Happy Wednesday, friends! I hope y’all had a great 4th of July–I definitely did! My mom and stepdad have a huge picnic every year on their farm for family, friends, and my stepdad’s clients so I got to enjoy that yesterday while poor Dustin had to work. Don’t worry, I did bring him home plenty of food which was his biggest concern ha!
Today I’m going to review books I read in both May and June since I didn’t get to read very much in May. July has started off as a slow reading month so far. Sometimes I can’t put books down and then other times I focus on watching tv shows.
So, let’s get to these books! As always, I’ll post the Amazon synopsis first and then my opinion below in italics.
Meredith Martin Delinn just lost everything: her friends, her homes, her social standing – because her husband Freddy cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars. Desperate and facing homelessness, Meredith receives a call from her old best friend, Constance Flute. Connie’s had recent worries of her own, and the two depart for a summer on Nantucket in an attempt to heal. But the island can’t offer complete escape, and they’re plagued by new and old troubles alike. When Connie’s brother Toby – Meredith’s high school boyfriend – arrives, Meredith must reconcile the differences between the life she is leading and the life she could have had.
I really enjoyed reading this book! Both Meredith and Connie were well developed characters who each had their own issues. Meredith’s life was interesting to read about because I could never imagine spending $20,000 on candlesticks, but her life before the news came out about her husband’s business was like that–frivolous spending. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting an easy read but with deeper characters.
Three women–burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues–tumble onto the Nantucket airport tarmac one hot June day. Vicki is trying to sort through the news that she has a serious illness. Her sister, Brenda, has just left her job after being caught in an affair with a student. And their friend Melanie, after seven failed in vitro attempts, is pregnant at last–but only after learning that her husband is having an affair. They have come to escape, enjoy the sun, and relax in Nantucket’s calming air. But into the house, into their world, steps twenty-two-year-old Josh Flynn.
This book took me a while to get into, but once I was over halfway through it, I couldn’t put it down. Two sisters and a friend escape to a family beach house in Nantucket for the summer and each woman has her own issues. The book alternates between different points of view of the main characters and I always find that enjoyable. Overall it wasn’t my favorite.
It’s easy for women to focus on what seems to separate us: differences in age, parenting styles, career goals, or maybe even core beliefs about whether leggings can adequately serve as pants (the struggle is real, y’all). The reality, though, is that we have far more in common than we realize, and since Scripture shows us the blessing of friendships across generations, it’s high time we step out of our same-age, same-stage silos. Life is so much better that way. Sophie Hudson, in the delightfully quirky Southern style her readers have come to know and love, sends out a rallying cry for women everywhere to open our eyes and see the people God has put in our lives—whether they’re behind us, beside us, or in front of us. It is such a gift to love one another, walk with one another, and soak up the blessings that flow across all generations.
I read this book with my best friend after she suggested it. We both love Sophie Hudson’s podcast, The Big Boo Cast, and Janie had recently started this book. I really enjoyed it! It’s written conversationally, so if you listen to her podcast then you can hear her reading you the book. And even though it’s written in such an easy to understand style, the content is solid. The book is divided into three parts: Mary and Elizabeth, Ruth and Naomi, and Lois and Eunice. Each section shows the reader how biblical female relationships are needed and vital to our lives today. Read it! And even read it with your bestie!
Rose Mae Lolley’s mother disappeared when she was eight, leaving Rose with a heap of old novels and a taste for dangerous men. Now, as demure Mrs. Ro Grandee, she’s living the very life her mother abandoned. She’s all but forgotten the girl she used to be-teenaged spitfire, Alabama heartbreaker, and a crack shot with a pistol-until an airport gypsy warns Rose it’s time to find her way back to that brave, tough girl . . . or else. Armed with only her wit, her pawpy’s ancient .45, and her dog Fat Gretel, Rose Mae hightails it out of Texas, running from a man who will never let her go, on a mission to find the mother who did.
Before I tell you what I thought about this book, let me first tell you that I really like Joshilyn Jackson. I like her so much that my book club even skyped with her at one of our meeting’s after reading one of her books! (They like her, too!) When I got this book, I didn’t realize that it was based on a minor character from her book, gods in Alabama. Sadly, I didn’t like that book, so I really didn’t like this one either. I read half of it and then skimmed the rest to find out what happened. If you liked gods in Alabama, then you’ll like this one. You don’t have to read her other book to read this one, too. This one can stand alone.
The Carmichaels and the Grahams have gathered on Nantucket for a happy occasion: a wedding that will unite their two families. Plans are being made according to the wishes of the bride’s late mother, who left behind The Notebook: specific instructions for every detail of her youngest daughter’s future nuptials. Everything should be falling into place for the beautiful event — but in reality, things are falling apart. While the couple-to-be are quite happy, their loved ones find their lives crumbling. In the days leading up to the wedding, love will be questioned, scandals will arise, and hearts will be broken and healed. Elin Hilderbrand takes readers on a touching journey in BEAUTIFUL DAY — into the heart of marriage, what it means to be faithful, and how we choose to honor our commitments.
Can you tell I had a theme in authors this summer? Elin Hilderbrand is the perfect summer author and so I really wanted to read as many of her books as I could. I LOVED THIS BOOK! I loved that it was centered around a wedding (an extremely joyous occasion) but had a lot of unhappy characters. The one thing I love about Elin’s books is that they aren’t always about happy-go-lucky characters. Her characters have some major issues sometimes, and it makes her books so much more realistic. Read this book–you will enjoy it!!
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