I’m really excited to share my reads from last month! After a pretty “meh” month of reading in March (minus The Idea of You, of course) I enjoyed everything I read in April. All 4 books are perfect for right now — they will totally suck you in.
As always I’d love to hear from you: What books have you been reading lately? Are you finding a certain genre is holding your interest a bit more considering the current pandemic?
What I Read This Month:
Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand
Elin Hilderbrand is truly the queen of beach reads. I’ve read a few books by her and really love her ability to transport you elsewhere and weave together the stories of multiple characters.
It’s the Summer of ’69 and the Levin family is heading to their house on Nantucket, as they have every summer for decades. The oldest sister, Blair is pregnant and stuck in Boston. Middle sister Kirby is heading to Martha’s Vineyard to get away from her family after a challenging year at college. The only brother, Tiger, is in Vietnam. And youngest, thirteen-year-old Jessie, is less than thrilled to be on her own in Nantucket with her parents and crass grandmother. The book is jam packed with historical references to all the major events of that summer.
I read this book after The Idea of You totally destroyed me (in the best way.) I needed something totally different because honestly no other romance will compare. Summer of ’69 was the perfect change of pace from my normal rom-com reads.
It’s not my favorite thing I’ve ever read, and I find Elin Hilderbrand books can be a bit drawn out and drag in the middle, but all-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed.
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Conviction by Denise Mina
The Bar Method studio I teach at has been hosting a monthly book club during quarantine. Conviction was the first book club pick.
Anna McDonald is a true crimes podcast junkie. That is until she realizes she knows the victim of the latest series she’s been listening to. Her entire life implodes and her husband leaves her — for her best friend of all people! Anna becomes obsessed with solving the mystery of her friends disappearance on a yacht with his family and ends up teaming up with her now-ex best friends ex husband. The mystery takes them all over Europe as they do their best to uncover the real story behind the sinking of her friend’s yacht.
I don’t read a ton of thriller or suspense novels but the big reveal at the end fell kind of flat, compared to a book like Gone Girl. Even still, everyone in the book club said that they read this book super fast because it’s pretty addicting to find out what happens next. It also ended up being a great book to discuss — people had a lot of thoughts and opinions on what went down!
My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Beach Read by Emily Henry
I chose Beach Read as my Book of the Month pick for April. It ended up being the PERFECT book for quarantine. It’s light, got a cute romance that gave me the feels, and takes place in a lovely lake town.
Writer January moves into her dad’s beach house in Michigan after her life falls apart. Her and her long-term boyfriend broke up. Her dad passed away. She finds out at his funeral that he’s been having an affair for years. And she’s totally broke because she’s been struggling to write her next book. January escapes to her father’s beach house, where he used to take his mistress, because she can’t afford rent and is hoping the location sparks creativity for her new book. Her new next-door neighbor turns out to be her arch nemesis from college Gus, a fellow writer who’s novels have sold insanely well.
The enemies make a friendly bet. Gus will write a swoony rom-com, and January will write a bleak literary novel. First person to get a book deal wins the bet.
My favorite part of the book was how they characters discussed their writing process. I think chic-lit gets a lot of hate, I know sometimes I’m ashamed to admit that that’s mainly all I read, but January defends the genre quite nicely.
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
A friend of mine works at a publishing house. A few months ago she kindly sent me a huge package of books she’d think I’d like. Best package, ever.
I’ve slowly been working my way through the books and had been holding off on Mrs. Everything, even though she told me it was her favorite book she read in 2019. Truth is it’s a bit longer than what I usually read so I was worried it would slow down my goal of reading 52 books in 2020. Also it’s a bit different from my usual Christina Lauren cutesy rom-coms. I’m so glad I finally read it, though, because wow did I love it.
We meet sisters Bethie and Jo as young girls in the early 1950’s living in Detroit. The book follows the sisters from their childhood in the midwest to adulthood in the 2000’s and all the things that happen to them in-between. There is a lot of incredible commentary on what it means to be a woman at various stages of life, and during different generations.
Immediately after I finished the book I told my mom she NEEDS to read it. She was born a few years after the sisters, but I’m sure will relate to the story big time, as she had a similar upbringing in Flushing, Queens. Bethie and Jo are Jewish so I gotta admit I have a soft-spot for a Jewish coming of age story, but I think even if you’re not there’s a lot to unpack and think about after reading this book.
Trigger warning: There is a lot of discussion of sexual abuse in this book.
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
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