We made it to Friday. It was a fairly packed week for us over here… I had a photo shoot for a jewelry design collaboration that will be launching in the beginning of August (very excited about this), then a full beach day with the girls yesterday, and then all of life in between. Needless to say, we’re all looking forward to the weekend (last full one in June… how??)…

And if you’re anything like me, and enjoy unwinding with a good book, be it at the beach, pool, or on your couch… I’ve got you covered. I’m rounding up all the books I read in the 2rd quarter. So many good ones that would be a perfect “beach read.” I’ve included a synopsis of each book, and my own personal rating. As always, I’m not a book reviewer, and just read for enjoyment. It takes a lot for me to not enjoy a book, which is reflected in my ratings, haha. If I had to pick my top 3 favorites from the list below it would go:

Funny Story
What Alice Forgot
Swan Song

With that, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ahead!
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1. WHAT ALICE FORGOT: I’m typically hit or miss with Lian Moriarty books, but this one was a major win for me. I loved all of the characters, and how well developed they were. For me I thought it did a great job of exploring the ways in which we change, are we recognizable, what are the reasons for this change? Entertaining, while still being very thought provoking. Including a brief synopsis below:

“Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over—she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over…”
My rating: 10/10

2. BIG LITTLE LIES: After not reading her books for a while, I went back to back with another Lian Moriarty book. This was another major winner. I’ve never seen the TV series (now I am in the middle of watching it… what an all star cast) but the book was amazing. It addresses issues of secrecy, friendships, alliances, and domestic violence all in one. Including a brief synopsis below:

“A murder…A tragic accident…Or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead. Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.”
My rating: 10/10

3. THE BURNOUT: Sophia Kinsella books are always such fun, lighthearted, beach reads and this one was no exception. A little spice, a little silliness, and little romance… this was a fun one for sure. Not a ton of depth to it, but if you’re looking for an easy beach read this one is it. A brief synopsis below:

“Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” (but obviously not at all urgent) email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall.
Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other occupant: a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout (Sasha: manifesting, wild swimming; Finn: drinking whisky, getting pizza delivered to the beach).
When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk—about everything. How did they get so burned out? Can either of them remember something they used to love? (Answer: surfing!) And the question they try and fail to ignore: what does the energy between them—flaring even in the face of their bone-deep exhaustion—signify?”
My rating: 9/10

4. FUNNY STORY: I’ve yet to read an Emily Henry book that I didn’t enjoy, and while “Happy Place” was my all time favorite, this one was pretty high up there. Two breakups, two broken hearts, one apartment… it made for a heartwarming, sometimes funny, sometimes romantic, story. The brief synopsis below:

“Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
 Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
 Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
 But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?”
My rating: 10/10

5. FIRST LIE WINS: I was very mixed about this one, as it had great reviews. It started off really good, and I was hooked at the beginning. Yet, I felt the middle dragged on a bit, I got lost in all the different plots and twists. Then, the end picked up, and I enjoyed it again. The overall premise was intriguing though. Sharing the synopsis below:

“Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.
The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.
Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn’t like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.
Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . .”
My rating: 7/10

6. ONE PERFECT COUPLE: Ruth Ware has been one of my favorite psychological thriller authors for a long time… and while her last couple of books weren’t my favorite, I loved this one. With it’s take on a reality island show set on an island, the setting was enjoyable, and I really loved how well she developed all the characters and the overall storyline. Find the synopsis below:

“Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren’t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she agrees to try out with him.
A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla finds herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples—Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana—in order to win a cash prize.
But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real—and the stakes are life or death.”
My rating: 10/10

7. SWAN SONG: Another favorite author, and another amazing book. I thoroughly enjoy Elin Hilderbrand novels and this one was one of my favorites that she’s written (my other is “5 Star Weekend”). Set in beautiful Nantucket, and involved a wide range of intriguing characters that had me hooked from the beginning. Such a perfect pool/beach read! Synopsis below:

“Chief of Police Ed Kapenash is about to retire. Blond Sharon is going through a divorce. But when a 22-million-dollar summer home is purchased by the mysterious Richardsons—how did they make their money, exactly?—Ed, Sharon, and everyone in the community are swept up in high drama. The Richardsons throw lavish parties, flirt with multiple locals, flaunt their wealth with not one but two yachts, and raise impossible hopes of everyone they meet. When their house burns to the ground and their most essential employee goes missing, the entire island is up in arms.
The last of Elin Hilderbrand’s bestselling Nantucket novels, Swan Song is a propulsive medley of glittering gatherings, sun-soaked drama, wisdom and heart, featuring the return of some of her most beloved characters, including, most importantly, the beautiful and timeless island of Nantucket itself.”
My rating: 10/10