May was a GREAT reading month for me! So many quality stories. I hope you enjoy these book reviews and recommendations. Here’s what I read in May!
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“The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah
Rating
★★★★★/5
Review
I started listening to this audiobook during my backpacking trip. It takes place in Alaska, beginning in 1974 and follows 13-year-old, Leni, as she navigates family, relationships, and survival. This is a beautiful coming of age story about love, loss, and resiliency. Kristin Hannah does it again! Read the full synopsis on Goodreads.
“Love & Gelato” by Jenna Evans Welch
Rating
★★★★/5
Synopsis
“Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is go back home.
But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires her, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.
People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.”
*** This was a really cute story. I’d say, the reading level was teen. It was an easy and engaging read! Great for summer.
“Wherever The Wind Takes Us” by Kelly Harms
Expected Release Date: October 18, 2022
Rating
★★★★/5
**Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.
Review
Becca Ann Larkin has just left her entire life behind — the unhappy 22-year-long marriage, the money, the comfort… All of it, except the 40-something foot sailboat she’s been awarded in her divorce. She has to sell it to start her new life. The only problem is, she doesn’t know how to sail. She enlists her daughter, Olivia, to help her, thinking it will be a great bonding experience as they sail from Maine to Miami.
I really enjoyed this book! Personally, I related to the story in ways I’m not sure most people would. For me, it sounds like learning to sail in the midst of sailing the entire Eastern seaboard is a lot like diving into backpacking. It takes a while to get those sea/trail legs. I found myself in hysterics reading some of antics shared, especially between mother and daughter. I think anyone who has ever tried anything new (i.e. everyone) can find the humor and enjoyment in this.
Nit-pick(s): There were a couple of paragraphs where my eyes glazed over a bit because of all the sailing terminology. Sometimes I felt it was getting in the way of the story.
Overall: I haven’t mention Grant Murphy – the sailing instructor slash love interest in this book. I loved the romance part of this book (!) but not as much as I loved seeing Becca choose to love herself. Great book, definitely recommend!
“Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Rating
★★★/5
I have made no secret here that I am a massive fan of TJR. I actually took this photo last July when Ben bought her then latest book for me, but for some reason I kept putting off reading it. Still, I was thrilled to receive an eARC (electronic advanced reader copy) of “Carrie Soto is Back” this week. I started to read it but when I was translating one of the first Spanish phrases used, I quickly realized that Carrie was a recurring character from Malibu Rising. I wasn’t sure if this was a sequel or spin-off, so to be sure, I switched over and read this first. ➡️ NOTE: You do not have to read this before Carrie Soto is Back if you don’t want to. There are a couple references that are fun to recognize but will not influence your enjoyment of either book.
Review
This story takes place in the summer I was born (1983) in Malibu, California. Four famous siblings are getting ready to throw their annual end-of-summer party. The story oscillates from an hour-by-hour update of that day, and their parent’s love story and their childhood leading up to it. There are a lot of characters and sub-stories going on but something about it felt a little disjointed or incomplete. Maybe a solid epilogue would’ve done the trick.
There are so many things that I loved about this book, but in the end I wasn’t sure how to rate it. For me, the ultimate ask is how deeply a story made me feel, and the answer here was just not nearly enough. Still, TJR is a master at storytelling and character development, and I will happily read just about anything she publishes in the future.
“Carrie Soto is Back” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Expected Release Date: August 30, 2022
Rating
★★★★★/5
**Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.
Review
There is absolutely nothing I love more in a book than for it to cause me to cry my eyes out. I pretty much live for those cathartic tears rolling down my face while I lose myself turning page after page of a truly great book. This is a story of resiliency, of passion and drive (even if it’s sometimes misguided).. of tenacity. Of love.
Carrie is an anti-hero. If you’re anything like me, you will love to hate her for most of this book. She’s frustratingly stubborn. She’s downright rude a lot of the time. But goodness, if this isn’t a story of growth and grace.
💥 One of my favorite books so far this year. Add this one to your TBR list and pick it up this summer!
“Under the Whispering Door” by T.J. Klune
Rating
★★★/5
Synopsis
“When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.
And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.
But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.
Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home. “
“Book Lovers” by Emily Henry
Rating
★★★★★/5
Review
😍 First impression: I love everything about this cover. The title, for one. The simple typeface & illustration. The suitcases (genius) and the red book (symbolism? ❤️) If I’d never read another Henry book, I would’ve picked this up, judging by the cover.
📣 Review: I don’t know at what point I became such a fan of contemporary romance, but here we are. I *loved* this book. A book about the love of books and love and… books — I mean, *swoon*. 📚💕 This was my favorite by Emily Henry story to date!
I’ve been wanting to annotate and tab a book for a while, and it was the perfect book to try my hand at it. There are so many quotes I love, so many funny bits and banter, “cute” scenes, and super steamy ones. 🔥 I tabbed chapters 21 + 25 because I loved them entirely.
There are so many quotes I highlighted but this one pretty much sums up my feelings about this book: “This book, this job, this trip, this never-ending, days-spanning conversation. I want to make it last, and I need to know how it ends. I want to finish it, and I need it to go on forever.” 👏
💥 Takeaway: If you love books and you love love, this book is for you. The perfect summer read!
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