What I Read in July & August

Happy September, sweet friends! I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend and are feeling well rested today 🙂 If you remember from January, I set a reading goal of 36 books this year AKA 3 books a month. Even though I’m currently two books behind on this goal (thanks Goodreads for keeping me humble), I feel like I will pass that book goal now that I’m back to my schedule! Let’s jump into my July and August reads 🙂

The Midnight Library
Rating: 5/5 | Type: Hardcover

Description: The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Review: Y’all, this book is incredible! For sure, the beginning of the book is heartbreaking. We start off with Nora, mid-30s a woman, who feels like life won’t get better. She decides that she doesn’t want to stick around to see life never turn around for her and tries to end her life. As she ends up in an “in-between” space called The Midnight Library, the true beauty of the story begins. In this library, Nora can relive any decision or regret, including the ones she didn’t make. She has endless options and as long as she wants to live in each story, she gets to return to the library and pick another life to live. The story does a great job of showing that even when you pick the decision that you think is best, there is no way to control every aspect of life. Every life she lived still had some sadness, some joy and some hard decisions. At the end, she lives in a life that begins to feel real and when she decides to live, she sets her plans on achieving that life. I had to take this book in tiny pieces but I will 100% stand by all the amazing reviews and awards this book has received. It is truly beautiful 🙂

Honey Girl
Rating: 4/5 | Type: Audiobook

Description: When becoming an adult means learning to love yourself first. With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, twenty-eight-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls’ trip to Vegas to celebrate. She’s a straight A, work-through-the-summer certified high achiever. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn’t know…until she does exactly that.
This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father’s plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn’t feel more fulfilled from completing her degree. Staggering under the weight of her parent’s expectations, a struggling job market and feelings of burnout, Grace flees her home in Portland for a summer in New York with the wife she barely knows.

In New York, she’s able to ignore all the constant questions about her future plans and falls hard for her creative and beautiful wife, Yuki Yamamoto. But when reality comes crashing in, Grace must face what she’s been running from all along–the fears that make us human, the family scars that need to heal and the longing for connection, especially when navigating the messiness of adulthood.

Review: In the beginning, I didn’t think I would love this book. The marriage didn’t make much sense to me and I wanted to nudge the main character to stand up for herself time after time. However, after discussing with my bookclub, I found a new appreciation for the book. The story was a young adult coming to age story about a late 20-something finishing her PhD. Most coming of age books out now only follow those right out of undergrad. There is such a huge different in those two stages of life and we all found pieces of her story to be relatable. I personally related to Grace’s struggle to figure out what was next for her life. At the time of reading, I was in the process of leaving my job, without a new lined up, and interviewing at several companies that would take me to different places across the US. Maybe it was the timing and alignment with my life that point, but I truly felt for Grace and rooted for her to make her own way by the end. This story also does a great job of covering complicated parental relationships and professional education life.

Where You Are is Not Who You Are
Rating: 3/5 | Type: Hardcover

Description: In 2009, when she was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Xerox Corporation, Ursula Burns shattered the glass ceiling and made headlines. But the media missed the real story, she insists. “It should have been ‘how did this happen? How did Xerox Corporation produce the first African American woman CEO?’ Not this spectacular story titled, “Oh, my God, a Black woman making it.”

In this smart, no-nonsense book, part memoir and part cultural critique, Burns writes movingly about her journey from tenement housing on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to the highest echelons of the corporate world. She credits her success to her poor single Panamanian mother, Olga Racquel Burns–a licensed child-care provider whose highest annual income was $4,400–who set no limits on what her children could achieve. Ursula recounts her own dedication to education and hard work, and how she took advantage of the opportunities and social programs created by the Civil Rights and Women’s movements to pursue engineering at Polytechnic Institute of New York.

Burns writes about overcoming the barriers she faced, as well as the challenges and realities of the corporate world. Her classmates and colleagues–almost all white males–“couldn’t comprehend how a Black girl could be as smart, and in some cases, smarter than they were. They made a developed category for me. Unique. Amazing. Spectacular. That way they could accept me.” Her thirty-five-year career at Xerox was all about fixing things, from cutting millions to save the company from bankruptcy to a daring $6 billion acquisition to secure its future. Ursula also worked closely with President Barack Obama as a lead on his STEM initiative and Chair of his Export council, where she traveled with him on an official trade mission to Cuba, and became one of his greatest admirers.

Candid and outspoken, Ursula offers a remarkable look inside the c-suites of corporate America through the eyes of a Black woman–someone who puts humanity over greed and justice over power. She compares the impact of the pandemic to the financial crisis of 2007, condemns how corporate culture is destroying the spirit of democracy, and worries about the workers whose lives are being upended by technology. Empathetic and dedicated, idealistic and pragmatic, Ursula demonstrates that, no matter your circumstances, hard work, grit and a bit of help along the way can change your life–and the world.

Review: Friends, I really wanted to l o v e this book! Ursula Burns was the first Black women CEO of a Fortune 500 company AND the first woman to succeed another as head of a Fortune 500 company! I mean seriously, she is a rockstar! However, I found the book to be more about the ups and downs of Xerox + the economy and less about her. The book was not bad but I wouldn’t consider it a true memoir. I would still recommend this book to others for the gems that she dropped about career and professional life being a Black woman in corporate America.

You Should See Me in a Crown
Rating: 5/5 | Type: Audiobook

Description: Liz Lighty has always believed she’s too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it’s okay — Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz’s plans come crashing down . . . until she’s reminded of her school’s scholarship for prom king and queen. There’s nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington.The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She’s smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?

Review: I am so embarrassed that it took me months after glowing reviews from Megan Giddings AND Talia Hibbert to read this book but UGH – this book was adorable! Liz is so full of spunk and has her eye on the prize of becoming prom queen simply as a means to get to the college. Through the story, you see how her current and past friendships shape this “fake” queen journey she is on and how she develops a relationship with an unlikely character. So cute, so fun & a ends with a perfectly tied bow!

Ace of Spades
Rating: 5/5 | Type: Audiobook

Description: All you need to know is . . . I’m here to divide and conquer. Like all great tyrants do. –Aces

When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too.

Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures.

As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly?

With heart-pounding suspense and relevant social commentary comes a high-octane thriller from debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.

Review: Y’all, I – *insert surprised face* I had no idea what to expect from this book but my goodness, it was SO good. The description of Gossip Girl meets Get Out (I would say also with Pretty Little Liars elements) is very accurate. I found myself scared and nervous at so many points wondering what would happen next. I felt so deeply for the characters because unfortunately, several aspects of racial discrimination and hate actions were far too real. The biggest surprise EVER was the last sentence of the story. I verbally gasped and flipped for more. *Added bonus: there’s an author’s note at the end that is such a sweet treat if you want to know more about the author and why she put this story together in a way that made it relatable and likely to happen anywhere*

While We Were Dating
Rating: 5/5 | Type: Hardcover

Description: Two people realize that it’s no longer an act when they veer off-script in this sizzling romantic comedy by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory.

Ben Stephens has never bothered with serious relationships. He has plenty of casual dates to keep him busy, family drama he’s trying to ignore and his advertising job to focus on. When Ben lands a huge ad campaign featuring movie star, Anna Gardiner, however, it’s hard to keep it purely professional. Anna is not just gorgeous and sexy, she’s also down to earth and considerate, and he can’t help flirting a little…

Anna Gardiner is on a mission: to make herself a household name, and this ad campaign will be a great distraction while she waits to hear if she’s booked her next movie. However, she didn’t expect Ben Stephens to be her biggest distraction. She knows mixing business with pleasure never works out, but why not indulge in a harmless flirtation?

But their light-hearted banter takes a turn for the serious when Ben helps Anna in a family emergency, and they reveal truths about themselves to each other, truths they’ve barely shared with those closest to them.

When the opportunity comes to turn their real-life fling into something more for the Hollywood spotlight, will Ben be content to play the background role in Anna’s life and leave when the cameras stop rolling? Or could he be the leading man she needs to craft their own Hollywood ending?

Review: Our first true romance for #LotsofBooksClub! This book was exactly what we needed as it was a sweet love story that was wrapped with a pretty bow by the end. I loved the dynamic of a famous/non-famous relationship and so did my bookclub. We had a fun conversation about how the author did such a great job covering mental health and normalizing therapy, especially for Black men. I really love both main characters and felt myself rooting for them to end up together. If you loved this book, so many people suggested reading Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory next 🙂

Well friends, that’s all for today! In the comments, I would love to know what’s next on your #TBRlist! +++ on Instagram, I’m hosting a giveaway for our September book: Seven Days in June!