What I Read: August 2020

And just like that, it’s September. One of my favorite things about summer is reading outside. I’m already a bit sad that it won’t be warm for that much longer and I’ll be back to reading on my couch instead of outside in the fresh air. So it goes when the seasons change.

This month’s reads are a bit all over the place as far as genre goes. It’s a little bit of everything.

What I Read This Month:

 

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

This book is an incredibly well written, smart, and thought-provoking story about racism, sexuality, identity, gender, and privilege. Much of this book takes place in the 1950s thru the 1970s but the things discussed feel super fresh and relevant. I’ll be honest, it’s not the kind of book I typically gravitate towards, but I wanted to give it a shot after quite a few of my friends raved about it.

Identical twins Desiree and Stella grew up in the fictional town of Mallard where everyone is Black but light-skinned after years of interbreeding. As teenagers, the twins run away to New Orleans for a better life. Years later Desiree returns to Mallard with her daughter after leaving her abusive husband. No one has heard from Stella in years. Turns out she’s living in Los Angeles and is passing as White. Her powerful husband and young daughter both don’t know she’s Black.

The story follows mainly the mothers and daughters and their journey from the 1950s until the 1990s. I especially loved following Jude, Desiree’s daughter, her boyfriend, and the eclectic group of drag queens she becomes BFFs with in college.

As I said earlier, this book is different than the light, fluffy, romance books I usually gravitate towards. Because of that, it took me a while to get into this book. While it wasn’t my favorite book I read this year, I still think it’s an important, powerful, and great book.

My Rating: 4/5

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28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

I was VERY excited to dive into this book. A number of people said that it might be Elin Hilderbrand’s best book yet… and I honestly agree. Which is saying A LOT, I’ve loved many of her books.

This book follows Jake and Mallory for 28 years, from when they meet until they are in their 50’s. We begin in 1993. Mallory has just inherited a little shack in Nantucket from her beloved aunt. She agrees to host her brother and his friends, including Jake, for the brother’s bachelor party. The weekend is absolutely disastrous but ends with Jake and Mallory left alone in the house for a few nights of bonding. By the end of the weekend, they’ve decided to make a pact based on the movie Same Time Next Year. They spend every Labor Day together, no matter what.

The book follows this relationship between Jake and Mallory and their yearly rendezvous for the next 28 years. I love how the book ties in pop culture and what’s going on in the world every single year, using events like 9/11 and even the current pandemic in the plot. I’m a sucker for a book that follows the same characters for a long period of time. By the end of the book, I felt SO emotionally attached to Jake and Mallory — and their friends and family. All of the characters felt like old friends to me and I didn’t want to let them go when the book ended.

It’s hard for me to put into words just how much I loved this book, but I adored it. I wish I hadn’t read it so fast and savored it! 28 Summer is hands down one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.

My Rating: 5/5

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The Boys’ Club by Erica Katz

I get a lot of my reading recommendations from the podcast Bad on Paper. Both hosts raved about this book and I can definitely see why.

Alex Vogel just finished law school and lands her dream job at one of the top law firms in NYC. She soon realizes that being a female in Big Law comes with its own set of challenges. Even so, Alex immediately is enamored with the high energy, high paced, high-pressure vibe at work and strives to prove herself as one of the top performers among her co-workers. Her devotion to work starts to cause tension with her long-time boyfriend and her parents are starting to worry about the long hours at the office.

Alex soon starts to realize that everything isn’t exactly what it seems and there are a lot of dark secrets among her co-workers.

I found this book to be addictingly good, I was totally engrossed in Alex’s world. The end fell a bit flat, though, and felt rushed after a long build-up through the book. Otherwise, I really loved this book.

My Rating: 4/5

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The Comeback by Ella Berman

I wanted to love this book about a former child-actress coming back to Hollywood after totally disappearing… but I just couldn’t get into it.

Actress Grace became super famous at the age of 15 when she was cast as the lead role in a major movie trilogy. We meet her a few years later when she suddenly decided to leave the spotlight at the height of her career and go live with her parents in Anaheim. As the book unfolds we start to learn why Grace decided to leave the spotlight and about her traumatic, abusive, history working in the industry as a young actress.

I personally couldn’t get into this book and found it to be slow. Grace is fairly unlikeable (for a good reason, we learn) but I still found her to be a frustrating character to read about throughout the book. I personally prefer a book with more juicy dialogue and things happening more so than one character moping around.

I do know that plenty of other people have LOVED this book. For me, it was a miss and I probably would’ve ditched it early on but I kept hoping it would get more interesting.

My Rating: 2/5

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The Mall by Megan McCafferty

I wanted something light and fun after reading The Comeback. I loved loved loved Megan McCafferty’s book series Sloppy Firsts in high school and was excited to read her new YA book.

The Mall takes place in 1991 and follows Cassie Worthy during the summer before she heads off to Barnard for college. She’s just gotten over an awful case of mono (blech) and is ready to start her summer job alongside her boyfriend at the local mall. Turns out he’s been cheating for the past few weeks. All at once she gets dumped and ends up losing her job in the food court.

Out of desperation to make some money this summer, she ends up landing a job at a high-end fashion store alongside her former best friend. The two end up reconnecting and start on a wild hunt to find a secret treasure that was hidden somewhere in the mall.

The book is a super cute homage to just how awesome malls were in the early 90s. I will say some of the references went way over my head as someone born in 1990. A bit weird for a book aimed at teenagers born in the new millenium. Even still, Megan McCafferty’s signature wit and charm were very present in this book and I breezed through it in 2 days. A fun, quick, read if you’re craving something light.

My Rating: 3/5

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