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Lol “winter” in San Diego. Q1 if you will…
That Summer by Jennifer Weiner
Goodreads synopsis: Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful; her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night?
While Daisy tries to identify the root of her dissatisfaction, she’s also receiving misdirected emails meant for a woman named Diana Starling, whose email address is just one punctuation mark away from her own. While Daisy’s driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy’s making dinner, Diana’s making plans to reorganize corporations. Diana’s glamorous, sophisticated, single-lady life is miles away from Daisy’s simpler existence. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental. Who IS this other woman, and what does she want with Daisy?
My review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Talk about a damn page turner. I think this took me about a week to finish I just couldn’t put it down. There are twists and turns and connections that keep you on your toes. The 2 women (both named Diana) have completely different lives but are connected by one person that changes everything. All the characters are well fleshed out and are ready to leap right off the page.
Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber
Goodreads synopsis: In the first major revision of his bestselling, groundbreaking classic since it was published, Dr. Richard Ferber, the nation’s foremost authority on children’s sleep problems, delivers safe, sound ideas for helping your child fall and stay asleep at night and perform well during the day.
Incorporating new research, Dr. Ferber provides important basic information that all parents should know regarding the nature of sleep and the development of normal sleep and body rhythms throughout childhood. He discusses the causes of most sleep problems from birth to adolescence and recommends an array of proven solutions for each so that parents can choose the strategy that works best for them. Topics covered in detail include: Bedtime difficulties and nighttime wakings, effective strategies for naps, sleep schedule abnormalities, a balanced look at co-sleeping, new insights into the nature of sleep terrors and sleepwalking, problems in setting limits, and sleep apnea, narcolepsy, bed-wetting, and head banging.
Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems offers priceless advice and concrete help for a whole new generation of anxious, frustrated, and overtired parents.
My review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ok, ok… this is not exactly light reading but I had to included it for all you parents out there. This book changed my life. We followed Dr. Ferber’s method to a T and it f*$%ing worked! I couldn’t believe it. After 3 days Link was sleeping through the night. I’m talking 7pm-6am. And my life changed for the better!
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Goodreads synopsis: Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
My review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book was so fun. I love how real this book felt. It comes off as a light rom-com but it is way more realistic than your typical plot line. Parent death, dealing with baggage, friendly competition with a crush, even writers block are all big parts of this book. Even with all of this, it gets nice and steamy, which I love, and draws you in with the will they- won’t they banter.
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Goodreads synopsis: Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
My review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Emily Henry does it again! I had a great time with this book. The style is so interesting bouncing back and forth in time to give you more clarity on the relationship between Poppy and Alex. Once again, the characters felt like real people and super relatable (Is it because my husband and I met in college and were best friends? That was definitely a big plus for me!). I am a big fan of Emily Henry’s writing style and will be looking for more!
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Goodreads synopsis: Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits–whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.
My review: ⭐️⭐️ Here’s the deal- this book doesn’t tell you anything you don’t know, it’s just probably told to you in a new way. I definitely learned new ways of thinking about habits (once again things I generally already knew but presented differently) and I liked that there were summaries at the end of each chapter. It breaks down human behavior surrounding habits and helps you gain knowledge into how and why your habits are the way the are and how to work towards changing your habits to better yourself. The big problem for me? It’s a bit repetitive. You might be able to get away with just reading the summaries and save yourself some time.
Sounds Like Me by Sara Bareilles
Goodreads synopsis: A candid and down-to-earth collection of essays by five-time, Grammy Award nominated singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, exploring her life in song; raw, evocative, and utterly unforgettable.
Sara Bareilles shot to fame in 2007 with her hit single; Love Song, and her more recent chart-topping hit; Brave, but her journal as a songwriter started long before. In this candid book of essays, Sara pulls back the curtain to expose her songwriting process, revealing all the struggle and joy inherent in creating great work while staying true to yourself.
Showcasing her stripped down and confessional writing style, Sara’s entertaining and inspirational book tells the inside stories behind her most popular songs and offers insights into finding balance between making art for herself and commercial music for her listeners.
My review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved it! I am such a fan, that I just couldn’t help it. I loved the layout of this book- taking a song lyric and writing shorter essays relating that lyric to a time in Sara’s life. We get to see Sara’s upbringing in a small Northern California town, follow her through her teen years- including first loves, first heartbreaks, and body dysmorphia. We see her as a waitress and struggling musician singing in cafés. We follow her as she stumbles through and learns the music business- with some hilarious anecdotes about songwriting teams. You can see through this book that she is a kind and magnetic person; the kind of person you could grab a drink with and just shoot the shit. I just love her. Recommended to any Sara Bareillis fan!
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Goodreads synopsis: Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.
The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.
Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.
And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.
By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.
My review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed this book. Picked it up because it was all over the gram. I was definitely intrigued right away as we learn the story and family history of Nina Riva amongst the backdrop of Malibu, Ca. I definitely had a stronger connection to this book because I LOVE Malibu. I even went there for my bachelorette! I loved the way the author pops back and forth in time and character. It’s definitely an emotional ride and through parental pit falls, coming of age/ forced adulthood, and family dynamics.
What have you read this year so far? What should I add to my list?
My Rating System
⭐️ – I did not like this book and generally would not recommend it.
⭐️⭐️ – This book was oook, but I felt pretty meh about it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ – This book was average. Didn’t love some parts but I still liked it overall.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – I really liked this book and will definitely recommend it to friends.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – I’m shouting this book’s praises from the rooftops! I loved it!
💫 – Half star
📖 One More Page Book Club pick of the month!
