Happy Tuesday! It’s almost 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 Joanne and Dara for Share Your Shelf so be sure to check it out on the first Thursday of next month for other great bookish posts.
I am never sure what to expect from my reading life in September. I am back to work, the pool is closed, and our weekends can be very busy or rather empty. This turned out to be a great month of reading. I read seven books and am in the middle of two more right now. I also read/skimmed quite a few graphic novels that I wanted to add to our school library. I didn’t include them because I left that list at school. Here is my list.
Love You More by Emily Giffin ☀️☀️☀️☀️
**2026 Sunshine & Books Summer Beach Read**
Billie has created a wonderful life in New York with her best friends from medical school and a fantastic fiance. She is excited to see all the fantastic things coming her way with a thriving practice, a wedding, and a picture perfect future. When she gets a call from her first love Mick, everything spins on its side. Billie dashes home to Wisconsin to figure out how to handle the news that Mick shared and still live that dream life she has in New York. There was a lot of back and forth, soul searching, and deciding where her heart belongs. I enjoyed the book and it was great to read poolside!
Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson ☀️☀️☀️☀️
I picked this book because Dolly just died and I wanted to read something she’d written. I’ve already read or listened to Songteller, Behind the Seams, and Good Lookin’ Cookin’, so this was a clear choice. The only problem is that I do not prefer suspenseful books. I leaned into the Dolly part and started reading. This is the story of AnnieLee, a singer trying to make it in Nashville with a past that just won’t leave her alone. She walks into a dive bar and convinces the bartender to let her sing on stage. AnnieLee surprises them when she sings her own songs with a fantastic voice. She catches the eye and ear of another musician at the bar who happens to play for a famous, but retired, country star. As you’d imagine, AnnieLee gets hooked up with Ruthanna, the star, and she takes her under her wing. AnnieLee’s past keeps trying to take her down, literally, and she is in real danger throughout the book. That’s the part that kept me up at night, worrying about AnnieLee’s past coming back. It was a litle unrealistic as the book wrapped the two storylines together, but I finished it and enjoyed one last bit of Dolly on the pages.
Lost in the Summer of ’69 by Eliza Knight
**2026 Sunshine & Books Summer Beach Read**
I was excited to read this book after hearing Eliza talk about it at our library. **Fun fact, I taught one of Eliza’s daughters in kindergarten years ago and have enjoyed her books before I made the connection.** This historical fiction novel takes us across the country on a mother daughter road trip in search of their missing mother/grandmother. Leanne (the mother) goes to her mother’s house (Eleanor) and discovers that Eleanor is missing. The house is slightly ransacked but she finds clues that lead her to believe her mom is traveling to a music festival in California. Her daughter (Nora) has just graduated from college and is looking forward to a fun summer with her friends before heading to Yale to join the first class of women admitted. Leanne decides that she and Nora are going to track down Eleanor and head off in the family car. Leanne is hoping to use the trip to reconnect with her daughter. She is also using the trip to take a little time and space to think about her marriage. Her husband has been distant and working a lot lately. The single destination road trip turns into a summer of music festivals including the biggest festival of 1969 Woodstock. This was a fantastic story of three women discovering who they want to be, enjoying their past, and looking toward their future. It was a fun family grandmother-mother-daughter story and I loved it!
Summerland Cove by Ellen Baker
**2026 Sunshine & Books Summer Beach Read**
This book surprised me a bit, but I enjoyed it. Lindy’s family is headed to Summerland Cove, Maine for a big summer. Lindy and her husband David both spent their childhood summers in Summerland Cove and now take their family each summer. This summer is slated to be the best one yet. They are celebrating David’s 50th birthday, Lindy’s parents’ 50th anniversary, and Lindy’s daughter Hailey’s wedding over the course of two weeks. Everything is going as planned with the caterers and friends and family coming for the events, until David doesn’t show up for his birthday dinner. The family can’t get a hold of him on his cell phone and has no idea where he is. He left his cell phone at home in Rhode Island and his family is scrambling to figure out why he’s disappeared, where he could be, and continue on with the next two celebrations. As always when things aren’t going according to plan, families pull together and do what they can to support each other. However, people also tend to show their true colors and Lindy’s family realizes that their friends and partners may not be who they thought they were. The beautiful setting of Summerland Cove holds all they need to get through these uncertain two weeks. I loved it!
The Thoroughbreds by Elin Hilderbrand ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
This book was the best kind of back to school around. It was a joy to head back to Tiffin Academy for the gang’s senior year. I will tell you this one hit a little different as the mom of a senior. I felt the panic of the college counselor meetings, application deadlines, getting the news about college acceptance and deferals, and holding on tight to this last year before college. Luckily (hopefully), my senior isn’t doing much of what these seniors were doing – party in the she-shed gone very wrong, solo field trips with a teacher, the chapel roof – so I was able enjoy the wild times at Tiffin Academy. There were twists and turns I did not see coming and I thought the way Dub shared Cinnamon’s email was perfect. I do wish there were more books in the series because I thought they were so fun. Elin, Shelby, if you are reading this (which I bet you aren’t), the readers want more!! Keep writing together!
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 1 by Beth Brower (audio) ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 2 by Beth Brower (audio) ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
I am going to chat about these two together because I have the same thoughts. I loved them! I had a weekend when I was going to be driving about 500 solo miles and wanted to listen to something I didn’t have to fiddle with. No radio or no podcasts. I hopped on my Hoopla app through the our public library and saw Volume 1 pop up. I decided to give it a try and it was so good. Emma M. Lion has moved back to London in 1883 and is making her place in town. The cast of characters are eccentric and funny. She gets herself into a little bit of trouble here and there, but it is the best kind. I enjoyed these immensly. I didn’t finish Volume 2 on my drives because I got to chatting with some friends, but I got right to it when I was checking books in at work the next day. I was messaging with Amy and Jen about this series and how much we enjoyed them too. Loved them both and you’ll see when you scroll down I’ve already started Volume 3.
Currently Reading: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
**2026 Sunshine & Books Summer Beach Read**
Currently Listening: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 3 by Beth Brower
You can always checkout what I’ve been reading on my Books 2026 page. I have all of my yearly reading pages linked here if you want to see what I’ve been reading for the last 8 years.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think? I am looking forward to a few October books. My school book club picked this book because it’s a little witchy and hopefully not too scary for a weenie like me. I have a few books from my Summer Beach Reads list that I didn’t get to and think this sequel might be my next book. Christmas books start coming out in October, but I am not quite ready to read them. Have a great day full of sunshine and books!
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