Happy Labor Day!
I cannot believe it has been three months, an entire season, since my last update. It wasn’t my intention not to update for as long as I did, but summer’s are terrible for routine. I was lucky if I remembered the day of the week.
Now that it is now fall and the start of the school year is upon us, I feel far more confident in making sure I am able to get back into a decent schedule. But for now I will do a brief round-up on my favorite reads of the last few months.
June
Stats:
13 books read
9 fiction
4 non fiction
Rating:
5 stars: 0
4 stars: 8
3 stars: 5
2 stars: 0
1 stars: 0
Top three books:
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery-This is the true story of Emma Gatewood, the first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail solo at 67 years old. After she completed the hike, she went on to hike the same trail two more times as well as hiking the Oregon Trail.
All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby-Former FBI agent Titus Crown has returned to his hometown to serve as the town’s first Black sheriff. Although Charon County seems to be a safe, quiet Southern community, Titus can see the cracks underneath the veneer. However, even the seasoned Titus is shocked by the violent murder of a beloved teacher and even more shocked by the secrets the teacher and his murderer held.
Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley-Everyday Iona Iverson commutes to her decreasingly glamorous magazine job by train. Everyday Iona sees the same fellow commuters but keeping to the unwritten rules of commuting she has not talked to any of them. However, after one of the commuters has a near death experience, Iona breaks the tradition of keeping to herself.
July
Stats:
8 books read
6 fiction
2 non-fiction
Rating:
5 stars: 0
4 stars: 4
3 stars: 4
2 stars: 0
1 stars: 0
Top three books:
Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn: Georgie is used to putting herself last. She has made a career out of it by being a personal assistant to the stars in Hollywood but when she is laid off, very suddenly, she finds herself returning home. She quickly realizes that if she is going to survive being back in her hometown (where most see her as the ultimate under-achiever), she decides to brush off her old high school bucket-list and try to rectify some of those old disappointments from back then.
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler: This novel follows Willa Drake some of the most pivotal points in her life. We first see her as a child when, after an argument, her mother leaves. We meet her as a college student bringing her boyfriend home to meet her family. Then when she becomes a young widow. And finally we meet Willa on what seems like an ordinary evening when she receives a phone call from a stranger requesting her help in Baltimore. Her son’s ex-girlfriend has been injured and can she come to take care of the ex-girlfriend’s daughter. Willa has never met the ex-girlfriend, let alone the daughter, but Willa feels compelled to help.
Beach Read by Emily Henry: When January Andrews arrives at the beach house she is reeling from the sudden death of her father and the overwhelming dread of a writing deadline looming and no ideas. January is sure that her life could not get worse…and then she discovers that her new neighbor is her college rival, Augustus Everet. When January discovers that Augustus is also in a writing rut she suggests that they team up to overcome their blocks.
August
Stats:
12 books read
8 fiction
4 non-fiction
Rating:
5 stars: 1
4 stars: 5
3 stars: 6
2 stars: 0
1 stars: 0
Top three books:
The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell: When a young mother and her boyfriend go missing after a night out, her mother fears the worst. The pair were last seen at a party at a local estate and by all accounts, they left the party in a taxi in the early hours. But no one actually saw the taxi. There were no calls for a taxi pick up at the estate and now the family that lived at the estate has also disappeared.
A year after the disappearance, a mystery writer takes up residence in town. Once she catches wind of the disappearance she finds herself literally digging up clues at her new home.
There’s No Coming Back From This by Ann Garvin: Poppy Lively is having a bad year. The business she took over from her dad is quickly becoming obsolete. She is being investigated by the IRS as her accountant turned out to be fraud and her daughter is set on attending nursing school. Then Poppy runs into her old fling, a fling who is now a big shot producer in Hollywood who offers her a job in the wardrobe dept on his latest movie project.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune: Wallace is dead. After being whisked away from his funeral by Mei, a reaper, Wallace finds himself in the way-place between life and death…which just happens to be a tea shop called Charon’s Crossing.
Wallace is not ready to pass on to the next life, and frankly, finds himself appalled by his behavior when he was alive. With the support of Mei, the Reaper; Hugo, the ferryman and a host of others, both living and dead, Wallace learns to accept himself and his fate.
This was the only five star read I had all summer and may just end up as my top read of the year.