Everything I Read in August 2024.

This was a fantastic month of reading. I read eight books. From the NYT list, I read (and loved) Station Eleven. I also watched the show which I ended up loving even more. And I really liked everything I read this month. I was only medium on The Wedding People but I can understand why other people loved it so much. The two best books I read (which are potentially my two best books of the year! were easily The God of the Woods and All the Colors of the Dark. Both were in my opinion, unputdownable, perfect books. I can’t stop thinking about either!

As always, I’d love your recommendations – leave ’em in the comments!  And check out last month’s list here!

A reminder about The Library. This page has every book I’ve read over the past ten+ years is there, and you can search + filter by genre. One thing I started doing this month was using square art to denote which books are audiobooks. But there’s also an audiobooks filter!

Everything I Read in August 2024

Literary Fiction

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

This one was a little eerie to read, especially having now lived through a pandemic. It’s wild to me also that St. John Mandel was able to envision this post-pandemic world just six years before we had our own. When Kirsten Raymonde was just eight years old, she performed in a production of King Lear. That night, Arthur Leander (a famous Hollywood actor) dies on stage from a heart attack. That same night, a global pandemic hits, wiping out 99% of the population and ending civilization as we know it.

The book alternates between this new world (twenty years after the pandemic) and the old world and we get to know Leander, his wives, Kirsten and the traveling group of musicians she joins up with. When Raymonde and the Symphony arrive in a village called St. Deborah by the Water, they meet a dangerous prophet. The story alternates back and forth in time and while dark at times, it’s ultimately very hopeful. What I loved most about it was St. John Mandel’s masterful storytelling. The way she wove all of these (very varied) stories together was just incredible! Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

The Wedding People, by Alison Espach

Phoebe arrives at a ritzy Newport hotel at a low point. After her husband left her for her coworker, she has made grand plans to end her life. When she arrives at the property, she realizes there has been a mistake. She is the only guest not attending Lila and Gary’s wedding. She’s immediately mistaken for a wedding guest and bizarrely hits it off with the spoiled (but still somehow likable – at least most of the time) Lila. As she becomes Lila’s close friend and confidant, a slew of misadventures ensue. I really wanted to love this one but only liked it. It has so many great qualities but it ultimately wasn’t for me.

I will say that I had initially written it off (the title, the cover… it looked like a light read and I am generally not super into wedding-y books. It came so highly recommended that I had to read it. I was wrong about it being light and the writing + general understanding of humanity is exquisite. It tackles dark subjects in a beautiful way (there are trigger warnings for suicidal thoughts and infertility)… but I still don’t love wedding-y books. This one felt a lot like being trapped at a six day Newport wedding extravaganza and I did so much of that in my early thirties that I didn’t need to relive it. BUT that could very well (and I think it is) just be a “me” thing. I did really love the writing (I’ll look forward to reading more from this author), and the characters.

Overall Score: B+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Thrillers

The Midnight Feast, by Lucy Foley

This is a thriller set at a posh luxury resort in England. It’s opening weekend. No expense or detail has been spared in the rustic-luxe cottages set in the woods and on the sea cliffs. We meet Francesca (the founder), Owen (her husband), Eddie (the help), Bella (the mystery guest with a grudge). Everything seems to be perfectly glamorous. A signature cocktail, the roster of fancy guests… immaculately kept grounds. But just off the grounds, the woods seem to be brimming with secrets. Rumors and ancient lore talk about some terrifying birds; designated to provide justice in situations where the local police cannot.

Throughout the course of the book an old diary (and an old grudge) is revealed. Francesca’s highly curated world seems to be crumbling. A dead body is found below the cliffs. Certain characters aren’t quite who they say they are. Who will survive opening weekend? What secrets will be unveiled? I really enjoyed this. I am a big fan of Lucy Foley’s thrillers, and I personally loved the birds angle (it gave me Hitchcock vibes at times). It has a satisfying ending and I LOVED the last sentence! Overall Score: A- // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Such Charming Liars, by Karen M. McManus

I am a big fan of Karen M. McManus and this one did not disappoint. In fact, it may just be my favorite of all her books. It’s about a jewel thief, which helps of course. Jamie and Kat are a mother-daughter grifter duo. It has always been just the two women, except for forty-eight hours when Jamie was married and Kat had a temporary stepbrother, Liam. After the divorce, Kat & Liam went their separate ways. Now, Jamie is trying to go straight but has just one final job to complete: steal a rare ruby necklace at billionaire Ross Sutherland’s birthday party up in Maine.

Jamie heads up, Kat figures out a way to tag along… only to run smack into Liam and his father Luke (Jamie’s ex-husband). A series of disasters ensues. Jamie gets very sick so Kat has to take over. Someone dies. The killer may actually be after them! Can Kat and Liam trust each other? One thing is certain: they both know how to lie… they learned it from their parents. This is fast paced and fun and utterly unputdownable. I loved it! Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

The Grace Year, by Kim Liggett

I absolutely loved this book. I was sick and read it in a day – the perfect distraction. It is kind of like if The Handmaid’s Tale and The Huger Games had a mashup, maybe with a little bit of Mean Girls. The book is set in Garner County, a town that feels quite like Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale. Women are property, they don’t act up. Those who do are sent to the gallows. And no one speaks of the grace year, it is forbidden. But when the girls are sixteen, the group of them are banished for a full year. They live in the wild, battling poachers and the elements so that they can release their magic. They then (at least those who survive) return to society purified, ready for marriage and children.

Tierney doesn’t want any of this. She doesn’t want to be married or be a wife, she wants to be a field worker. As her own grace year draws closer, she realizes there is a lot more to fear than just the elements and poachers. The greatest threat to the girls is actually each other. As they’ve all been treated so badly for so long, they are scared and mean. Any hope of banding together to help each other survive seems moot. I will say no more but this is unputdownable, with a bigger picture theme of what happens when women feel like they cannot support each other. Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore

This is definitely one of the best books I’ve read all summer. It is just… epic! I think what I love about it so much is that the writing is exquisite but it’s also very plotty. It is a slow burn, but not in the way where you are bored and frustrated. You actually want to slow down and savor it, because the book is just so good and the writing is so perfect. It’s the sort of thriller I wish I could write. I truly bow down to Liz Moore. In fact, I finished it while in LA and am a little embarrassed by how often I found myself sneaking away from my bf to go read. I was just immersed in it!

This is set in the seventies at a summer camp in the Adirondacks. At times it was a little strange to read as my ex-boyfriend grew up going to a very similar sounding summer camp in the Adirondacks and we spent a lot of time there. So, I was picturing that camp in my head.

Synoposis

When 13 year old Barbara Van Laar disappears one August morning, it is a big deal. Not just in the way that it’s scary when a child disappears… but it’s extra eerie as her (very wealthy) family owns the camp and 14 years ago, her brother Bear disappeared as well. The case was never fully solved. Throughout the book, we get to know Barbara’s mother (back in the early sixties) and the circumstances surrounding Bear’s disappearance. We meet Barbara’s counselors and her best friend. And of course, the detectives working on the case. As panic grows over Barbara’s disappearance, the plot becomes thrilling. Family secrets… the blue collar community surrounding the camp… old tensions and resentments between the community and the Van Laars surface. Are the cases connected? I couldn’t put it down. I was thoroughly immersed. Overall Score: A+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

All the Colors of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker

This book. Wow. I can’t stop thinking about it, especially the ending. It is a true masterpiece and must-read. IMO, one of the best books of summer. I personally think it’s THE best book of summer, or at least tied with The God of the Woods. It’s a mystery/thriller that is written so beautifully (similar to God of the Woods in that sense) but there is also a friendship story, a love story, a serial killer, a missing persons case… I could go on. It is a slow burn and definitely lulls at times, but it’s so worth the slower parts as the ending just smacks you over the head multiple times. I absolutely loved it.

The book starts in 1975 where we meet Patch (a local boy; the poor but scrappy son of a drug addict. Patch is a nickname as he’s missing an eye). We meet his best friend Saint (a tomboy who is raising bees), and his crush Misty (the wealthy, beautiful girl that doesn’t know he exists). Misty is targeted and Patch is in the right time at the right place (depending on how you look at it). He saves her life… suffering tragic consequences for himself. Meanwhile, Saint is determined to make things right. The book takes us all the way into the nineties, following the characters as they all take diverging paths.

I don’t want to say anything else for fear of giving spoilers! This plot is very dark and will break your heart a million times. And something happens about 80% of the way through that I did not like and did not see happening. But I loved the book. For its writing, it’s twisty plot, it’s memorable characters… it’s just incredible! Overall Score: A+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Non-Fiction

The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson

This is different from my usual reading as I don’t typically care for war books. There were two things that made me want to read it (besides all of you who recommended it!). First of all, I love Erik Larson – he is one of my favorite authors. You might know this, but Devil in the White City is among my most favorite books; perhaps THE favorite! Second, Charleston. There is so much history (a lot of it really awful) of my new city; I enjoyed (not sure that is the right word!) learning more. I opted to listen vs. read it as it’s a meaty one (and quite dry at time). 17+ hours! But Larson is a master storyteller and researcher, so I actually really loved it. At times, it is juicy and salacious… at other times, it reads like a thriller.

I will add that it is a little bit scary as Lincoln’s election draws very similar parallels to our current very polarizing and chaotic political climate. The book centers around the five months between Lincoln’s election and the start of the Civil War. The main players: Abraham Lincoln (of course), Major Robert Anderson (Sumter’s commander who is loyal to the union, Edmund Ruffin (a radical, advocating for secession), and Mary Boykin Chestnut (a planter’s wife who is conflicted about both marriage and slavery — I found the parallels she draws between them to be really interesting). It’s a political horror story. Riveting, but tragic. Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

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