When I went to write up my June book reviews, I realized I had never published my May reviews! So here we go -- an extra meaty books post today to cover two months of some pretty good reading -- inclduding three five-star books in June!

May Books

Five Stars

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about reading a book where the pandemic plays such a major part in the story line, but holy cow this book was good. There's a twist about half way through that I just never saw coming, and this book was just a great look at how the pandemic upended so much in our lives and changed dynamics in relationships. I couldn't put it down despite the heavy subject matter.

Four Stars

Book Lovers by Emily Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After a book about the pandemic, I was ready for something light and really fun and Emily Henry delivered. This book is a Hallmark movie in book form. Big city girl visits a small town with her sister, bumps into her work nemesis, has several awkward, but kind of flirty encounters while trying to complete the bucket list her sister put together for the trip. Just a perfectly fun and easy read.

The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The conclusion to Jennifer Weiner's summer series was such a fun and kind of wild book. My only complaint was in the beginning there were a lot of characters' points of views to keep track of, and I couldn't always remember who was who. But I eventually figured it out and loved following all the family drama that came from one character deciding she was going to marry her pandemic boyfriend and starting to plan a wedding a her grandmother's house on the Cape. I loved the call backs to some of the previous Cape Cod books. A really fun, summer read! Highly recommend!

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great book even though at times I really wanted to throttle the main character Emily for continuing to put herself in questionable situations. I actually got to see the author speak a few days after I finished the book, and she talked about how it was important to write the best friend character Kristen to have some redeeming qualities and motivations so that readers just didn't hate her off the bat. I thought she did a good job of that and the dynamics of this friendship kept the book really interesting.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This murder mystery was fun because of the characters -- all in their 70s -- who meet weekly to discuss murder cases. When a murder happens right on the property of their retirement home, they jump into action to try to solve the case. The characters are just really delightful, and their quirks and intricacies make them a group you root for even as they are sneaking around and potentially compromising evidence. This book scores points for being something very different in the crime genre.

The Chicken Sisters by K.J. Dell'Antonia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a fun and fast read. Two sisters and their dueling fried chicken joints square off on a reality tv show called Food Wars. Producers’ questions stir up some old family secrets that kept things interesting. Really enjoyed this.

Three Stars

One Two Three by Laurie Frankel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book started out a little slow, and for a while, I wasn't sure I was going to finish it. Things really picked up around the halfway point, and I was glad I stuck with it. I have to assume the premise of this book was based around the water crisis in Flint. In the fictional town in the book, the water supply is damaged by a chemical plant and many people die or suffer from suffer disabilities as a result. The plant shut down, but a generation later is trying to reopen promising this time everything is safe. The story is told from the perspectives of three sisters who live in town and who have directly suffered the consequences of the tainted water. Once it got going, it was a good story.

June Books

Five Stars

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know those books when you are just sad they are over because you don’t want to leave the characters behind? That was this book. It jumps back and forth from present day and the summers of Percy’s childhood on a lake as she makes friends with the neighbors, Sam and Charlie. When Sam and Charlie’s mom dies, Percy is called back to the lake, even though she hasn’t spoken to either brother in 12 years. This is just a wonderful book about growing up and making choices and learning to live with the outcomes.

The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was another book I was so sad to finish. I loved the characters, and I didn't want to stop reading their stories. I also know that with each new Elin Hilderbrand book, I'm inching closer to her last one. I'm truly dreading her retirement because I just love the stories she tells and the characters she brings to life. This book focuses on a cast of characters striving to get the newly reopened Hotel Nantucket off the ground and earn an elusive "five-key" rating from a hotel reviewer. The hotel is haunted by a friendly ghost named Grace, and she's honestly one of the most fun characters in the book. Highly recommend for a fun summer read.

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading Half Life last year, I was so excited to read Jillian Cantor's latest book where she retells the story of the Great Gatsby through the eyes of the female characters. This book was great. It was fun to imagine the back stories for these women and how they all come to overlap and meet each other and Gatsby. If you're looking for a book to read, I can't recommend this enough.

Four Stars

The Shore by Katie Runde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book really pulled at my heart strings. It's set in Seaside, NJ and I read it while sitting on the beach in DE. It follows a family that owns shore rental properties. Business is going well until Margot's husband develops a malignant brain tumor that completely changes his personality. Over the course of the summer, Margot and her two daughters grapple with their impending loss and what will come after.

River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is definitely outside the norm of what I typically read, but it was really interesting to get a deeper look at exploration and colonialism in Africa through the lens of the hunt to find the the start of the Nile River. The author focuses on two men from England who are given the task that many others have failed, and she pulls you along on their journey as hardships and egos threaten to derail the search.

Three Stars

Theatre of Marvels by Lianne Dillsworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The premise of this book was really interesting, but I thought it was slow at parts and would sometimes not hold my attention. Zillah is an aspiring actress who lands a role in a variety show because of her skin color depicting the “Great Amazonia.” As the owner of the variety show looks to expand, Zillah realizes the lengths he will go to to exploit people for his profit in 19th century England.

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