HELLO SUMMER! I’m so glad that the hazy, lazy days of summer are upon us. I have had such a slow start to reading this year and these last few weeks have helped me get back on track and find my pace again. This ten stack is a great mix of genres and is filled with mostly three to five star reads, including a new release by one of my favorite authors. I hope you are finding some time to relax with a good book this summer. Let me know if you have had a favorite so far!

“One Lucky Summer” by Jenny Oliver

Spending two weeks with a daughter he barely knows isn’t high on Ruben’s priority list. Yet, here he is standing in the driveway of Willoughby Hall, his family’s former home, with Zadie, who has a habit of always comparing him to her new step-dad no matter how small the job. After a rainy evening, the two stumble upon something Ruben hasn’t seen in years…a clue to a treasure hunt. Dolly & Olive lived in a cottage on Willoughby Hall’s property when Ruben was a child. The girls grew up with an eccentric father who was always out on explorations but to keep Dolly & Olive included in his passions he would create elaborate treasure hunts for them around the property. Now having a clue to what would have been Dolly & Olive’s last connection to their father Ruben decides to get in contact with his long lost friends in the hopes that they can follow the clues and maybe get back more than buried treasure. I was expecting “One Lucky Summer” to be a bright and breezy summer read but instead what I got was a little tougher. Family drama, long held resentment, generational trauma and at least one relationship that I could not get behind at all. Though “One Lucky Summer” was a good read, don’t be fooled by the pretty, romantic looking cover, it’s not the rom-com you think you are getting. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper360 for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

“The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder” by David Grann

When thirty men washed up on the shores of Brazil in January 1742, emaciated and clinging to life they were hailed as heroes. What remained of the crew of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager after it wrecked off the coast of Patagonia while on a secret mission was next to nothing. The crew had been thought lost so when their tale of survival and bravery of over one hundred days at sea and crossing 3,000 miles to safety it was hailed as nothing short of a miracle. However six months later a second band of survivors washed ashore and their recollection of their time on their shipwrecked island sounded very different. The first crew to arrive, according to them, weren’t heroes but anarchists, mutineers and to counter the first group told accounts of murder and tyranny. What culminated was a trial that could spell out certain death for those found guilty of their crimes making their treacherous journey across the sea to survival possibly all for naught. What I took away from listening to the audio version of “The Wager” is that I most certainly would have been dead in the first five minutes of this ordeal. No shot I would have weathered the circumstances that were put in front of this crew. Also mind-blowing to me were how many of these sailors that couldn’t swim. Who takes a job on a boat and not be able to swim? Could not wrap my head around that. Though the narrator’s voice at times was a little over the top I found “The Wager” to be a good listen that opened my eyes to what life at sea was like during this dangerous time in history.

“Northern Spy” by Flynn Berry

Nothing in life is more important than family to Tessa. Having recently become a new mother she holds on to her relationship with her own mom and sister tightly, each of them the other’s closest confidant. Which is why she can hardly believe her own eyes as to what is playing out on the tv. Sitting in her office at the BBC in Belfast, Tessa is listening to a news anchor’s report about the IRA’s most recent attack, a robbery at a gas station. The police are requesting the public’s help in identifying the people responsible and there on the screen is Tessa’s sister Marion. Convinced she has to have been kidnapped or coerced into participating Tessa tries to persuade the police that Marion can’t be in the IRA, she would have known. When the smoke begins to clear and Tessa starts to see clearly again she finds herself in an impossible position. Walking a fine line between protecting her family and standing up for what she believes in, Tessa must choose who and what she is most loyal to possibly risking it all to do so. I found “Northern Spy” very hard to put down. I was invested right from the start in Tessa’s story and her character. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like in her shoes and of those who lived through similar events. I highly recommend adding “Northern Spy” to your TBR list.

“The Glorious Guinness Girls” by Emily Hourican

The three Guinness sisters are the toast of society, Aileen, Maureen & Oonagh beautiful, blue-eyed heiresses to one of the biggest fortunes in Ireland. Fliss has been sent to live with the Guinness family as a companion to the girls when her mother declares she can no longer care for her. Growing up with the comforts of a Guinness but without the status, Fliss lives with one foot in both worlds knowing she is not truly one of them. As the girls grow so does the unrest in Ireland causing the Guinness family to question their safety and their future in the country they have always called home. I love a good historical fiction, especially one that centers around the ’20s. “The Glorious Guinness Girls” wasn’t necessarily high ranking for me but I did enjoy the story. Its a great mix of fiction and historical truths centering around family, social hierarchies and the troubles of a country torn in two. A good read if you are interested in this time period and genre.

“Meet Me at the Lake” by Carley Fortune

One magical day that led to one magical evening and then he was gone. Fern has wondered what became of Will Baxter after he never showed up to their planned reunion at the lake on the one year anniversary of their perfect date. Fern sat alone and waited on the dock for hours but Will never came. Now, years later Fern finds herself back at the lake after the death of her mother with their resort placed fully in her hands. The resort is falling apart, in desperate need of restructuring and not to mention having to juggle working with her ex-boyfriend all while managing her grief, Fern is at the end of her rope. Then one night a tall, handsome guest walks into the lobby and back into her life only Will is about nine years too late. I loved Carley Fortune’s first book and had high expectations for “Meet Me at the Lake”. It’s not a perfect cookie cutter romance, it’s messy and complicated just like real life. Not every relationship has great timing, not everyone is ready for the person who is in their life currently and though it’s not ideal, sometimes that’s just life. I really like Fortune’s style of writing and hope that there are many more to come.

“Hello Stranger” by Katherine Center

Sadie has spent the last few years of her life being her own biggest cheerleader. Cast aside by what’s left of her family, Sadie has surrounded herself with a small group of friends and her beloved dog, Peanut, and now after years of working on her art, she has been named a finalist in a national portrait competition. One minute everything feels like she’s about to get everything she’s ever wanted, the next Sadie wakes up in a hospital room with no memory of why she’s there. Diagnosed with a rare brain disorder, Sadie is now facing the biggest challenge of her life – how does a portrait artist work when every face they see is a jumbled puzzle? Now Sadie must figure out how to live her life with face-blindness in order to not give up on the only dream she has ever had. I really enjoy the stories that Katherine Center tells. She has such a great way of helping her readers see perspective on life while giving us a heartwarming story mixed in. Though the concept is fairly predictable and I had it all sussed out mid-way through it in no way held me back from enjoying Sadie’s story. Be sure to add “Hello Stranger” to your summer TBD list. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

“The Only One Left” by Riley Sager

In 1929 the most wealthy family in a small coastal town in Maine were all murdered…well, all but one. Seventeen year old Lenora Hope was left to answer for the deaths of her mother, father and sister but no one could ever prove that she killed them. Now over fifty years later, Lenora, after suffering from strokes as well as being struck down with polo in her youth can no longer care for herself. Enter Kit McDeere, a home health aide who has been assigned to the Hope’s End mansion to care for Lenora when her previous aide disappeared in the middle of the night. Secretly terrified to be living in the home where three people were murdered, not to mention possibly taking care of their killer, Kit finds herself in a delicate position when Lenora, who can only communicate through a typewriter, tells Kit she wants to confess to her what really happened to her family. As strange noises are heard in the night and shadows creep around corners Kit is torn between fleeing Hope’s End or remaining to hopefully uncover one of their town’s biggest secrets – what really happened to the Hope family? For someone who was very disappointed with Sager’s last book, I was very eager to get my hands on “The Only One Left” to see if he redeemed himself. Reader, he did. Though there were elements of this story you could see coming for the most part I still welcomed the twists (no matter how predictable) when they arrived. I have loved (for the most part) everything Sager has written and “The Only One Left” is a great addition to his catalog. This newest isn’t my favorite of his titles but it’s certainly worth a read for fans of a great gothic mystery.

“The Mystery of Mrs. Christie” by Marie Benedict

For eleven days in December of 1926 famed author Agatha Christie went missing. The only trace detectives could find was her abandoned car left near a pond with her belongings inside. What followed was a massive manhunt unlike England had ever seen. Almost two full weeks later, Mrs. Christie was discovered claiming to have amnesia and providing little answers as to where she had been. Alternating between two timelines, author Marie Benedict has imagined what could have been the reason behind Agatha Christie’s disappearance giving readers a glimpse into the author’s personal life, her marriage and her success. One small warning to readers: if you haven’t yet read some of Christie’s work “The Mystery of Mrs. Christie” does contain spoilers of the plot lines of several of her books. I thought this was a really creative take on historical fiction and really enjoyed my first book by Benedict. It won’t be my last.

“Anne of Manhattan” by Brina Starler

I’m an “Anne of Green Gables” purist. It is my all time favorite story from childhood and to say I went into reading “Anne of Manhattan” with reservations would be an understatement. I loved seeing the references to all of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved characters, locations and even a few play on phrases (Gil working at a bar named Kindred Spirits) however I had such a hard time with a few choices Starler made in her modern retelling. In Montgomery’s classic PEI is a character in and of itself. The setting of Manhattan felt so odd to me, especially moving Avonlea to Long Island. I understand that there are readers out there for every type of book but if you grew up adoring the original like I did this might not be the one for you. Though it was an entertaining read I think Green Gables is best left in the past in its most perfect form.

“How to Stop Time” by Matt Haig

Tom Hazard has lived a very long life. Despite looking like an average 41 year old Tom, in fact, has been alive for centuries, a secret that has come with a high price. After being recruited into the Albatross Society, a group of people just like Tom, he must abide by their one rule going forward: do not ever fall in love. Tom’s never-ending mission to find his long-lost daughter is always forefront in his mind while trying to maintain his newly acquired identity as a high school history teacher. The thought of being reunited with his daughter is what has kept Tom alive all these years. The leader of the Albatross Society has promised Tom that he will help find Marion as long as Tom continues to perform missions for him every eight years. After decades of loneliness Tom has finally found someone that might mend what has been broken for hundreds of years but what will be the price to pay for his potential happiness? I want to say that I enjoyed “How to Stop Time” and for the most part I did. However, it was such a slow reading process and I never fully settled into its pages. The plot was creative and I enjoyed the concept it just never developed into a page-turner for me.

’til next time,

The Booked Mama

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