What I Read in July & Share Your Shelf #4

 Marilyn, Jennifer, Tanya, and I decided to start a monthly link up that will go live on the first Thursday of every month and be dedicated solely to books and book reviews. I hope you'll join us.  

I managed to read/listen to 15 books this month and finish both my reading challenges for the year!  

1. The Summer We Started Over by Nancy Thayer-- Eddie is heading home to Nantucket for at least a month to help her sister Barrett open a new store and to help with their father. When Eddie has the idea to turn their old barn into a used bookstore to help cull through some of her father's hoarder worthy stack of books that brings her close together with her old boyfriend Jeff, a man Eddie has never really stopped loving. While this was a very slow paced story, I enjoyed it just the same. Each of the family members grows and joins together, especially when a blast from their past shows up needing help. 

2. The Letters We Keep by Nisha Sharma -- Jessie and Ravi both attend the same college but couldn't be more different. Jessie is a first year student on scholarship working hard to support herself so she doesn't have to ask her working class parents for anything while Ravi is finishing up his final year and figuring out to satisfy his billionaire parents even though he has zero desire to join his father's company. The two aren't exactly friends but decide to work together to solve a mystery and legendary story at the college. Fueled by a series of love letters, Jessie and Ravi look into the disappearance of two students on the night of the fated library fire. As they read about these two star crossed lovers, Jessie and Ravi find themselves drawn to each other more and more but are they any more likely to have a happy ending when they come from worlds so far apart?  I really enjoyed this cute love story and it was fun to read along and try to solve the mystery of the missing teens. 

3. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes-- I thought for sure I had read this book but turns out I hadn't so when I saw it was up for immediate download from my library's Libby account I started listening and found it fascinating (apparently I hadn't watched the movie either but I since have and liked that too!).  Lou Clark is looking for a new job when she's talked into taking a job as a care giver for a man who is now a quadriplegic. Will is surly and difficult and depressed after seeing his life change in an instant and having had everything taken away from him. The two clash; Lou nervous and afraid that she has no idea what she's doing and Will angry and in near constant pain. An unlikely friendship and feelings develop as both try to push each other outside their comfort zones. It was sweet and sad and I really enjoyed it. 

4. Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand-- This was a GREAT summer read! I loved reading about the familiar cast of characters (with a few new ones thrown in!). The chief of police is retiring and his daughter Kacy is home for the summer. On the ferry ride home Kacy met Coco and the two hit it off enough that Kacy offers to let Coco stay with them a few days while she waits to hear from her new employers the Richardsons about her job. The Richardsons are new to Nantucket and make a big splash trying to fit in with everyone and throwing their money around like it's water. But no one knows the real story of the Richardsons, who they are, where they come from, etc. It was a fun story with lots of little side stories, romance, intrigue, and rumors. In other words a classic old Elin novel. 

5. The Beach Trap by Ali Brady-- Kat and Blake met at camp as kids and became best friends for the summer... until Kat was being picked up to go home and the two girls realized that they share the same fathers. The two half sisters never spoke again until 15 years later when their father died and discover he left them a house. Blake wants to sell but Kat can't imagine parting with her grandparents beach house. They reluctantly team up to fix the house up over the summer with a plan for Kat to buy Blake out in the end. The two repeatedly clash but eventually warm up a bit to one another. There are sweet little romance stories for each of the sisters woven in and I don't think I'm ruining anything to say that the story ends happily. It was a perfect little beach read. 

6. Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes by Karin Slaughter-- a short story I listened to on Libby; it also served to fill in one more book for my color challenge at our local library. I'm not usually a short story fan but thought this one was pretty good (though like most short stories it left me wanting so much more!). Set in either the late '80's or early '90's, Julia is a college student that is frightened because girls are missing. Two have been taken right off the street and no one knows what has become of them. Determined to write a piece about it for her college paper and to not become one of the next victims, Julia often imagines what might have happened...  

7. The Beach House: Coming Home by Georgia Bockoven-- I didn't know until I had already started the book that this was the 4th book in a 4 book series. But it read just fine as a stand alone story and I really liked it. Melinda had to give up her daughter for adoption when she was young and has always missed her daughter. When she gets a call from Jeremy, the adoptive father, asking if Melinda would like to come meet up with Shiloh, the girl Melinda gave up he offers to let her stay at the beach house while Melinda and Shiloh reconnect. It was such a sweet story!

8. Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock by Sammy Hagar--  I'll be perfectly honest I only picked this book because it was a short-ish book on my Libby app (6- 7 hours of listening time) and it was yet another color book to get me that much closer to finishing my library's challenge. I only had a vague idea of who Sammy Hagar was before I started listening. I still found it rather entertaining though and am pretty impressed with how he has used his money he made while rocking/touring to build a real empire for himself. 

9. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green-- My final book for my library's color challenge. I had no idea what it was about when I first started listening.. and I'm really not sure how I feel about it now either. John Greene shares some snippets of his podcast and essays that depict various items and things in human life rating them on a 5-star review scale... things like scratch and sniff stickers, Canadian Geese, and sunsets just to name a few. I enjoyed it enough to keep on listening... It was interesting but I did think perhaps these thoughts work better as a podcast since at times I felt like the book was one long ramble. He also wrote this during the pandemic and his fear and thoughts of Covid are peppered heavily throughout. Overall not my favorite read but hey, I finished up my challenge and learned a little something new along the way. 

 

10. The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer-- My final book of the 52 book challenge! This was such a cute story! Now I typically only read winter books in winter but I really wanted to finish up my challenge and I really enjoyed this story. Rachel is a rabbi's daughter and while she abides by her faith for nearly everything, she has been harboring a secret for years-- Rachel LOVES Christmas and all things Christmas. In fact Rachel writes Christmas loves novels; a few that have been turned into movies and shows. But she's thrown when her editor wants her to write a Hannukah love story because to Rachel Hannukah is not magical like Christmas. Then she hears of the Matzah Ball that her old summer camp adversary is throwing and Rachel thinks if she can get Jacob to give her a ticket she might just find the inspiration she needs for her story. With all sorts of mishaps, misunderstandings, and a cute cast of characters this was a really fun read. 

11. The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella-- Sasha has what everyone describes as a little breakdown one day while at work and at the urging of her mother decides to seek refuge at the seaside; a place her family used to visit on every holiday before her father passed away. The hotel her mom books for her has seen better days but the staff is so sweet and Sasha decides to make the best of it. Finn is having problems of his own and while he seems quite surly and rude at first the two get thrown together by a message on the beach. This was such an adorable book! I just loved it. 

12. Mind Games by Nora Roberts-- It took me just a little while to get into this one but then I absolutely loved it and could not put it down. Thea and her brother Rem are visiting their grandmother on her farm in Kentucky when their parents are murdered. Thea has the ability to "see things" and is able to give a very accurate account of the murder and a description of the man who did it. The story then concentrates on her and her brother's new life with their grandmother but Thea discovers that the murderer has a similar ability to her and he vows to get back at her one day; often visiting her in her dreams. The story moves quickly, at times, through her school years, high school, college, etc. and ends when she's an adult. There is, of course, a fun little love interest, and lots of great side characters too. 

13. If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos-- Other than that he played Uncle Jessy on Full/Fuller House and played with the Beach Boys, I knew very little about John Stamos and his life so it was interesting to listen to this memoir of his life narrated by himself. 

14. Summer Reading by Hilma Wolitzer-- Apparently this is a much older story that was transferred to the Libby app since it would say "end disk 1", etc. even though there were no disks of course. It was an okay listen. The story is about a reading group in the Hamptons one summer-- and 3 women around that group. Lissy is a newly married wife struggling with her role as stepmother and trying to fit in well with her husband's world. Michelle, Lissy's snooping housekeeper, resents the wealth and privilege of the women women around her that hardly even seem to notice her. And Angela, the teacher that runs the Page Turner's group discussion, is struggling with the memory of her shameful affair.  

15. The Comeback Summer by Ali Brady--Another adorable story I devoured in 2 days. Sisters Hannah and Libby are struggling to hold onto their grandmother's business when a potentially huge client seems like their answer to their prayers. There is just one catch though; the sisters must participate in this client's 12 week challenge to break out of their comfort zones. Libby, who has always had issues with her body is tasked with gearing up for a mud run obstacle course challenge and Hannah, who is painfully shy gets tasked with going on 12 dates in 12 weeks with 12 different guys. The sisters decide to team up and try to help each other as much as they can but Hannah's old love returns and Libby accidentally starts to fall in love with one of the 12 dates she's trying to set up for Hannah. By summer's end the sisters lives are nothing like what they were when they first started out. 

I finished both my reading challenges for the year!

My library's reading challenge of 12 "colorful" books:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Linking up with: Thinking Out Loud, Spread the Kindness,