A Rom Com set in Belize, The Layover was a perfect summer “beach read.” The banter between Jack and Ava was top notch. This was a fun, light read, and I loved every second of it.
4/5 Stars
A You’ve Got Mail type book, To Sir, With Love was another fun rom com I read in August. This time set in New York in a champagne store. This one was fun, but the romance was way too slow of a burn. I wish they had gotten together quicker.
4/5 Stars
There are no words I can use to describe how much I loved Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. This is a book that will stay with me for years. A story about coming of age and coming out, the book read like prose. Narrated by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the book was perfect. He made Aristotle come to life. He made me fall in love with Dante.
Saenz wrote a book about teenage boys who had a beautiful relationship with each other and with their parents. Everything about this book made me so happy.
5/5 Stars
My book club’s pick for August, Transcendent Kingdom is a wonderful look into the life of a woman struggling with her brother’s death, her mother’s depression and father’s abandonment. This is a story of strength and faith in tragedy. I’m not usually fan of lit fic, but I really enjoyed reading this book.
4/5 Stars
The Personal Librarian tells the story of JP Morgan’s personal librarian, a Black woman, Belle de Costa Greene, who passes as white. The book does an amazing job at bringing you into Gilded Age New York City. The fact that I needed to keep Googling key players really slowed down this read, but I really liked it, and it made me wish they deviated a bit from the history just slightly. If you read it, you’ll know what I mean.
4/5 Stars
It’s always sad when a series comes to a close, and it’s even sadder when it feels like the series really could continue after the end of the final book. Any Way the Wind Blows ends Rainbow Rowell’s Simon Snow series, something that started off as a parody Harry Potter story that someone was writing fanfiction about in Fangirl.
I will say, if we have to say goodbye to Simon, Baz, Penny and Agatha, this was the way to do it. If you’re like me and have been waiting TWO BOOKS for just nothing but Simon and Baz being in love, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! The book ended with everything being wrapped up nicely, but not too nicely there couldn’t be possible continuations, and I for one am hoping Rowell chooses to write something more with my favorite boys.
5/5 Stars
I love alternate history books, and I love mysteries, and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union combined both of those things. My favorite things about this book were the fact that I honestly had no idea who committed the crime until it was revealed, and the fact that Michael Chabon just sprinkled in the alternate history and didn’t just bombard you with it. This book was a really good read.
4/5 Stars
What a disappointing read The Plot ended up being. I had been looking forward to reading this book ever since NPR did a piece about it at the beginning of the summer, and then Jimmy Fallon picked it for his summer read. Once I finally got my hands on it, I was looking forward to this thriller. However, the book turned out to be very slow, very predictable, and I really didn’t like the ending.
3/5 Stars
Everyone should take some time and read The Reading List. A beautiful book which reflected my love of both reading and libraries, it was at once both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Aleisha and Mukesh were amazingly written characters whose growth you rooted for throughout the book. Even as tragedy struck about three fourths of the way through the book, you couldn’t help but root for them to succeed. Plus, this book caused my TBR to grow just a little.
5/5 Stars
A sweet love story set in a small village in England, you can’t help but fall in love with Roane right along side Evie. Not only do you root for the main couple throughout the book, you fall in love with the village and all of it’s inhabitants. A wonderful feel good read.
5/5 Stars
Stephanie Caffrey, Author 