2019 Summer Reads Wrap-Up

"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you."

-Mortimer J. Adler

Well another summer over (I don't care the official day of Fall, as soon as August is over that's it for summer). One of the busiest summers of my life, I feel like I had maybe one weekend where I wasn't travelling or visiting family and hardly a spare moment to read. The one good thing about cooler weather, it somehow creates the time to cozy up under blankets and get lost in some amazing stories. With such a busy summer, I've had to learn how to read in small sips, paragraphs in between lunch breaks and sentences in between wait times. But I've had a lot of fun adventures this summer most of which I've shared through this blog so if you want a more in depth view of the books I've read you can check them out here.

My Summer choices were fantastic and now I can't wait to dive into my Fall reading list.

1. Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
   A one week tale of the coming of the End of the World. An Angel and a Demon pair up to find the Antichrist (an 11 year old boy unaware of his role in all this) in order to stop either side from winning. They both enjoy the World far too much to let it change either Good or Bad. 

   This book has always been recommended to me and seems to have an intense following of people who love it, now I can see why. It wasn't quite as funny as I was expecting but it sure did hold a lot of humor and is the perfect pick-me-up for when you are in a reading slump (like I was until I read it).

2.  Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
   A story about a man that lived through WWII and becomes "un-stuck" in time, visiting different times of his life out of order. Also, there's aliens. And he definitely isn't the hero-type you'd expect him to be given the plot.

   I'd never read this book until this summer and I'm bummed that it's taken me this long to read such a well-toted book. It takes no time at all to get through and is the perfect quick read when you don't exactly have the time to get lost in a new series. Also, it fits in your pocket so that's a plus.

3. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
   A middle-aged man visits the town of his childhoold for a funeral and gets a glimpse back into the mysteries that surrounded his childhood. Much darker than one would expect.

   I loved this book so much. Again, a shorter one that's easy to get through pretty quickly. It had so much intrigue and I love a good mystery, especially when it has some good fantasy elements involved. It was nothing like what I expected. Definitely recommend.

4. The Alice Network - Kate Quinn
   Historical Fiction. Need I say more? This book is about two different women who have lived through two different World Wars but are brought together by one cause. The parallel storylines, Eve in World War I working as a spy in the Alice Network and of Charlie in a post-WWII World searching for answers, made the plot flow so well.

   This was probably my favourite read of the summer. I couldn't put this book down and Charlie and Eve were so three-dimensional that I felt like I knew them. The perfect amount of espionage and angst I can't wait to read more from this author. 

5. Talking as Fast as I can - Lauren Graham
   A collection of essays by Lauren Graham about her childhood, her time on Gilmore Girls and Parenthood and what is next for her in the future. I've read it before but I needed a quick laugh in between some of the more angsty books I'd been reading and this one is easy to get through in an afternoon. Her story-telling is on par with the characters she plays and she can always make me laugh. 
6. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock - Imogen Hermes Gowar
   Set in 1780's in London, a merchant finds himself in posession of a world wonder, a Mermaid. Him and his "wonder" become the talk of the town. Leading to his meeting with a beautiful young courtesan in need of a man of good fortune.

   I'm still in the midst of this one. It was a bit slower moving than the other books I'd gone through this summer so I do admit I've put it on the back burner for a little while but not because it's boring. It's a really good book so far and definitely not what I expected. The reviews on the back are right though! It's very reminiscent of a Dickensian novel. I'm excited to see what happens next. 

And that's a wrap-up of my summer adventures. If you want to read more you can find the links to each post in the titles. I'm excited to get into my Fall list which so far contains:

• Geurnsey: Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (because I love the movie and I know the book will be even better)
• Fahrenheit 451
• The Huntress

And I'm open to any recommendations so if you have any please comment!

Until next time

-Taylor