Books I Read in June

 I read so many great books this month and lots of them gave me great "summer" vibes!  I think a few of these might even make it onto my top picks of the year. 

1.  If For Any Reason by Courtney Walsh-- This was a great start to my reading this month!  In this book Emily is headed back to Nantucket after failing spectacularly in her life.  Armed with a book of letters from her mother she's prepared to face the island once more in order to restore the old family home in hopes of selling it.  She doesn't want to face the memories of the night her mother died when Emily was just a child, or the fact that she's never even known her father, she doesn't even want to think about how she's let her grandparents down and she certainly never expected to find Hollis McGuire, the boy next door, back on the island and reminding Emily of all that is good about summers on Nantucket.  It was a really sweet story and it had lots of great (if predictable) twists and turns. 

2. See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon-- I read this adorable book in just under 24 hours.  When Barret Bloom starts college she's hopeful that everything will be different and so much better than high school ever was.  Then she finds herself stuck in a time loop much like the movie Groundhog Day and she's freaking out until she realizes that a guy in her science class is experiencing the same thing! The two reluctantly team up to try and figure out what is going on and how they can break the loop.  Ultimately spending so much time together leads them to developing feelings.  It was such a fun story to read.  

3. Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad-- Oh my goodness was this ever a heavy story.  When Suleika is diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia at just 22 she spends the next 4 years of her life battling this aggressive cancer.  Hearing all that this poor woman had to go through at such a young age just broke my heart.   Then when she's released and declared "cured" she finds that she's lost and unsure what to do.  She ends up taking off on a really long road trip, meeting up with many of the people she "met" through correspondence during her treatment.  It was very interesting and I enjoyed it a lot but it did get overwhelming at times. 

4. Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson-- This second book in the series was just as good as the first one! In this book, despite not wanting anything to do with investigating again, Pip ends up helping one of her friends look for his missing bother.  As the clock runs down the odds of finding Jamie alive diminish severely and Pip is not sure how many town secrets she really wants to dig into.  Pushed to the edge Pip will not give up.  It is definitely a darker book than the first but oh so enjoyable. 

5. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher-- A somewhat weird memoir by Carrie Fisher about her time spent filming Star Wars and how the roll of Princess Leia shaped her life. I listened to this book on CD narrated by Carrie Fisher 40 years after the fact. I would never have gotten through this story in book format as I felt it was kind of all over the place; luckily listening to Carrie she often used different voices and accents so I could follow along but it was like a weird stream of consciousness book with no real point to it.  If I had had any other books on CD in my car I would have added this to the DNF pile for sure. Thankfully it was only 4 disks long. 

6. Is It Any Wonder: A Nantucket Love Story by Courtney Walsh-- Not my favorite book of the month but not bad either.  I did find it was a pretty slow story and wished it had moved along a bit quicker at times.  Louisa is living in Nantucket and runs a concierge business and her whole world turns upside down the moment she discovers that Cody Boggs has moved back to the island.  These two were once young and in love until the drowning of Cody's father ripped their two families apart.  Torn between wanting to be together and discovering the secrets that are keeping their families apart this was a very slow burning love story.  

7. If you must know by Jamie Beck-- Sisters Amanda and Erin have rarely seen eye to eye; both content to live parallel lives in the same town only intersecting for family commitments.  Then one day Amanda's perfect little life begins to crumble and Erin faces some big changes of her own, added to that their mother's sudden forgetfulness and accidents and the two begin to see that they must pull together.  A wonderful story about family, forgiveness, and overcoming challenges. 

8. Summer Love by Nancy Thayer-- Four college kids meet and become friends on the island of Nantucket in the summer of 1995; now 26 later these 4 friends and their families are reunited.  The story was told in two parts-- that summer (1995) and this summer (2020).  That summer dealt with the summer the 4 college kid were working and what happened with them all to get them started on their various life paths.  This summer is the story of three of their offspring that meet at the reunion and hit it off; embarking on finding their own adventure on Nantucket for the summer.  I thought this was a really cute story with likable characters but at the same time I thought there would be a big secret reveal or some catalyst type moment but there wasn't really.  A pleasurable way to pass the time. 

9. Nightwork by Nora Roberts-- I was hooked from the very first page! Harry began stealing when he was just a boy; trying to support both him and his mom while she was fighting cancer.  As he grows and develops more skills the story takes on some pretty interesting dynamics.  I fell in love with this thief, with his morals, and was rooting for him.  When he falls in love with a girl he meets in college he's struggling with keeping his 2 lives separate then an old acquaintance shows up and threatens those he loves.  Harry flees and spends the next several years of his life trying to outrun the demons chasing him while still enjoying the occasional "nightwork."  A fun story with a satisfying ending and lots of little twists and turns and thoroughly enjoyable characters.  

10. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover-- Oh this book was frustrating (in the best way!) and heartbreaking to read... I just wanted these two main characters to find love and happiness. When the story opens Tate is moving into her brother's apartment while she finishes up a few last classes to get her next certification in her nursing career.  Miles is broken and hurting and running from something in his past but finds himself attracted to Tate; unable to resist each other they strike up a deal for a no- strings sex relationship that is just bound to end in pain.  Told in alternating storylines-- one in the present day and one starting 6 years ago explaining Miles' story it was a gripping novel that I just loved. It made me cry though so you might want to keep some tissues handy. 

11. The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand-- I was a bit trepidatious about starting this novel since I haven't been a big fan of Elin's latest books but this one reminded me a bit of her old writing style and the story pulled me.  The Hotel Nantucket has been recently purchased and remodeled and is looking to open for it's very first season... with rumors of an old ghost circulating about and staff secrets Lizbet has her work cut out for her to turn the hotel into a 5 key resort.  A really cute story that made me wishing I was spending MY summer on Nantucket! I could have done without the ghost in the story but I really liked all the other characters and storylines. 

DNF:
Full by Julia Spiro-- I was so glad this was a free Kindle book because I didn't even make it through the 2nd chapter.  I didn't realize this book was about bulimia and I have such a hard time reading anything having to do with eating disorders (having battled them myself). Nowhere in the short blurb about the book does it mention the content and I found it much too graphic. 

 
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