August 2017 Reads

It's one of my favorite posts of the month! I love reading and talking about books, and I love trying new authors and getting recommendations. I think books are a great way to get a conversation going, and I hope you enjoy this month's reads!

A very different mix of books for me - only 1 author that I've ever read before. I also watched more TV this month, so I only read 4 books, but I think it's a great set of 4. {grin}

The Dry by Jane Harper - A man returns to his hometown in Australia after his childhood best friend murdered his family and committed suicide. He left his hometown as a teenager after another childhood friend was found dead, and he was implicated in the crime (which has never been solved). He's now a cop, and his friend's parents ask him to look into what happened. I really enjoyed the mystery and learning how both events went down. I wouldn't say that there was great character development - so much so it took me some time to get into the book - but the plot kept me engaged. There were some pieces that were hard to read (a child that gets murdered, another teenager who is molested/abused), but they didn't overpower the book. Solid, good read.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah - This is my 4th Kristin Hannah book, and I've learned not to expect The Nightingale. 2 sisters have never felt loved by their mother, and the only time she seems to engage with them is telling a fairy tale set in her childhood home of Russia. A family tragedy brings the sisters together with their dad asking their mother to finish telling them the fairy tale and promising it will let them know their mother. That isn't a very good description, but it's the best I can do. This was another one that started out slow, but it really picked up and I found myself reading way too late to finish. What The Dry lacked in character development, Kristin had, and after about 25% I was hooked.

I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi - I put this on hold back in April and it was finally available this month, yay! The description really intrigued me, which once I describe it might surprise y'all, so I was excited to finally read it. The story is told from 3 vantage points - the main character who has committed suicide, her daughter, and her husband. They seemed to have had a perfect life so how could she want to leave it? I was REALLY afraid we wouldn't know by the end of the book what happened, but whew we find out. I loved this book. It was a unique plot, seeing the characters grieve and start to recover really tugged at the heart strings, and how it all came together was really good. 

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda - This book is about a girl who comes home to help her brother sell their parents' house. She left home after one of her best friends disappeared after high school. Days after coming home, another girl goes missing. The story is told backwards which was disorienting at times but also kept me on my toes. When you know the whole story, it is actually interesting because the mystery is solved at the end of the book (duh) but at the beginning of the timeline. This one stuck with me for a little while - I flipped back through it to get the timeline together in my head once I knew what happened - very unique perspective, and I dug it!

Lots of suicide and murder this month, huh? Hopefully September is a little less gruesome?!?!