what i’m reading lately

sharing all the books i’ve been reading lately and my thoughts on each!

For those of you that follow my stories on Instagram, you know that I’ve been reading like crazy this summer.  I’ve gotten a lot of DMs about the different books I’ve featured so I wanted to do a quick post recapping them.

It’s a longer lis since this is pretty much every book I’ve read this summer – I’ll try to do these more frequently moving forward so it’s not such an exhaustive list!

The Likeness by Tana French: I loved this book.  It’s a page turner where you’re trying to figure out what happened to a girl who was found murdered.  I tend to fly through books like this because I can’t wait to figure out who did it!  I did In the Woods last summer by this same author and really liked it so I’m not surprised that I also really liked this one.  Plus both my sisters have read a ton of her books and recommended I do this one.  They’re sort of a series (I say sort of because you likely could read them out of order and be okay, but the main character in The Likeness is carried over from In the Woods as is some of her storyline).  I plan to do The Trespasser next.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks: This was another page turner for me.  It’s not as much a mystery as The Likeness, but you’re definitely curious to figure out what’s happening from the very start.  It’s similar to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins if you’ve read that.  And there’s a really good twist that I didn’t see coming at all (my sister said she expected it but I was totally surprised).

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn: This book was SO good.  It gripped me from the start and went so quickly because you just want to get to the end to figure out what’s going on.  If you like mysteries that suck you in from the get-go, this one is for you.

Elin Hilderbrand: I’m just going to go ahead and do a whole section here because I’ve done so many of her books this summer!  I even went to Nantucket with my sister (who I do a book club with) and Owen this summer to experience everything in books first-hand.  Basically these are feel-good, beach reads.  They definitely tackle some heavy topics (cancer, death, divorce, affairs), but her writing keeps those topics light and things generally seem to work out for the best in the majority of them.  They’re really fun to read in the summer (especially if you’re going to or have ever gone to Nantucket because she describes the island so well).

So here we go (in order from the one I liked best to the one I liked least – not that I liked any least, just lower in my list of favorites)

Summerland – I literally couldn’t stop thinking about these characters for like a month after I finished.  It’s about a group of teenagers (and their parents) in their last year of high school and the individual struggles they face.

The Rumor – About 2 best friends who live on Nantucket going through their own struggles.  I loved the way she portrayed their friendship and the cozy situations she creates and describes!

A Beautiful Day – About a wedding on Nantucket and two sisters navigating through it together without their mother.  Obviously having sisters I could relate and not having my dad at my wedding definitely allowed me to understand how the bride felt not having her mom.

Barefoot – This book definitely had some heavy topics (one of the main characters is battling cancer which is already hard for me since my dad died from cancer) but I actually ended up really loving it.  I was a little disappointed with how some of the things ended up but ultimately it’s a feel good read about 3 friends navigating some tough times all together.

The Castaways: This was another one that was fairly sad but I felt so attached to the characters in it and found myself thinking about them all the time.  If you read multiple books of hers, you’ll get to know the Police Chief (Ed Kapinash) who is one of my favorite characters she writes, so any book he’s in I tend to love.

The Perfect Couple – This was her newest novel, just out this summer.  It’s about a wedding on Nantucket that turns into a murder mystery so I of course flew through it!

The Blue Bistro – This book is about a restaurant in its last season open on Nantucket.  The characters also really sucked me in and I found myself thinking about them a lot while I was reading it.  I didn’t love the ending, but otherwise really enjoyed it.

A Summer Affair – This was probably my least favorite of her books I read this summer.  I didn’t really love the way things ended and I didn’t find myself really pulling for any of the characters like I do in her other books.

Currently reading Nantucket Nights so I’ll include that in the next review (but I’m pretty sucked in so far!)

Last summer I did The Identicals which I loved and highly recommend.

Next up: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware (which I cannot WAIT to read because I loved The Woman in Cabin 10 so much)

Oh and one other thing!  I use Audible for a lot of my books because it’s much easier now that Owen is so active to listen versus read.  I still will always prefer reading to listening but that’s just not realistic right now.  So, for any new mamas out there, Audible is great.  I’ll put it on when we take our walks or while he’s playing and it’s honestly how I’ve been able to get through as many books as I have!

1