August Reading Wrap-Up
August was another great month of reading - maybe even better than July! I was so excited to pick up One To Watch through a book swap and it was everything I thought it would be and more. I also read my first Lisa Jewell book and it did not disappoint, so I have a few more lined up in my TBR pile for the fall. I picked up Anna K because Bad Bitch Book Club was having a patreon member chat with author Jenny Lee, which was a dream come true (highly recommend joining BBBC, by the way). In Five Years, American Royals and Head Over Heels had been on my radar for a while so I was glad I finally got to those. The Paris Wife was my least favorite read of the month and I really had to push through to finish it. Lastly, thanks to NetGalley for the arc of Surviving the Angel of Death for its rerelease in October, it was definitely an important read.
One To Watch
As a fan of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette I really appreciated this twist on the series that the real-life show producers should draw some inspiration from.
Bea is a plus sized fashion blogger who ends up as the lead on a popular dating reality show, Main Squeeze (aka, the Bachelorette).
One To Watch had me hooked from the first page. I loved the multimedia approach to tell the story. And the message the author provides around body positivity, fat phobia and self confidence is SO important. I could not get enough of this one!
Goodreads Summary:
Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers--and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?
Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition--under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She's in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful anti-fat beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That's it.
But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She's in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, razor-sharp debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men--and herself--for a chance to live happily ever after.
The Family Upstairs
My first Lisa Jewell book and it did not disappoint! On her 25th birthday Libby Jones finds out that she’s inherited a house from her birth parents. What Libby didn’t know is that she was about to uncover a whole bunch of crazy family history and the truth about what happened to her, her family and all the residents of Cheyne Walk.
Told from the view of three different characters, this book took a twist and turn every single page. Perfect for anyone who loves a good mystery with a satisfying end!
Goodreads Summary:
Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.
Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
The can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.
Anna K
As someone who loved Gossip Girl growing up, Anna K was a perfect modern refresh exploring the lives of Manhattan’s elite.
The story switches between the perspectives of Anna K, Steven (Anna’s brother), Lolly (Steven’s girlfriend), Kimmie (Lolly’s sister), and Dustin (Friend of Steven). Which is A LOT of perspectives. But Jenny Lee does a fantastic job of building out the characters and making you love each and every one of them.
It definitely took me a while to really get sucked into the story, but once I did I couldn’t put it down. On the surface, you would think this story is another telling of unrelatable, rich teenagers doing whatever they want but in actuality it explores relationships at a deeper level, double standards and racism.
Really excited to continue exploring this story in the sequel, Anna K: Away which will be released in March 2021!
Goodreads Summary:
Meet Anna K. At seventeen, she is at the top of Manhattan and Greenwich society (even if she prefers the company of her horses and Newfoundland dogs); she has the perfect (if perfectly boring) boyfriend, Alexander W.; and she has always made her Korean-American father proud (even if he can be a little controlling). Meanwhile, Anna's brother, Steven, and his girlfriend, Lolly, are trying to weather a sexting scandal; Lolly’s little sister, Kimmie, is struggling to recalibrate to normal life after an injury derails her ice dancing career; and Steven’s best friend, Dustin, is madly (and one-sidedly) in love with Kimmie.
As her friends struggle with the pitfalls of ordinary teenage life, Anna always seems to be able to sail gracefully above it all. That is…until the night she meets Alexia “Count” Vronsky at Grand Central. A notorious playboy who has bounced around boarding schools and who lives for his own pleasure, Alexia is everything Anna is not. But he has never been in love until he meets Anna, and maybe she hasn’t, either. As Alexia and Anna are pulled irresistibly together, she has to decide how much of her life she is willing to let go for the chance to be with him. And when a shocking revelation threatens to shatter their relationship, she is forced to question if she has ever known herself at all.
Dazzlingly opulent and emotionally riveting, Anna K.: A Love Story is a brilliant reimagining of Leo Tolstoy's timeless love story, Anna Karenina―but above all, it is a novel about the dizzying, glorious, heart-stopping experience of first love and first heartbreak.
Surviving The Angel of Death
Wow. Surviving the Angel of Death is the autobiography of Eva Mozes Kor, not only a holocaust survivor but a survivor of Josef Mengele’s horrific twin experiments.
For obvious reasons, this is an extremely heavy read but Eva tells her story in the best way you can. She takes you through her life from start to finish and isn’t afraid to be fully honest about some of the terrible things she has experienced first-hand during her time at Auschwitz but also before, when her village community turned against her too.
I happened to visit Auschwitz just two weeks after Eva passed away. Her story came up many times throughout the hours we spend there and this book really provided a deeper look at who she was.
Although this is only about 200 pages, Eva packs in so much value and so many important lessons that we should never and can’t ever forget.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of the newest edition being released in October 2020.
Goodreads Summary:
Eva Mozes Kor was just ten years old when she arrived in Auschwitz. While her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, she and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man known as the Angel of Death, Dr. Josef Mengele. Subjected to sadistic medical experiments, she was forced to fight daily for her and her twin's survival. In this incredible true story written for young adults, readers learn of a child's endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil and Eva's recovery and her controversial but often misunderstood decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Readers will learn of how she triumphed over unfathomable pain and suffering into a life-long work for peace, human rights, and Holocaust education.
The new edition provides interesting details and important context to the events related in the original story. A new Afterword by publisher Peggy Porter Tierney offers a richer portrayal of Eva as a person, the truth behind the controversies, and the eventful last ten years of her life.
In Five Years
This book was SO GOOD.
Dannie has her five year plan all figured out. She has the job, the fiance and her dream apartment is within reach. But then Dannie has a very real dream giving her a look into her future five years down the line, which is nothing like what she’s expecting.
I was sucked into this story immediately. So much so, I finished the whole book in one day! I thought this book was going to be just another love story but was surprised that it’s actually a heart-wrenching story about friendship and grief. It’s a hard lesson that life isn’t perfect and doesn’t always go to plan.
Goodreads Summary:
When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend's marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.
But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.
After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.
That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.
Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.
American Royals
What if George Washington didn’t become the President of the United States, instead he became our first King?
Meet the Washingtons, America’s royal family - a family that attracts a lot of drama.
Told from the perspectives of Beatrice (the heir to the throne), Princess Samantha (the spare, not the heir), Nina (Samantha’s BFF), and Daphne (the villain), American Royals is a fun and enjoyable read.
It’s not the most original story, I definitely found myself hating some of the characters (looking @ you Daphne), and the ending was an unfulfilling cliff-hanger style stop but I lived for the predictable drama and fluff. I can’t wait to see what happens to the royal family next in the sequel being released September 1st. Also, secretly hoping this ends up being turned into a fun Netflix YA romcom.
Goodreads Summary:
Meet the Washingtons - the most scandalous royal family ever!
HRH Princess Samantha has always been a royal rebel. She's the spare not the heir, so no one minds too much who she dates or how hard she parties.
It helps that her sister, Princess Beatrice, is literally perfect. She's demure, sweet and beautiful, and she knows that the crown always comes first - no matter what her heart might really want.
But they're not the only ones with their eye on the throne. Daphne Deighton might be 'newly noble' but she won Prince Jefferson's heart once, and she'll do anything to get back into the court's favour - and his bed.
If only she knew that her competition was a common nobody - plain little Nina Gonzalez, the daughter of the king's secretary.
Together these four young women must navigate the drama, gossip, scheming and sizzling romance of the most glorious court in the world. There's everything to play for - but there can only be one queen.
Head Over Heels
When I was younger, I was obsessed with gymnastics so when I saw this book as one of the BOTM options I had to snag it.
Avery was a shoe-in for the 2012 Olympic Team until a career ending injury happened at the trials. Years later, she moves back home and gets an offer to help train another Olympic hopeful with her childhood crush.
Head Over Heels was the perfect light read to fill the void that was left in my heart when the Tokyo olympics were cancelled. But, it also touches on some more serious topics such as sexual assault (closely following the real-life Larry Nassar situation) and other very real and serious issues gymnasts of all skill levels face (eating disorders, emotional abuse, depression).
I thought the author did a great job of bringing awareness to some important topics but I found the love story portion of this book to be, eh. I never really felt the connection between Avery and Ryan, and their up, down and all over the place relationship was frustrating.
There was nothing particularly bad about this book, but it just didn’t resonate with me as much as I thought it would.
Goodreads Summary:
The past seven years have been hard on Avery Abrams: After training her entire life to make the Olympic gymnastics team, a disastrous performance ended her athletic career for good. Her best friend and teammate, Jasmine, went on to become an Olympic champion, then committed the ultimate betrayal by marrying their emotionally abusive coach, Dimitri.
Now, reeling from a breakup with her football star boyfriend, Avery returns to her Massachusetts hometown, where new coach Ryan asks her to help him train a promising young gymnast with Olympic aspirations. Despite her misgivings and worries about the memories it will evoke, Avery agrees. Back in the gym, she’s surprised to find sparks flying with Ryan. But when a shocking scandal in the gymnastics world breaks, it has shattering effects not only for the sport but also for Avery and her old friend Jasmine.
The Paris Wife
If you love Ernest Hemingway, this one is for you. The Paris Wife tells the heartbreaking love story of Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley.
This book got rave reviews from critics, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I found myself wishing I was done the entire time, and absolutely hating almost all of the characters (which might of been the point).
Overall, this one just fell flat for me.
Goodreads Summary:
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.
A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.
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