I can’t believe that summer has come to an end! I thought it would be fun to recap the things I read, watched and listened to this summer. With so much time traveling this summer, I consumed a lot!
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The Divines by Ellie Eaton
I started listening to this on Audible at the beginning of the summer and it took me almost the entire summer to get through it. I found this on a list of books that were best for audio and I’ll agree the narration – done by Imogen Church – was wonderful. The book itself, however, dragged on and on. The story bounced back and forth between the main character’s boarding school days as a teen and her present day as a new wife and mother, but not in a way that made a lot of sense to me. She really didn’t seem to process or deal with the past, though it continued to affect her present life and even as the main character appeared to receive closure, she didn’t seem to have grown any from the experience.
The Lake House by Kate Morton
I found this one on a bookcase at the lake house we stayed in for a few nights this summer and I nearly finished the book in the time we were there. I loved this one so much I couldn’t put it down. – Great, nuanced characters and I loved the way the characters’ stories intertwined. The ending was maybe a little too perfect, but it was very satisfying.
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
This one is buzzy for a reason. Parts of this story were so hard to read – the characters are so real and complex and you’re rooting for them even when some of them are behaving unforgivably. Ultimately, I was left with a feeling of hope for these people I came to care about so much. Can’t wait to read It Starts With Us, which comes out just in time for my cruise to Bermuda!
Only Murders in the Building, available on Hulu.
This has been on my to-watch list for awhile, but I don’t watch very much TV in my daily life (and my TV time is usually taken up with the Real Housewives). But, I found this on our flight home from Venice and watched the entire first season! This was SO good. Steve Martin has always been a favorite of mine and he is phenomenal with Selena Gomez and Martin Short. I’m super excited to watch the second season and I hear Paul Rudd is joining for the third!
The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand
This was another great vacation read! Interesting people with lots of secrets, slowly revealed in a setting that really comes alive for the reader and a super-satisfying ending.
Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan
Another easy read. A new mother forms a quick bond with her college-age babysitter, who is going through her own journey to figure out who she is. Both of these women and their struggles and challenges felt completely familiar. I enjoyed watching these two grow and figure it out.
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
I was pretty meh on this one. It had some really interesting, complex characters (which it clearly seems to be most important to me in a book) but it also felt sort of disjointed or random. Ultimately, I wanted to find out what happened to them, but I wasn’t completely invested in them.
Marry Me, available on Amazon Prime Video
This was shown twice on our cruise but I missed it both times. Then, on our flight home I found it again and figured it was a sign. This was a really cute rom-com, totally predictable and mindless, but in the best way. I also really loved Sarah Silverman’s character – super funny and sweet.
In the Heights, streaming on HBO Max
This is another one that I’ve been wanting to watch for awhile but hadn’t gotten to. A true New York story with incredible music from Lin Manuel Miranda, you can’t really go wrong.
Sweet Valley High series by Francine Pascal
I haven’t actually started re-reading these yet, but I was SO excited when a friend told me I could get the first 12 books on my kindle! I loved these so much as a teenager; I feel like these will be such a comfort read this winter!
