Man I have not been good about blogging lately. I'll blame summer and the fact that I'm trying to avoid being plugged in all the time. Instead, I've been trying to spend lots of time outside -- going on bike rides and playing softball and just lounging by the pool with a good book.



Here's what I read poolside in June. I think with the exception of one or two, I gave all of these books four or five stars on Goodreads.

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth
I picked this up based on a blogger friend's recommendation and read it from beginning to end on a plane. If you like Liane Moriarity's style of writing, you'll love this book that takes place on a quiet cul-de-sac. It dives into the lives of perfectly polished looking families and reveals lots of dirty little secrets -- including one pretty big whooper.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng is an incredible storyteller. I couldn't book this book down, and I loved the way this story jumped from present day to years in the past to develop some of the character's story lines. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew each one of the characters personally.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling
I picked this up mainly because I had seen the movie and wanted to see what Harry Potter's annotated textbook looked like. I thought the notes scribbled in the margins were cute, but honestly, I was expecting to see more notes, and was a little sad that there were so few.

All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
I really loved the story line of this book. It was about a group of high school kids and their parents and what happens after one kid takes an illicit picture of another and shares it. I had some issues with the way this story played out. For one, the accused kid's mom sided with the victim -- which is a nice thought -- but I find it to be an unlikely reality. And then there were a few other things that happened with some characters that just didn't have quite enough development. So overall good read, but it definitely had some holes.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
My favorite part of this book were the letters written between Roy and his wife Celestial. Roy gets convicted for a crime he didn't commit, and while he's in prison, the letters between the two so beautifully capture the hardships of trying to maintain a relationship with someone behind bars. This was a beautiful and powerful read.

Sunburn by Laura Lippman
I haven't picked up a Laura Lippman book in a while, but this one sucked me in pretty quickly. Set in a sleepy town in Delaware it follows the story of Polly who is trying to escape from one life to build herself a better one. But she's of course got a lot of suspicious things in her past and stuff gets complicated when a former acquittance hires a PI to tail her. Super fast and fun read.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
This was a lovely and beautifully written book. But at times I thought it just moved a little bit to slow. The last 60 pages though were pretty fast-paced and gripping, and I was a little sad to set the book down and know that my time with it was done.

Have you read anything good lately?