What I Read in June 2023
Not your typical summer beach reads.
With the help of audiobooks, I finished another nine books this month. I’m really proud of myself because several of the physical books I read were advance reader copies I needed to get through to post reviews ahead of the publication date! Good writing and quiet time at night helped a ton. I’ve also hit FIFTY BOOKS in 2023! I originally set my Goodreads goal at 25 for the year but I’m hoping to hit 75.
I’m back to posting my longer format reviews instead of just arbitrary star ratings this month. They were missed by several of my readers so I’m happy to oblige!
Psst… if you find your next great read in this newsletter, consider supporting my work and keeping me caffeinated while I write.
Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess
Synopsis: When Jess lands a job as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, she’s less than thrilled to learn she’ll be on the same team as Josh, her preppy, white, conservative sparring partner from college. Josh loves playing the devil’s advocate and is just…the worst.
But when Jess finds herself the sole Black woman on the floor, overlooked and underestimated, it’s Josh who shows up for her in surprising—if imperfect—ways. Before long, an unlikely friendship—one tinged with undeniable chemistry—forms between the two. A friendship that gradually, and then suddenly, turns into an electrifying romance that shocks them both.
Despite their differences, the force of their attraction propels the relationship forwards, and Jess begins to question whether it’s more important to be happy than right. But then it’s 2016, and the cultural and political landscape shifts underneath them. And Jess, who is just beginning to discover who she is and who she has the right to be, is forced to ask herself what she’s willing to compromise for love and whether, in fact, everything’s fine.
My Thoughts: I’ve learned my lesson in judging a book by its cover. I picked this book out expecting a literary fiction novel and was surprised when I actually read the blurb and some of the reviews. It has been marketed as a romance but I don’t think that’s accurate at all. This is not a fun, fluffy romance. It’s messy, the characters are flawed and it shows how complicated everyday life is. I think the UK did a much better job marketing this book but I’m still not sure who the target audience is.
Everything’s Fine is a character study of racial bias in the United States. Jess’s story is a raw, honest, and heartbreaking look at what it’s like to be the only black woman in the room and have to work ten times as hard to prove her worth. I felt outraged every time she had to explain herself to Josh and stand up for herself in a male-dominated field even though she was being gaslit into thinking she was crazy. At the same time, Jess is a new grad and this is a coming-of-age story set in NYC during a huge political swing. I loved the timeline because I can remember the cheering from the streets when Obama was elected and the tears when his second term came to an end. Everything’s Fine is uncomfortable to read at times but I think that’s part of what made it work for me. The book also explores friendships, family conflict, and grief. I really enjoyed the writing and pacing of this story. I flew through the second half because I needed to find out what happened next.
I’m a white woman and bring my own narrow world views to the table so I think it’s really important to read what women of color are saying about this book— both positive and negative. It’s definitely worth a read for some of the important discussions that are coming out of it! I’d recommend this one for a book club.
At the end of the day, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to read and form my own opinion on this (very divisive) book. I’m grateful to Simon & Schuster for the free Advance Review Copy.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Synopsis: Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
My Thoughts: I loved this book so much that I read it twice within a month. I originally read the book on my Kindle but in June my re-read was on audio. I didn’t love the narrator in the first 1/3 of the book but eventually found a bit of a groove. I’m still slightly annoyed by some of the mispronunciations.
Despite not being a huge fantasy reader, Fourth Wing is easily one of my favorite books of the year... and it wasn't even on my radar! I was drawn into this story from the first chapter. I couldn't stop reading and devoured this 600+ page fantasy romance in just two days. You'll recognize many similar elements from other fantasy/dystopian novels but the way Rebecca Yarros puts it together creates a captivating storyline. The tension between Violet and Xaden is HOT. She's a badass cadet training to be a dragon rider under the watchful eye of her nemesis and wingleader, Xaden. The action in this novel is high stakes and drives the plot forward. The rider's ability to make it through training is literally a life-or-death matter and I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. Fourth Wing has family drama, great friendships, internal struggles, chronic illness, self-perseverance, bravery, and so much more. The last line will completely wreck you!
This book is out of stock everywhere so your best bet is the library, audiobook, or Kindle! I can't wait for Book #2 to come out in November! I just pre-ordered my Kindle copy.
Super Bloom by Megan Tady
Synopsis: In this sparkling, heart-warming debut set at a luxury Vermont spa, massage therapist Joan Johnston is wallowing in grief over the accidental death of her boyfriend, Samuel, and it’s now seriously jeopardizing her job and her friendships. Will she ever be able to move on?
Enter Carmen Bronze, a hotheaded bestselling romance novelist and the most demanding massage client Joan’s ever faced. When Carmen offers Joan a chance to pay down her debt and save her job, it’s hard to say no—even though it means funneling Carmen inside dirt on the spa for her next novel.
The task unexpectedly reawakens a dormant talent in Joan, and she’s irresistibly drawn to writing her own romance novel based on her relationship with Samuel that stretches into the bright future they didn’t get to share. Writing proves to be the therapy Joan desperately needs, and her heart begins to open to new romance... and even the possibility of becoming a successful author herself. But none of this is easy, not with a lunatic like Carmen breathing down her neck and threatening to steal Joan’s manuscript.
My Thoughts: The synopsis was promising but this book just did not work for me. At times I feel like the author was trying to incorporate too many storylines and themes without really fleshing anything out very well. I did enjoy Joan's exploration of grief and her second chance at love following the death of her boyfriend was very heartwarming. It reminded me of The Two Lives of Lydia Bird in a way. I wanted more descriptions of Vermont and a lot less of the ins and outs of the massage industry. The ghostwriter storyline was probably the best part of the book but it took way too long to get into it. Most of the action takes place in the last quarter of the book. An okay debut. I'm curious to see what Tady writes next.
Thank you to Libro.fm for the free advance listening copy in exchange for an honest review.
Whisky Business by Elliot Fletcher
Synopsis: As a child, April Sinclair dreamt of escaping her quiet island life to become a world-famous actress. Now fully grown and with her once-flourishing career at an all-time low, what better way to figure out where it all went wrong than to go back to the beginning? April has her sights set on a new challenge, and that is saving her family’s distillery on the idyllic Scottish Isle of Skye.
What she doesn’t expect to find is Malcolm Macabe, short-tempered and exceedingly attractive, living in the home she has just inherited. He may be a million miles away from the shy teenager she knew growing up, but one thing is for certain: he doesn’t want her around anymore.
Master distiller Mal has three loves in his life: Whisky, his dog and silence. He has no time for the pampered princess poking her nose around his distillery, even if said princess is the one who got away. More comfortable in the shadows than the spotlight, Mal is content to wait her out. She’ll grow bored and run back to her glamorous world of nail salons and take-away coffee eventually. When sparks begin to fly, he tells himself it doesn’t matter…because April Sinclair could never want a man like him, right?
My Thoughts: I devoured this book in a day! I loved the tension between April and Malcolm. Their chemistry was undeniable! What can I say? I'm a sucker for the grumpy x sunshine trope. Malcolm was the perfect book boyfriend. I loved the cast of family and friends. There was just enough drama but the author did a really good job of keeping it about the MCs. To top it all off, it was set in the Scottish Highlands at a whisky distillery. It's like this whole romance was written just for me. Definitely check this book out if you want a fluffy romance that wraps up neatly! Pun intended.
The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler
Synopsis: Three best friends decide they’re finally done with their ex-husbands taking their work as wives and moms for granted. They’re ready to monetize the mental load, stick it to their exes, and have a wild ride in the process.
Lauren, mother of twins, wakes up one morning to her Wife Alarm Bells sounding. She sleuths on her husband’s phone and stumbles on a dirty secret that explodes her marriage. Madeline has it all—a penthouse apartment, a perfect daughter, and no-strings-attached romps with handsome men. When she learns that she might lose her child to her ex in England, it stirs up a decades-old personal tragedy. Sophie, with too much FOMO and never enough money, obsesses over her ex-husband’s Family 2.0—all while keeping her true desires hidden, even from herself.
It starts as a joke during a tipsy night out, as Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie rail against everything wives do for free. Let’s build an app that monetizes the mental load. And maybe get revenge on our exes in the process? Soon, the Wife App is born, and before long, it’s the fastest-growing start-up in New York City. But then life intervenes. Love intervenes. Ex-husbands intervene. And the consequences are bigger than anything Lauren, Madeline, or Sophie could have expected. Carolyn Mackler marks her debut into adult fiction with a hilarious rollercoaster ride of revenge and redemption that is at once a send-up of modern marriage and a celebration of female friendship and love in all forms.
My Thoughts: Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie are best friends and divorcees living in NYC when they come up with the brilliant idea to create The Wife App, an app that monetizes “the mental load” of housewives and mothers.
As a wife and work outside-the-home mother of two young kids, the synopsis for this book immediately caught my eye. The storyline is so unique and I think if you read Eve Rodsky’s book Fair Play, you’ll be a huge fan of this fictionized version of some of the themes covered in it. I flew through the first quarter of this book but then it slowed down for me. There are a ton of characters and they are hard to keep up with because most of them lack depth. You’ve got the 3 friends, their exes, all the kids, their friends, new love interests, and then side characters that come into play with the tasks assigned in the app. I think the author does a good job addressing privilege and featuring LGBTQ characters but at the same time, it’s one of those books where it feels like the author is trying to do too much. I think The Wife App could have benefited from a more polished storyline in that regard. Overall, this book is fun and empowering but I wanted Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie to have a little more happiness in their story. They deserve it.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
The Stoic Path: The Golden Sayings by Epictetus
Synopsis: The Stoic Path is your essential guide to a better life. Countless leaders, athletes, and thinkers have been shaped by the tenants of Stoicism, with its rational acceptance of the present moment and uncompromising insistence on virtue. The principles that form the backbone of Stoic thought are timeless―offering a refreshingly honest clarity to the complexity of modern life.
The Stoic Path is a collection of the wisdom of Epictetus, one of the greatest Stoic philosophers of antiquity. Hastings Crossley translated the original text from Greek and compiled Epictetus’s most potent wisdom to create an accessible, compelling distillation of stoic thought. Originally published as The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, this new edition has been redesigned to appeal to today’s reader while maintaining the authenticity of the original translation.
My Thoughts:
“Asked, Who is the rich man? Epictetus replied He who is content.”
This is a great pocket collection of Epictetus’ teachings but the translation is a bit dated for the modern age. The language made it difficult to read without much studying. It’s best to read slowly, with intention, one passage at a time. Overall, an insightful and quotable book that makes for a good introduction to Stoicism.
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
Synopsis: Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail - for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.
As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.
My Thoughts: Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? The 7 college students who make up the cast of characters in this novel seem to embody this age-old question. I should preface this review by saying Shakespeare is not my thing. Theater in general is not my thing. Both of those facts made this book difficult for me personally to get through. But I did go to an art school and trust me when I say I get it. Oliver, James, Alexander, Richard, Filippa, Meredith, and Wren are obsessed with their theater performances at an elite school called Dellecher. So much so that the lines between what is real and what’s an act become blurred. Each student is a manifestation of a particular theater archetype. They embody the roles that they’ve taken on year after year. The story is told through Oliver’s eyes, though Shakespeare himself seems to become the impetus for the action in the novel. This book has murder, betrayal, heartbreak, and lots of twists. I love dark academia and thought M. L. Rio’s writing was excellent, I just didn’t connect to this story as much as I hoped to. I think I would benefit from a deeper re-reading with a pen in hand to annotate! Excellent on audio!
The Power of Ritual: How to Create Meaning and Connection in Everything You Do by Casper ter Kuile
Synopsis: Ter Kuile, cohost of the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, demonstrates in his thoughtful debut how the nonreligious can "liberate the gifts of tradition" to foster greater spiritual connection in their lives. He argues that, while formal religious affiliation may be waning, spiritual practices remain relevant because they can cultivate bonds to the self, others, the natural world, and the transcendent. Ter Kuile explains the significance of a variety of religious practices, including pilgrimage, prayer, and meditation, and proposes ways to capture their significance through everyday activities ("anything can become a spiritual practice--gardening, painting, singing, snuggling, sitting") by focusing on intention, attention, and repetition. This approach leads to inventive explorations of social trends; for instance, the famously cultish appeal of the Crossfit fitness program is explained in terms of vulnerability and community. In ter Kuile's understanding, religious traditions are "inherently creative" and therefore good starting points for considering personalized, meaningful spiritual practices.
My Thoughts: When I originally read the blurb for this book I did not realize it was written by the cohost of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. I listened to a few episodes of the podcast a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it… I just have a hard time sticking with podcasts because I love audiobooks! his book plays off of some of the same ideas presented in the podcast. Any text can be sacred, there's power in community, and our society is changing faster than we've been able to keep up with. There's still time to figure out how to adapt to the steady decline in organized religion and my biggest takeaway is that it's important to foster those secular "third spaces" you hear about-- book clubs, gym buddies, park dates with mom friends, etc. There is real meaning and purpose in internal reflection and our tiny everyday rituals that sometimes feel mundane. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is feeling a little lost and lonely and looking for ways to deepen their connection to the world outside of the walls of a church.
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
Synopsis: Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn't.
At thirty-two, Fern's life doesn't look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern's back home, running her mother's Muskoka lakeside resort--something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend's the manager, and Fern doesn't know where to begin.
She needs a plan--a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern's going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit-wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern's not sure she wants to know what it is.
But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?
My Thoughts: Fortune's sophomore novel did not disappoint! I was completely engrossed in last year's debut novel Every Summer After and had high hopes for this book. While it didn't suck me in the same way, I savored getting to know the characters slowly.
Meet me at the Lake centers around Fern Brookanks who has returned to her family's lakeside resort in Muskoka following the death of her mother. She struggles with whether or not to take over the business, something she was adamantly against in her early 20s. The story alternates between the present and 10 years ago, when she first met Will Baxter. When Will shows up to offer his help, Fern's not sure if she can trust him. Will she risk having her heart broken again?
This story is so tender. I'm a sucker for second-chance romances. I need a whole second book about Fern's mom! I loved getting to know her through her diary. Sure, you have to suspend a little bit of belief to accept that Will and Fern had ONE day together with so much chemistry that they're still obsessed with each other 10 years later but fate is on their side in this story. There are so many themes that I loved. Both characters had really incredible family relationships and the story showed how invested they were in the success of those around them. There's a good bit of miscommunication but Will and Fern work through their ups and downs in a way that feels so realistic. He opens up to her about his anxiety and I love when books have mental health representation for men!
This gave me so much nostalgia and I can't wait to be reading one of Carley's books at our family cottage one day. There really is something special about Canada’s lake district.
As for what’s next, I’ve been reading some Dramione FanFic before I dive into my July TBR list. IYKYK. I am also finishing up Lease on Love by Falon Ballard. I will probably read at least one Christmas book to celebrate Christmas in July. You can keep up with my reading journey in real time on Goodreads or Instagram.
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So excited to hear The Fourth Wing has lived up to the hype! I have the epub and haven’t started yet so definitely looking forward to getting to it sooner rather than later now!