Happy National Book Lover\’s Day!! This is a legitimate holiday, I checked, and what better excuse is there to share what I\’ve been reading! This summer since I didn\’t have any classes to take I decided to focus on reading as many books as I could. I never gave myself a lot of time to read during school because I always felt guilty that I should be studying or reading a book related to my classes, and honestly sometimes I just didn\’t feel like making time for it. So dedicating time to read the past two months was huge for me! I\’ve always loved reading and this summer has brought back that love.
I made a list and strategically chose books I wouldn\’t be likely to let myself read once my classes started again. I started with Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. I really didn\’t love this one to start, it was hard to get into, but once I got to about halfway I was hooked! It follows a young lawyer who\’s life is suddenly turned upside down by one little mistake. I\’ll admit I wasn\’t a huge fan of the ending, I felt like it just dropped off and could have explained more of what the future held for the characters, but even with that I would still definitely recommend it!
Next I read Can You Keep a Secret? also by Sophie Kinsella. I liked this one right out of the gate! It\’s main character is a young woman navigating the business world, who happens to meet a man on a plane and divulge all her deepest secrets to him, little does she know what will follow due to this. Kinsella has a way to tell stories that are so relatable, yet feel like a fairy tale. This was a super quick read and perfect for a vacation!
I was stuck on these chick-lit books that reminded me of The Devil Wears Prada in the beginning, so naturally I went to the queen author herself; Lauren Weisberger. She not only wrote the Devil Wears Prada, she also wrote a lesser known gem called Chasing Harry Winston. I was slightly concerned this book might be aimed at a little older age group since I\’m not in the market to be married right now, but luckily it didn\’t feel that way at all! It follows three close friends and their experiences with men and each other, they take trips, get into trouble & do things basically every woman has done.
After this came Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. This was another book I didn\’t get into immediately, but in the end I did really enjoy it. It follows a couple through life and marriage, with all the positives and negatives that entails. This was more mature than the books I normally read, but the story really drew me in and I found myself missing the characters when I wasn\’t reading it. There are some graphic scenes so take that warning however you choose, but if you can handle those I think you\’ll find other great parts as well.
The next book I chose was slightly darker, but came with a recommendation from a friend. Girl Walks Out of a Bar by Lisa F. Smith is a memoir of the life of a lawyer who is also secretly an alcoholic and abuses drugs. The beginning of the book was the best part in my opinion because you hear about all the insane things she did and get to wonder how no one noticed, how she survived, and how she keeps going. The middle and end start to lull but are necessary to tie up the story. Even if you don\’t drink this book is still fine for you because most people really can\’t relate to the level she\’s on the majority of the book, whether they drink or not.
My final finished book thus far was The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. I was SO excited for this one. I wanted to read it so bad and my mom gave it to me as a gift. It took me forever to get through and I literally had to force myself to finish it. I thought it would be more of a travel book about the places he goes to and a general look at how to be happy, but it covered a lot more philosophical and psychological topics than I would\’ve liked. I did learn a few things I didn\’t know while following his journey and there were parts I enjoyed, but in all it was a long read and I didn\’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would.
Now that I\’ve finished these I am currently halfway through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. I was drawn to it initially since it was set just after WWII and I like reading about the time period, but once I found out it was being made into a movie I knew I had to read it. The verdict isn\’t fully in yet, but so far I would say it is exceeding my expectations. This is especially true since I didn\’t like the way it was written through correspondence letters between the characters to start and wanted to stop reading it. Eventually the letters do grow on you, but check back for my next reading list post for a full review as well as some of the others I\’ll be crossing off my list!
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