Books I’ve Read: July & August

July was a pretty good month for my reading challenge, but August was not as successful. I definitely struggled a bit to get through my books in August and it’s caused me to fall behind now in September. However, July was the month I read the most books compared to the other months this year. Here is the list of books I’ve read during the last two months and how I rated them:

1. Twenty Years Later
   • FIVE stars. Hands down a FANTASTIC thriller. I was absolutely shook at the direction the story took. It most definitely was not what I was expecting when I finished it, which was great. I like it when I have a preconceived notion of where the story is going to go only to be completely thrown off and the ending be something completely different. Highly recommend this book.
2. Same Time Next Summer
   • FOUR stars, I actually really enjoyed reading this book. Nora Goes Off Script was one of my all-time favorite books I’ve read, so I was very excited to read this one. My only complaint was with Jack. I freaking HATED that man which pissed me off the more I had to read about him, but overall, I really enjoyed the storyline and the other characters.
3. Meet Me At the Lake
   • FOUR stars. Another four-star read. I loved her other book, Every Summer After, so I was pleasantly entertained reading this book but it wasn’t the most amazing book I’ve read. I did enjoy it though.
4. Love & Other Words
   • FIVE stars. Hands down one of the best books I’ve read this year. I loved this story and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading it. I’m excited to read the other two books of Christina Lauren that are currently on my TBR list.
5. The Hotel Nantucket
   • FOUR stars. I enjoyed this read. It was the second book Elin Hilderbrand I’ve read, and I was entertained. I also think I liked the book because we’re getting to spooky season, and it matched the ghost story aspect. I have a few more Elin Hilderbrand books on my TBR list so let’s see if she’s really the queen of Summer Rom-Coms.
6. Romantic Comedy
   • FIVE stars. I know that a lot of people love this book and then there’s a whole lot of other people who hate this book. I’m on the love this book side. I think I liked it because I work in the production realm and could visually see the story unfold. I really enjoyed it and hope that if you read it, you do too.
7. The Five Star Weekend
   • THREE stars. This was a hard book for me to get through, but I’m glad I did. I liked the ending, but I did struggle a bit to get through the story and contemplated giving up several times. I know a lot of people who loved this story so don’t be discouraged because I didn’t love it. I’m still looking forward to reading the rest of the Elin Hilderbrand books I have.
8. The Summer I Turned Pretty, It’s Not Summer Without You, We’ll Always Have Summer
   • FIVE stars (all three). I obviously read this book because I wanted to know what the hype was. I read last year Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I Loved Before trilogy and loved it (as well as the Netflix adaptations). I have not watched the show yet, but I will. I’m definitely Team Belly. I know that can be controversial because of the show, but I could not pick between Conrad or Jeremiah. They both had their moments of triumphs and their moments of failure, even Belly did, but at the end of the story her heart prevailed.
9. Ice Breakers
   • FIVE stars. I loved this book and understood the hype. Not quite a hockey story, but not quite not one. I’m so looking forward to the next book in the series (which comes out in October). I loved Anastasia so much, hated Aaron, and rooted for Nathan throughout. I’m excited to read Russ’s story next.
10. Good Girl Complex
    • FOUR stars. I loved Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series, so I was excited to read the Avalon Bay series, and as much as I enjoyed it I did feel like there were moments that I had a hard time getting through the story. I didn’t give up, and for that I am grateful, and I will be reading the next book, but I wanted to give the disclaimer that it wasn’t as easy of a read as the Off-Campus books.
11. Bad Summer People
    • ONE star. I had a really hard time reading this book and eventually had to give up. IF you know me, you know I absolutely hate to give up on books so that was frustrating as hell. At the end of the day several of my book club people felt the same way so it alleviated the frustration a smidge. Some people did enjoy this book and I hope not to dissuade you, but this was a hard no for me.
12. Hello Dolly
    • FIVE stars. I did this as an audiobook so I could finish it quickly and while I worked. It was definitely the “catch up” book for my challenge sine I had fallen behind. Obviously, as I mentioned before, I had a bit of a slump in August keeping my reading mojo going. This was the redemption book for me, and I enjoyed it. I seem to relate a lot to several of the people who have written to Dolly, and I love the wisdom she shared back to them.
13. The Summer of Broken Rules
    • FIVE stars. This book was hands down one of the best books I’ve read this year. Looking back at this list, I’d say that I had a solid top five best read and this was one of them. I highly recommend reading this book. It’s an easy and light read, took me roughly six and a half hours to finish the entire thing. Loved it.
14. Big Summer
    • FIVE stars. This was the first Jennifer Weiner book I’ve read since I read Mrs. Everything a few years ago. I really enjoyed reading this book and it kind of reminded me of “One to Watch” by Kate Stayman-London. There is something about a storyline with a plus-sized influencer that I love. I remember texting my best friend, mid-reading, that I really felt connected with Daphne, and I appreciated how Jennifer told her story so effortlessly.