Hello August!
This summer I kind of took an unplanned break from home projects and blog posts and such. For a myriad of reasons, it felt best for me to let those things slide to the back burner and just enjoy time with my family and get back to the basics around my life and my home. Other than a few small projects and posts here and there, I decided to just give myself time off from it all and it was refreshing and just what I needed. Now that it’s August, it feels like a perfect time for a fresh start – school is approaching (LJ is going to be in kindergarten!! What!!!) and I’m feeling ready to get back to projects and plans for our home. I’m starting to plan for my next few projects and I’m getting very excited to jump back in!
Despite taking a break from other things this summer, I didn’t take a break from reading. I read three books in July and I’m excited to discuss them today!
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Harriet and Wyn broke up five months ago but still haven’t told their best friends. Harriet has decided to share the news with everyone during their annual reunion trip to Maine but to her shock, Wyn is already there when she shows up. It turns out, one of their friends called him and begged him to come because the cottage that has hosted this yearly getaway is for sale, making this the grand finale trip. Harriet and Wyn realize everything must go perfectly for their friends this week so they have no choice but to pretend they are still engaged and in love for the entire trip. After being a totally in love, made-for-each-other couple for years, how hard can that be?
I don’t mind a trope-y book and enjoyed this one despite the fact that the miscommunication trope isn’t one of my favorites (so much could be solved if people just talked honestly!) Besides making me want to take a summer trip to Maine asap, I thought the chemistry and tension between Wyn and Harriet was great and I easily was hoping for them to figure things out. I appreciated that their love journey felt realistic and dreamy at the same time. I really loved the eclectic friend group and how their relationships developed and grew over the years; again, watching them handle changing seasons of life and friendship felt realistic. It’s told in a way that’s relatable and fun and makes you feel like you’re in on all their inside jokes and traditions. One thing that didn’t work for me was the length – it clocks in at 385 pages and that is just too long for this type of book. There were too many details about too many side plots in the background chapters (Harriet’s family, Wyn’s family, various stories about the friend group) and coupled with an angsty, miscommunication trope in the present day chapters, it felt pretty drawn out at times. It could have been 80-100 pages shorter and still been great. All that being said, I still enjoyed it overall and would recommend if you want an easy, fun, somewhat predictable vacation read!
Homecoming by Kate Morton
On Christmas Eve 1959, a terrible family tragedy is discovered at a country estate in Australia; the whole town gets swept up in the ensuing murder investigation that is never conclusively resolved. Nearly 60 years later, struggling freelance writer Jess is returning to Australia after hearing the news that her beloved grandmother, Nora Turner-Bridges, has fallen very ill. When Jess discovers a true crime novel in Nora’s belongings, she learns of the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959 and her own family’s shocking connection to it. Her journalist instinct immediately kicks in and Jess sets out to discover more about this family and what exactly happened all those years ago.
Listen, if Kate Morton writes it, I want to read it. She is my favorite author (dare I say: ever?) and I just adore getting swept up in her books. This one was no exception! The story is a slow burn mystery intricately woven over the course of three generations and despite featuring many different characters, it was easy for me to follow along. The book is hefty at 500+ pages, but I was spellbound and just wanted to keep reading and reading and watch everything unfold. I will say, with every book of hers I read, I get this hard to describe sense. I recently discovered there is a German word for longing called “sehnsucht” and according to Wikipedia, “some psychologists use the word to represent thoughts and feelings about all facets of life that are unfinished or imperfect, paired with a yearning for ideal alternative experiences.” This is a good way to describe how Kate Morton books make me feel. I’m captivated, I’m satisfied, yet I always have this sense of bittersweet longing for alternate plotlines. But isn’t that how history is? If one thing changed, maybe so much would change. If we only had this answer or this person’s motivation or personal feelings or could see the full chain of events, we would understand so much more. It’s how real life is and how looking back on history is, so I believe it’s also how well-written historical fiction should be. Kate Morton is just the best at it in my opinion. I loved this book and wish I could read it for the first time again just to experience it all once more.
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
Following the death of her never-married great aunt Dot, Laurie heads back to her hometown in Maine to clear out Dot’s cottage and get things ready to sell. When clearing out an old trunk, she finds a wooden duck tucked underneath some quilts and has more questions than answers. Why does Dot have this duck? What are the markings on the bottom? Why was it tucked away like a secret? Laurie enlists the help of her best friend, June, and her first love, Nick, to figure out the story behind the duck. It seems to be turning into an uninteresting dead end . . . until the duck disappears under unusual circumstances. Now Laurie must band together an eclectic bunch of people to try and get the duck back and solve the mystery of it’s importance in Dot’s life.
Laurie is an almost-forty, plus-sized woman who has consciously decided that she does not want to get married or have children. (I include plus-sized because the author definitely wants that to be known about her. I found it odd how many times her specific clothing size of 18 is mentioned.) Kudos to the author for breaking out of the mold and portraying a woman who wants an alternate type of happy ever after. I love the goal to represent an empowered woman who makes choices that don’t fit the mainstream societal narrative, but the problem for me was that I didn’t find Laurie to be altogether likeable. What was meant to come across as strong and independent felt more like stubborn and selfish at times, and her preferences for independence get really repetitive. The cast of side characters is interesting and adds a layer of fun, but I was very underwhelmed by her rekindled (and underdeveloped) relationship with Nick. Their whole romance just fell flat for me. The duck caper was initially cute but eventually silly; I found myself bored with the slow-moving storyline and skimmed quite a bit. Overall, it’s a fine read but after really enjoying the author’s other book, Evvie Drake Starts Over, I was ultimately let down by this one.
What have you been reading lately?
simplify the chaos 