Recent Reads July 2022
WOW. I have really slacked on sharing my recent reads! I thought I posted about June, but holy smokes did I get off track. I am going to share my thoughts on the books I read in July, and then list the books I read in June and May at the bottom of this post. I have been reading a LOT lately (I am 8 books ahead of schedule for my GoodReads 2022 Reading Challenge!), so buckle up, because there are a LOT of books to go through!
If I Disappear - Eliza Jane Brazier
I love me a good true crime podcast so I thought this book was going to be right up my alley, but it was kind of weird and hard to get through. I actually started this book at the beginning of May and it took me until the beginning of July to finish. Sera is a woman drifting through life, newly divorced, lost her job, and now her favorite podcast host has gone missing. She follows clues to Rachel’s home and winds up working on the ranch Rachel’s parents own while trying to figure out the mystery behind Rachel’s disappearance. I really loved the idea of this story, but the execution was just meh. I wouldn’t recommend this as one to read.
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
This was our book club pick for July and I absolutely LOVED this book! I was able to read it in two days because I just could not put it down. Elizabeth Zott is an extremely talented chemist and a beautiful woman, but she has one problem - she is trying to be a scientist in the 1960’s when women are expected to be in the kitchen and raise children. Through an unexpected series of events, Elizabeth becomes the host of a syndicated cooking show and becomes beloved by women across the country. Elizabeth is a no-nonsense, take-no-crap, intelligent, beautiful woman. You will fall in love with her and be so frustrated for her the entire time you are reading this story. I feel this is even more of a pertinent read with some of the political issues in the U.S. today.
The Widow’s House - Carol Goodman
This is another book that was a bit difficult for me to get through, and I listened to this one on audiobook which usually makes it easier for me to digest. Jess and Clare Martin are having troubles in their marriage, their careers, and their living arrangements. They wind up moving from their home in Brooklyn to become caretakers for their old college professor in the Hudson River Valley. Clare, who has a history of mental illness, begins seeing and hearing things throughout the estate, and as the story unfolds, she attempts to uncover the mystery behind these occurrences. The story got a bit boring and redundant at times, and I felt that it could have been much shorter.
The Summer Getaway - Susan Mallery
This is not the first book I’ve read by Susan Mallery, and I’ve got to say that her books are easy breezy reads that are predictable but feel-good. Divorced mom Robyn Caldwell needs a change in her life; her financial deal with her ex-husband is about to come to an end, and she doesn’t know how she will support herself going forward. On top of that, her daughter is a bridezilla, her son doesn’t want to go to college but doesn’t have a plan for his future, she’s not sure if she wants to continue her relationship with her boyfriend, and her ex has been secretly dating their daughter’s fiance’s twin sister. So Robyn decides to take a vacation across the country to visit her beloved aunt to get a fresh perspective. One by one, the people in her life follow her across the country and within Great Aunt Lillian’s mansion they all find the clarity they need.
The Woman in the Library - Sulari Gentill
This is a classic whodunit that is set in the reading room of the Boston Public Library. Four total strangers are sitting at a table minding their business when the scream of a woman causes everyone to be locked down in the library until security can make sure there is no threat. These four strangers wind up becoming friends, not knowing that one of them is a murderer. This book will keep you turning the pages as you try to figure out which character is the killer.
This is the first Colleen Hoover novel I’ve read (don’t worry, I’m asking myself how it’s possible, too) an it certainly won’t be my last! Neither Tate Collins nor Miles Archer believe they are ready for love, but there is an undeniable attraction between them, so that leaves one thing - sex. Miles gives Tate two rules, don’t ask about the past and don’t expect a future. Of course, the rules get broken as both Tate and Miles realize that what they have is so much more than just sex. This is an easy read with a story you won’t be able to stop reading, definitely worth picking up!
The Godmothers - Camilla Aubrey
This is a WWII historical fiction with a twist - it doesn’t actually take place where the action of the war is, but in Greenwich Village. Filomena, Amie, Lucy, and Petrina are tied together through family bonds and shared secrets. They protect each other and they protect their families while remaining wildly faithful to each other. This is a great story of family, friendship, and heartbreak. I definitely recommend this one.
The Light Always Breaks - Angela Jackson-Brown
Another historical fiction, this one set in 1947 Washington, D.C. Eva Cardon is the 24-year-old proprietor of D.C.’s most famous black-owned restaurant. Her life is thrown into a whirl when she meets Courtland Hardiman Kinsley IV, a white senator from Georgia. Courtland’s father wants to see him in the White House, while Courtland just wants to make a difference in people’s lives. Eva and Courtland are thrown together through their activism and the fallout thereafter, and their story is heartbreakingly beautiful as interracial relationships were not accepted in 1947. This is another book that I definitely recommend.
The Paper Palace - Miranda Cowley Heller
This was my book club holiday white elephant gift, I just hadn’t gotten around to reading it until now, and it was worth the wait! Elle has spent her life spending her summers in “The Paper Palace” - her family’s summer home in Cape Cod. This morning is different, because last night Elle slept with her life-long friend Jonas. The story jumps back and forth in time to reveal the events in Elle’s life that led her to this moment as she decides whether she wants to stay with her loving husband and children, or upheave her life to be with Jonas. This is another one that I definitely recommend picking up if you haven’t read it yet!
The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman
This was recommended to me in my library app, and I really enjoyed this story and world. Hidden between realities is The Library, a mysterious place that collects rare books from all the different realms. Irene is a librarian posted to an alternate London with her trainee, Kai. They are instructed to obtain a very dangerous book, however when they get to this alternate London, they discover it has already been stolen. Adding to the danger of this mission is the fact that this alternate is chaos-infected, meaning magic acts unpredictably. Together Irene and Kai have to navigate through this treacherous world to find this book while dealing with secret societies, chaos magic, and a secret Kai is hiding himself. The world-building is great in this book, and I was really excited to move onto the second after finishing this one!
The Masked City - Genevieve Cogman
Sadly, for me, the second book didn’t live up to the hype I built up from the first book. There was a particular antagonist in the first book that I was hoping would make an appearance in this book as I thought their storyline was wrapped up too quickly in the first book, however it just didn’t happen, and I honestly became bored with this book. Irene and Kai are officially stationed in the alternate London where the first book takes place when Kai is kidnapped by enemies of his family. These enemies are determined to start a war between the worlds, and it is up to Irene to save Kai, and worlds as a whole. While it was a good story, I was just hoping for some more continuation from the first book, and that’s not what I got. It wasn’t bad, and if you do read the first book and like it I’d recommend reading this book as well, I just lost interest because it wasn’t what I expected.
JUNE 2022
What Could Be Saved - Liese O’Halloran Schwarz
The Messy Lives of Book People - Phaedra Patrick
The Healer’s Secret - Helen Pryke
The Book Woman’s Daughter - Kim Michelle Richardson
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix
The Boardwalk Bookshop - Susan Mallery
MAY 2022
Bad Femenist - Roxanne Gay
The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
Whistling in the Dark - Lesley Kagen
Class Mom - Laurie Hibberd
Grace, Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy - Emily Ley
The Ghost Orchid - Carol Goodman
The Perfect Marriage - Jeneva Rose
Over twenty books in three months - I’m pretty impressed with myself!! I think I will definitely be hitting my goal of 75 books read this year. What have you read lately? What are you looking forward to reading? Please share in the comments below!
