August saw me reading a lot of library books on my Kobo because road trip + beach = all the reading. I tend to stock up on romance novels for these trips because they hold my attention well enough even at the beach, unlike last year when I tried to read Paris, 1919 at the beach. (Bad Choice.) The rest of August and September found me struggling to finish a book. Any book. I kept picking them up, reading a few chapters, and not getting pulled in. Especially in September.
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What I Read in August & September
Chesapeake Bay Saga Books 1-3 by Nora Roberts. Classic Roberts and good beach reads (which I legit read on the beach). But as with other series by her that I have read, I found the final book in this trilogy much weaker than the other ones. They often feel ... neat and forced. The characters just don't feel like they work for me in her final books. (This was originally a trilogy but she did eventually release a fourth book. I'll read it eventually.)
A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James. I remember exactly nothing about this book except that I enjoyed it enough at the time. That pretty much sums up every book in this series for me. Enjoyable at the moment but not especially memorable.
The Duchess War and The Heiress Effect (Brothers Sinister) by Courtney Milan. Enjoyable, quick reads. And this is reminding me I need to grab the third book at some point.
Armada by Ernest Cline (audiobook). I liked it more than I expected to, though to be honest I was worried I wasn't going to like it at all. I didn't find myself wanted to snap at the story to just get on with it already, like I did at times with Ready Player One (man, that dragged in spots). But I also didn't find it quite as strong as Ready Player One. I thought Armada relied a little too much on pop culture references. The references made sense in the context of Ready Player One, but in Armada the constant quoting by characters was just too much and the 80s connections were far more tenuous. (It's really, really hard not to compare the two books. Really hard.) And I continue to be disappointed by the female characters. They are Cline's version of Manic Pixie Dream Girl and they ring hollow and just ugh. Still love Will Wheaton's narration.
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. I appreciated that this made me think about social media shaming, which I was before the book came out anyway, but I was less than thrilled about some of the aspects of this book. It's not one I can heartily recommend, unfortunately.
The Lure of The MoonFlower by Lauren Willig. The final book in the Pink Carnation series. I was a bit sad while reading this one because I'm going to miss this series. But then I read the afterward material and found out who Willig was going to pair Lizzie off with and ALL THE NOPES so I'm really rather glad we won't be getting to see that book. This book also sadly did not seen an appearance by Turnip when the last few scenes obviously would have been far improved by his presence. (Turnip is and always shall be my favourite Pink Carnation character.)
Separated @ Birth: A True Story of Twin Sisters Reunited by Anais Bordier and Sam Futerman. I wanted to like this book. I wanted to like it soooooo bad. Their story is amazing and one of the ones I always want to mention when someone tells me social media sucks (it does NOT). And I'm sure their documentary will be great when I get to see it but ... I did not love this book. They seem like awesome people and have an amazing story, but unfortunately they are not great writers.
