It’s BOOK REVIEW DAY! Woohoo! This month, I read FIVE books thanks to a few airplane rides, late nights, and soaking up the last bit of carpool reading before summer!

Let me say that this month was GREAT for reading! I was indifferent to one book and loved the other four. One book is destined to make it to my top three for 2021 because it is AMAZING! In fact, earlier this week I put this meme on my Lunchbox Babies Instagram page due to my obsession with this book and new (to me) author. Ha!

So excited to share all of these with you! Here we go . . .

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

This month, I started with the only book I didn’t love for the month. Ok, I love suspense and I always enjoy Sally Hepworth books. This book, however, was a bit of a struggle for me. Here is the deal . . . I judge a book based upon its ability to have me reaching for it constantly, wanting to stay up late to finish it, and to have me so into the story that I am excited to share all of the details with Reid. This was a good book, but it never really got me hooked. Reading it was a bit like a chore. Yikes, that is harsh. Sorry.

The Good Sister follows Rose and Fern, twin sisters living in Australia. Rose, a married woman unable to have a baby, spends her days worrying about and taking care of Fern. Fern, a single librarian, has sensory issues that makes her life difficult on a daily basis. Their childhood was a bit rough, and as dark secrets start to be overturned, their close relationship starts to get a little shaky.

Suspenseful, yes. Entertaining, at points. Not my favorite, but I will definitely stay on the Sally Hepworth train as I find she is usually very entertaining.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Augustus and January were rivals back in college. Both wanted to be best-selling authors, and the found themselves competing throughout their writing courses. Fast forward a decade, and Augustus is a successful writer of deep, dark novels that pull at your soul, while January has a string of successful chick lit books. One summer, after some heartbreak on both sides, they find themselves next door to each other on the beach while both trying to take the time to write their next, big book. And, both are trying to heal from life’s hardships. They decide to mend fences and work together so that the summer is as pleasant as can be, and as you would imagine, this turns out to be a (slightly rated R) Hallmark movie.

So cute, y’all. I really loved Beach Read. Precious characters, amazing little town that I now want to visit. This book just made me happy. Perfect for the summer!

Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover

I love Colleen Hoover. LOVE HER! Such a fan of her books and her writing style. When coming back from the beach mid-May, we got stuck in some weather and had to be diverted to another city for a few hours. It wasn’t the best situation, but when I knew we were going to be sitting on a plane for awhile, I grabbed this book from my bag and cracked it open. Let me just say that thanks to travel delays and a very late night, I finished this book within 24 hours. Have I mentioned that I love Colleen Hoover?

Beyah has lived in poverty her entire life and neglected by everyone around her. She has a giant chip on her shoulder when she goes to live with her father’s family for the summer, and is determined to sit in silence for three months and stew in her own misery. Samson comes from a wealthy family and spends his days helping neighbors in her father’s community, but clearly has his own version of misery he is dealing with as well. Both have life-changing summers that open their eyes to the possibility of human kindness, love, and the possibility that where you start doesn’t need to be where you finish.

Heart Bones is a sweet, sweet book. For those of you that are curious, it is definitely slightly rated R in some parts. This book is all about redemption and viewing life through another lens. Wonderful book for the summer.

Shipped by Angie Hockman

I went on a Disney cruise with my family when I was 16 years old. I remember it being fun, but I also know that I will never get on a cruise ship ever again. Not my thing. And, sadly, not even this precious book can change my mind on this one.

Shipped is an adorable chick lit book that just made me laugh and smile all the way through. Henley and Graeme both work for a large travel company, and are both up for a huge job promotion. Their final test for the job is to go on a ten-day cruise together and then create a digital marketing proposal that would impact the growth of their division – best proposal wins the job! Both Henley and Graeme are determined to get the job, which creates lots of laughs, uncomfortable situations, and a sweet connection.

Just loved this book. Cute, easy, breezy, a perfect summer read!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Y’all. This book. I don’t even know where to start. I don’t see how The Midnight Library won’t be one of my top three books for 2021. So, so amazing.

Nora Seed is a thirty-five year old woman that is in a current state of depression, she just lost her job, her cat died, her best friend is MIA, and her brother won’t speak to her. She feels like life is not worth living, and so she decides to overdose on medication to put her out of her misery. Somewhere between life and death, she ends up in The Midnight Library. This magical place is filled with books of the different lives that she could have lead should she just have made a different decision here or there.

The concept of this book is truly based upon how one decision – choosing to go to Starbucks this morning instead of La La Land – can impact your life in even the smallest of ways. While we all have the “what ifs” thoughts in our head, this author does an amazing job showing that Nora’s biggest decisions may have impacted her other lives in the biggest way, but those small decisions are sometimes the most meaningful. “You have to live to learn!”

To me, this was a self help book written as a fictional novel. A beautiful story of realizing the regrets we have in life don’t necessarily define our existence.

I really need to go back and highlight some parts of the last chapter or two of this book, and use them as truth bombs when someone is having a bad day and comes to me for help. Please read this. So, so good. Please excuse me while I start obsessing over all of Matt Haig’s other books!

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That’s it for today, friends! As of noon today it is SUMMER for our family, and I could not be more excited! As always, send me your recommendations and thoughts on the books above. Happy Memorial Day weekend! XO