August was a great reading month for me – I completed thirteen books and can say I really enjoyed at least seven of them. And even the others were pretty good as well. I also am back in full force with audio books as I worked on several projects through the house and did a good amount of driving that I could listen at the same time. Sometimes an audio book is not quite the right fit for me for a particular story. In that case I may put it down and try to pick up the book version later. I do mention in the summaries if I listened instead of read.
Here are the books I read and completed in August.
Fight Like A Mother – Shannon Watts
I, like many, have felt helpless and paralyzed watching one tragic, terrorizing episode of gun violence after another. Following Shannon Watts on line and reading her book has helped me find hope and see some small steps of progress and guide me to how I can do even little things to help as well. I read this book in small bites over a two and a half month period to really absorb it.
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Big Lies in a Small Town – Diane Chamberlain
A double timeline story set in a small town in North Carolina. Morgan’s life has been derailed, taking the fall for a crime she has not committed. She is sought out and made an offer she can not refuse. Anna Dale is a young artist from New Jersey that wins a n art contest to paint a mural in a post office in North Carolina in 1940. Their stories were intriguing, hopeful and heart breaking. I loved the art element as well. This was by first book read by Chamberlain and won’t be my last. I enjoyed the audio version of this book.
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Carrie Soto is Back – Taylor Jenkins Reid
I have made no secret that I love reading TJR books. I think she is a very gifted writer and she expertly crafts us a story. We read about her characters, but they live, eat and breathe within those pages and become part of our circle for the time that we are with them. Sometimes the TJR effect will last even longer and they linger on your mind.
This was all true for Carrie Soto for me. While she is portrayed as a very unlikeable woman, I didn’t necessarily dislike her. And even if I did dislike her just a little, I loved her story. The only thing I didn’t love about this book was the occasional dialogue in Spanish. I didn’t even try to guess what it was saying and found it distracting.
I also hear chatter about too much tennis – well, it is a book about a tennis player that was a champion and she is orchestrating her comeback. So yes, there is a lot of tennis. But I do think that this aspect is done so well that even someone that knows absolutely nothing about tennis will enjoy Carrie’s story. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for an early release copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Carrie Soto is Back is now available.
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Hidden Pictures – Jason Rekaluk
Super creative, I loved the pictures being part of the story. The ending sort of went haywire for me but otherwise, great. I haven’t looked into how the pictures are handled in ebook or audio format, but I would think a traditional book is the best option for this one.
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I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy
I saw this popping up for a month or so with my fellow bookie people online and I just couldn’t do it due to the title. And then I suddenly caved and downloaded the audio version. It is read by the author, Jennette Mccurdy and it is hauntingly sad. Jennette was a child actress and later as a teen was a co-star on iCarly. I was familiar with the show as it often was on in my home with my kids watching. Without a doubt, it is one of the saddest memoirs I have ever read (listened to).
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Writers & Lovers – Lilly King
I listened to the audio version of Writers & Lovers and it was lovely. Casey is a young writer who can’t seem to get her life going in an upward trajectory. Now at 31, she was a childhood golf star that hates the game and works as a waitress at night in Harvard Square to make ends meet while writing during the day. She is living in a small pit of an apartment that sounds horrible. Her mom has recently died and she has just been devastated after a relationship ended. Yet, she is determined to live a creative life and is constantly trying to balance working her writing into her life. I was rooting for Casey 100%.
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The Last House on the Street – Diane Chamberlain
Another dual timeline tale, we have Karla, a recently widowed and now single mom who is moving into the dream house she built with her deceased husband. In the past, we meet Ellie, a young civil rights activist working one summer in her North Carolina home county to help register black voters. We learn almost immediately that Karla and Ellie’s paths cross in the current time, but there are still many curve balls. This is a devastatingly tale of racism and prejudice and contains haunting scenes that I am still thinking about.
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Scandalized – Ivy Owens
Scandalized is a case 100% being influenced by book pals on Insta. Before Tuesday I had never heard of it, reserved it at the library that day and it was in my house by Thursday night. I blew through this one in under 24 hours.
First let me say, the book is steamy. Hot. Steamy hot. If you don’t want to read a book with a good amount of sex, don’t read it. But, besides that, it is a nice romance story of reacquainted childhood friends and celebrity love story with some substance in it. Gigi is an investigative reporter just getting going with her career – Alec is a BBC star that is the famous man of the moment it seems. It is much steamier than I generally gravitate to. Don’t let that cute little rom-com looking cover fool you.
There is a tiny bit of controversy – Ivy Owens is a pen name and this was marketed as her debut. Turns out, it is Lauren of Christina Lauren. I don’t really have a problem with that, there are many reasons why an author would choose a pen name. However, the authors that have recommended and promoted this book, including Christina Lauren, should not have made it sound like such an amazing writing debut. This is a seasoned, career writer. Additionally, Christina Lauren promoting this without disclosure seems shady. What should have been a great debut week for Ms Owens has been tainted. Sounds a bit like Gigi and Alec. Coincidence?
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The Measure – Nikki Erlick
Updated Thoughts & Rating:
My original review is still here below the *****
Here we are almost a week after I finished this book and I am still thinking about it a good amount. Additionally I have since participated in my 2 local bookclubs that picked it this month and watched an online chat with the author Nikki Erlick. Any book that can keep the story on my mind that long in a pretty constant stream of thought is A-ok in my world. Kudos to Erlick for that. Her book also provoked a deep discussion in both of my groups which is very appreciated. Her chat that I watched was eye opening and I really enjoyed hearing some of her thoughts about certain areas of the book as well as the conception of the idea.
While some of the book still ran thin for me – I am updating this from a 3 to a 4 due to the effect it had on me. You have to love that about a book!
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Sometimes I feel strange about not loving a book as much as others. But that is the case here. Ultimately the last 100 or 150 pages saved this one from being a total dud but overall I was bored and had to keep pushing forward. The idea was creative and I did think there were several lines and passages that were memorable or thought provoking, but overall the execution and writing style made it just ok for me.
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Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
This had a very slow start for me. I was even tempted to stop. But I pushed on due to so many telling me just how great it is. I turned the corner around page 75-80 and fell into a better place with the story. A story of many generations, two half sisters born in different villages live separate lives, Esi, as a prisoner in a castle later sold as a slave, the other, Effia, as a wife in the same castle. We follow Esi and her children in America and Effia’s family lines through the struggles of British colonization in Africa. Through many generations, we are all over the place – southern plantations, Alabama and even into Harlem – it covers a lot! This was the 2nd book that I read this month that spanned a great amount of time – hundreds of years, and it may. have been better if I had waited a bit to read this one after the other.
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The Many Daughters of Afong Moy – Jamie Ford
I am not even sure how to rate or review this one. Chances are high I will come back and edit this review in time – I need to stew with it more. This was not my first book by Ford, but very different (other than the historical nature) than the other I read – which I loved. I was very drawn in to The Many Daughters of Afong Moy and read the first 1/4 very quickly. It is the tale of many generations, spanning about 200 years, and the concept of generational trauma being passed in DNA. While well written, the concept of epigenetics was so foreign to me, at times I had a hard time truly understanding what I was even reading. It was a bit of work to keep the timelines and generations straight and thank goodness for that first page with the “Dramatis Personae” – my timeline cheat sheet. 🙂 I referred to it countless times.
We meet Afong Moy, a real historical person, believed to be the first Chinese woman to come to America. We then learn of her fictional generational daughters along the way – who all, like her, experience great pain and suffering, as well as a desire to find great love. As we jump through time, we meet Dorothy who struggles with her mental health and is determined to get better for the sake of her young daughter, Annabel. She seeks experimental treatment wanting to break the cycle.
I can’t really say more, you have to just dive in. I did enjoy the book and learned a lot and it has given me much to think about. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the early release copy in exchange for my honest review. The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is now available.
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Stay Awake – Megan Goldin
I was hooked very quickly with this one but once we had to keep starting over due to amnesia every time Liv falls asleep, I grew tired of it quickly. I thought that the detectives and the flashbacks would be enough to carry it along to keep it as a page turner, but overall it was just ok for me. If you enjoy “amnesia” storylines, coupled with a psychological thriller, you will likely enjoy it quite a bit. We start with Liv waking in the back of a taxi. When she gets to her destination, her apartment, she figures out she doesn’t live there any more. Her next wake up is in a park on a bench, to find she no longer can reach her friends, her boyfriend and her job is no longer hers. her body is marked with pen scribblings warning her to Stay Awake. Meanwhile, there’s been a murder….
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for my advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Stay Awake is now available.
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Please Join Us – Catherine McKenzie
I have to admit that when I requested this ARC, I did it more for the author than realizing the plot. Since receiving it, I have read a good number of recent releases involving cults and secret societies and overall that sub-genre is not working for me. If it really was about a networking group to take down the “good ol’ boys club”, I probably would have enjoyed it more – but the practices and lengths that Panthera goes to was unbelievable, uninteresting and confusing. Nicole, the main character, an attorney struggling in most aspects of her life, wasn’t particularly likable so that didn’t help either. With all that said, it was ok- it kept me turning the pages as I did want to see how it played out. If you like cult/secret society type mysteries, you will probably love it. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Please Join Us is now available.
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