This summer has been tragic for reading – it’s hot, I’m brain foggy, life get in the way, so I feel like I’ve read at a snail’s pace, or not at all! Nonetheless, here’s what I logged for July…
The Mash Up by Laura Marie Meyers is a romance novel that caught me on the hook – Ruby wakes up after her 35th birthday transported to the world of a MASH game she played in 7th grade. This was just a fun book combining magical realism, romance, and every girl’s dream to live in a mansion and run a roller rink. 😉This book suffered at my hands as I tried to read it whilst at a conference, but I’m sure if I’d had more time to just settle into it, it would have held together even better for me!
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama caught me, obviously, by the title. 😉 This is a series of interconnected stories where each person’s problems are solved by a book (or two) recommended by a librarian. This is simple, charming in its way, easy to read, a bit repetitive, but I HATED that the author had to describe the librarian in the most fatphobic, grotesque “ew, she’s HUGE AND PALE AND SCARY” language, which just made me cringe (justice for us fat, pale librarians!). Otherwise, it was sweet.
Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead crams a lot into the pages, let’s say that! We have a Hollywood setting, and we’re centered on Scout Sage, and up-and-coming singer who seems to be thought of as a vigilante to right the wrongs against women. Against that backdrop, we have lots of other POV chapters (her bestie, a detective, a model, a politician, etc.) and a lot of interconnected crime and misdemeanors, even a romance. This novel was… A LOT. Lots of characters, lots of murders, lots of unsolved questions, lots of time jumps, and a lot of ambition from Winstead to knit this together. I liked it, but I didn’t love it… just a little too try hard for me. 😕
More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen is what I think of as a “quiet novel” – a portrait of middle life with marriages, kids, book club besties, an ancestry DNA kit, and secrets and surprises, and even a loss. I listened to this on audiobook and found it just a soothing, warm, sad, funny novel to pass the hours.
The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff is a family drama that I listened to on audio (and features multiple narrators for the multiple POVs, which added to it!) about married couple, April and Leo and their two kids who have to move into April’s parents home after a house fire – oh, and are getting divorced. The parents, April and Leo, and even their siblings are all struggling with so many things, but this is written so tenderly and warmly and just lets you sink into their secrets and struggles. I really loved this one!
The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren was a wild premise… Dr. Emery Finch is a workaholic in a super secret medical lab, and is married to hunky Luca, but when Luca is killed in an accident, Emery… bring him back to life with her emerging technology. From there we have amnesia, sexy times, rebuilding a marriage, and of course, an shady reason for Luca’s death in the first place. I enjoyed this but admit I was super brain foggy whilst reading it, so not sure it’ll stick with me…
stubbornsunshine.com 