What I Read in June & Share Your Shelf #15

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 came home from Acadia to find that 8 of the books I had requested through our local library came in all at once; I struggled to get them read as well as the Netgalley books I had downloaded, the 3 books I bought on vacation, and the myriad books I already had lying around the house. Obviously, I couldn't read them ALL but I think I did a pretty decent job chipping steadily away at the pile. I managed to read 14 books in all this month and I enjoyed so many of them so much. You know it's a good month when I couldn't possibly pick a favorite! 

 

1. Palazzo by Danielle Steel-- I am determined to read the books I have stuffed in every drawer of my nightstand and I started with this easy read. I realized by page 50 that I just don't really enjoy Danielle Steel books anymore. I think her story lines, settings, and characters are great but she repeats herself so much. By page 50 I felt like she had already told me two or three times how the main character's parents died. In talking with my mom I found that she happened to be reading a totally different Danielle Steel book and she admitted to skipping 4 pages because it was all the same information she already read. Has her writing always been like this and I just didn't notice? Anyway, in this book Cosima takes over her family's high end leather business after the tragic death of her parents. She's fairly young but determined to keep her brother and sister living comfortably while preserving the legacy of her parents and grandparents, including their beautiful palazzo in Venice. The story starts when Cosima is in her early twenties and takes us through the next 20 or so years of her life; the struggles to run the business, help her siblings, and not just let life pass her by.

2. Fallosophy: My Trip Through Life with MS by Ardra Shephard-- It was a good thing I mixed this book in with some other fun and light rom-coms because this book was hard to get through. We have a family member with MS so I wanted to learn more about it and I figured a memoir was a great way to know more about this autoimmune disease; even if no two cases are ever exactly alike. I learned a lot but it was difficult to read; thinking about the struggles and trials ahead. I had no idea relapse-remitting MS changes to progressive MS, I had no idea that people with MS are so much more likely to develop a second autoimmune disease... and things like that. I also thought she had some pretty thought-provoking outlooks on how we as a society (she's from Canada but much of it pertains to any 1st world country) treat those with disabilities and people who are unable to work. I enjoyed it so much and just could not stop talking about it with my immediate family members. Do you have any other recommendations for learning about MS? I do have one on order through my library but so many I wanted to read aren't available. 

3. Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey (Book #2 in the series)-- I love a good enemies to lovers plot and this book was a whole lot of fun to listen to. When Natalie is forced home after losing her job and her fiance she's hopeful to talk her family into releasing the funds in her trust fund to help her start a new business venture but her trust fund requires that she be married and have a job. Since Natalie has neither she proposes a little business arrangement of her own to August; though he often makes her grind her teeth Natalie knows that their fake marriage would help August get the business loan he needs plus with her wine making knowledge could seriously improve his vineyard's line of products. The only thing Natalie didn't count on was their unbelievable chemistry! It was adorable even if it was fairly predictable there were enough funny and spontaneous interactions that kept me well entertained. It is definitely rated R though.

4. We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes-- Lila has been struggling while trying to raise her 2 kids, keep an eye on her step-father, and keeping up with the old house that needs far more work than her money can cover. She's been floundering ever since her husband left her for a younger woman and her mom died. Her step-father lives with her and the girls and he helps out with cooking and cleaning, which often makes Lila feel like a failure for not having it more together. All that goes out the window when her biological father shows up unexpectedly one night and asks to stay; a man she hasn't seen or heard from in years. This one really tugged at the heart strings and I felt so bad for Lila and all she had to deal with. But it sweet seeing how this unconventional family comes together and adapts and grows. 

5. Summer in the City by Alex Aster--  Another great little rom-com that also featured the tropes of fake dating and enemies to lovers. Elle is a very successful screen writer but she's staring her last deadline in the face with a bad case of writer's block. She decides to head back to New York City, despite promising to herself to never go there again, and finds the apartment she's been asked to house sit for is right next door to the billionaire bachelor Parker that Elle once had a very insulting interaction with years prior. When bumping into him leads to a full on flow of writing Elle's friend convinces her that Parker just might be Elle's twisted muse. Conveniently enough Parker needs a fake girlfriend for the summer and offers to help Elle see more of New York and get over her writer's block if she'll accompany him to his events. As the two spend more time together they realize that they don't really hate one another since they really don't know one another and as they do get to know one another they each find themselves falling just a bit in love with one another. Cute, and sweet, and slightly frustrating at times this was a fun and steamy summer "beach" read!

 6. Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen-- Wow this was quite the book to listen to. Dale Figgo picks up a hitchhiker on the side of the road and tells him he just needs to run a quick errand--- when it turns out that errand involves throwing hate spewing propaganda out the window onto people's lawns and then a hit and run, the hitchhiker just wants out. And so begins a really wild story about an incompetent hate-monger who rents out a room in his house to Viva, a woman that only tolerates her landlord since she can't afford anything else. Each character was a bit more absurd than the last but I can't say I didn't enjoy seeing where this story was going to take me. It was one wild and wacky ride.  

 7. Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood- Maya Killgore is 23 and hesitant to attend her own brother's wedding since she knows she's going to run into Connor. Connor is 38, her brother's best friend, and Maya's been in love with him for years. The week in Sicily proves to be more than anyone in the wedding party planned on with unexpected food poisoning, volcanic eruptions, and broken freezers. Told in a back and forth time lines we get to see how Maya and Connor act now and learn about how their relationship evolved over the last several years. I didn't realize until I was completely finished reading the book and read the author's note in the back that the brother getting married was the main character from her Not in Love book that I read last year. It was a super cute summer romance book and I love the Italian setting. 

 8. All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall-- I needed a climate fiction book for the 52 Book Challenge and I thought this sounded like a neat story. Nonie and Bix are living on top of the American Natural History Museum in what used to be known as New York City when a super hurricane comes through and floods the city. They take to the Hudson in an old canoe and try to find their way to a new civilization. It was such a good adventure story! Leary of people they meet along the way and always on the lookout for supplies we learn all about this completely changed world and landscape and how the changes came to be. I ended up enjoying this one quite a bit. 

 9.  Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodson Harvey--  This was such a sweet read. Charlotte is at her wit's end. Her husband has been arrested and all their accounts have been frozen, the FBI kicked her and her daughter out of their home and they have no vehicle to drive either. Just as she's about to have a real breakdown in the middle of the bank a lovely woman from her church offers Charlotte and her daughter a place to stay. Alice runs what they lovingly call a mommune; a group of moms living together and raising their kids with support from one another. At first Charlotte isn't too sure but feels she had no choice but to give the mommune a try. Told in alternating voices between Charlotte, her 14 year old daughter Iris, and Alice (the woman running the house) it was a heartwarming story about making your own family. 

10. Murder on Sex Island by Jo Firestone-- I received this ARC (advanced reader copy) from NetGalley. The book just came out June 24th so you can grab your own copy now. It was a hit for me right from page 1! If you like a good murder mystery with some zany characters you'll like this one too. Marie Jones was fed up with her life so she quit her job and decided to become an amateur detective named Luella Van Horn (complete with fake teeth and wigs). She loves the reality show Sex Island and is surprised to get a phone call hiring her to look for one of the contestants that has gone missing. Luella specializes in finding lost dogs but can't pass up the chance to prove to herself and everyone else that she can do this job. Once on the island Luella meets a variety of characters-- the whole cast and crew all seem pretty suspicious. She's expected to act as the latest reality star added to the show and tries to juggle the unrealistic demands of the show while also doing some sleuthing on the side. She struggles to narrow down her suspect list and keep herself out of the killer's crosshairs. I did not want to put this one down because I really wanted to know how it all ended! 

11. The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner-- Another great book! I loved this one about 2 sisters who form their own band have one very successful year/tour/album and break up... to never talk to or see one another again for nearly 20 years. Cassie and Zoe were always so different and while Zoe wanted to be famous, Cassie just wanted to blend into the background. But Cassie was born with a musical gift that skyrockets them both to fame as the Grifffin Sisters. When Zoe's daughter Cherry heads off to hit it big as a pop star she takes it upon herself to track down Cassie and get the story of what really happened as well as hoping to get Cassie's help to launch her own career. Told in alternating time lines and from different points of view the story comes together perfectly. 

 12. My Friends by Fredrik Backman--  I LOVED this book too! In this story Louisa breaks into an art gallery to view a famous painting by C. Jat; her favorite painter of all time. On her way out, being chased by cops, she bumps into a homeless man in the alleyway behind the building & that completely changes her life... The story 1/2 deals with Louisa and her story but in that famous painting 3 boys sit on a pier at the edge of the sea and we're also told the story of those three boys. C Jat and his two friends Joar and Ted. This book was sad and it was sweet and I just could not wait to hear the whole story.

 13. The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman--  I have this book in my nightstand forever but each time I reach for it I ended up putting it aside to read something else. I made the mistake of watching the movie first so I kept thinking I knew how the story was going to go. But honestly the book is hardly anything at all like the movie. I enjoyed this story so much! I did listen to it on my Libby app and I think that helped a lot. But for being a WWII story some of the antics of the animals and house guests made me chuckle. It was so uplifting to hear of all the people this zoo family helped save. 

 14. Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey-- I had no idea Unfortunately Yours was part of a series so when I saw book 1 at the bookstore on vacation I had to pick it up! In this book Julian Vos is staying in the guest house of his family's vineyard while he writes his book. Hallie has had a crush on Julian since she was 14 and she's thrilled to find he's back in town. But the two could not be more unsuited; Julian is a bit grumpy and fixated on routines and schedules and productivity while Hallie is a bit of a mess, often covered in dirt from her gardening jobs and never bothered with deadlines or schedules or what time it is. And yet the two can't seem to keep apart. They constantly agree to just be friends but have a hard time ignoring the sizzling attraction they both feel whenever they are together. One drunken night Hallie starts sending anonymous love letters to Julian signed secretly yours. It was really cute (and also rated R) and I enjoyed both of these adorable characters. 

 I just have a handful of books left to finish my book challenge and I have 3 of the books already in my possession for next month!  

 

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