I've been trying really hard to read more over the last 6 months. While I'm still not reading as much as I used to pre-baby I'm getting at least a book a month which is good with me. For the second half of the year I'm trying it read 2-3 books per month, even though I know this might be impossible come November I hope to keep up the goal.
I am headed to the beach this weekend and looking for some new books so I would love for you to throw your suggestions my way!
Here is what I've read lately:
Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand
Synopsis from Goodreads: The Carmichaels and
Grahams have gathered on Nantucket for a wedding. Plans are being made
according to the wishes of the bride's late mother, who left behind The
Notebook: specific instructions for every detail of her youngest
daughter's future nuptials. Everything should be falling into place for
the beautiful event--but in reality, things are far from perfect.
While
the couple-to-be are quite happy, their loved ones find their own lives
crumbling. In the days leading up to the wedding, love will be
questioned, scandals will arise, and hearts will be broken and healed.
Elin Hilderbrand takes readers on a touching journey in BEAUTIFUL
DAY--into the heart of marriage, what it means to be faithful, and how
we choose to honor our commitments.
I think this has to be my least favorite Elin Hilderbrand book. I usually love her stuff and love that they all take place on Nantucket but I just couldn't really get into this one. I can't pinpoint exactly what I didn't like but I didn't find many of the characters likeable which may have been the problem. The story line also dragged most of the time.
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Synopsis from Goodreads: The faction-based society
that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and
power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a
chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready.
Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life
together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful
memories. But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the
one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless.
Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once
again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human
nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage,
allegiance, sacrifice, and love
This was the final book in the Divergent series and I loved this series more than I did Hunger Games. The book was fine, I would say it was better than Mocking Jay but still wasn't as good as I hoped. I think the double POV of Tris and Four is what complicated it. I will say though that I was fine with the ending and not outraged by it. Is is the one I would have chosen? Probably not but I can see why the author did it. If you're looking for a teen dystopian novel I would still suggest this series.
Synopsis from Goodreads: Henry Lee comes upon a
crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's
Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has
made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left
when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War
II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol. This
simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the
war, when young Henry's world is a jumble of confusion and excitement,
and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having
Henry grow up American. While "scholarshipping" at the exclusive Rainier
Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a
young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews,
and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship - and innocent
love - that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World
ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the
evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with
the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other
will be kept.
Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the
parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel's dark dusty basement he begins
looking for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost
object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is
still trying to find his voice - words that might explain the actions of
his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him
and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront
the choices he made many years ago
My mom lent me this book years ago and I just keep overlooking it. I finally picked it up this spring it up this spring and decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did! It took me a little while to get into it but once I got into it I was hooked. I loved the history in the book and there is so much I learned about Japanese internment camps during WWII and what life was like for a lot of Asians at this time. The book is really well written and the story unfolds so well.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Synopsis from Goodreads: Bernadette Fox is
notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated
partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace;
to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old
Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom. Then Bernadette
disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her
promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's
intensifying allergy to Seattle—and people in general—has made her so
agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic
errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.
To find
her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret
correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about
misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world
This was a great read! I thought it was very well written and I think I got through it in 2 or 3 days. I was intrigued by the story of Bernadette and all her little quirks. Highly suggest this one for a good summer read.
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Synopsis from Goodreads: Imagine that your
husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too,
that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the
potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives
of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter
while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia
Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful
businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and
mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter
is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess
barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the
earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
Another great summer easy read! A few people suggested this to me and I'm so glad I picked it up. I really liked the writing and thought the story moved quickly and kept me intrigue the whole time. This was my first Liane Moriarty book and she's quickly becoming a new favorite.
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Synopsis from Goodreads: Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child.
So
imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a
gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she
discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she
has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct
the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to
reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her
sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those
super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must
discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s
possible to start over
I picked this up from the library right after I read The Husband's Secret. I really liked this one too and it's another easy summer read. It was fun to try to piece together Alice's "missing life" from the different storylines through out the book and try to figure out how everything was going to work out.
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Synopsis from Goodreads: Lou Clark knows lots of
things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and
home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she
knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.
Will
Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He
knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows
exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't
know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour.
And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time
Love, love, loved this book. I recommend everyone read this. I didn't know much about it before I got it from the library except that I had seen a few people recommend it and I'm so glad I didn't. I thought it was a little slow at first but quickly got sucked into the story and could not put it down. I was up one night reading it until 2am! I don't want to say too much to give the story away just know it was a good one.
So what's on your bookshelf? Read any good books lately?