In the past, August has always been my most prolific reading month. This year, though, I got through just four books! That’s OK, thought because there were some great ones in here. And when I wasn’t reading, I was spending my time quilting and unwinding up north.
The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy • 🎧 • ★★★☆☆
I’ve got to face it: This is the year of Ireland. Michael and I visited back in July and ever since I’ve been reading, listening, cooking and watching anything and everything Irish—including this book.
There’s an innate charm to this book. It’s set in a rural Irish community where the library delivers books by bus and the protagonist, Hanna, spends her spare time fixing up a cottage she inherited. And because this is a cozy sort of story, it falls on Hanna to ensure that her local library (and the bus) stays open.
I found Hanna to be sort of a dud for most of the book, but I will say the book picked up steam in the last quarter. It’s quaint and easy reading. You don’t have to read it, but I won’t stop you from picking this one up either.
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia • ★★★★☆
I really enjoyed Mexican Gothic, so I figured Moreno-Garcia’s latest, Silver Nitrate, would be a good bet. There’s quite a bit going on in this book: 90s-era film editing, 30s-era movie making, magic, cults and potential Nazis. It seems like a lot but the author assembles the story so deftly. Did I understand the magic aspects 100%? Nope. But it’s magic!
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins • ★★★★☆
I read The Wife Upstairs by Hawkins a few years back and loved it. Reckless Girls delivered that same great tension—this time in a tropical paradise.
From the jump, this book delivers a bit of unsteadiness. After her mother’s death, Lux finds herself on her own—and soon falls for (and follows) handsome Nico to Hawaii. There, two young women hire the couple to sail them to a remote island. Despite being uninhabited, they run into other tourists while visiting. It obviously isn’t great.
This is a dynamite summer read. I recommend enjoying this one while floating in a pool with a tall glass of iced tea.
Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith • 🎧 • ★★★★★
This was a fantastic listen. The narrator, Hugh Fisher, performed this novel beautifully (he did the same with Smith’s other book The Last Painting of Sara de Vos).
In Return to Valetto, Hugh returns to a near-abandoned town in Italy to visit his family, including his nearly 100-year-old grandmother. While the visit is meant to celebrate his grandmother, it’s plagued with troubles from the start, including a squatter who believes she has a claim to the villa.
That’s conflict enough, but this novel opens up into something much deeper. I won’t go further than that because this book delivered more than I ever expected. And the ending was divine.
As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.
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