There’s been a lot of buzz about Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li. And, it takes place in DC, which I always love. It’s the story of a family’s restaurant and the mistakes made in ownership. This one started off well, but it didn’t gain traction for me. I didn’t really love the characters and the DC setting played no role in the story. Aside from a few brief locational references, there wasn’t any of the city in the book (and there was one reference to getting on the freeway!). So, as much as I wanted to like and be excited by this one, it fell flat for me.

I don’t generally choose YA literature with some exceptions, (The Fault in Our Stars, Hunger Games, Twilight), but I was encouraged to read Dread Nation by Justina Ireland by several friends and thought it would be worth a try. While Dread Nation was easy to read, I didn’t love it. I don’t know if it was the YA factor or my dislike of Zombie, undead-type literature. In this story,  the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and derail the Civil Way. Jane is training to be an Attendant, a role for African-American girls who are trained in weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do from the undead. When Baltimore families begin to go missing, Jane is sent away from town, learns about a conspiracy, and discovers that it is not the undead that are the real problem. Again, Dread Nation was a fast and interesting read, but not ultimately my speed.

At the same time that I was reading Dread Nation, I decided to listen to John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down. Having enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars, I figured it might be a good choice. Turtles is about Aza who has a significant anxiety disorder which makes everyday living challenging. The story details a missing entrepreneur and Aza’s relationship with the mystery and the entrepreneur’s son. And, while this was clearly YA, it was an enjoyable listen for me. I thought Aza’s anxiety was well-described and authentic and the story was unique and interesting.

A guilty pleasure (which I have discussed here before) is Elin Hilderbrand in the summer. I haven’t yet gotten ahold of her newest, but someone left her first book in our Little Free Library and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Beach Club was nothing monumental or deep, but it was a good story and well told. Mack Petersen has been the manager of The Beach Club hotel in Nantucket for 12 summers. He has been dating his girlfriend for six years and she wants to get married. Love O’Donnell, new to Nantucket, wants a summer fling to result in a baby for her to raise on her own. Other characters weave in and out to interact with these two main characters. Definitely worth picking up if you like Hilderbrand and a good beach read.

I listened to I Am Malala because it was immediately available on LIBBY from the library and, while I enjoyed learning about Pakistan and the Taliban take over, it was a slow story. Because it was on audio, I was easily able to tune in and tune out without losing any of the content. So, I am glad I listened to it as it receives such rave reviews, but I am even more pleased that I chose audio as the medium as it kept the story moving more than it might have in reading. Curious about Malala and her story, grab the audiobook!

I was lucky enough to spend some time at my favorite bookshop this week – Island Bookstore. And, when you buy a book, you can take an ARC book with you. Kate Morton’s new one, The Clockmaker’s Daughter, was on the shelf – I couldn’t believe my luck! She’s a great choice if you like family sagas, mysteries, and tales that wrap up in a nice bow at the end. However, while this was a good story in the end, creative and surprising, overall, it was too long and had too many characters to keep track of. Because it required too much slogging through for too much of it, as much as I would like to, I can’t enthusiastically recommend it. If you are a fast reader and have some patience, you might want to pick it up in October.

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce is a delight. Like The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Joyce develops characters that you enjoy meeting and root for. Frank owns a music shop on a rundown street and limps along with declining vinyl sales. He refuses to modernize but is able to choose just the right music that people need. Along comes Ilsa to upend his world. But slowly. Grab this one – it’s a sweet and nice summer choice.

Visible Empire by Hannah Pittard was OK, but not great. I didn’t really like any of the characters and the story didn’t really go anywhere. It’s ostensibly about the crash of a flight chartered to bring home over a hundred prominent Atlanta citizens from a trip to Europe. The story follows the family members left behind. It’s been written up all over the place as a great summer read, but it wasn’t for me.

Looking for a beach read? After I Do, by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a good one. Lauren and Ryan have reached the ho-hum doldrums of marriage and take a year off to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, Lauren has all kinds of other interesting things happening. It’s not too deep, but it’s a nice story that’s easy to read and enjoyable. Also, it’s old enough that it’s readily available at the library. Win, win, win.

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon was a good summer read. While I didn’t love the way the story jumped around and needed to read the Author’s Note at the end to really understand the ending, it was an excellent story and easy to read for the most part. It’s the back and forth story of Anastasia Romanov (daughter of the last tsar of Russia, killed along with her family in the Russian Revolution) and Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed she was Anastasia.

I kept hearing about Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier and I thought that I should have read it before now. So, I grabbed it. And, boy am I glad I did. What a great book. For those of you who haven’t read it, pick it up – it’s a quick and enjoyable read, full of suspense and good twists and turns. It has a slow and somewhat confusing start, but stick with it. It’s worth it. In short, the narrator begins as a paid companion to a wealthy woman. While on holiday with her companion in Monte Carlo, the narrator meets Max de Winter whose first wife died a year earlier at their estate, Manderley. The narrator and Max marry hastily and return to Manderley, where she must take over the daily details of running the estate, which she is poorly equipped to do. Add Rebecca’s history and the mystery surrounding her death, and you have the makings of a great story.