When you take 3-day weekends every week in July, it’s amazing how many more books you can read!! I finished 13 (!!!) books in July, so be prepared to scroll for a bit.
Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Win
Ever Wong is living in the suburbs of Cleveland Ohio when her parents decide to send her to Taiwan for the summer to connect with her Taiwanese roots. What she and her parents don’t know is that the summer immersion program has a codename “Loveboat” and is a big party summer! There Ever meets a group of interesting people, and finds herself in the process.
If you’re a fan of teen stories, you will enjoy this one. I love that this takes place in Taiwan - it’s now on my travel bucket list, mainly because I want to go eat all the street food!!!
Overall grade: B (fun, but it’s about 50 pages too long)
(The author is a woman of color)
We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan
This book had a lot of hype for 2020, so I was very interested in it. This book is told from the point of view of a collective of students, who are all part of a prestigious writing program. These students are all graduate students, and the majority of the program takes place remotely, with the students coming together on campus for 3 short stints over a year. When a star teacher destroys one of the students, a small group of students exact their revenge.
If you like reading about writing and writers, you will like this book.
Overall grade: B- (I don’t love reading about writers or writing necessarily, and the book takes a while to get going. I almost DNF’d it because the first 50 pages were so slow. But stick beyond it - it gets interesting around page 75-ish).
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
If you like smart, quippy Twitter, then this YA novel is for you. Pepper and Jack are students in Manhattan who are both involved with their respective families restaurant businesses. When a twitter snark war erupts, Pepper and Jack find themselves at opposite ends of a viral spectacle.
Overall grade: B, very cute and fun
Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
If you enjoyed Kitchen Confidential, you will enjoy this book too. It’s a very different story but with similar themes of getting started in the restaurant industry. Add to this the nuance of race, and you’ve got a glimpse into what it’s really like to be a chef. This book includes recipes, and they look really delicious!
Overall grade: A
(The author is a Black man)
Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho
Set in Singapore, this book is the story of Andrea Tang, successful lawyer, but unfortunately single, at least according to her family. If you enjoyed Bridget Jones Diary, Sex and the City, and/or Crazy Rich Asians, you will enjoy this book too. This had me laughing out loud, with witty lines like “now she basically owns us, emotionally, which is how real power works” and “it was optimism in its purest form - the scary, unthered-to-reality kind. The kind that can make you a good dictator”.
Overall grade: A. Highly recommend for a light, witty read.
(The author is a woman of color)
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight
This book has been optioned for a movie by Nicole Kidman. Lizzie is a defense attorney, logging long hours in the office, when she gets a call from an old classmate, Zach, imprisoned for the assumed murder of his wife, Amanda. As Lizzie digs into Zach and Amanda's relationship and the circumstances leading to Amanda's death, she finds that nothing is quite how it seems. I guessed at some of the things happening in this book, but the end caught me by surprise.
Overall grade: A
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
I fell in love with Talia Hibbert’s writing last fall and now I can’t get enough. Talia writes interracial romances, and what I love most about them is that the characters are so nuanced, and the romance is so completely modern. There are no damsels in distress or completely emotionally unavailable guys - just real, healthy, normal relationships. If you’ve never read her books before I should warn you that they are very sexy, so if that’s not your thing, this is not your book.
However, if sexy, modern romances are your thing, then I can’t recommend this enough.
Synopsis: Dani Brown is a successful academic who doesn’t believe in love. Zaf is a retired rugby player turned security guard, who has suffered a family tragedy. Zaf and Dani are friends, but one day when someone films them following a rescue from a fire drill (just go with it here- it’s very funny when you read it), they go viral, and decide to fake a relationship. But is it really all pretend?
Overall grade: A+. This book had me smiling the whole time. Highly recommend.
(The author is a Black woman)
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
This is a second-chance romance between chef Ashna Raje (an Indian American woman) and Rico Silva, a Brazilian soccer player. The two knew each other as teens, had a massive falling out, and have a chance to reconnect on a Food Network reality TV show. As with most second-chance romances, they could have probably fixed their issues with effective communication, but please, let's not let practicalities get in the way of a good story. I really enjoyed this - it's possibly my favorite Sonali Dev book!
Overall grade: A
(The author is a woman of color)
Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin
If you enjoy following Mommy Bloggers on Instagram, or are fascinated by them in general, this is the book for you. It tells the story of Claire, a young woman who got kicked out of her band just before they made it big. She’s now a musician for a mommy and me playgroup in New York, hosted at the home of a mommy blogger. While these moms look perfect on Instagram, one is struggling with her identity as a mom, one is having an affair, and so many have secrets. There’s a twist in this book, that I didn’t see coming, and had me going “wait, WHAT?!”.
Overall grade: B+/A-. Solid beach read.
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
This book is a retelling of Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights), a story I’m familiar with from my childhood. The premise is that a kingdom is ruled by a murderous king - he takes a new wife each night, and has them killed the next day. Shahrzad lost her best friend to this cruel king, and has a plan to beat him at his own game. But as she works through her plan, she finds herself caring about the King - the ultimate betrayal to her family and her friend.
This book is problematic in the way that Game of Thrones is problematic, so if you enjoyed that, you will likely enjoy this too.
Overall grade: B+/A-
Author is a woman of color.
The Summer House by Hannah McKinnon
This is the perfect summer treat book. It's the story of the Merrill family who have gathered at their family beach house for a week-long family vacation. The family includes Flossy and her husband Richard (who is celebrating his 75th birthday), and their three adult children, their spouses and kids. Of course there's light family drama, but this book made me want to book a beach house immediately - bonfires on the beach, lobsters and clams and ice cold wine - so heavenly!
The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel
Liya is a successful biochemical engineer who just got promoted at her firm. She’s a strong, independent feminist who has no desire to settle down. When she realizes that a dinner at her parents is actually a set up for an arranged marriage, she immediately escapes, leaving her prospective groom humiliated. Turns out the “groom”, Jay, is the lawyer assigned to help her company turnaround from it’s recent disasters.
This is a classic hate-to-love tale, and if you enjoyed Indian Matchmaking, you will like this too. That said, this book tries to tackle a LOT of issues in the South Asian community including misogyny, assault, gaslighting, emotional abuse, and so much more. It’s very Bollywood, which is not a bad thing, but just be aware of the content if any of these are triggers for you.
Overall grade: B - I wish this book wasn’t trying to do all the things.
(Author is a woman of color)
You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley
Mia Graydon and her husband Harrison just left the big city for the small-town life. On paper, everything looks great. But Mia has these vivid dreams where a handsome man is a recurring character, and then she meets him in her new town. How will this impact her life?
If you’re in the mood for a good cathartic cry, this book is for you. Also, Mia suffers a miscarriage during this book, so if that’s a trigger for you, approach with caution.
Overall grade: A. Keep that Kleenex close.
All links in this post are to my Bookshop.org bookstore, which supports independent booksellers with each purchase. These prices are typically at a bit of a premium to Amazon, so if you are in the position to support independent booksellers by using these links, please do so. Personally, I use a combination of Bookshop.org for pre-orders from authors I LOVE like Talia Hibbert, but for the most part, I use my local public library. If you’re concerned about supporting authors with your free library books, you can continue to do so by leaving reviews on Amazon or Bookshop.org, or sharing the authors on your social media or by word of mouth with your friends and family and fellow book lovers!