Happy weekend! Nate and I are in the process of moving right now. Our new house is just down the road from where we are now, so it’s a pretty quick move. We’ve been doing some of the smaller stuff on our own before the movers get here on Sunday to do all of the heavy lifting for us.
I’m taking a break from taping boxes and cleaning cabinets to share my “June Reads” with ya… I love summer reading. Much of it happens by the pool or beach, or if it’s too hot for either of those, curled up on the couch with the AC on full blast. The coziest.
I started off with a genre I haven’t read in about 10 years, then moved on to two chick lit books which are my favorite in the summer, then two food writing books. Here we go:
The Girl In The Blue Coat by Monica Hesse
I’ve read a couple of Gretchen Rubin’s books, (the Happiness Project, Better Than Before), and I’ve always been intrigued by her obsession with YA literature. She mentions how she’s started book clubs for adults who like to read YA books…. I figured, why not? These books are suited for kids, so they’re pretty short and quick to get through. I didn’t have a lot to lose.
I picked this WWII novel set in Amsterdam in 1943. I didn’t love it. The predictability and lack of emotional development put it exactly at something I would have loved reading when I was about 13 years old, but not now. Compared to some other WWII novels I’ve read recently (The Nightingale, or All the Light We Cannot See), I was a little bored.
What about you? Are you into YA Fiction? Maybe I’ll be more interested in it when I have kids of my own!
The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes
If you’re looking for “fun, engaging, easy-to-get-into, light summer book,” this one needs to go on your summer reading list! I loved it.
It’s about a 40-something magazine Editor in Chief who takes a sick leave of absence, and comes back to find her “Glossy” magazine (fictional NYC magazine), has been turned into an app and is being run by a bunch of millenials who speak a completely different tech language. She’s clueless and is doing her best to keep up. This book is so cute and feisty. Regardless of which generation you were born into, you could enjoy this one! I’m somewhere in the middle on this book…I’ve had a smartphone since college, but the early years of my life were without the internet or cell phones. PS remember your very first phone? Mine was this SWEET Nokia brick that had light-up rubber siding. Pretty cool.
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
Ok, I don’t need to apologize for my Elin Hilderbrand fascination any more. Just expect one or two of these to show up in each month of my summer reading. They’re easy and mindless and just the type of book I want to be reading while I’m on the beach!
Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
This is one of my favorite foodie books I’ve read (and I’ve been reading a lot recently). As you can probably guess from the title, Gabrielle Hamilton is beautifully honest, crude, open, and reaslistic in her writing. She’s the chef and owner of Prune in New York’s East Village, and this book tells stories from her life, starting with childhood, that have shaped her. She’s a complicated and strong person who doesn’t try to embellish her life to try to make it seem more glamorous than it actually is. Every food lover should read this book!
Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain
If you love watching Anthony Bourdain’s tv shows (I do!!) and want to read one of his books, here’s my advice: skip this one and read Kitchen Confidential instead. Medium Raw is a series of esssays in which Tony is, well…being Tony. He’s older and more established now, and he can say what he wants to say. This book is full of the snark and edginess that we wold all expect, but I found it to be lacking in entertainment. However, I always enjoy his ability turn food into words, so the chapter in which he describes in delicious detail his global gastronomical adventures was an equal mixture of torture and delight. In general, though, I’d say to skip this one.
I’m off to go buy a half dozen Voodoo Doughnuts for us to snack on all morning while we’re moving! Hope your 4th of July weekend is full of wonderful food and fun!
Kelsey
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I’ve read a few YA books as an adult. I loved Sarah Dessen as a teen so I read her new releases. Most of them are sappy love stories. I’m going to check out Blood, Bones, and Butter!
Let me know if what you think!