What I Read (and How I've Been Feeling) in May & June 2020

Life Update: Working from home feels way more normal than it did at the start of April. I absolutely love not wasting hours of my life commuting, which in turn saves me time for chores, errands, seeing friends and staying up to date on all of my reading goals. One thing I can say for sure has been particularly great about this whole situation is all the places that I am getting to experience for the first time that are close to home. New neighborhoods, beaches, parks, restaurants, scenery, biking trails, and just plain old thinking outside of the box for things to do on the weekends have been the highlight of this lock-down/quarantine. This holiday weekend, I am writing this post from a barn in Woodstock, New York and already feel the calmness of nature.

I like to keep these posts short and sweet so we can get to the real business at hand, which are my reading lists. At the beginning of June, I sat down and started writing reviews for my May books. I stopped immediately upon the current events that gained track especially, the Blackout Tuesday movement that spread on social media. I decided to put the May and June book lists together and wait to post on the C&C blog in July. As such, these are quick and dirty reviews to provide you some summer reading inspiration.

Quick Ratings (All Books Linked for Purchase):

• Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
  4/5 Stars: I always looked forward to a Riley Sager release so naturally this was one of my BOTM picks for June. A twisty novel about a haunted house in Vermont.
• The Last Flight by Julie Clark
  4/5 Stars: Unrealistic (you know how I feel about this by now) yet very addictive. A domestic thriller with a chance encounter.
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
  5/5 Stars: A powerful and relevant book that I found to be well written and totally quotable.
• Who Will Run the Frog Hospital by Lorrie Moore
  3/5 Stars: A minimalist novel that alternates between adulthood and small town America teenage years.
• My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otesssa Moshfegh
  4/5 Stars: I have been meaning to read this for a while now and I am glad I did. This was a mesmerizing look into depression and self-medication.
• Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin
  4/5 Stars: A fun and witty book about Upper East Side moms and all their exposed secrets after a play group is dismantled.
• A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight
  5/5 Stars: Four couples whose seemingly perfect marriages slowly unravel. All are keeping secrets leading to shocking revelations, and, ultimately, to murder.
• All Adults Here by Emma Straub
  4/5 Stars: If you enjoy books about dysfunctional, small town families, pick up All Adults Here. Very well written although it felt like there was a lot of "social issue cramming".
• The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell
  4/5 Stars:  As I continue to try and finish every Lisa Jewell book written, I was definitely hooked by the story but did not love the characters in this one. 
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
  4/5 Stars: Every book podcast I listen to raved about Verity and it was finally time to pick this up. So compulsively readable that it's impossible to put it down until you've finished it, which I did, in one day.
• While You Were Reading by Ali Berg & Michelle Halus
  4/5 Stars: An Australian love story about the love of...books. The characters are fun and realistic with a plot you will find very relatable if you love reading.
• The Is Not a Fashion Story by Danielle Bernstein
  1/5 Stars: Danielle Bernstein's work ethic, energy and enthusiasm is admirable but this book is very poorly written. This memoir is about a privileged beyond measure, narcissistic, and materialistic Long Island girl becoming a millionaire from her fashion blog, WeWoreWhat. 
• Never Can Say Goodbye by Sari Botton
  4/5 Stars: As someone who was born, raised and currently lives in New York, I constantly think about leaving but I haven't brought myself to do it yet because this city has a hold over me. This is a collection of essays by writers who New York has touched or shaped in some way.