Time for another reading recap! 10 books this month! Some great books, and some not the best I’ve ever read, and one I should have DNFd, but I was already in too deep at that point. Let’s get into it.
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Audiobook via Libby
Wow. This was amazing, but a little too close to home. I can see this kind of think happening in 20 years and it’s very disturbing.
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
I loved this story, but for some reason I wasn’t drawn in and it took me a while to finish it. I think I personally struggle with dual timelines, because sometimes I just want to know what’s happening in the one timeline… But when I finally got to the end, I really liked it
Saltwater by Katy Hays
Audiobook via Libby
I think I don’t care about these rich people stories… they are just not that interesting to me. But at least I was surprised by the twist! I go into these books completely blind and don’t even try to figure them out. Of course, I loved the setting.
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
Audiobook via Libby
I loved this story, although I hate cheating, and it was hard for me to get past that in the beginning. Overall, I loved this. Gave it 4.75 stars, because of the cheating. But the characters were deep and kind. I will say that a lot of people die, so it’s sad.
Ordinary Time by Annie B. Jones
Hard Cover via Bookshop.org
As a 30-something who lives 20 minutes from her parents, this story felt familiar and had a few good reminders for my own life. The content was a little too fluffy, which is why I haven’t written my own memoir ha. It was cute, but kind of forgettable.
Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein
Bought this during the NJ Bookstore Crawl at Sparta Books!
Ok for some reason I’ve been handing out 3.75 stars this month. I did like this quite a bit, but the main characters weren’t really that likeable (or so I thought in my StoryGraph review I wrote when it was fresh in my mind). I also wanted more romance. But it was very cute, and I have recommended it to people already. I love a sister story.
The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand
Audiobook via Libby
I checked this out, purely because it was the only Elin book without a wait on Libby. And I kind of know why. I liked the story overall. This was another Parent Trap-type story, which was obviously weird just having read Maine Characters. One weird thing was that there was a lot of drunk driving??? Whyyyy?? This was published in 2017, so did they not have Uber on Nantucket back then?
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Audiobook via Libby
omg I loved this. Read it while I was quilting, and just blew through it. So obsessed. Love that the big city villain romance. The only reason I gave it 4.5 stars was because I loved Funny Story even more.
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Audiobook via Libby
The Libby gods were looking kindly at me while I was quilting to have these books available for download right when I needed them lol. Gahh this was so good. I think I liked it more than Book Lovers because it’s a less obvious trope (at least for me, because I’ve only started reading romance). But I felt like the characters were all really well developed throughout. There was a minor miscommunication, but it wasn’t as annoying as most romance communication issues.
Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory
Audiobook via Libby
I’ve read a few of Jasmine Guillory’s books (The Proposal, By the Book, The Wedding Date), so I picked this one since it was available, and I should have DNFd. First of all, there’s a super sexy one-night-stand in like chapter 1 that sets up the drama, and then nothing again until about 50% in, but then the couple has one long car ride stuck in traffic, and I feel like they never talk again! Like, I get it. The chemistry is there, but there was so much spice, I started skipping through it by the end. And they live happily ever after. Without a second long conversation.
Ok that’s it for June! What have you been reading??