This month, I have read a bunch of 5 star books that I’ve loved and I can’t wait to share them with you here today! You can see the first half of my July reading here and I will share the rest of my July reads next week. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Title: Up All Night
Author: Laura Silverman (editor)
Genre: YA Short Stories
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers, 7/13/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Up All Night is an anthology of 13 stories taking place overnight! These stories cover topics of self discovery, friendship, romance, and more. The genres range from thriller to rom com to horror.
“When everyone else goes to bed, the ones who stay up feel like they’re the only people in the world. As the hours tick by deeper into the night, the familiar drops away and the unfamiliar beckons. Adults are asleep, and a hush falls over the hum of daily life. Anything is possible. It’s a time for romance and adventure. For prom night and ghost hunts. It’s a time for breaking up, for falling in love—for finding yourself. Stay up all night with these thirteen short stories from bestselling and award-winning YA authors like Karen McManus, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nina LaCour, and Brandy Colbert, as they take readers deep into these rarely seen, magical hours. Full contributor list: Brandy Colbert, Kathleen Glasgow, Maurene Goo, Tiffany D. Jackson, Amanda Joy, Nina LaCour, Karen M. McManus, Anna Meriano, Marieke Nijkamp, Laura Silverman, Kayla Whaley, Julian Winters, Francesca Zappia.”
My favorites were Never Have I Ever by Karen M McManus – which starts the book out with a twist, Creature Capture by Laura Silverman and Missing by Kathleen Glasgow. All of the stories were memorable!
Title: The Last Words We Said
Author: Leah Scheier
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Simon Pulse, 8/31/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Most of you know that I am Jewish but there are many types of Judaism and until now I haven’t found a book set in the Jewish community I am a part of – modern Orthodoxy. The Last Words We Said by Leah Scheier takes place in the modern Orthodox community in Atlanta and it addresses faith, grief, and love in the story of friends Ellie, Danny, Rae, and Deenie.
“Nine months ago, Danny disappeared. His closest friends, Ellie, Rae, and Deenie, are all dealing with the loss differently. Rae’s pouring herself into rage-baking. Deenie’s deepening her commitment to Orthodox Judaism. And Ellie—who was Danny’s girlfriend and closest friend—is the only one who doesn’t believe he’s dead. Because she still sees him. In chapters that alternate between past and present, the story of Ellie and Danny unspools—from their serendipitous meeting to Danny’s effortless absorption into the girls’ friend group to Danny and Ellie falling for each other. In the past, they were the perfect couple…until it all went wrong. In the present, Ellie’s looking for answers. She, Rae, and Deenie all have secrets, and they each hold a clue about the night Danny disappeared. Can the friends come together to uncover the truth about Danny? Or will tragedy drive them apart for good?”
In the nine months since Danny’s disappearance, Rae had rebelled against tradition while Deenie has taken on more and more practices. Ellie – Danny’s girlfriend – has continued to see Danny and to talk to him, but she is the only one who is able to do so. I couldn’t stop reading to discover the secrets that each girl was keeping and to find out what happened to Danny.
Title: The Layover
Author: Lacie Waldon
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Putnam, 6/15/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
The Layover is about Ava, a flight attendant, who thinks she wants to put down roots and therefore stop flying. Her parents were always taking off to the next destination, leaving Ava feeling like she needs stability. When her last flight involves an unscheduled layover in Belize, she winds up spending more time than she wants to with her co flight attendant Jack. She has a secret grudge against him, and we do find out why, which makes this enemies to love story believable!
“After ten years as a flight attendant, Ava Greene is poised to hang up her wings and finally put down roots. She’s got one trip left before she bids her old life farewell, and she plans to enjoy every second of it. But then she discovers that former pilot Jack Stone–the absurdly gorgeous, ridiculously cocky man she’s held a secret grudge against for years–is on her flight. And he has the nerve to flirt with her, as if he doesn’t remember the role he played in the most humiliating night of her life. Good thing she never has to see him again after they land….But when their plane encounters mechanical problems, what should have been a quick stop at the Belize airport suddenly becomes a weekend layover. Getting stuck on a three-hour flight with her nemesis was bad enough. Being stranded with him at a luxury resort in paradise? Even with the sultry breeze and white sand to distract her, it will take all the rum punch in the country to drown out his larger-than-life presence. Yet the more time Ava spends with him under the hot Caribbean sun, the more she begins to second-guess everything she thought she knew about him…and everything she thought she wanted from her life. And all too soon, she might have to choose between keeping her feet on the ground and her head in the clouds….”
I thought this was a quick, sweet, romantic story and it made me want to visit Belize!
Title: For The Love of Friends
Author: Sara Goodman Confino
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Lake Union, 8/1/21
Source: Author
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
For The Love of Friends reminded me of a combination of The Truth and Other Hidden Things and The Secret Bridesmaid. Lily is in 5 weddings and in order to get out her frustrations about weddings, she starts an anonymous blog. I imagine some of this was paradoxical, but the friends that Lily was a bridesmaid for tended to be awful!
“Lily Weiss is her mother’s worst nightmare: thirty-two and single―the horror! She’s also a talented writer but hides behind a boring job at a science foundation. To her friends, she’s reliable and selfless, which is how she winds up a bridesmaid in five weddings in six weeks. Anything for her three best friends and two (younger) siblings, right? Even if her own love life is…well, she’d rather not talk about it. To keep her sanity, Lily needs a safe place to vent. And so her anonymous blog, Bridesmania, is born. The posts start pouring out of her: all the feels about mom-zillas, her vanishing bank balance, the wicked bridesmaids of the west, high-strung brides-to-be, body-shaming dress clerks, bachelorette parties, and Spanx for days, not to mention being deemed guardian of eighty-eight-year-old Granny (who enjoys morning mimosas in the nude) for her brother’s destination wedding. So far the blog has stayed anonymous. But as everyone knows, few things online remain secret forever…When all is said and done, can Lily help all five couples make it to happily ever after? And will her own happy ending be close behind?”
Oh yes, the romance! Lily becomes friends with Alex, a groomsman in one of the weddings. And of course, this friendship leads to love! The love story is more of a slow burn behind the stories of friendship, family, and self-discovery, but I would still classify this one as a rom com. I really enjoyed it!
Title: People Love Dead Jews
Author: Dara Horn
Genre: Non Fiction
Publisher: W. W. Norton, 9/7/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Dara Horn is a writer I have been familiar with for many years, as I always remembered her name (as it is the same as mine) after I attended her bat mitzvah, which she shared with another girl whose bat mitzvah I was invited to. I have read many of her fiction books and was intrigued by this one, which addresses the reasons why there might be so much fascination with Jewish deaths and so little respect for Jewish lives in the present. Topics range from Anne Frank – would she be as well known if she had survived? – to the Jewish history of the Chinese city Harbin, to the eleven people murdered at a Pittsburgh synagogue, to modern antisemitism.
“Renowned and beloved as a prizewinning novelist, Dara Horn has also been publishing penetrating essays since she was a teenager. Often asked by major publications to write on subjects related to Jewish culture―and increasingly in response to a recent wave of deadly antisemitic attacks―Horn was troubled to realize what all of these assignments had in common: she was being asked to write about dead Jews, never about living ones. In these essays, Horn reflects on subjects as far-flung as the international veneration of Anne Frank, the mythology that Jewish family names were changed at Ellis Island, the blockbuster traveling exhibition Auschwitz, the marketing of the Jewish history of Harbin, China, and the little-known life of the ‘righteous Gentile’ Varian Fry. Throughout, she challenges us to confront the reasons why there might be so much fascination with Jewish deaths, and so little respect for Jewish lives unfolding in the present. Horn draws upon her travels, her research, and also her own family life―trying to explain Shakespeare’s Shylock to a curious ten-year-old, her anger when swastikas are drawn on desks in her children’s school, the profound perspective offered by traditional religious practice and study―to assert the vitality, complexity, and depth of Jewish life against an antisemitism that, far from being disarmed by the mantra of “Never forget,” is on the rise. As Horn explores the (not so) shocking attacks on the American Jewish community in recent years, she reveals the subtler dehumanization built into the public piety that surrounds the Jewish past―making the radical argument that the benign reverence we give to past horrors is itself a profound affront to human dignity.”
I don’t want to say I loved this book, but I did. It was so informative, understandable, and important. I was nodding along with it all. I only found one of the essays not to be wholly riveting, while they were all well written and worth the reads.
Title: The Passing Playbook
Author: Isaac Fitzsimons
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio, 6/1/21
Source: Audio Publisher
Why I Read It: Heard it was good.
My Rating: 5 Stars
In The Passing Playbook, a transgender student grapples with whether to pass as male or to stand up against a rule which makes it so that he can’t play soccer.
“Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother, and a David Beckham in training. He’s also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of isolation and bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio. At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boys’ soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no one at Oakley knows Spencer is trans—he’s passing. But when a discriminatory law forces Spencer’s coach to bench him, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from the sidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even though it would mean coming out to everyone—including the guy he’s falling for.”
This book was full of supportive parents, friends, and even the soccer coach. While Spencer is lucky, his crush has a lot more difficulty, with his family being quite religious. Spencer’s brother has Autism and says it best – “You were my sister and now you’re my brother. Because you’re brave.” I highly recommend that parents of teens read this one.
Title: Blended
Author: Sharon M Draper
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Atheneum / Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 10/30/18
Source: Little Free Library
Why I Read It: Buddy Read
My Rating: 5 Stars
I loved Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper when I read it and I was excited to find out that she wrote this as well. Don’t let the pretty pink cover fool you – this book covers some difficult issues including racism and police brutality.
“Eleven-year-old Isabella’s parents are divorced, so she has to switch lives every week: One week she’s Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and her son Darren living in a fancy house where they are one of the only black families in the neighborhood. The next week she’s Izzy with her mom and her boyfriend John-Mark in a small, not-so-fancy house that she loves. Because of this, Isabella has always felt pulled between two worlds. And now that her parents are divorced, it seems their fights are even worse, and they’re always about HER. Isabella feels completely stuck in the middle, split and divided between them more than ever. And she is beginning to realize that being split between Mom and Dad involves more than switching houses, switching nicknames, switching backpacks: it’s also about switching identities. Her dad is black, her mom is white, and strangers are always commenting: ‘You’re so exotic!’ ‘You look so unusual.’ ‘But what are you really?’ She knows what they’re really saying: ‘You don’t look like your parents.’ ‘You’re different.’ ‘What race are you really?’ And when her parents, who both get engaged at the same time, get in their biggest fight ever, Isabella doesn’t just feel divided, she feels ripped in two. What does it mean to be half white or half black? To belong to half mom and half dad? And if you’re only seen as half of this and half of that, how can you ever feel whole?”
Isabella is almost 12 and her life is blended – she splits her time between her parents, spending one week with each and never feeling at home. At the same time, she doesn’t feel Black or white, as her dad, his girlfriend, and her son are Black, while her mom and her boyfriend are white. Her parents don’t make her life easy with their constant fighting. On the other hand, her father’s girlfriend Anastasia, her son Darren, and her mother’s boyfriend John Mark are supportive people in Isabella’s life. As an adult reading middle grade, I always keep in mind the intended audience. This book would be best for younger readers to read with an adult, but high schoolers could read it on their own.
Title: The Kiss Quotient
Author: Helen Hoang
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 6/5/18
Source: Book Swap
Why I Read It: Buddy Read
My Rating: 5 Stars
I have owned this book as well as the 2nd book in the series for quite some time and finally got around to reading it right before the 3rd book is about to be published! And I loved it.
“Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he’s making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…”
This was such a sweet and sexy story that contains the fake dating trope as well as a gender swapped Pretty Woman type story. Stella considered herself to be socially awkward, but I found her feelings to be pretty relatable. It seemed she just needed to find a person to love and support her, and Michael was that person! I enjoyed reading about Michael’s family, including their Vietnamese culture. My favorite quote from the book was “I love you more than calculus.” I just find that hilarious!
Title: It Had To Be You
Author: Georgia Clark
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio, 5/4/21
Source: Audio Publisher
Why I Read It: Heard It Was Good
My Rating: 5 Stars
What’s better than one adorable love story? Five of them in one book! It Had To Be You was a Love Actually type romance, with 5 intertwined characters telling their stories. The audio included 9 different narrators!
“For the past twenty years, Liv and Eliot Goldenhorn have run In Love in New York, Brooklyn’s beloved wedding-planning business. When Eliot dies unexpectedly, he even more unexpectedly leaves half of the business to his younger, blonder girlfriend, Savannah. Liv and Savannah are not a match made in heaven, to say the least. But what starts as a personal and professional nightmare transforms into something even savvy, cynical Liv Goldenhorn couldn’t begin to imagine. It Had to Be You cleverly unites Liv, Savannah, and couples as diverse and unique as New York City itself, in a joyous Love-Actually-style braided narrative. The result is a smart, modern love story that truly speaks to our times.”
You would think so many characters would get confusing, but even now, a few days after finishing the book, I can remember the couples and how they were unique. The book included new romance for older couples, queer people, someone questioning their sexuality, fake dating, secret dating, and more. It does include transphobia, infidelity, loss, and reference to abuse in a previous relationship.
Title: Dark Roads
Author: Chevy Stevens
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, 8/3/21
Source: Publisher via Net Galley
Why I Read It: Fan of the author / Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I have been a fan of Chevy Steven’s books in the past and I was thrilled to try this one out as well. I am happy to say I loved it! It had me riveted and I sped through it to find out what happened to Hailey. She is such a wonderful heroine and I loved her ability to take care of herself and her dog, Wolf.
“The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to justice. Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer―who’s claimed another victim over the summer. One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived―and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back―and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance…”
Beth proved to be an admirable co-protagonist as well, although I expected her to be much weaker than she was! Those who are sensitive to violence may not like this book, and my concern about the dog had me sobbing at one point. This book also contains voyeurism.
Wow – that’s a lot of five star books in a month! And I’m in the middle of two that may also prove to be five star reads! I will have to include those in my post next week about the rest of the books I read in July, because this post is already chock full!
Do you have a favorite book you read this month?