Everything I Read in August

Quick(ish) thoughts on all my reads last month

THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE BY RILEY SAGER

I’ve read most of Riley Sager’s books and usually enjoy that they are a darker side of mystery. While I generally liked this book, it took what I’ll call a paranormal/horror turn that I was not expecting and didn’t love. Casey is our protagonist, she’s an alcoholic actor staying at her family’s lake house in Vermont after the tragic death of her husband. Her mother has sent her there to take time to heal after being fired from her last play. While there she drinks too much and spends time spying on the wealthy couple across the lake, eventually meeting the wife, Katherine, an ex super model. Shortly after meeting Katherine goes missing and Casey makes it her mission to find out what happened. This book had a similar feeling to The Woman in the Window and The Girl on the Train, both a sort of alcoholic Rear Window. There were some fun twists and turns, and even with the paranormal twist, I still had to keep reading. Sager’s writing is compelling and fun, however I have enjoyed some of his other books more. Check out The Last Time I Lied and Home Before Dark.

A GOOD GIRLS GUIDE TO MURDER BY HOLLY JACKSON

This was a fun twisty, turny mystery, and even though it was YA, it was clever and dark. I really liked the storytelling method used here, mixing in the main characters notes with the story. Pippa, a high school student, is working on her capstone project and has taken it upon herself to solve the murder of a local girl five years earlier. Technically the case is closed and solved, but Pippa and others don’t believe the findings. Andie Bell, a popular girl at school goes missing and is presumed dead, her body is never found. Her then boyfriend, Sal, seems to confess to the murder by suicide note, however anyone that knew him couldn’t believe he could hurt Andie or kill himself. Through her investigation a lot more secrets in the town come out. All in all a great mystery. I already requested the second book in the series, Good Girl, Bad Blood, from the library.

IN A DARK, DARK WOOD BY RUTH WARE

I thought I had read all of Ruth Ware’s books leading up to her newest release, The It Girl. Then I saw In a Dark, Dark Wood at Books Are Magic and realized there was a gap in my Ruth Ware reading history. I love her books, always female main character centered, usually full of dark pasts and secrets, and In a Dark, Dark Wood was no exception. Nora, full name Leonora, known as Lee in High School, gets a mysterious invite to the hen party (read bachelorette party in the UK) of her best friend from growing up, but who she’s fallen out with 10 years ago. She and another school friend decided to attend together and the weekend seems weird from the get go. The maid of honor seems creepily obsessed with the bride, most of the invitees have bailed, and they are at a remote cabin in the woods, all in all a perfect recipe for mystery.

MY KILLER VACATION BY TESSA BAILEY

I’ll just get right to this, I did not love this book. Now if you’re looking for a bunch of spicy scenes with a side of mystery, this delivers. That being said, I was not a fan of the romance at all. Maybe because I am in my 30s, but the older mid thirties “rough around the edges” guy being immediately obsessed with the young, innocent, mid twenties 2nd grade teacher was just not doing it for me. Her wanting to explore her sexuality but only feeling like she could do it with this guy, rather than the “boring finance guys” she dates felt immature. Honestly, I contemplated DNFing it, but I actually wanted to see how the mystery turned out. The book flipped back and forth between the main characters, Taylor the Teacher and Myles the Bountyhunters POVs, and I didn’t really want to be in either of their heads.

THE HOTEL NANTUCKET BY ELIN HILDERBRAND

I went on vacation the second week of August and while I didn’t have much reading time during the vacation, I had tons on my extended flight home. What was supposed to be a one way flight from Edinburgh to New York turned into a flight from Edinburgh to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to New York, all a day late. 12 hours of flying really gives you some reading time, and between naps and watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days I read, The Hotel Nantucket. I love Elin Hilderbrand books as a form of escapism, especially as I have never been to nantucket, and this one didn’t disappoint. Check out my full review here.

FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK BY ELISSA SUSSMAN

Next up in my month of romance reads was Funny You Should Ask, a super cute romance read, but not as deep as Seven Days in June. I’ll be honest, I didn’t fully buy into their romance, and after I saw something that said this was Chris Evans fan fiction, I bought it even less. The story flashes back and forth with Chani Horowitz’s point of view. Chani was a budding journalist ten years ago and made her name by spending a weekend with Gabe Parker, who is set to be the first American even cast as James Bond, and writing a pivotal article about the actor. Now Chani is a famous celebrity interview journalist, divorced, moved back and forth from LA to New York and back to LA, and still gets asked what really happened between her and Gabe. Gabe has just gotten out of rehab and their agents set them up again for an interview, hoping literary sparks fly again. There was one part I don’t want to spoil, but the reason Gabe developed feelings for Chani felt inauthenic, but also something an author would fantasize about. That’s all I’ll say!

SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE BY TIA WILLIAMS

This was an amazing kickoff to a month full of romance reads. In an effort to get more diverse representation into my romance reads I picked this up and I am so glad I did. To begin this was just a beautiful love story, with some nice spice mixed in. I loved the organizational structure, with the book going backwards and forwards over the seven days. This has to be said, but do not sleep on the epilogue. I know sometimes epilogues can be cheesy or throw away but this was everything. Eva, a successful fantasy romance author and single mother living in Park Slope gets dragged into speaking on a panel with other black authors and during the event, Shane another famous black author shows up and turns Eva’s world upside down. What no one but the two of them know is that they’ve met years ago when they were both in high school and shared a week together that changed them both forever. When they chat after the panel has ended their last lines to each other wrecked me. Eva says “Stop writing about me” and Shane replies, “You first.” There are a lot of other themes woven through the book like pain, physical and emotional, addiction, and family trauma that makes this a deep and beautiful book.

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW BY GABRIELLE ZIVEN

Wow Wow Wow I wish I could read this again for the first time. I love when a book totally pulls me in immediately, especially if I was apprehensive to read it, it’s about gamers after all. Read my full review here, but highly recommend.