What I Read in May & Share Your Shelf #14

It's the first Thursday of the month and time for Share Your Shelf with  Marilyn, Jennifer, Tanya, and I. This post and link up are dedicated solely to books and book reviews and it's one I look so forward to each and every month. I am always looking for new and more book ideas.

I didn't read nearly as many books as I usually do; I had a hard time concentrating on reading this month and that combined with only listening to 3 books on my Libby app made a huge difference in how many books I was able to complete. I enjoyed them all though so that's all that really matters.  

1. Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Book #5 of The Inheritance Games)-- I did not realize this book was a collection of short stories; I was 1/2 way through the second story and feeling so lost as to how the two stories were going to tie together when I decided to google and read the synopsis. I am not a short story fan because I hate that the stories always feel so unfinished but I did enjoy these. Some of them took place before the first 4 books and others took place after. They did add to my general understanding of the whole Inheritance Games universe.

2. Until Next Summer by Ali Brady-- Jessie has devoted most of her life to Camp Chickawah and when she learns that the family who owns the camp is set on selling and realizes this will be their last summer ever she decides to reach out to campers of all ages for one last nostalgic 8 week run of summer camp. Her best camp friend Hilary volunteers to run the arts and crafts area but Jessie isn't so sure; the two drifted apart years ago when they were in college. Things are a bit awkward at first but slowly the two start to rebuild their friendship and each of them start a little summer romance with some secondary characters too. It was a sweet story with lots of fun characters and even as someone who never went to camp it made me feel nostalgic!

 3. You With a View by Jessica Joyce-- Another fun one! Noelle is adrift, living back with her parents after losing her job while still mourning the loss of her grandmother when she finds an old photo and a love letter between her grandmother and a mystery man from her gram's college days. Noelle reaches out online for any information and finds Theo and his grandfather Paul. Theo happened to be Noelle's high school nemesis but there is no denying Paul is the man in the photo. As Noelle gets to know Paul she finds an old map of a honeymoon trip the two were hoping to take after college. She decides she wants to go on that trip and Paul persuades Noelle to take him along with Theo. The trio visit all the national parks and sites on the list with Paul giving Noelle an old letter from her grandmother to read each day while also encouraging Noelle to get back into taking photos. Tension and interest build between Noelle and Theo as they get to know one another better

 4. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella--  Lexi wakes up in the hospital with a vague memory of falling down the stairs only to discover that that memory is from nearly 3 years ago. She can't remember anything since and is stunned to find just how much her life has changed. She's had cosmetic work done, is married, is apparently quite wealthy now, and as she scrambles to try and remember who she was she finds that perhaps her life isn't quite as picture perfect as it appears on the outside. I listened to this one on audio and really enjoyed it a lot. 

 5. Variation by Rebecca Yaros-- I read this one on my Kindle. When both Allie and Hudson met by accident as teenagers both Allie and Hudson knew that even a friendship was rather risky. Allie was one of the 4 famous ballerina's in the family Rousseau that come to Hudson's seaside town each summer. Allie's mother is stern and expects a lot from her daughters but somehow with the help of her sisters Allie and Hudson manage to become best friends for a short time until a tragedy occurs that rips the two of them apart. This story picks up many years later when Allie is recovering from a painful ballet injury and thrust rather haphazardly into Hudson's family by the sheer will and determination of Hudson's own niece; a girl that wants so badly to be a ballerina herself. There is so much more to the story than I can share without ruining plot points but I really enjoyed it a lot. 

6. The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes-- This first book in the start of a whole second series takes place just after The Inheritance Games books end. In this story the Hawthorne Family hosts an annual competition designed to give anyone a chance at striking it rich. This year's 7 players must do whatever it takes to win. Some want the fame and fortune, others want power, and each is holding onto either secrets, resentments, or some combination of them both. As the game heats up it is revealed that not everyone is playing by the rules. A few of the players had popped up as secondary or even tertiary characters in earlier books but it was a good group of players with a fun batch of puzzles mixed in with lots of intrigue and glamour. It ended party way through the game on a cliffhanger and now I can't wait for the next book in the series to be released.

7. The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore-- In this 4th book in the series Archer is a world- renown chef that finds himself thrust into the role of full-time parent when his daughter's mother dies. Having to uproot his life and move to the tiny town of Dream Harbor where he finds work in the diner Archer needs help; especially since his daughter won't even talk to him. Iris is struggling to pay her rent when she hears of a nanny job that come with free room and board. She's not keen on kids but figures the job can't be THAT hard and will help her save up for the future. Of course the two but heads now and then and have some chemistry that they try to ignore. I know many people said this wasn't as good as the other books in the series but I honestly think it was my favorite so far! I enjoyed it so much.

8. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry-- I ended up loving this one! Alice Scott has managed to track down the famous Margaret Ives and is hoping to write an outstanding biography of her life... only it turns out Alice wasn't the only one invited to this tiny island to meet with Margaret. Pulitzer prize winning novelist Hayden has been invited too. The two authors are to sign NDA's and agree not to even talk to one another about their interviews and both are given 30 days to work with Margaret before she'll award one of them the coveted prize of being "her" writer. Both Alice and Hayden end up turning up at many of the tiny island's spots and the two quickly become friends and while both feel an undercurrent of something more they try like crazy to stick to the job at hand. I enjoyed the two concurrent story lines running through this book-- the one about Margaret's family, fame, and fortune, and the one unfolding between Alice and Hayden. There were some plot twists that kept things interesting and Margaret herself is quite a character.

9. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling-- While I am a huge Harry Potter fan I had never read this once since I didn't think I'd enjoy reading a play but our local theater is going to be having the Broadway production visiting and I thought I might like to see it but should probably know the story line first since it's gotten such mixed reviews. I enjoyed it but did wish it was written more like a traditional novel. 

 10. Connect The Stars by Marisa de los Santos-- A really adorable middle grade fiction. Told from two different points of view: Audrey & Aaron. Audrey has had a really rough year; she can detect when anyone is lying and it turns out middle schoolers lie a lot. She has basically withdrawn from everyone and her parents hope that sending her to a wilderness camp for the summer will help her restore her faith in humanity. Aaron has also had a rough year, he has a near perfect recall of anything he's read, seen, or heard but when he loses his school's academic challenge and nearly gets expelled for cheating (of a sort) his parents decide he needs a reset and send him to the same wilderness camp. Once there Audrey and Aaron are reluctantly teamed up with some other 13 & 14 year old to complete a survival challenge in the dessert.

I just have  8 books left on my 52 books challenge and am waiting rather impatiently for several books to come in fro our local library.

 

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