They say that the first step to getting over a problem is to admit you have one. So here goes: “Hi, my name is Heather and I buy too many books.” I bet a lot of you can relate to this problem, right? Well, I looked at the stack of books that I’ve purchased over the last few months and haven’t read yet, and decided that my books to read in August list could only include books from that pile.
Summer is a great time for reading for me as I had no trouble finishing my books to read in July list. I know that even if I don’t finish all the books in my pile by the end of the summer, if I make my books to read in August list from it, I’ll at least make a dent in it. So I can, you know, buy more books. Because I have made a pledge not to buy any more books until I complete my books to read in August list. Oh look! A bookstore!
Oh, and if you guys like to read outside in the summer like I do, but mosquitoes have you running for the hills, you need to try this new lantern I got. It’s a game changer! It definitely will make is easier to get through my books to read in August pile.
The People We Hate at the Wedding
by Grant Ginder
“The People We Hate at the Wedding” is the story of a less than perfect family getting together for the wedding of the eldest daughter. Donna, the clan’s mother, is now a widow living in the Chicago suburbs with a penchant for the occasional joint and more than one glass of wine with her best friend while watching House Hunters International.
Alice is in her thirties, single, smart, beautiful, stuck in a dead-end job where she is mired in a rather predictable, though enjoyable, affair with her married boss. Her brother Paul lives in Philadelphia with his older, handsomer, tenured track professor boyfriend who’s recently been saying things like “monogamy is an oppressive heteronormative construct”.
And then there’s Eloise, the bride. Perfect, gorgeous, cultured Eloise. The product of Donna’s first marriage to a dashing Frenchman, Eloise has spent her school years at the best private boarding schools, her winter holidays in St. John and a post-college life cushioned by a fat, endless trust fund. What will happen when they all gather together for the wedding? *
I saw this book on the discount rack at Barnes and Noble and was completely taken it with, simply because of the title and the cover.
I had never read anything by this author, (and sometimes I’m hesitant to read chick-lit written by a guy) but it sounded biting and witty and just plain fun. I’ve been looking for a lighthearted beach read after a couple of not-so-lighthearted reads over the past couple of weeks. Hopefully this one will fit the bill and amuse me.
Get a copy HERE.
The Breakdown
by B.A. Paris
Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside—the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.
But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.
The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.**
B.A. Paris is one talented writer. Her style reminds me a lot of Sophie Hannah, another excellent mystery/suspense writer. You always think you have her figured out and then…BAM! She changes the whole game.
So needless to say, I could hardly resist this book when I found it too, in the discount section of Barnes and Noble. (Are you beginning to see how my books to read in August pile has gotten so large yet????) I am hoping that this newest one does not disappoint.
Get a copy HERE.
Verity
by Colleen Hoover
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.
Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.***
Colleen Hoover is one of my favorite go-to authors, despite the fact that I am not a big romance reader. Her style of romance is so much more realistic than most of the romance out there that I forget that I’m actually reading romance.
BUT…this a departure from her usual. And I admit, based on the reviews, I’m a little frightened. I’ve heard it’s DARK. And while I’m not afraid of dark, I’m just not sure if I’m ready for Colleen Hoover to be dark. We shall see.
Get it HERE.
Today Will Be Different
by Maria Semple
Eleanor knows she’s a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. And she won’t swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action-life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother’s company. It’s also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office-but not Eleanor-that he’s on vacation. Just when it seems like things can’t go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family secret. ****
Where Did You Go, Bernadette, by Semple was a major bestseller that has recently been made into a movie. While I enjoyed the novel, it wasn’t my favorite. I can’t say anything about the movie, but I don’t think it’s come out yet.
Still, I saw this novel by the same author on the bookshelf of an Indie bookstore and I couldn’t resist the bright orange cover. Yeah, my reasoning for picking books isn’t too logical…I know. Even though the first novel didn’t live up to the hype for me, I am hoping that this one will be different. (See what I did there? I’m such a comedian.)
Get it HERE.
American Fire
by Monica Hesse
Shocked by a five-month arson spree that left rural Virginia reeling, Washington Post reporter Monica Hesse drove down to Accomack County to cover the trial of Charlie Smith, who pled guilty to sixty-seven counts of arson. But Charlie wasn’t lighting fires alone: he had an accomplice, his girlfriend Tonya Bundick.
Through her depiction of the dangerous shift that happened in their passionate relationship, Hesse brilliantly brings to life the once-thriving coastal community and its distressed inhabitants, who had already been decimated by a punishing economy before they were terrified by a string of fires they could not explain. Incorporating this drama into the long-overlooked history of arson in the United States, “American Fire” re-creates the anguished nights that this quiet county spent lit up in flames, mesmerizingly evoking a microcosm of rural America – a land half gutted before the fires even began.*****
I’m quite honestly not sure what led me to purchasing this book. The blurb, while nicely written, did not necessarily draw me in. Neither did the gorgeous cover. I think it was the bookstore owner, who talked this book up as soon as I picked it up. She really thought it was brilliant. so despite the fact that it’s not the type of book I usually read, I decided to give it a try.
(My daughter has a couple of Monica Hesse fiction novels, so if I like her style, I will check those out as well.)