Happy Tuesday! It’s the end of the month, so I am sharing the books I read this month and what I am currently reading. I am linking up with the Share Your Shelf ladies – Joanne, Marilyn, Tanya, and Jenn – so be sure to check them out on Thursday for other great bookish posts.
It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
**2025 Sunshine and Books Summer Beach Read**
Jane Jackson was a child actor and is now a struggling movie executive. She is anxious to get her movie made and tells a little white lie that her former co-star will be happy to write a hit song for the movie. Unfortunately, she is no longer in touch with her co-star Jack and has to find a way to convince him to do it. Enter Dan. Jane doesn’t want to ask Dan any favors or owe him anything. Fortunately or unfortunatley, Dan grew up in the town hosting and music festival where Jack is singing and Dan’s brother has backstage access for them. So Jane and Dan head across the country to Dan’s hometown and I bet you can guess what happens. Jane and Dan end up spending a lot of time tracking down Jack and find that they are much better suited for each other than they ever imagined. It’s a great summer beach read! **Thank you to Netgalley for an ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.**
The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
I loved this book! I read and loved Jenny Colgan’s series about a boarding school a few years ago and this reminded me of that. This story about a boarding school, Tiffin Academy, tells the story of the year after a tragedy happened. The main students are juniors and I am a parent of a junior. I am pretty happy that my kid isn’t doing some of those things, but it is what makes the story interesting. Shelby, Elin’s daughter, attended boarding school so reading with that in mind made it fun! I loved this book and I am excited that there will be a sequel next fall! **Thank you to Netgalley for an ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.**
The Blue Book by Elin Hilderbrand
**2025 Sunshine and Books Summer Beach Read**
I got this book from the library because I already have a version at the end of The Hotel Nantucket. In reading through this, I found there are a few things that are different. Most of it are the same recommendations Elin made when she wrote The Hotel Nantucket. I’ve never been, but I would use this book in my planning and if I ever visit.
Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
**2025 Sunshine and Books Summer Beach Read**
This is the first book by Eliza Knight that I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. Funny story – I taught one of her daughters in kindergarten years ago and didn’t even know she was an author! This historical fiction book was so good! Bernadette Swift works in publishing in New York in the 1960s and has a dream to be the first woman CEO of a publishing house. She endures teasing, pranks, and outright harrassment from her male and female coworkers but it does not deter her from working towards her goal. She is a member of a feminist book club that secretly meets in the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue and establishes a movement to support women’s equality. I loved that Bernadette could truly have it all – success at work, love, and family – with the support of her beloved dog and wonderful neighbor. This was a great book! **Thank you to Netgalley for an ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.**
We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
I put a hold on this book at the library and let it lapse a few times before I decided to finally read it. I can’t belive I waited so long! I’ve said it time and time again that I love a family story and that is exactly what this book is. Lila is in her forties, her marriage has fallen apart, her mother died, her daughters are struggling, and her house is in desperate need of repairs. And if that isn’t enough, her widowed stepfather has slowly moved in with them. Then her birth father shows up out of nowhere and decides he’s going to live there, too. The shaky dynamic in the house is turned upside down and Lila isn’t sure how any of them are going to make it through this. Like most family stories, there is forgiveness and love and I thought Jojo Moyes used them in just the right way!
In Pieces by Sally Field (audio) ☀️☀️☀️☀️
I have been driving a lot lately and I was getting tired of listening to podcasts. I hopped on the Hoopla app and looked for an available audio book. I tend to prefer listening to nonfiction and memoirs read by the author. This was a good one. I knew that Sally Field’s life was rocky but I didn’t realize how awful it was. I loved hearing her tell the story, but I found that I had to really pay attention when she switched from telling us the story to the parts when she was telling us what she said to herself. I loved Sally Field in Steel Magnolias, Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump, and others and it was entertaining to hear about her acting career before all of that.
Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
**2025 Sunshine and Books Summer Beach Read**
I have been a fan of every TJR book I’ve read and this was no exception. This book takes place in the late 70s and early 80s and shares the stories of women astronauts as they train and are assigned to missions for NASA. All of the regular stuff you’d expect is there, sexism, situations where women have to work two or three times as hard as men to do something, opportunities that are not given to women, but there is so much more. Joan is our main character and the story is told bouncing around in time. We find out how and why Joan went to NASA, we learn about her colleagues that started at the same time, we meet Joan’s family, and we see Joan fall in love. I don’t want to give too much away, but I found myself cheering for Joan in every single situation. Read it! **Thank you to Netgalley for an ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.**
Currently Reading: Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams
**2025 Sunshine and Books Summer Beach Read**
Currently Listening: Tyrannosaurus Wrecks by Stuart Gibbs (kids audio)
I haven’t been in the car with Luke very much this month so we are still listening to this one.
You can always checkout what I’ve been reading on my Books 2025 page. (Oops, I still need to update that page!) I have all of my yearly reading pages linked here if you want to see what I’ve been reading for the last 7 years.
I have no idea what my reading will look like next month, but this was a good month of reading. Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Do you have any good memoir audiobooks to recommend? Have a great day full of sunshine and books!
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