July was a busy reading month, as I expected it would be since I was traveling a lot last month.
I read 13 books in July. Of those, I gave six books—four fiction and two non-fiction—perfect grades.
Here are my reviews, with the fiction books first.
The Last Mrs. Parrish
Amber Patterson thinks she deserves for her life to be better, so she sets her sights on what she thinks will give her the money and power she’s always wanted—Daphne Parrish’s husband, Jackson.
The problem is that Daphne and Jackson are such a fairy tale couple that it seems it will be impossible to split them up. Amber puts her plan into motion and soon has everything she’s always dreamed of, with a twist that she seriously wasn’t planning.
Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.
Bring Me Back
Finn stops as a highway rest stop to use the restroom while he’s vacationing with his girlfriend, Layla. When he returns to the car, Layla is missing.
A decade later Finn assumes Layla is dead. He’s moved on with his life and is, ironically, engaged to Layla’s sister, Ellen.
Just before Finn and Ellen are set to get married, people keep seeing Layla, then strange gifts that only the three of them understand begin appearing everywhere Finn and Ellen are.
Are the gifts secret messages from Layla?
Does she want Finn back or is she threatening him for the secrets he’s kept all of these years?
Still Me
Our favorite Jojo Moyes character Louisa Clark is back!
Louisa has arrived in New York ready to embrace her new life while hoping to keep her relationship with Sam alive, even though he’s across the ocean.
Louisa’s new job is for Agnes Gopnik, the young wife of the super rich Leonard Gopnik. The job puts Louisa in the middle of the posh New York upperclass and has her running around doing chores she never even knew people did.
As Louisa tries to keep her relationship and her life together she discovers that everyone has secrets, some people’s are just bigger than others. She also discovers who her true friends really are.
I didn’t think Moyes could write another book I would love as much as Me Before You, but After You was amazing. Unbelievably, she did it again with the same oddly lovable character.
Far from the Tree
Grace is only 16, and she certainly isn’t ready to be a parent.
Grace, who was adopted at birth, decides to give up her baby for adoption, but giving away her baby girl makes her want to know more about where she came from.
Grace begins searching for her birth mother. What she discovers instead are two half siblings—Maya, 15, and Joaquin, 18. Each of the teens has lived different lives based on who they were adopted by (or not), but they discover what family really means by finding each other in the end.
The Poisoned City
This book about the water contamination crisis in Flint, Mich., seems like a story from an apocalyptic movie. Sadly, though, it’s true.
The state government made the poorly-informed decision to switch the city’s water supply to a source that corroded Flint’s aging lead pipes. The decision was made mostly for economic reasons.
After the change, officials essentially ignored complaints from residents about the water’s foul smell and off color as the population began growing increasingly ill as a result of lead poisoning.
It took 18 months for state officials to finally admit that the water was poisonous. By then, 12 people had died and we still don’t know the long-term impact of their terrible decision.
Beauty in Broken Places
Allison Pataki’s story is the kind of thing we’re all afraid of but don’t think will ever actually happen to us.
Allison was five months pregnant and headed on a vacation with her 31-year-old husband, Dave, when he had a life-threatening stroke on the plane. The pilot made an emergency landing and Allison found herself in a Fargo, N.D., hospital uncertain if her husband would even live through the night.
Dave survived, but he was without his short- and long-term memories, and the former surgeon had to learn even basic things again.
Allison found herself caring for a new baby and a husband trying to become himself again. This memoir is letters Allison wrote to Dave during that time.
There they are, my favorite books of July! I hope you find something on the list to read and love.
As always, happy reading!
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