August 2017 Book Review

It’s time for my August Book Review!  Around the end of every month, I review all the books I read and share the ratings I gave each one.  I love reviews from other readers and so, I love to pay that forward with fellow book lovers.

Here’s what I read in August…

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I only started reading TJR earlier this year and now this was my fourth one of her books but it totally didn’t feel like Forever, Interrupted or One True Loves.  It was good – felt like a good gossipy look into a celebrity’s life and juicy secrets – just not like her normal style of writing which I really came to enjoy.  I can appreciate her creativity though, and doing something different.  I gave it 3.5 stars.

The Dry by Jane Harper

I can attest that the extreme heat can drive people to do crazy things (hello, 117 degrees in Las Vegas).  The setting of the book centers around heat and drought that has led to some desperate measures.  The community had seen nothing as crazy as what happened with a murder-suicide though.  The book follows the ensuing investigation and it kept me interested, waiting to find out the ending.  There was a lot of middle though. I gave it 3.5 stars.

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins

Aww, I loved this book!  It's a sure contender for one of my favorites of 2017.  It is chick lit to the core and I loved the warm and fuzzies it gave.  To quote a review online, it’s “sisterhood in all its drama, hilarity and tears.”  Totally!  It was one of those books I couldn’t wait to get home to read.  My besties who I read with always say, “Books find us.”  This one did for sure when one of the characters makes a decision that hit home for me, so it made it even more memorable.  Love and 5 stars!

Dating You Hating You by Christina Lauren

Sometimes I just need a short, light read and this was one of those.  About a budding romance that spills into a competitive workplace, it reminded me a lot of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.  I really liked that book, but it ended up making this one feel very unoriginal.  Darn!  I wouldn’t avoid it though.  If you like funny romance with silly storylines, read this one.  I gave it 3 stars.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

I read my first Picoult book last month (Small Great Things) and loved it, and knew I wanted to read more of her books.  This one was recommended to me and again, it involves an ethical dilemma and a courtroom.  This time set on an Amish farm.  Here’s the thing about this book...  Whenever I wasn’t reading it, but was thinking about it, I felt like it was a tv show that had me hooked.  I could picture the whole thing unfolding in my mind, and couldn’t wait to hear the verdict of the trial.  That is just some good story telling!  I also learned so much about Amish life.  Again I could tell Picoult did a lot of research and I really appreciate that.  Her writing is informative and captivating, while not too deep or hard to follow even with the legal jargon.  I’m gonna keep coming back for more of her books if they’re all this way.  Good stuff!  I gave it 4 stars.

Those are my August reads.  For a complete list of all the books I've read in 2017 so far, just head to the Books tab from my home page.  As always, Happy Reading!