August 2026 Reads

Keeping this intro short, but August was a busy month. The highlight though was definitely my solo trip to Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor, ME! 

Highly recommend it if you’ve been wanting to go. See the photos below and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re starting to plan a trip there!

Featured: Ocean Path Trail, warm lobster roll, view from Bee Hive Trail, view from Jordan Pond Trail, boats in the harbor.

Now let’s get into everything I read in August!

*All summaries are taken or paraphrased from Goodreads

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: "I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers." January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb… As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

My Thoughts: Ugh I was absolutely heartbroken when my time on this island of charmingly misfit characters came to an end. 😭 This story is mainly conveyed through written correspondence between Juliet Ashton, a writer, and a group of delightfully eccentric people from the island of Guernsey who dodged being detained by the Nazis for gathering during the war by saying they were a book club. She recently discovered The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society when someone on the island found her name written in a book. As Juliet begins to learn more about the people in this makeshift book club and their neighbors on the island, it inspires her to write about them for her next project. The only thing she needs to do is go to the island herself. Listen, if you loved The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, you will absolutely adore this. Every character is so perfectly quirky and endearing, and it’s hard not to develop a soft spot for each one of them as Juliet starts falling more in love with this island community. The author even manages to incorporate an “off-the-page” character who becomes the heart of the story without even meeting her. The format is cleverly told between exchanged letters, various telegraphs, and more, and I definitely recommend giving it a read!

Missing Sam by Thrity Umrigar

MISSING SAM by Thrity Umrigar

Rating: 2.75/5 stars

Summary: When Aliya and Samantha have a fight one night, Samantha goes for a run early the next morning—and doesn’t come back. Aliya reports her wife Samantha as missing, but as a gay and Muslim daughter of immigrants, she’s immediately suspected by her neighbors in Samantha's disappearance. Scared and furious and feeling isolated as everyone around her doubts her innocence, Aliya makes one wrong choice after another. All the while, Samantha is being held captive, strategizing how to escape before things escalate even more. Meanwhile, Aliya must fight to prove her innocence in the public eye and save her wife. But is safety ever truly possible for these women even after Samantha is rescued?

My Thoughts: I read Thrity Umrigar’s Honor last year (review here) and was absolutely FLOORED by how beautiful and gripping the writing was. So, I was excited to hear she was publishing another novel soon because I loved the last book so much. Although this novel definitely has beautiful elements and her storytelling was still very powerful, I couldn’t help but feel a little disconnected from the story and a few of the characters. For one, it felt like the plot was trying to do too much, which made the experience feel extremely disjointed. A lot happens in this book as it follows married couple Sam and Ali, gay women who are both estranged from their families. After Sam is abducted while out on a run, Ali is shoved into the spotlight as the police try to figure out where Sam went and what might’ve happened to her. As a lesbian and daughter of Indian immigrants, Ali faces every type of intersectional bigotry imaginable while trying to keep her emotions together under intense public scrutiny. However, the abduction plotline mostly wraps up maybe halfway through the book and then it’s kind of like… okay, what now? The remainder of the book felt like a literary tour through every prejudice the LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities could possibly experience in the US, which I think is why things just started to feel a bit scattered. It just felt like I couldn’t cling to a clear message from the book because there were so many being thrown at me. Not to mention, Sam and Ali weren’t necessarily the most likable characters which made sticking with this story a little tough. Overall, although I think what the author was trying to do here is honorable, I don’t think I’d recommend this book. 

Legend by Marie Lu

LEGEND by Marie Lu (Legend #1)

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

My Thoughts: Y’all know I’ve been on a dystopian kick this year, and this book was the perfect scratch to that itch. June has lived a pretty cushy life as the daughter of an elite family in the Republic and has created quite a reputation as a child prodigy after excelling her way through the Republic’s top military school at just the age of 15. Day comes from the slums and is also extremely well-known but not for his academic accolades. After years of anti-government offenses, he has become one of the Republic’s most-wanted criminals. When June’s brother Metias is found murdered in the streets, Day’s name is floated as the most likely culprit. A grieving June decides to go under cover to discover just who this nefarious enigma is. However, neither of them expect the intense connection they feel once they finally cross paths. Listen, did I fully buy into the instant attraction between June and Day? No lol. It was definitely the complicated dynamics between them, in addition to the corrupt politics of the Republic, and the mystery of who really murdered Metias and why, that kept me so engaged. That said, I also appreciated that the author kept those elements of the story prominent and didn’t just turn the whole experience into a YA romance. This book ends on a cliffhanger that had me immediately jumping into the next book. So needless to say, this was a yes for me lol. 

And Now, Back To You by B.K. Borison

AND NOW, BACK TO YOU by B.K. Borison (Heartstrings #2)

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary: Jackson Clark and Delilah Stewart have had their fair share of run-ins over the years, often ending in disaster. While Jackson thrives on routine and organization from the comfort of his radio booth, Delilah loves the spontaneity and adventure out in the field. When they’re partnered against their will to cover the snowstorm of the century, they find themselves scrambling to figure out how to work together. Eager to be taken seriously as a journalist, Delilah offers Jackson a deal. If he can help her ace this assignment, she’ll help him rediscover his long-lost fun side. With an undiscovered chemistry burning beneath their clashes, the unlikely partnership quickly tumbles into an easy and surprising friendship. But when other feelings start to enter the equation, can Jackson and Delilah withstand the storm? Or does what happens in the mountains, stay in the mountains?

My Thoughts: I read the first book in this series, First-Time Caller, last year (review here) and absolutely LOVED it. So when I heard she was coming out with another installment in this same world of characters, I could not wait to get my hands on it. This book was super duper cute. It was pretty predictable, which is kind of ironic because Jackson and Delilah are both meteorologists lol, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. A huge winter storm of epic proportions is headed towards Baltimore, and as the local TV and radio station’s weather people, Jackson and Delilah are forced to do a collaborative broadcast covering the blizzard. Cue all the greatest tropes: grumpy-sunshine, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, one-bed, and more. Listen, I loved the back stories to both of these characters, which added just enough complexity to the story without pushing them into a third-act break-up. They had cute banter, quirky yet endearing interactions, and plenty of spicy moments to keep ya warm through the blizzard lol. Was it a groundbreaking romance? No. Would it be more fun to read during the winter? Probably. Would I still recommend it anyway? Sure! 

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

EVERY SUMMER AFTER by Carley Fortune (REREAD)

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart. Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without. For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart. When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

My Thoughts: I honestly reread this book because I didn’t realize a TV series adaptation had come out for it and it had been a few years since I finished this book (OG review here). So I wanted to get a quick refresher before diving into the show lol. Per my first review, this truly is the perfect beach read. Told in dual timelines, Percy and Sam grow from friends who lived next door to each other every summer to something a little bit more by the time they leave for college. What we don’t know in the present, as Percy returns to town for Sam’s mom’s funeral, is what happened between them over a decade ago that ended such an undeniable love story. The author does a fantastic job of giving you “throat-throbbing” moments as Percy and Sam navigate falling in love with each other as teens and finding each other again as adults. The one thing that holds true from my first experience with this book is that I wish it was dual POV. Everything is told from Percy’s perspective, and I wish we would’ve gotten some inner dialogue from Sam, specifically in the past, as well. I still think he’s such a unique character for a male protagonist in a romance novel because he’s incredibly sweet and understated. There’s just something really endearing about him that I love. Now, does the show compare? I will say, although the show DOES follow the book pretty closely, it definitely diverges from the book’s storyline in some ways. I think part of that is to set up the show for the next season, while also giving us more of a visual explanation of what’s happening that we only got via Percy’s internal dialogue in the book. I definitely think it’s worth watching if you liked the book and/or liked other recent show adaptations like The Summer I Turned Pretty (it’s wayyyyyyy less cringey than that though lol) or Off Campus (just not as spicy as that show).

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 2 by Beth Brower

THE UNSELECTED JOURNALS OF EMMA M. LION: Vol 2 by Beth Brower

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

My Thoughts: Yet again I am thoroughly entertained by this series! This book was filled with shenanigans involving a variety of the eclectic characters in Emma’s life. She herself is so lovable and witty, yet still has plenty of depth. I’m very much enjoying getting to know The Tenant and cannot wait to see how their dynamics continue to unfold. I was lowkey obsessed with the group of alumnae from the Preparatory School for Girls, a.k.a the Jane Eyres, who reunited once again to scheme how to get the copies of their beloved book back from the grouchy head mistress. 😂 These books are such low-stakes chaos and I’m loving every moment of them!

Prodigy by Marie Lu

PRODIGY by Marie Lu (Legend #2)

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: It has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Believed dead‚ Day lost his brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic’s most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots — a vigilante rebel group. But can they trust them? Or have they unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?

My Thoughts: I dove head first into this book on my flight to Maine, and though I wasn’t sure where the author was going to go with it based on the ending of Legend, I was delightfully surprised. Now that June and Day are on the run, they’re turning to the biggest anti-Republic group they know: The Patriots. Little do they know that making a deal with the current leader of The Patriots would mean entering an assassination plan targeting the Republic’s new Elector Primo, Anden Stavropoulos. I appreciated that the author basically had June and Day pursuing their own quests in this one instead of keeping them together the whole time. June is still coming to terms with the fact that the government she grew up believing and following, the Republic, is extremely corrupt and cannot be trusted. Yet as she gets closer to Anden, she can’t help but see the good in him and the change he wants to make within this tainted country. Day is still getting used to working WITH other people after years of being on his own. His own doubts and distrust of the Republic make him question whether he can truly trust June or if she’s still loyal to her old life. The book is full of action-packed scenes, dynamic characters, and plot twists I did not see coming. Needless to say, I’m loving this series so far and can’t wait to get into the next book. Which I might listen to instead of reading on my Kindle, but I’ll report back. 

The Housewife by Natalie Barelli

THE HOUSEWIFE by Natalie Barelli

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary: Jodie always dreamed of being a housewife. And after a whirlwind romance, she marries renowned psychologist Dr. Roy Davies and moves into his perfect Beverly Hills home. But the fairy tale fades fast. Roy is distant, his friends view her as a gold-digger, and the house still reveres his late wife, Deborah, whose presence still looms over everyone and everything. When Jodie learns Deborah became a recluse before death, she begins to suspect Roy was behind it. And the deeper she digs, the darker Roy's past appears―obsessive, controlling, unfaithful. Increasingly convinced he had something to do with Deborah's death, Jodie knows she should go to the police, but that would require revealing her own secret. A secret that could destroy her. But Jodie won't be silenced. Because the truth about Roy is worse than she imagined―and now, trapped in a house built on lies, she must find a way out before she becomes the next perfect wife to vanish.

My Thoughts: Okieee we love an unhinged girly who marries her dead sister’s husband in an attempt to figure out how said sister really died. After being released from jail and learning her beloved sister Deborah was shot in the face just a couple of months ago, Jodie is in disbelief. There’s no way the sweet, ray-of-sunshine Deb would’ve killed herself unless something nefarious was going on in her newer marriage to a wealthy psychologist, and Jodie is determined to figure out what he did to her. So like any morally-gray character, Jodie seduces Dr. Roy Davies, fakes a pregnancy, and lands a rushed marriage to the man. It’s unbeknownst to him, of course, that she’s his late wife’s sister, but that’s just a minor detail. As she starts poking around this beautiful Beverly Hills home and interacting with the people who were closest in Deb’s circle, Jodie starts to realize this doctor may not be who he says he is and that someone else was involved in what resulted in her sister’s murder. Listen, this book wasn’t anything mind blowing but I did appreciate the few twists and turns it took. As I mentioned, Jodie is completely unhinged lol, but in the best way because she’s not just committing to the bit of the housewife who loves to cook and clean. She genuinely DOES love those things. She just also happens to be willing to hurt anyone who had anything to do with her sister’s death. I think that’s called ✨balance.✨Anyway, if you’re into Freida McFadden type of mystery/thriller writing, specifically her recent release, Dear Debbie, then I think you’d enjoy this book too!

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1)

Rating: 3.75/5 stars

Summary: You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what. Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show. Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

My Thoughts: Y’ALL. The Dungeon Crawler Carl series is having a ✨moment✨ right now to say the least, so you know I had to see what all the hype is about. This book is basically like if a VR video game and an intense campaign of Dungeons & Dragons had a baby, but make it real life. One moment, Carl is just trying to get his girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, out of a tree in the middle of a freezing snow storm, and then the next moment they find themselves being forced to compete on an intergalactic survivalist game show as aliens take over Earth. As the first book in this series, there’s a TON of leg work the author has to do. Not only does he have to establish some hella world building, but he also has to start explaining the rules of this fight-to-the-death competition in a way that makes the plot feel dynamic, but also doesn’t over complicate things and loses your interest. In the complete unseriousness of it all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book and I think that says a lot because I eyeball-read it. The banter between Carl and Donut is top notch, their characters are exactly what you’d assume they’d be while still leaving room for growth, and the plot tapered off perfectly as it leads you into the second book. I don’t think this is going to be everybody’s cup of tea. My brother said it reminded him too much of Ready Player One, but since I haven’t read that nor seen the movie, I don’t really have the comparison reference. Nonetheless, I immediately purchased the second book, so take that as you will! 

That’s all I’ve got for August! I’ve been reading pretty slowly so far this month, so we’ll see how quickly I can write my September reviews lol. 

Also, if you’ve started reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, LET’S CHAT. 😸

2026 Book Count: 80

And if you haven’t already… add me on Goodreads or StoryGraph.

June 2026 Reads

I fear my intros may have become the “skip to the recipe” section of food blogs, and if so, I both apologize and completely understand. 

So I’ll take a different approach this month and only give you one update: I need to re-stain my deck in a few weeks, but my HOA doesn’t allow pressure washers. So your girl has been speckled with mud and grime every night for the last week (yes, in this heat wave nonetheless) as I manually scrub every piece of wood… but look at how much better it looks!

I hadn’t done the spindles/railings as of taking this photo, but the main deck part is looking way better.

All right, I digress. Here’s everything I read in June. 

*All summaries are taken or paraphrased from Goodreads.

Little One by Olivia Muenter

LITTLE ONE by Olivia Muenter 

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary: From the outside, Catharine West’s childhood sounds idyllic—balmy days spent running barefoot through the gardens, plucking ripe tomatoes straight from the vine as sunlight warmed her skin. Her parents built a life that was simple and community-focused, an ethos that soon attracted others in need of a change. For a time, Catharine’s magnetic father was enough to keep the farm thriving, and temptation outside its gates. But as she grew older, the farm and family she was raised to love faded into something darker, forcing Catharine to evolve with it. ​It’s now been a decade since Catharine abandoned the farm and has done her best to reinvent her life, until an email from a charismatic journalist interrupts her peace. Her first instinct is to ignore the stranger’s prying questions—whether she knew about a mysterious “cult” in central Florida, whether she is the same “Catharine-with-an-A” who lived there for a time. But when she realizes the journalist knows far more than he’s letting on, she reconsiders. If Catharine can stay one step ahead of him, she may be able to find the one thing she never wanted to leave behind—her sister, Linna—and make sure her own secrets remain buried too.

My Thoughts: Okay, if there’s one thing I’m fascinated by, it’s cults. I can’t explain why, but give me a good cult-based docuseries, and I am hooked. So naturally, I had high hopes going into this book. Unfortunately, I have to admit it wasn’t quite as juicy as I wanted it to be. Catharine West escaped her father’s cult ten years ago and has managed to build a relatively normal life. There are still some toxic behaviors, particularly around food, that surface from time to time, but for the most part, she’s put those dark years behind her. That all changes when a journalist reaches out asking for an interview, something she’s successfully avoided up until now. But when he reveals he has a source who claims to know Catharine personally, she begins to wonder if it could be her estranged sister. From the very beginning, this book did a great job of holding my attention. It alternates between the present, where Catharine is grappling with how much of her past she’s willing to expose, and the past, where we slowly get a glimpse into what life inside the cult was really like. I appreciated that the author didn’t lean too heavily into shock value. While the story explores the psychological manipulation and control you'd expect from a cult, it avoids incorporating sexual assault or some of the more gruesome content that often comes with books like this. That said, I found the ending a liiiittle anti-climactic. The tension builds steadily throughout the novel, but as soon as it reached its peak, I was like, "...that’s it?" Overall, if you’re looking for a mildly suspenseful story about a cult that doesn’t venture too far into disturbing territory, I think this would be a good one to pick up. Just don’t go in expecting a wildly intense or twist-heavy thriller.

Silvercloak by L.K. Steven

SILVERCLOAK by L.K. Steven (The Silvercloak Saga #1)

Rating: 3.25/5 stars

Summary: Two decades ago, the Bloodmoons ruthlessly murdered Saffron Killoran’s parents, destroying her idyllic childhood. Hell-bent on revenge, she lies her way into Silvercloak Academy—the training ground for her city’s elite order of detectives—with a single goal: to bring the Bloodmoons to justice. But when Saff’s deception is exposed, rather than being cast out, she’s given a rare opportunity: to go undercover and tear the Bloodmoons down from the inside. Descending into a world where pleasure and pain are the most powerful currencies, Saff must commit some truly heinous deeds to keep her cover—and her life. Not only are there rival gangs and sinister smuggling rings to contend with, but there’s also her growing feelings for the kingpin’s tortured son, with his vicious pet fallowwolf, his dark past, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron’s hand. With each day testing her loyalties further, Saff finds her web of lies becoming harder to spin. And when one false step could destroy everything and everyone she’s ever loved . . . the detective who’s dedicated her life to vengeance just might die for it.

My Thoughts: Ugh, okay. So this book has been getting a lot of hype lately, and while I did enjoy it overall, I also feel like it kind of fell short of my expectations. Twenty years ago, Saffron Killoran witnessed her parents’ murder at the hands of the Bloodmoons. Ever since, her life’s goal has been to become a Silvercloak and avenge them by killing the Bloodmoons’ leader. The only caveat to making it through the Silvercloak academy is that magic doesn’t work on her. Which wouldn’t be a huge issue, except that it’s completely unheard of and could make her a major threat to the entire magical community. As a result, she has to constantly find ways around unavoidable situations to convince everyone she’s just as affected by magic as they are. When her deception comes to light, the Silvercloaks give her an ultimatum that lands her undercover among the Bloodmoons. The biggest challenge is that she reports directly to the Kingpin’s son, Levan, and has to fight the growing urge to see him as anything other than evil. Listen, the premise was interesting, the pacing was solid, and I really enjoyed the dynamic between Saffron and Levan. However, I was getting increasingly frustrated with Saffron’s character arc because it felt like a non-starter. Every time I thought she was about to have a breakthrough and stop being soooo naive about the people she’s trusted for so long, she would quickly backtrack to her original judgments and never actually grow as a person. She does become more empathetic toward Levan, and there’s definitely some development surrounding the powers she possesses, but on a personal level, I found myself getting tired of Saffron by the end of the book. That being said, the ending took an interesting turn, and I’m definitely curious to see where it leaves her in the next installment. I’m almost wondering if I would’ve liked this one more had I read it on my Kindle instead of listening to the audiobook.

This Book Made Me Think Of You by Libby Page

THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK OF YOU by Libby Page

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her husband waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock. Partly because she can’t remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. Mainly because Joe died five months ago… The gift is simple – twelve carefully-chosen books from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him. Tilly sets out on a series of reading-inspired adventures that take her around the world. But as she begins to vlog her journey, her story becomes more than her own. With help from Alfie, the bookshop owner, her budding new following and her friends and family, can Tilly’s year of books show her how to love again?

My Thoughts: I’M NOT CRYING. YOU’RE CRYING. 🥹 Omg this book was so freaking heartwarming. Tilly Nightingale lost her zest for reading when her husband Joe got sick, and although he died six months ago, she still hasn’t been able to crack open a new novel. Deep in her grief and just going through the motions of life, she receives a phone call on January 2nd from the local bookstore saying they have an order for her to pick up. Confused, she goes in to learn before her husband passed away, he worked out a gift for her with the local bookstore owner, Alfie. Since this is the first full year without him, Joe has chosen a book for Tilly to receive each month. Y’all. This story was so freaking sweet. It had so many layers to it as Tilly collects the new month’s book, and each one has a small note from Joe in it with the inspiration behind his pick. What starts as a small gift, becomes a year full of new experiences, adventures, and opportunities Tilly never even imagined for herself. I loved watching her grow through her grief into someone so full of life. Not to mention, the supportive community she develops along the way. If you’re looking for something that strikes the perfect balance of sad and reflective with sweet and heartwarming, you have to give this one a read.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

YESTERYEAR by Caro Claire Burke

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive. Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it. Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

My Thoughts: I had to marinate on this book for a while before I could sit down and write a review for it. It is 10,000% worth the hype. The story follows Natalie, a homesteading influencer who appears to have the perfect life with her little family on their Yesteryear farm. In the prologue, everything seems to be exactly as Natalie has presented it to the world. But then you get a glimpse behind the curtain and discover she has two full-time nannies helping care for her five children, a production assistant making sure her content is picture-perfect, and an entire team helping her husband keep their crops thriving. Then the book begins...and Natalie wakes up in the 1800s. Listen, this literary experience was every bit as brilliant as it was unsettling. While you're trying to solve the mystery of how Natalie time traveled 200 years, you're also given glimpses into her life leading up to becoming the wildly successful influencer thousands of WASPy Christian tradwives aspire to be. Natalie is not a likable character, and I don't think she's supposed to be. It was hard to have much empathy for her when she clearly lacks the capacity to show empathy for anyone else. But honestly, I think that's part of what makes this book work so well. There is so much clever commentary woven throughout the story on issues that are especially relevant right now: the influence of religion on politics, women's roles within the family, the way social media success can distort an influencer's identity, and so much more. The only reason I couldn't give it a full five stars is because I wish the "aha" moment had come just a touch sooner. The opening had its hooks in me immediately, but by the time the big reveal arrived, I could feel those hooks starting to loosen a bit. Otherwise, I thought this was fantastic and HIGHLY recommend it.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion VOL 1 by Beth Brower

THE UNSELECTED JOURNALS OF EMMA M. LION: VOL. 1 by Beth Brower

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: “I’ve arrived in London without incident. There are few triumphs in my recent life, but I count this as one. My existence of the last three years has been nothing but incident.” The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

My Thoughts: This was quirky, and fun, and such a quick read! I can’t remember who recommended this to me, but it’s a whole series of journal entries from Emma M. Lion as she returns home after spending the last three years as a companion to her intimidating aunt. She learns the house and fortune she is promised when she turns 21 has not been taken care of by her cousin Archibald while she’s been away. Although there are a couple of serious tones in here, I’d say it’s mostly a quick-witted stream of thought from our girl Emma. I am for sure going to continue on with the rest of this series!

Kin by Tayari Jones

KIN by Tayari Jones

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary: Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood, but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Atlanta at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and marries into an affluent family. Annie, abandoned by her dissolute mother as a child, and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, and culminate in a battle for her life.

My Thoughts: I’ve seen several people talking about this book on my Insta feed, so I was excited to see the audiobook available on Libby. For the most part, this was a beautifully written coming-of-age story about two childhood best friends, Vernice and Annie, whose lives take them down very different paths. Annie sets out to find the mother who abandoned her as a baby and is rumored to be living in Memphis. The journey there is filled to the brim with adversity, and the struggles she faces only continue once she arrives. Vernice, on the other hand, heads to Spelman College in Atlanta. Known her entire life as the girl who witnessed her father murder her mother, college gives her the fresh start she desperately needs to shed that identity. Despite developing a romantic relationship with her dorm roommate, Vernice ultimately marries into an extremely well-connected, affluent family where everything is unfamiliar to her. The one constant throughout both of their lives is the deeply rooted friendship they've shared since childhood. Although I was invested in both of their stories, I have to admit Annie's determination to find her mother started getting a little old for me. It was like finding her became her entire personality. Even the side characters around her seemed exhausted by hearing about it all the time. I completely understand that the abandonment she experienced was foundational to her character, but it honestly got to the point where I found myself wondering how much longer the author was going to keep dragging that thread out. This book takes you through a wide range of emotions, and the ending is no exception. Overall, I would recommend this one, but I'd also suggest checking the trigger warnings before diving in

Into the Blue by Emma Brodie

INTO THE BLUE by Emma Brodie

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: In the summer of 2000, AJ Graves dreams of writing for SNL; instead, she’s stuck working in a video rental store, with slim odds of escaping her Massachusetts small town and large family. Then in walks Noah Drew, the enigmatic and intense scion of the Drew acting dynasty, and her life changes forever. Despite wildly different upbringings, the two forge a deep, cosmic bond first as friends, then as acting partners—until one day, Noah disappears without a word. Seven years later in New York City, AJ is shocked to find herself cast in the same intergalactic TV production as Noah, by then a well-known Hollywood heartthrob. As their on-screen characters grow closer every day, the lines between reality and acting begin to blur. Unable to stay away from each other, AJ and Noah are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago—and the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart, even as fate continues to draw them together.

My Thoughts: This is probably going to end up in my top three, if not my absolute favorite, romance of the year. The writing didn’t feel like a typical romance novel. There was so much depth to it, and I loved how intimately it made me feel like I knew these characters. If you’re a big fan of SNL or comedy and improv, this is going to be right up your alley. In the summer of 2000, Noah and AJ undergo intense training as acting partners under the mentorship of Noah’s aunt, Eudora, a famous actress from the cult-classic comedy show The Astronauticals. Their bond as improv partners grows almost as strong as the undercurrent of feelings developing between them...until one day Noah disappears without saying goodbye. Seven years later, they find themselves cast on the same new TV show, and everything that was left unsaid all those years ago comes bubbling back to the surface. From there, their relationship is touch-and-go, but somehow they always find their way back to each other. YOU GUYS. 😩 This book put me through such a rollercoaster of emotions. One minute I was grinning at their quick wit and banter, and the next I wanted to scream at my Kindle because their stubbornness just kept getting in their own way. One of my favorite things about this book was how each stage of their lives almost felt like its own story. It was like getting three books in one: the beginning had the feel of a YA novel, the middle read almost like recent historical fiction set in Hollywood, and the final section became this deeply emotional romance that completely wrecked me. Honestly, I kind of want to reread it as an audiobook just so it feels like a brand-new experience. I loved this book so much. I cried a little, but the tears were absolutely worth it. 🥲 I genuinely cannot recommend this one enough.

The Divorce by Freida McFadden

THE DIVORCE by Freida McFadden

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary: What is a happily ever after really worth? Naomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house, start a family… Then―he kicks her out, hires the city’s best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a 20-something. It’s a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept defeat: move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life. Except, why should she? Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband’s new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession―and then into something far darker. As Naomi uncovers secrets she never imagined, she realizes her own life may be in danger. But if it keeps her perfect family intact, isn’t it worth it?

My Thoughts: Y’all. The one thing I appreciate about Ms. McFadden is that she’s got a reliable formula so that you kind of know what to expect going into one of her new books, but she’s also just chaotic enough to include some new unhinged shit she hasn’t exposed you to before lol. So it doesn’t feel like the same story over and over again. However, if the main character/narrator says she loves her husband, just know you’re about to enter a whole dysfunctional shit storm. I don’t want to say too much about this plot without giving anything away, but I’m FOR SURE lowkey embarrassed I didn’t pick up on who you could really trust until I was almost 70% of the way into the book. 😅 Did I think find the ending groundbreaking? No. Was this a quick and easy read that scratched the mystery/thriller itch for me? Absolutely. If you’ve enjoyed Freida McFadden books in the past, I’d say this is worth a try.

Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston

ANATOMY OF AN ALIBI by Ashley Elston

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary: Everyone at Chantilly’s Bar noticed out-of-towner Camille Bayliss. Red lips, designer heels, sipping a Negroni. But that woman wasn’t Camille Bayliss. It was Aubrey Price. Camille Bayliss appears to have the picture-perfect life; she’s married to hotshot lawyer Ben and is the daughter of a wealthy Louisiana family. Only nothing is as it seems: Camille believes Ben has been hiding dirty secrets for years, but she can’t find proof because he tracks her every move. Aubrey Price has been haunted by the terrible night that changed her life a decade ago, and she’s convinced Benjamin Bayliss knows something about it. Living in a house full of criminals, Aubrey understands there’s more than one way to get to the truth—and she may have found the best way in. Aubrey and Camille hatch a plan. It sounds simple: For twelve hours, Aubrey will take Camille’s place. Camille will spy on Ben, and the two women will get the answers they desperately seek. Except the next morning, Ben is found murdered. Both women need an airtight alibi, but only one of them has it. And one false step is all it takes for everything to come undone.

My Thoughts: Ashley Elston wrote First Lie Wins, which was one of my absolute favorite books of 2024. So when I saw she had a new one out, I was excited, to say the least. Although this story didn’t completely blow me away the way First Lie Wins did, it still had all the elements that made me fall in love with Elston’s writing. Camille Bayliss is married to Ben, a powerful and highly successful lawyer. She’s wanted a divorce for quite some time and knows he’s been hiding something. The challenge is getting him off her trail long enough to figure out exactly what that "something" is and use it as leverage against the ironclad prenup standing in her way. Through a series of connected clues, Camille recruits Aubrey Price to essentially "play" her a few towns over while Camille secretly puts her own plan into motion to spy on Ben. Things get even more tangled when we learn Aubrey believes Ben knows something about the hit-and-run that killed her parents ten years earlier. Then one morning, Ben is found murdered in cold blood in his office, launching an investigation into who could have killed him. As more people become involved and more secrets come to light, it gets harder and harder to know who can actually be trusted. Listen, while I don’t think this one was quite as clever as First Lie Wins, I was absolutely invested in figuring out who killed Ben and how he was connected to Aubrey’s parents’ case. It was a super quick listen and definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. If you’re looking for a mystery thriller that keeps you guessing without being overly anxiety-inducing, I definitely recommend giving this one a read!

That’s it for June!

Hopefully, you’ve found some titles worth adding to your summer reading list! Speaking of which, I’d love to hear any recommendations for the perfect reading-by-the-pool books.

2026 Book Count: 59

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