Mayday, mayday, I haven’t updated my book reviews in a bit! Here’s what’s been on my Kindle/nightstand lately… I’ve been zipping through a lot of titles, so let’s get going!
–Marissa
When You Read This by Mary Adkins was a great, one-day read. This epistolary novel (told entirely in emails, texts, journal entries, etc.) chronicles what happens when PR assistant Iris passes away from cancer at 33, and leaves behind a blog journal she’d like published. Bittersweet, funny at times, this novel had a lot of heart.
The Better Sister by Alafair Burke was a solid, satisfying suspense novel that was perfect to take on vacation with me. This stand-alone is about two sisters who, years apart, married the same man and are raising a son. When he’s murdered, the past and the present collide as we try to figure out what exactly happened to the perfect man. I really enjoyed this one!
Cape May by Chip Cheek isn’t going to be for everyone, but I enjoyed the slow burn of this 1950s novel set in New Jersey. Honeymooners Henry and Effie are awkwardly finding their way into marriage when they get pulled into a dazzling group of people who are also vacationing on the coast – but with very different attitudes from prudish Henry and Effie. Sex, lies, and lots of gin burn through this novel…
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi – look, I’m just going to say it. I suffered through half of it, tried to hang in there, but absolutely HATED it. I don’t care if it’s being hailed as the next Great American Novel, it sucked.
My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing is a delicious and dark suspense novel! On the outside, Millicent and her husband are leading a picture-perfect life. But, you know, when the marriage gets a little stale, you have to spice it up – by conspiring together to murder people. But you know that’s not going to end well… when you don’t know if you can really trust who you’re married to. I loved this one!
The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves was just such a gentle, sweet (without being saccharine) romance novel that jumps back and forth in time between when Annika and Jonathan meet in college and fall for each other, and when they meet again ten years later, both dealing with their own idiosyncrasies and loss. I really loved this one…
Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf was an easy-to-get-into page turner suspense novel about what really happened the night three girls went to a deserted train depot… and one of them ended up in the hospital with stab wounds. I really love a novel that changes character POVs with each chapter, showing the motivation and mistakes of all those involved. Lots of red herrings… I didn’t predict the end of this one!
The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton is a perfect suspense-y novel for The Fatal Attraction set! Juliette loves Nate and goes to enormous lengths to make him happy and take care of him… except that he dumped her six months ago. This one is bananapants, and was totally satisfying. 🙂
The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth grabbed me right away, and I devoured this novel in a night! I can’t summarize it better than Amazon, so here you go: “A twisty, compelling new novel about one woman’s complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in death.” I absolutely LOVED this novel (changing character POVs, red herrings everywhere, easy writing) and totally recommend it!
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang was another charming romance novel from the author of The Kiss Quotient. Esme is brought to America from Vietnam as a potential match for Khai, who’s autism makes him process emotions and feelings differently. Will these two polar opposites make a perfect match? Sweet and charming…
I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella is another winning stand-alone from bestselling “chick lit” author Kinsella, about a favor between two strangers that blossoms into much, much more. Charming and sweet, this is light reading at it’s finest!
Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee was a great non-fiction book to dip in and out of, as Lee recounts ways in which we find joy in everyday life, and small changes we can make to our surroundings to make us more joyful. She travels around the world and recounts unique ways people are doing just that. I really enjoyed this happy non-fiction book!
I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott just… completely filled my bucket. This memoir is more a collection of essays about being in your 40s, having kids, being married, being a high achiever, anxiety and happiness, and just… it’s about everything, and it’s so charming and funny and SPOT ON that I didn’t want to finish it. Love, love, love!
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid lives up to the hype…. I finished it in less than a day! Told as an oral history of one of the biggest (fictional) rock groups in the 1970s, this perfectly captures the voices of those involved, the drugs and partying that being rock and roll meant, the VH1 “Behind the Music” vibe, everything. I loveloveloved this one, and you’ll burn through it just like I did!
Grace After Henry by Eithne Shortall is a lovely not-quite-romance novel about Grace moving on after her boyfriend Henry is tragically killed on his way to meet her, and those who surround her, confuse her, and support her during the year following. Gentle and warm, I really liked this one.
The Sun is a Compass by Caroline Van Hemert sounded SO compelling – a non-fiction account of her and her husband’s plan to travel 4,000 miles (under their own power) through Alaska to the Arctic Circle, chronicling what they see. I loved the premise, but found it a bit… repetitive after a while. Admirable, though!
Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward has gotten lots of hype, much of it deserved, as this isn’t a typical whodunit mystery novel, though you know from the start that *someone* is dead. Ward mixes up the setting and timeline (the Balkans, Kansas, NYC) and keeps the story fresh and interesting, even as there is a sense of menace throughout. I dug it!
I also read Blood Lure and Hunting Season by Nevada Barr (always good to spend time with old friends…), Life Admin by Elizabeth Emens (such a great premise that totally didn’t deliver what I wanted)… Bare by Susan Hyatt (a local author)… Your Dad Stole My Rake by Tom Papa (funny, funny essays about life!), Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson (eh, not his favorite of mine), and Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin (a slim self-help book from one of my fave podcasters).
stubbornsunshine.com 