August was an incredible month for reading!
As we started school and found a rhythm and routine with that, I found myself with more time for reading, in both book and audio format.
Three of the twelve books I read in August were on audio, thanks to using the Libby app and regular walks!
Here are the books I read in August:
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Short Summary: Two friends — Sam Masur and Sadie Green, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster video game, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.
My Thoughts: This novel started out really great for me and I was hooked right away, but it was dragging a bit by the end. I lost touch with the characters and got a bit bogged down during the last third of the book. I was happy with the ending, though and felt complete after finishing it.
Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier
Short Summary: When Paris Peralta is arrested in her own bathroom—covered in blood, holding a straight razor, her celebrity husband dead in the bathtub behind her—she knows she’ll be charged with murder. But as bad as this looks, it’s not what worries her the most. With the unwanted media attention now surrounding her, it’s only a matter of time before someone from her long hidden past recognizes her and destroys the new life she’s worked so hard to build, along with any chance of a future.
My Thoughts: This was a compulsively readable book for me! It was different from any other thrillers I’ve read and I enjoyed the twists and turns as they came. I enjoyed it much more than I initially thought I would!
Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown
Short Summary: They look just like any other family. But they aren’t a family like any other – not quite. Instead, they are three sets of parents who adopted four biological siblings, committing to keeping the children connected after the death of their grandmother. But when the three women receive a surprising call from their children’s birth mother, announcing she is pregnant again and wants them to help her find an adoptive family for this child too, the delicate bonds they are still struggling to form threaten to collapse. As tensions rise, the women reckon with their own feelings about what it means to be a mother and what they owe each other as a family.
My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book and the way it took such a different view of family and what family is. It was very thought provoking and would make a great book for discussion. I appreciated how each of the three sets of families were valued for their differences and struggles. I also appreciated how supportive the husbands were to their wives.
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
Short Summary: Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map. When Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence… because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way. To answer the question of why, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps.
My Thoughts: I would probably have rated this book higher if I read it in paper rather than on audio. With that being said, I enjoyed this book about the world of maps and map-making much more than I thought I would. It took a topic that I had no previous knowledge of or interest in and made a very interesting story around it.
A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella
Short Summary: The lives of these three individuals intersect in unforeseen ways, as each character bravely presses onward, trying to recover something they have lost. Tender, emotionally powerful, and infused with hope, A Quiet Life explores how grief shapes our choices and shows that no matter how dark the most difficult moments in life can be, our humanity and capacity for forgiveness shine through.
My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this novel just as I loved Joelle’s previous book, A Little Hope. I love the way the lives of the three main characters intersected and connected. I was invested in each of their lives and struggles and was cheering them on towards resolution. I was deeply satisfied with the ending that felt complete and hopeful.
In The Wild Light by Jeff Zentner
Short Summary: Life in a small Appalachian town is not easy. Cash lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Dodging drug dealers and watching out for his best friend, Delaney, is second nature. But when Delaney manages to secure both of them full rides to an elite prep school in Connecticut, Cash will have to grapple with his need to protect and love Delaney, and his love for the grandparents who saved him and the town he would have to leave behind.
My Thoughts: I loved this book so much!! I immediately gave it to one of my daughters to read. I was immersed in Cash’s story. The characters in this were flawed, but relatable and real. They made me want to cheer for their success. I especially loved Cash and how he was just such a genuinely likeable person. I loved that I could see his growth throughout the novel.
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
Short Summary:
In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Murders: Two men, seemingly randomly, were murdered with the same gun, with strange notes left behind. Beth Greer was the perfect suspect–a rich, eccentric twenty-three-year-old woman, seen fleeing one of the crimes. But she was acquitted, and she retreated to the isolation of her mansion.
Oregon, 2017. Shea Collins is a receptionist, but by night, she runs a true crime website, the Book of Cold Cases–a passion fueled by the attempted abduction she escaped as a child. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To Shea’s surprise, Beth says yes.
They meet regularly at Beth’s mansion, though Shea is never comfortable there. Items move when she’s not looking, and she could swear she’s seen a girl outside the window. The allure of learning the truth about the case from the smart, charming Beth is too much to resist, but even as they grow closer, Shea senses something isn’t right.
My Thoughts: This was very much just an “okay” thriller/ghost story. There was a lot here that I just did not buy into and I really did not connect with the characters.
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
Short Summary:
Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen, determined to carve a better world for herself and the women around her.
But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak—and what legacy she intends to leave behind.
My Thoughts: I put off reading this book that I selected from Book of the Month months ago, but I ended up really loving it!! I think I was intimidated by the Indial mythology, but that did not stop me from enjoying this story of a strong woman really figuring out who she is and the power she has.
Matrix by Lauren Groff
Short Summary: Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn for marriage or courtly life, 17-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease. In this crucible, Marie steadily supplants her desire for family, for her homeland, for the passions of her youth with something new to her: devotion to her sisters, and a conviction in her own divine visions. Marie, born the last in a long line of women warriors and crusaders, is determined to chart a bold new course for the women she now leads and protects.
My Thoughts: I failed to connect with the main character, Marie, and thus never really connected with the story as a whole, either. I listened to this novel on audio and that may have hindered my enjoyment, but it felt disjointed and I was highly uninvested. With that said, I did recognize that it was well written and was a story of merit.
Meant to Be by Emily Giffin
Short Summary:
The Kingsley family is practically American royalty, beloved for their military heroics, political service, and unmatched elegance. When Joseph S. Kingsley III is born in 1960, he inherits the weight of that legacy. Growing up with all the Kingsley looks and charisma, Joe should have no problem taking up the mantle after his father’s untimely death. But he is also a little bit reckless, and can’t seem to figure out how to channel the expectations of an entire country.
No one ever expected anything of Cate, on the other hand. She, too, grew up in a single-parent household—just her and her mom scraping by in their small apartment. As a teenager, though, Cate is discovered for her looks. Modeling may be her only ticket out of the cycle of disappointment that her mother has always inhabited. Before too long, her face is everywhere, though she is always aware that she’d be a pariah in her social circles if anyone knew her true story.
When Joe and Cate’s paths cross, their connection is instant. What remains to be seen is whether their relationship will survive the glare of the spotlight that follows Joe everywhere.
My Thoughts: This was such a fun book!!! I listened to this on audio through the Libby app and I was completely invested in Joe and Cate finding lasting love together. I found myself looking for reasons to put my ear buds in so I could continue listening.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Short Summary: Clay Jannon tells how serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has sent him from Web Drone to night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. After just a few days on the job, Clay realizes just how curious this store is. He embarks on a complex analysis of the customers’ behavior and ropes in friends to help. Once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore. A quest to New York City dips in a world conspiracy for eternal life. The current of romance pulls Clay onward.
My Thoughts: I wasn’t sure that I would like this book at all and was hesitant to begin it. Despite how very different this was, I ended up really loving it! The characters were fun and quirky.
The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth
Short Summary:
The small suburb of Pleasant Court lives up to its name. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows their neighbours, and children play in the street.
Isabelle Heatherington doesn’t fit into this picture of family paradise. Husbandless and childless, she soon catches the attention of three Pleasant Court mothers.
But Ange, Fran and Essie have their own secrets to hide. Like the reason behind Ange’s compulsion to control every aspect of her life. Or why Fran won’t let her sweet, gentle husband near her new baby. Or why, three years ago, Essie took her daughter to the park – and returned home without her.
As their obsession with their new neighbour grows, the secrets of these three women begin to spread – and they’ll soon find out that when you look at something too closely, you see things you never wanted to see.
My Thoughts: I began reading this on my kindle between finishing one book and anticipating receiving new books for my birthday the next day. I was hooked as soon as I began reading!! I love Sally Hepworth’s writing and storytelling. I absolutely could not put this down to begin one of my new books, instead finishing this in less than 24 hours.
Shawnerly says
I just DNF’d Thing We Do In Te Dark????? Maybe I could give it another go? Good wrap up!
Monica Andrews says
Thank you! Thrillers were hit and miss for me and I haven’t quite decided what the exact factor is that makes one work over another. That would be a good topic to investigate.