It's been a busy summer over here and I've been a little delinquent about keeping up with my book reviews. But I figure here's a better late than never recap of what I read in June and July this year. 

Five Stars

Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ok I'm super biased because I'm friends with the author, but I loved the concept of this book -- an out-of-work actress gets a job as a travel agent at a time travel agency where she's responsible for escorting rich guests to destinations in history. I thought the world of the time travel agency was fascinating and I kept wanting to know more about some of the mysterious cast of characters that work there. I wasn't expecting the twist at the end, and I know some people have mixed feelings on the ending, but I really liked it.

The Better Mother by Jennifer van der Kleut
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I could not put this book down. It some ways it reminded me of Best Offer Wins because you keep wondering what crazy thing is going to happen next. The main character gets pregnant after a brief fling who then gets back together with his ex. They decide to try to coparent, but during the pregnancy the former ex wants to be involved -- like way too involved. Such a creepy thriller and I couldn't want to get to the end to see what happened.

Four Stars

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When the book opens fairly early on with our 77 year old protagonist who had recently moved into an assisted living facility getting pregnant, well I had some ideas about where this book was headed. Turns out almost none of of them were right. But this book was still a good read and without giving too much away certainly left you with some things to think about.

Off the Record by Sara Goodman Confino
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sara Goodman Confino always delivers a fun read. It's the 1960s and a graduate from Maryland's journalism school gets a job in the typing pool at a prestigious DC paper. She picks up a phone call and gets an interesting tip, but there are no female reporters at the paper, so she has to chase the lead on her own.

Our Little World by Karen Winn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw Karen Winn speak about her new book at the Gaithersburg Book Festival and I'm still on the waitlist for that one at the library, but I went back and read her first one while I waited. This book was set in the 1980s when a little girl goes missing from a New Jersey suburbs. There's mystery and some family drama and overall this was a really good read.

Three Stars

Woman Down by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don’t remember putting this book on hold, but I got an alert from the library that it was finally available. I was intrigued to read the first book Colleen Hoover has put out in three years. I’ve liked many of her previous book, but I struggled with this one because I kept getting annoyed at the bad choices the main character made. For a bit I was onboard and could understand some of them, but then it seemed to get too far fetched for me — though I found the ending to be not super surprising

Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I typically love Sarah Adler's books and I was really excited to read her newest one. This book was cute, but I didn't love it quite as much as some of her others.

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