Recent Summer Reads - Show us Your Books link up!

Today's one of my favourite days to browse blogs: Show us Your Books day! Check out the link up at Steph and Jana's blogs today. I read quite a few great books over the past month and I'm happy to share them today!

Highly Recommended Books (Depending on Your Taste, of Course)

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't decide if I liked this more than Tell Me Three Things, which I absolutely loved, but either way, it's close. The author herself calls this one her favourite. The characters are adorable. They are dealing both with regular everyday teen-type stuff, and much heavier stuff. Books like this one are my favourite type of YA read for a reason. Definitely seek out Tell Me Three Things or this book if you like YA fiction that deals with difficult subject matter but feels overall optimistic and has wonderful characters and interactions.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a fun read!! Reminded me a bit of The Goose Girl for some reason. The whole departure from actual history was VERY fun. If you like YA historical fantasy, definitely add this to your list - it's for sure one of the funniest books I've read this year.

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an intense read!!! It took me a little while to get into, but it was really full-speed-ahead from about the halfway point to the end. Despite it being quite a sad story, I did enjoy the writing immensely. The bookishness of this book was appealing, but the actual storyline and connections made came right out of left field for me and I was quite blown away when it was all revealed.

The Sisters Chase by Sarah Healy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was slow going for awhile and since I'd heard a few people rave about how amazing it was, I was a bit disappointed. I finished two other books while reading this one. However, about partway through it, this book became quite irresistible to me and I wanted to learn more about how the characters' lives panned out. This is not an uplifting or happy book by any means, but it was a well-written character book about family sacrifice and the lengths one will go to protect their family and their past. The pacing was spot-on too - each chapter really moved the next one along and I flew through the second half in about a day. I don't quite know how to classify this because it's not really suspense, but it feels a bit suspenseful as you piece everything together. It felt a bit reminiscent of Summer Sisters to me although I'm not quite sure why.

Middle of the Road Books for Me

The Other Girl by Erica Spindler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book definitely held my interest and is mostly what I want out of this genre. I didn't know who I could trust, and that element kept it moving along at a steady pace. I hadn't read a suspense type book with police officers as main characters in awhile so I enjoyed that part too. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of this book. 

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a quick read, and it was a fun look at a family with some adorable quirks (the 4 year old? adorable!). I didn't necessarily love that it portrayed Audrey coming to terms with her anxiety relatively quickly (although it is fiction, and I am biased working in the field of psychology). It was definitely a cute YA book. This was my first read by Kinsella and it was more or less what I expected but not my favourite YA by any means. Not sure that I will seek out any of her adult books right away.

Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Super cute fluffy little YA read. Felt like it should have been a bit shorter but the ending was super adorable. 15 year old Heather would have been allllllll about this book but as an adult, the quality of my YA reads needs to be a tiny touch higher. It's not the book, it's me. Thanks for the advanced copy of this book Netgalley.

The Good Widow by Liz Fenton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Parts of this book were really quite suspenseful, but other parts were just a bit unbelievable and I generally did not feel extremely sympathetic to the characters despite them being in very sad scenarios. It felt a bit disjointed at times, but I finished it quite quickly once I got into it and wanted to find out how it ended so there were some great elements that kept the story moving forward. Thanks for the advanced copy of this book Netgalley.

Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a relatively short book and the alternating viewpoints kept my interest but also made it a bit confusing at times. Overall, I really appreciated the story but it might not be for everyone.

Currently still reading:
North and South
Flowers for Algernon (I am not finding it easy to read)
The One and Only Ivan
The Jane Austen Project

Looking forward to seeing everyone else's summer reads!!!