Share Your Shelf #30 & The Books I Read in September

It's the first Thursday of the month and time for Share Your Shelf with Dara and I. I hope you all look forward to this monthly link up as much as I do. I just love getting new ideas for books to read or listen to.  

I had a pretty great month of reading. I still find I'm struggling a bit to sit and focus and read so much of the "reading" this month was done on audiobook. Every now and then a book really captures my attention but otherwise I'm finding I can only read a few pages before my mind is wandering so I've been thankful when I can read and using audiobooks when I can't. Oddly I found so many books I've been reading just happen to have someone struggling with grief/death/dying and I find myself wondering if this is a common theme and I'm just noticing because of my circumstances...

1. Wait for It by Jenn McKinlay-- Oh I really loved this one. Impulsive, artistic, chronically late Annabelle decides to move to Phoenix, Arizona after a job offer from her best friend. She moves into a guest house of the elusive Nick Daire and jumps into the job as creative director at a growing design firm. However, Annabelle has a hard time with rules and receives several cranky missives from her landlord. Determined to win over the old guy Annabelle is shocked when she finally comes face to face with Nick. Nick, who is charming, and rich, and close to her age but recovering from a stroke. He's struggling with anxiety and PTSD and has become a recluse. There are all sorts of side stories and side characters apart from their relationship that made this a really great book to read.  

2. The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez (Friend Zone book #2) -- I really enjoyed this audiobook. It's the second book in the series. Sloan's life has been out of control lately after a great loss and she is pushed over the top when a stray pup jumps through the sunroof of her car one day and "adopts" her. When weeks pass before she is able to get a hold of the dog's owner she refuses to give him back his dog...but relents when she learns the owner is a musician that has been out of the country touring and had no idea his dog sitter was so awful. The two text back and forth until Jason makes his way back home and they end up enjoying quite the whirlwind romance. Unfortunately Jason's music career is about to take off in a big way and neither is sure how they can keep a relationship going with him heading on tour for the next year or two. It was cute and sweet and sad at times. I liked it a lot. 

3. What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum- Oh I enjoyed this audiobook so much! Kit has just lost her dad to a car accident and can't bring herself to act like normal so instead of sitting with her best friends at lunch she ends up sitting with David. David has been attending high school for 622 days and in that time no one has ever sat with him. He's overjoyed when Kit is the one to sit with him. David is neurodivergent and struggles to read social cues so he's never really sure what to say but it turns out that Kit appreciates David's blunt honesty at a time when everyone else is giving her platitudes. A friendship of sorts develops between these two. But it is unsure whether their friendship can handle it when David's private notebook is made public or when the two start working on figuring out the mathematical why's and how's of her father's death. It was sweet and a bit sad but luckily had that happy(ish) ending I like. 

4. The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson-- Bel and her family have signed up to take their place in a documentary about the disappearance of Bel's mom, Rachel Price. Bel is hating every moment of filming and can not wait for life to go back to normal when the impossible happens and her mother reappears. It's been 16 years since Rachel disappeared and Rachel has quite the story to tell, only Bel isn't sure she believes her mother at all. Determined to get to the bottom of things Bel starts to investigate on her own.  It was a very engaging listen on audio and wow were there some plot twists I just did NOT see coming. 

5.  100 Rules for Living to 100 by Dick Van Dyke-- Another fun audiobook. I thoroughly enjoyed this book in which Dick narrates and gives some advice and lessons he's learned through the years all told with anecdotes about his life.

6. The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston-- This was such a cute and sweet story! Frederick Fife is down on his luck, aging, alone, broke he's not sure where to turn next for help. But when he stumbles upon a group of senior citizens on an outing with their care home, and after a series of unfortunate events, he is mistaken for one of their patients. Frederick is scooped up and brought to the home in Bernard's place. Despite his best efforts to correct everyone Frederick finds himself settling into Bernard's life-- rather guiltily, rather apprehensively, and with great care. Eventually one nurse from the home does start to suspect something is "off" but her own life is in shambles so it takes her longer to confirm her suspicions. 

 7. Women Who Hike National Parks: Walking with America's Most Inspiring Adventurers by Heather Balogh Rochfort--  Short stories/profiles of women who have hiked some of the most famous trails in the national parks. I didn't read this non-ficiton book from cover to cover (as there are lots of tips about hiking and traveling alone) but I did enjoy reading the hiking stories and the photos that were included. 

8. Once and For All by Sarah Dessen-- A really lovely listen. Louna is a high school senior working in her mother's wedding planning business and they are both deeply cynical about happily-ever-afters. This summer her mother has hired another set of helping hands, a boy named Ambrose, who is an unabashed serial dater and drives Louna just a bit crazy. The two make a bet-- she has to go on at least 3 dates a week for the next 7 weeks or he wins and he needs to find just one woman to date for the next 7 weeks or he wins. The bet pushes them both outside their comfort zone but Louna is jaded on love from far more than just the weddings she's helped out since she lost someone rather tragically not that long ago. It was a sweet, sad, and fun little YA romance novel.  

9. Play Along by Liz Tomforde (windy city book #4)-- Isaiah has been in love with Kennedy since she began working for the Warriors and he never thought he'd have a shot with her. But one night, in Vegas, the two get drunk and stupidly get married. Kennedy wants an immediate annulment but when word of their wedding leaks out playing along that their marriage is real is the only way to keep her job. This was another fun book in the windy city series and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  

10. Wish by Barbara  O'Connor-- 11 year old Charlie has been sent to live with an aunt and uncle she's never met in the mountains of North Carolina. Charlie has been wishing on anything and everything she can for the past few years hoping for her one wish to come true. While living with her aunt and uncle, who are so sweet and loving and understanding, Charlie starts to develop a few new friends, find a sweet stray dog she names wishbone, and despite her every intent starts to settle in. This was such a sweet middle grade fiction novel. I just loved it. 

 11. What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline-- I really enjoyed listening to this story about the Bennett family that, after suffering a car jacking gone horribly wrong, finds themselves in the witness protection program. Under protection their family starts to splinter and fall apart. Dealing with the loss of so much they are on the verge of losing everything. So the father takes it upon himself to shake off his protection and start investigating on his own. It was a pretty compelling read once it got going.  

12. Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica-- Another fun suspense novel told in alternate voices (literally as I listened on audio). Jake Hayes is missing and at first his wife Nina assumes he's avoiding her after their latest fight. But then a week passes and Jake also hasn't shown up at work and isn't responding to friends at all either so Nina begins to worry. Nina's friend Lily was the last person to see Jake alive but she'd rather no one, other than her husband Christian, know that since Jake attacked her and Lily had to defend herself to get away. Lily and Christian live in fear that Jake is dead and they will be charged with murder or obstructing justice (just to name a few possible charges). There are all sorts of lovely twists and turns and the novel is told from multiple points of view but it's always very clear who we're hearing from and the story stays rather linear so it's easy to follow along. 

13. Not Your Typical Love Story by C. R. Averett-- I got this ARC from NetGalley and thought it was a really adorable story. Analeigh has a whole plan for her senior year of high school and it did not include finding a boyfriend since Analeigh has always assumed that no one would really be interested in dating someone who defines themselves as asexual. She is however very interested in getting her sister's help convincing their parents to let her pursue musical theater in college and that is one of her sister's stipulations. Drew has never fit it in at school in any way shape or form and is just trying to make it through this one last semester of school before graduating. He finally works up the nerve to ask his on-line best friend to meet in real life for the first time only to find out that it's Analeigh! He's pretty sure she'd hate him if she found out who she'd been friends with online this whole time since Analeigh has always thought of Drew as her nemesis. Drew decides to hatch a plan to offer to be her fake boyfriend so that Analeigh might just realize he can be as good a friend in person as he can online. You know this only going to go so well until it blows up on them and yet as a reader you know it will have some sort of happy ending too. It was sweet, and cute, and I learned so much more about asexual and aromantic labels as well as the spectrum of love they tend to fall on.  

14. Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala-- This was such a fun listen that I didn't want to stop hiking! Lila has moved home to help with her family's restaurant but when a customer dies shortly after leaving the shop, Lila and her family become the prime suspects. Lila feels like the police have zeroed in on her and so she takes it into her own hands to investigate. It was a really fun read infused with lots of yummy sounding dishes. 

15. The Matchmaker's Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman-- This was a sweet audiobook. Abby is a divorce lawyer working in New York when her grandmother passes away. Her grandmother, Sara, was a matchmaker and was known for finding people their soulmates. Abby inherits her grandmother's journals and it's fun to see these two stories weaving together. We learn about Sara and several of her matches then hear of her lessons and stories through Abby's memories. It's fun to see how Abby starts changing her life without even really knowing or understanding what direction she's heading in but knowing her choices would make her grandmother so proud. 

I'm still waiting on one last book to finish up my 52 book challenge. I'm 8th in line at our library so hopefully it will be soon! 

 

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