July 2021 Book Reviews

Hellooooooo August! I can’t believe how fast summer is flying by, but I have to admit that I’m pretty excited for August. We have a few fun trips planned, one very special girl’s second birthday, and I have a big old stack of fun books to read. But before I do any of that, let’s recap my July reading!

In July I read seven books, including a rom com, a memoir, a trilogy, and some unique fiction. It was a great month of reading and I enjoyed every single book which feels like a huge win! Let’s dive in!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

In between life and death, there is a library. One that is filled with an endless number of books, each one a life that you could have lived if you made a different choice along the way. Nora Seed has lived a life full of regrets so when she finds herself in the midnight library, she is convinced that she can find the perfect life that she should be living by changing the decisions she made: undoing a breakup, taking a different job, becoming elite in her field, saying yes instead of no, etc. As she tries out different lives in her search to find the one where she’ll be happy, she is faced with the challenge of determining what truly makes a life fulfilling. [trigger warning: this book does touch on suicide]

I absolutely loved this book. I thought the premise was so unique and relatable – who hasn’t wished for the change to undo a mistake or fix a regret? I often catch myself thinking back over my life and wishing I had made a different choice along the way. But the truth is, we never know where that one choice would have actually taken us. We may end up with an even bigger regret had we followed another path! I loved all the directions Nora’s various books took her and kept wanting to read more and more. The whole concept of the midnight library was just fascinating and I felt like the author did a fantastic job of surprising us with the outcomes of her lives. My book club is going to be discussing this book at our next meeting and I’m so excited to hear everyone’s thoughts. Highly highly recommend this one!

The Simple Wild, Wild at Heart, and Forever Wild by K.A. Tucker

When Calla Fletcher gets a call that her estranged father has advanced health problems and might not have long to live, she decides to venture to her birthplace of Alaska for the first time since she was two years old to reconnect with him in whatever way she can. Leaving the hustle and bustle of Toronto for the quiet, isolated life of rural Alaska brings about several challenges for Calla, but nothing is more challenging than her dad’s bristly, frustrating, and annoyingly attractive yeti of a bush pilot, Jonah. But underneath all the gruff and scruff, Jonah proves to be a surprise to Calla, as does her father and the people who have become like family to him over the years. As Calla gets to know more and more about her dad and the people in his life, she falls more and more in love with Alaska and all it has to offer.

I read through this trilogy in about a week and it was a nice choice for a vacation binge. I don’t want to spoil too much but the books follow Calla and her journey to find herself and fall in love (in more ways than one). The best way I can describe it is it’s like a sexy Hallmark movie set in Alaska. Small town vibes in a captivating setting, charming and quirky side characters, a little predictable but easy-to-root-for romance, a bit of conflict, you get the idea. I will say book two was my least favorite, as it just felt incredibly repetitive, slow-moving, and long. I felt like certain things were really overdone and I kept waiting for the plot to move on. Then book three was probably my favorite and it was only a novella – it felt like an absolute whirlwind in comparison to book two and was way too short! There were a lot of underdeveloped storylines and I wish the author would’ve focused more on those and less on Calla’s life and relationship. I just think there were some really interesting directions that could have been taken with various side characters to add to the story and it left me wanting more. I did see that the author is writing another book that will focus predominantly on one of the other characters so I’m hopeful that maybe some of the other plots will be developed there. Overall, this was a fun series to binge and I do recommend it!

Live in Love by Lauren Akins

I grew up listening to country music and remember when Thomas Rhett first came onto the scene. I also remember when Die A Happy Man came out and we all found out his wife Lauren was the woman featured in the video, which turned her into a bit of a celebrity on her own. I’ve followed them both on social media for a while and really admire and respect the way they have navigated fame with their family, all while sharing their adoption story, their parenthood journey, their faith, and their philanthropic efforts so I was excited to read this memoir by Lauren.

The book was very long, but I found myself interested the whole time. Lauren just seems so inherently likeable. She’s down-to-earth, honest, vulnerable, and comes across with a level of humility that is admirable considering the levels of fame both she and her husband have reached. It was really interesting to read about her childhood and the closeness of the families she grew up with, including Thomas Rhett’s. The book has some snippets from his perspective of moments throughout their lives and that was a sweet addition. I also found myself relating to Lauren’s feelings when Thomas Rhett started to succeed in country music and saw there were many parallels to my own marriage. Justin’s career is very demanding and has needed to take our focus at many points throughout our marriage which often led me to thoughts of “I’m so happy for you and I support you 100%, but what about my dreams?” I found Lauren’s honestly about the harder parts of navigating marriage to be so refreshing and relatable. I do think I enjoyed this book more because I like country music and already had background information and some interest in Lauren’s life, but I think anyone looking for a wholesome celebrity memoir about family, faith, adoption, and finding your purpose would enjoy this one.

The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth

Neva Bradley is a midwife, like her mother Grace and her grandmother Floss were before her. She is also pregnant, and is adamant that the baby has no father. This revelation is shocking and frustrating to Grace, who pushes to find out the truth about his identity and is triggering for Floss, whose long-kept secrets now threaten to come to the surface. In alternating perspectives from all three women, a tale is woven about life, love, loss, and what it really means to be a family.

This book came out several years ago and has been on my TBR list for a long time. I finally checked it out and I have to say, while I did enjoy it, I can see that Sally Hepworth has come into her own as an author in more recent years. I did enjoy this one though! I love an alternating perspective novel, especially with intertwined stories. The mysteries and secrets kept me intrigued and I felt invested in finding answers. I have to say that there were some aspects of each woman’s storylines that I didn’t love, but also aspects that I very much loved. I enjoyed reading about the dynamics between the women and seeing the love that they had for one another despite their own flaws and frustrations. Overall it was a solid read and I would recommend it.

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

Samiah is horrified to learn that the guy she has been casually dating has actually catfished not just her, but also two other women, and to make matters worse, the explosive revelation has gone viral online. It leads to one blessing though: she becomes good friends with both the other women. They decide to swear off boyfriends and focus on themselves and their own happiness for a while, which sounds great . . . until Samiah meets her newest co-worker Daniel. Smart, charismatic, and incredibly good-looking, Daniel is the one guy who might tempt her away from this dating hiatus. That is, if he really is who he says he is.

This book is a rom com, but it actually felt like the romance came secondary to the broader theme of Samiah as a person. Samiah is a strong, smart, independent black woman in the tech industry, and a lot of the plot focuses on how she handles herself and her life: how she approaches work, how she wants to give back to the community, how she wants to mentor and help other young black girls know they too can have a future in tech. I did love Daniel and I was rooting for their relationship, but it felt like the focus was more on Samiah’s character. It was an enjoyable read though and gave a good insight into some of the struggles a woman, and specifically a woman of color, has working and thriving in the tech industry. Overall, I enjoyed it!

Whew! Seven out of seven wins for the month – I don’t know if August can top that, but I’ll sure try. 😉 As always, if you have any great recommendations, please send them my way!