The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I’m going to be really honest here even though I know this is like a famous milestone book. Not a fan. I kept getting so annoyed that he’s a 15 year old boy who cries all the time and his friends don’t think it’s that weird, and then when I got to the end I felt like a jerk for being judgmental. Personally, I think there are far better books that capture teenage angst. The end.

The Second Sister by Marie Bostwick. No. Corny.  Predictable. Waste of my brain cells. If you want to read a book about sisters, go for The Silent Sister instead. I talked about that one in my last Kindle post.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. I looooved this book. It was recommended by my friend Kate and we read it at the same time and discussed via text like virtual book club. I finished it on the plane out to California and had to keep it together so I wouldn’t start crying. It’s technically a YA book, but the plot is so smart and I just can’t say enough good things. I want them to make it into a movie. You know, so that I can see if and then rip it to shreds like every other movie adaptation of a book I love.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. I think I’ve talked about this in every other Kindle post so I went ahead and re-read it. Still obsessed.

How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz. This was a weird book but I really liked it. It sort of reminded me of Commencement in that it’s about 3 girls who meet in college, but it’s definitely darker. Each chapter skips around to a different year so you have to pay attention, kind of like Girl on a Train but even more.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan. I talked about the prequel to this book, Crazy Rich Asians, in this Kindle post. I really enjoyed the sequel. It was a different experience because I listened to the audiobook of China Rich Girlfriend. I liked listening to the audiobook because there are a ton of footnotes in these books, and the narrator just incorporates them into the chapter. It was a little annoying reading the first book on my Kindle and then trying to page back and remember what the reference was. Sheila said the person who reads Crazy Rich Asians was awesome, I thought the person who did the second book was just okay.

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand. Her latest- it came out this summer. I listened to the audiobook one day when I spent about 12 hours in the car driving to and from Virginia Beach for work. Not my favorite of hers- it was just okay.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. I don’t know what to say about this book. I couldn’t put it down, but I’m not sure I liked it?! It’s weird. I thought it was going to go into this crazy twisted Gone Girl-esq direction, but then it didn’t. And the ending was so dumb. But you should still read it? I don’t know.

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica. I was really excited about this one because I loved her first book The Good Girl which I talked about in this Kindle post. I didn’t like this one as much, I can accurately describe it as “depressing downward spiral”, but somehow it was still really good. And I also had that same feeling afterward, like I needed to re-read it to see it in a whole new way.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. This book was like when you’re a kid and you know there’s a toy at the bottom of the cereal box. You eat a bowl of cereal each day patiently waiting for that toy to spill out into your bowl. You don’t even really like the cereal anymore by Wednesday, but you’ll be damned if you don’t get that toy. And then all of a sudden after all your perseverance, your Cinnamon Toast Crunch is gone and it turns out there’s no toy in the box. General Mills screwed up. And you just think “Well, I should have spent my time eating Cap’n’Crunch instead.”

I’ll just leave you with that metaphor.