I had a fairly good reading month in August. I completed 8 books, and also had one DNF. One of my latest audible selections was incredibly long and I had been listening for quite some time but finally finished 11/22/63 in August. I was able to fit one more audible selection in after that as well.
I have wavered a bit from my 2021 reading goal list and did not make progress on it this month. I have slowed way down though on requesting ARCs and will be able to really focus on it in the months to come. I have ten more from my top 24 to read in 2021 and 15 from the hopeful list and wish to get ‘er done – at least the first 10.
Here are the books that I read in August:
11/22/63 – Stephen King
Jake Epping is a high school English teacher that learns his friend Al has a very special storeroom closet in his diner, it is a wormhole of time travel to 1958. Al confides in Jake of his mission to go back in time and prevent the assassination of JFK in 1963 and needs Jake to take over due to his failing health. So much happens between 1958 and 1963 that will make your heart pound and mind wander thinking about the what-if’s in life and the butterfly effect. I enjoyed this one on audible very much even though it took me quite a while to get through. Once I got to about half way I had a hard time stopping. A very enjoyable and thought provoking read.
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For Your Own Good – Samantha Downing
Dark & twisty. Clever & smart. For Your Own Good highlights Teddy Crutcher, an award winning teacher at an elite private school. He wants his students to excel and is determined to push them to their potential. He really just needs interfering parents and colleagues to get out of his way. A fun summer psychological thriller read with multiple POVs.
🍷🍷🍷🍷1/2
You Can Run – Karen Cleveland
You Can Run is a fast paced, action packed CIA thrill ride that you will likely tear through as fast as I did. CIA analyst Jill Bailey gets a call that her son has been kidnapped. She is faced with a decision – save her son or betray her country. The story takes off very quickly and Jill does whatever she must to protect her family. I found You Can Run very entertaining and it was the perfect book for me to read during my vacation. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing – Ballantine Books for the early release copy in exchange for my honest opinion. You Can Run is now available.
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Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner
I found this one to be a very hard book to rate/review. Crying in H Mart was deeply sad and at times emotionally exhausting. The grief and anguish were thick. I did listen to the audio version (read by the author) and I wonder if a book format would have been better for this one. Well written over all but such a sad story that I can’t say it was an enjoyable experience.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
The Perfect Family – Robyn Harding
The Adler’s are the perfect family. Except they aren’t. They are a hot mess. They all have their secrets and when someone starts targeting their home with escalating attacks no one knows why. I thought overall it was entertaining enough but I did find it a bit slow at times. I also didn’t particularly like any of the characters and really wanted to. It was hard to cheer for them to come out of it ok when I never got attached enough. Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. The Perfect Family is now available.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
The Husbands – Chandler Baker
This is another one that surprised me with its high reviews. Nora is a very busy mom & attorney, expecting her 2nd child. She is exhausted and spread thin. All she wants in life is for her husband to help out without her nagging him – to just know what he needs to do. They stumble into the lives of those of Dynasty Ranch when looking for a new home, and oh what a community it is. Think – Stepford Husbands…. I liked Nora’s dialogue about being a mom and her challenges of trying to balance it all – that rang true. The rest was just o.k. for me.
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Northern Spy – Flynn Berry
Quick read, slow story. Tessa is a producer at the Belfast bureau of the BBC. She spots her sister Marian in a video clip of IRA members at a gas station robbery and sees Marian pull on a mask to cover her face. Has Marian been kidnapped and being forced to participate or has she joined the IRA? The police believe the later but Tessa has a hard time coming to that conclusion. I was expecting an action packed thrill ride – and while there was some of that – I found Northern Spy to be more of a family drama. I didn’t love either sister but empathized with Tessa and the choices she had to make as a single mom.
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In My Dreams I Hold a Knife – Ashley Winstead
This is another hard one to rate & review. It has had very high ratings in its early days so I was very surprised that I didn’t love it. I was even tempted to DNF. I did finish it, but it was not easy. I wound up putting it down often and it took me a while to get through it. The timelines were all over the place and it was messy. The only character I liked was the one that was murdered. I had high hopes but in the end it just didn’t deliver for me.
🍷🍷1/2
DNF: The Paper Palace
Book Of the Month: Tie!! 11/22/63 and For Your Own Good
