This was a good fun month of reading. I read ten books. I’ve never had a quantifiable book goal, but this year, I wanted to read a hundred and (spoiler alert!) I did it. The Inheritance Games series helped me get there. A super fun YA series that has so many of the things I love: puzzles and mysteries, rich unsupervised teens, adults behaving badly . . . I could go on. If you find yourself in a reading rut, this is a good one to try. I recommend buying the box set as they go quickly. The Goddess of Warsaw was probably my favorite book of the month. I really love Lisa Barr’s work and this did not disappoint. I’m still thinking about it, weeks later!
I will be back a little later this week with everything I read (ranked and categorized) this year, but in the meantime, head to The Library for even more book recs. Everything I’ve read over the years, and. you can sort and filter. In the meantime, tell me what you read this month in the comments! I always love your recommendations!
Historical Fiction
The Goddess of Warsaw, by Lisa Barr
I LOVED this book. I loved Lisa Barr’s last book (Woman on Fire) and this was just as good. Like, A+, texted my mom that she had to read it, still can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t read a ton of historical fiction but could not put this down. It is a perfect mashup of old Hollywood glamour with WWII Nazi drama. In 2005, we meet Lena Browning, a mysterious but enormously famous movie star. The book opens with a young starlet (Sienna Hayes), wanting to direct a picture about Lena’s life. But Lena’s past is murky. She is not actually Lena Browning at all. She’s Bina Blonski; a wealthy Jewish woman who was imprisoned in a horrible ghetto with the rest of Warsaw’s surviving Jews. Bina is not one to just suffer silently, she vows to fight back and joins an underground resistance movement. As her family is destroyed, Bina does the unthinkable for a woman of her standing: she becomes a spy, gaining information and stealing weapons outside of the ghetto. What she accomplishes is truly heroic. Meanwhile, her personal life is in a terrible state; she is in love with her husband’s brother (a fellow resistance fighter) Aleksander. Bina manages to eventually escape, and makes her way to Hollywood where she becomes a star. She becomes powerful and famous but can never really escape her past. I loved this and could not put it down. There were so many twists and turns; I gasped at the end! Highly, highly recommend. Overall Score: A+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
Thrillers
The Last One at the Wedding, by Jason Rekulak
Frank Szatowski is a widower. A UPS driver, happy with his life, living in a small town in Pennsylvania, near his sister Tammy who is always taking in foster kids. They live a good life, except Frank is estranged from his daughter Maggie. When Maggie calls him for the first time after three years, he’s shocked. He’s even more shocked when he learns that she is getting married. And not just to anyone. Maggie is marrying into the ultra-wealthy Gardner family: her fiance Aidan’s father is tech billionaire Erroll Gardner. But Aidan seemingly wants nothing to do with Frank. He’s closed off and unfriendly. As the wedding approaches and Frank does everything he can to reconnect with Maggie and get to know her new family, Frank begins to think that something darker is at hand. Especially when a young woman goes missing. A young woman who claimed to be pregnant with Aidan’s child. Frank doesn’t want to push hard. but he needs to know more about this family. I really enjoyed this and tore through it in just a couple sittings. Loads of twists and turns. The ending goes just a little bit off-the-rails, but I still loved it! Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
You Can Trust Me, by Wendy Heard
This was a fun, albeit slightly off the rails, and unbelievable thriller. I read it in a single day. Summer and Leo are best friends but also partners in crime con artists. They are their chosen family, the only family either young woman has. They live in Summer’s tricked-out Land Cruiser and fund their lifestyle via a string of petty crimes. Summer is an expert pick-pocket, and Leo has her eyes set on a big fish: tech billionaire Michael Forrester. When Leo’s plans go better than expected, and she lands herself an invitation to his private island, she has dollar signs, stolen jewelry, and blackmail in her eyes. But when Leo disappears, Summer knows that something has to be wrong. She receives an invitation of her own to the island, but when she arrives, no one has seen Leo. She has to take things into her own hands and figure out what really happened. There is only one way onto the island (and no way off until their tech conference ends). Summer finds herself trapped, uncertain of how she will find her best friend. This one has a lot of holes and goes a little off the rails, but it’s fun. It would be a great beach read; enjoyable to read and it keeps you on your toes. Overall Score: B+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
The Inheritance Games, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
If you want a fun series to get lost in, I think this is the move! I didn’t realize it was a 5 book series when I started (I might have been less likely to read if I knew this!), but now I’m sucked in. The plot is just fabulous. A wealthy Texas family, an incredible home, rags to riches, and puzzles? Sign me up. Avery Grambs is just trying to survive high school so that she can win a scholarship and get out of town. Thanks to her sister Libby’s abusive boyfriend, she often sleeps in her car. Everything changes when a wealthy stranger, Tobias Hawthorne, dies and leaves her his 46.2 billion dollar fortune. Avery is baffled and has no idea. Nor does his family, who is understandably quite upset. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into the Hawthorne family home. A sprawling estate filled with puzzles and codes, secret passages and tunnels. But his four grandsons are not happy about any of this. There is Grayson, who is convinced that Avery is an evil con woman, and his brother Jameson, who sees her as a puzzle to solve. It’s going to take quite a bit of work just to survive Hawthorne House. I tore through the first one in just a few days and can’t wait to read the next four! Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
The Hawthorne Legacy, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Without saying too much about the first one (I don’t want to give away any spoilers!), I think I liked the second book even better than the first. Avery Grambs is about to be the richest teenager in the world. She just needs to survive living at Hawthorne House for a full year. As she finds herself drawn more and more to the Hawthorne boys, she also finds herself realizing that she might just have potential ties to the family she’d never considered. As with the first book, there are twists, threats, puzzles, and games at every corner. Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
The Final Gambit, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Book three of The Inheritance Games! I have to say, this series just kept getting better and better. I enjoyed it so much. This one was a wild ride. Avery is about to get her inheritance and become the richest teenager in the world, but there are obstacles galore. The paparazzi is all over her and the Hawthorne boys. There are new financial pressures, and her lawyer wants her to set up a trust. Most importantly, a new enemy arises . . . with (you guessed it!) new games. When a family member is kidnapped, Avery must lean on the Hawthorne brothers to solve one last puzzle and save their beloved family member. A powerful rival, a race against time. And so many riddles. This one was fun, fast-paced, and a little bit stressful at times! Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
The Brothers Hawthorne, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Book four! This was a really good little series. The fourth (and final, I think?) book of the series alternates between the perspectives of Grayson and Jameson as they each execute a dangerous mission of their own. Jameson is in London, engaging in a mysterious, high-profile game that could expose his biggest secret. Grayson is in Texas, a few hours from his home, getting to know a new part of his family (while protecting secrets of his own). The brothers must lean on each other (and Avery) to keep each other (and their secrets) safe. Again, I’m keeping this brief to avoid spoilers, but it’s really fun! Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
Contemporary Fiction
Pictures of You, by Emma Grey
Evelyn Roche (formerly Evie Hudson) wakes up after a traumatic car crash. Her husband is dead. She knows she should be sad, but she can’t remember a thing. Mentally, she’s sixteen years old again–unable to remember anything before that. She soon realizes that she’s estranged from everyone who mattered to her when she was sixteen: her parents, her best friend Bree. When on a chance encounter, she winds up in the back seat of her other high school best friend Drew, he is seemingly the only one left with any patience for Evie. Seemingly, she has no friends . . . no real life outside of her dead husband and his parents. With Drew’s help, she begins to remember. And as it turns out, her husband’s death might be exactly what she needed for a fresh start. I couldn’t put this down. I almost categorized it as a thriller but it reads more like a suspenseful contemporary romance. Kind of similar in genre to The Light We Lost (but very different!), the fact that Jill Santopolo blurbed it was one of the reasons I read it! (Without giving too much away, this book contains domestic violence and abuse.) This book is about love, loss, and second chances. Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
Lily and the Octopus, by Steven Rowley
I read this on a friend’s rec, not really knowing what it was about, and I just need to warn you that this is one of the saddest books I’ve ever read (I’m someone who probably gets more upset about pets dying in books than people dying in books). It is about a man and his best friend, except his best friend is a dog and she is dying. So there is a content warning for the death of a beloved animal. It’s a great book, just very sad. Ted is gay, single, and stuck in life. After a six year-long relationship, he finds himself unable to open himself up and find intimacy. His relationship with his dog Lily is what gets him through the days. Ice cream and pizza nights, talking about cute boys together, trips to the park. But when Lily’s health is compromised, he finds himself unraveling. It is funny at times and so creative and well-written, but it broke my heart multiple times — I don’t remember the last time a book made me sob the way that this one did. And so I gave it an A, but it was very hard to read. I will say that it had a wonderfully hopeful ending. But just: SO SAD. Also, I brought it to LA with me and read it there, miles and miles away from my cats. Not the best decision I’ve made. Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
Non-Fiction
Momfluenced, by Sarah Petersen
This had been on my list for a long time and I’m so glad I finally read it! I listened to it on Audible, which made for a fun and engaging listen. I had worried that it would be snarky or mean but it isn’t at all. It is thoughtful and very honest though! The momfluencer industry is a billion dollar category. These women are saying things like “just a mom” in their bios when they are actually running seven, sometimes eight figure businesses. Petersen talks about her own experience in following mommy blogs (and then momfluencers) and her own curiousity. She talks about the tradwife phenomenon, the all-white aesthetic, essential oils, and sponcon. She interviews so many women (many of my friends included!). I will of course gobble up anything about the influencer industry, and I was fascinated by the momfluencers as it’s so different than what I do. But what I found the most interesting was her commentary on race and class. And the ways that many of the most popular influencers are actually contributing to a mindset of white supremacy. Really interesting stuff, really smartly researched. A great listen. Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org
