The last few years, I have been in a bit of reading rut. I have had quite a lot on my plate admittedly. My son turned three on June 29, and he has taken up quite a bit of time. I also took over as editor of Up & Coming Weekly not long after he was born.
So between the two, I keep quite busy.
I promised myself, though, that I would pick up some books and start reading again, and this summer I have been able to achieve that goal. Here are the books I have read this summer that have been my favorite ... so far. Some are old and some are new, all have been great reads.
1. Yesteryear
This is the one that kickstarted my summer reading. Caro Claire Brooke's debut novel centers around a tradwife influencer named Natalie Heller Mills. The book follows Mills as she goes to college and meets her husband, buys a ranch and starts using social media to make money for her growing family.
The book is a piece of satire, and Burke has talked about being influenced by social media family influencers such as Ballerina Farm. Mills' perfect life online is only a front for the darkness within, and this book has quite a few twists and turns. I sped read through it. Yesteryear for me was a real page turner.
What I liked: I really get into books where the main character is a bit of a villain, and Natalie Heller Mills is definitely a hard character to like. I didn't find myself rooting for her, exactly, but I did hope somewhere she would redeem herself.
2. Just For the Summer
I'm not usually one for romances, but this one hooked me pretty quick. The opening is a Reddit post from the subReddit "Am I The A**hole," where posters tell a story from their lives and ask if they were in the right or the wrong. The Reddit post from "Justin" ends up in a meet cute with Emma, a traveling nurse.
Abby Jimenez, the author, draws a lot of experience from her life in Minneapolis to tell the story, and it added a nice real touch to the book. I read the book in one sitting on my porch. It has ended up being the perfect summer read.
What I liked: The story had a nice easy flow to it, making it easy to engage with. It had some spicy scenes but was not overly graphic.
3. Captain's Dinner: A Shipwreck, An Act of Cannabilism, and a Murder Trial That Changed Legal History
Captain's Dinner is a non fiction book by Adam Cohen, and its about the May 19, 1884 sinking of the luxury yacht the Mignonette, the survivors and a court case surrounding them.
Thomas Dudley, the captain of the crew, had taken the job of sailing the yacht from England to Australia, and he had hired three others to help with the task. The journey was going well.... until it wasn't.
The crew managed to escape in the lifeboat, where they sat for weeks waiting for rescue. Eventually the conversation began to veer into cannabilism. As a means of survival, cannabilism had been the law of the sea in the past, even celebrated in a macabre sense. So the discussion wasn't out of the norm for how things had operated.
But times change.
The captain and one of the other crew, Edwin Stephens made the decision to kill the youngest of the group, the 17 year old cabin boy named Richard Parker.
The second half of the book focuses on the legal case surrounding the survivors when they made it back to England.
Dudley and Stephens were charged with murder. The third crew member, Edmund Brooks, wasn't charged, as he had been against the eating of Parker.
The legal case spawned from this shipwreck was the first of its kind. Survival was always thought of as a positive, survival by any means was celebrated. Dudley and Stephens were found guilty, but asked for mercy and it was granted. Instead of being put to death or life imprisonment, the men were freed and allowed to live their lives.
What I liked: This nonfiction book read like a fiction. It was unbelievable. The entire story of the crew's month at sea is absolutely horrifying and incredible. The lengths these men went to to stay alive will remain with me for awhile. It's just one of those books that I'll be thinking about for months, if not years.
4. Ghosts of the British Museum
This book is part paranormal part history book, and all fascinating. Noah Angell spent years collecting stories of those who have worked at the British Museum. His goal had been to explore the idea of artifacts stuck in a place they didn't belong.
The question is an interesting one. Is it ethical to keep another country's artifacts? And do these artifacts exude an energy from being kept from their homeland? Noell tells the stories of several people who have worked or still work in the British Museum in London and their experiences, most of which venture into the paranormal.
What I liked: This book is another thinker. As a student of history, I love going to museums. But I've never really personally explored how I feel about seeing these objects in such a sterile setting. It has made me consider how I view museums, and the British Museum in particular.
Here's to more fabulous books this summer!