Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in June 2022. I shared the first half of the books I read here. My top books of the month can be found here. Funnily enough, I read a lot in the first half of the month and then had a fair amount of 5 star reads, so I don’t have that many left to share today! The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: The No-Show
Author: Beth O’Leary
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Penguin Audio, 4/12/22
Source: Publisher Audio
Why I Read It: Heard it was good
My Rating: 3 Stars
After really not liking The Road Trip last year, I was not planning to read The No-Show, but I kept hearing that it was much better than The Road Trip so I decided to try it. If I didn’t know that something was coming to explain everything, I definitely would have stopped reading this book. As it was, it was too long before things began to be explained.
“Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth. These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: they’ve all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up—Valentine’s Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they’ve all been stood up by the same man. Once they’ve each forgiven him for standing them up, they are all in serious danger of falling in love with a man who may have not just one or two but three women on the go….Is there more to him than meets the eye? Where was he on Valentine’s Day? And will they each untangle the truth before they all get their hearts broken?”
I had a theory on the twist in the book and I was partially right. Even so, I thought the way the book was written was manipulative. This book does contain deeper themes such as sexual harassment and loss.
Title: The Agathas
Author: Kathleen Glasgow & Liz Lawson
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Delacorte, 5/3/22
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
In The Agathas, a pair of unlikely friends team up to try to solve what happened to a third girl. Alice is a fan of Agatha Christie and pulled a disappearing act like Agatha did in her life. Now, Brooke has disappeared and everyone thinks she is copying Alice. Brooke’s grandmother offers a reward for finding out what happened to Brooke and Iris wants the money. So she and Alice work to figure out what happened.
“Last summer, Alice Ogilvie’s basketball-star boyfriend Steve dumped her. Then she disappeared for five days. She’s not talking, so where she went and what happened to her is the biggest mystery in Castle Cove. Or it was, at least. But now, another one of Steve’s girlfriends has vanished: Brooke Donovan, Alice’s ex–best friend. And it doesn’t look like Brooke will be coming back. . .Enter Iris Adams, Alice’s tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn’t have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward Brooke’s grandmother is offering to anyone who can share information about her granddaughter’s whereabouts. The police are convinced Steve is the culprit, but Alice isn’t so sure, and with Iris on her side, she just might be able to prove her theory. In order to get the reward and prove Steve’s innocence, they need to figure out who killed Brooke Donovan. And luckily Alice has exactly what they need—the complete works of Agatha Christie. If there’s anyone that can teach the girls how to solve a mystery it’s the master herself. But the town of Castle Cove holds many secrets, and Alice and Iris have no idea how much danger they’re about to walk into.”
I did guess who the culprit was quite early, but I still enjoyed this book and I can definitely see it becoming a series, and according to Amazon it will be!
Title: Queer Ducks
Author: Eliot Schrefer
Genre: YA Non Fiction
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books, 5/24/22
Source: Library
Why I Read It: Buddy Read on Instagram
My Rating: 4 Stars
There are those who say that being queer is unnatural because a natural order means male-female pairs. Queer Ducks by Eliot Schrefer shows us that this is untrue because there are many variants of sexuality found in the animal kingdom, from bisexuality to trans, intersex, polyamory, etc.
“A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world—from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs. In sharp and witty prose—aided by humorous comics from artist Jules Zuckerberg—Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists. Queer behavior in animals is as diverse and complex—and as natural—as it is in our own species. It doesn’t set us apart from animals—it bonds us even closer to our animal selves”
Research on naturally occurring queer behavior in animals was covered up or denied in order to keep the idea of a “natural” world intact. Many species are discussed and overall this made for quite an interesting read.
Title: Out of the Clear Blue Sky
Author: Kristan Higgins
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Berkley, 6/7/22
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (Rounded up to 4)
I thought this book was too long and the pacing seemed off, as some sections read quickly for me and others dragged. The book is told from the viewpoints of Lillie, whose husband cheats on her and leaves her, and Melissa, the woman that he cheated with and leaves for.
“Lillie Silva knew life as an empty nester would be hard after her only child left for college, but when her husband abruptly dumps her for another woman just as her son leaves, her world comes crashing down. Besides the fact that this announcement is a complete surprise (to say the least), what shocks Lillie most is that she isn’t heartbroken. She’s furious. Lillie has loved her life on Cape Cod, but as a mother, wife, and nurse-midwife, she’s used to caring for other people . . . not taking care of herself. Now, alone for the first time in her life, she finds herself going a little rogue. Is it over the top to crash her ex-husband’s wedding dressed like the angel of death? Sure! Should she release a skunk into his perfect new home? Probably not! But it beats staying home and moping. She finds an unexpected ally in her glamorous sister, with whom she’s had a tense relationship all these years. And an unexpected babysitter in, of all people, Ben Hallowell, the driver in a car accident that nearly killed Lillie twenty years ago. And then there’s Ophelia, her ex-husband’s oddly lost niece, who could really use a friend. It’s the end of Lillie’s life as she knew it. But sometimes the perfect next chapter surprises you . . . out of the clear blue sky.”
Even though Melissa was portrayed as pretty awful, I found her chapters more compelling than Lillie’s. Lillie’s husband was pretty awful too. On the other hand, as a midwife, all of Lillie’s births worked out perfectly and she was able to adopt the perfect dog from the shelter. All in all, not a favorite for me.
There you have it, the rest of my June reading! This post included 4 of the books I read this month. Of these books, 3 were print and 1 was an audio book. Genres included rom com, thriller, non fiction, and contemporary.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?
