiful Life” by Emily Henry. Her books can be hit or miss for me, but this one was a hit. Two writers, Alice and Hayden, are chosen to compete to be selected to write the life story of a lady who hasn’t been seen in decades. Who will be chosen? What secrets might be uncovered? I really enjoyed this one!
I love listening to books like “Grit,” theres almost always so many good take aways. What can set high achieving people apart? Is it natural born possibility or can you cultivate grit and tenacity to work and achieve your accomplishments and dreams…She shared a lot of good info and examples, things we can definitely learn from to accomplish our own dreams and goals!
“Wish I Were Here” was also good! Catherine is a mathematics professor who just landed her dream job. After a childhood growing up with a Dad literally in the circus, she craves predictability and structure, as well as self-sufficiency. After a conversation with an older gentleman, where she shares how she wishes she had a different life, slowly, her current identity and life begin to slip away. She sees exactly where her wish gets her, and sees the value to the life she has.
I listened to “The One With the Kiss Cam” and it was so cute! It definitely got me hooked on Cindy Steel books this year! After being convinced to go on a blind date, Nora falls for the guy next to her. She’s determined to have boundaries with relationships in her life so she won’t get hurt like her mom, and he’s determined to break all of those walls down.
So Meghan Quinn is definitely on my DNR list. “This is “Vacation Wars” was a book I should have scrapped and just not finished, I hate getting hooked and making a lot of progress only for it to turn into trash. I scanned and skipped a lot, but this is your public service announcement to just not pick up a book from her.
I love Katherine Center. Every single book I have read from her has been amazing. “How to Walk Away” took me off guard a bit, I was not expecting the intensity of this story. It opens with a small plane accident, where the pilot has coerced his girlfriend to go up with him, proposes to her, and then proceeds to get them into an accident, where he walks away and she can’t walk for the rest of her life. A story of relationships and recovery, this one was very good.
I enjoyed “The Perfect Couple” too this month! I love a good fancy Nantucket wedding story, but this one has a murder along with it. No one escapes the investigation of the police chief, and there definitely seems to be no perfect couple.
I listened to “Summer Ever After” and thought it was cute! She is determined to find the right guy, and is going through every romance trope known to man to make it happen. Her older brother’s best friend comes back into town, and being very off limits, she tries her best to ignore him. You can probably guess how that works out for her!
“The Secrets We Buried” was ok, but I wasn’t blown away. Four women become best friends, until one is found murdered and they all are suspects. Someone is rehashing everything that happened years later online, bringing the truth to light.
I listened to “A Peculiar Combination” and thought it was pretty good. Set during WW2, the McDonald’s are in the family business of earning a living by breaking into homes and stealing from safes. They are caught one night literally with their hands in the cookie jar, and then Ellie is coerced to help the Military with spy efforts or be turned into the police. Ellie joins forces, helping them solve murders and uncover a double agent.
P.S. – I never stay up quite that late reading. 😉 I love Snoopy though, so couldn’t resist.
That’s August! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my book reviews! If you’d like to see previous months from this year, check out the links below! I have more reviews from the last almost ten years under my Books tab! Follow me on Goodreads here!
What I’m Reading – January 2025