Coastal Pours

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

The God of The Woods by Liz Moore

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

For whatever reason (there are many), I find it so much easier to pick up – and actually finish – a book during the summer months. It may be due to the fact that this time of year, light fiction reads are not only the norm, but the gold standard. If you aren’t working on your 3rd Elin Hilderbrand by the time August rolls around, what exactly are you doing?

This year in particular was a difficult one to get back into my reading groove. It’s probably because I burnt myself out trying to achieve my Goodreads reading challenge in 2024 (don’t worry, I somehow managed). But it is ironic what a beach chair in Italy will do for you as I finally found myself inspired to grab my Kindle that had been collecting dust for the first half of the year, and not to mention, finally take advantage of the Kindle Unlimited plan I can’t figure out how to cancel.

I started this summer with The Wedding People by Alison Espach. The book takes place in Newport, RI, where the main character of the novel, Phoebe Stone, travels solo to a fancy Inn in the midst of the end of her marriage and career. She finds herself to be the only guest on the property not attending a wedding costing an estimated seven-figures where she makes an unlikely friend, the bride herself. Phoebe and the Bride become extremely close over the ‘wedding week,’ as they both process the complexities of their starkly different lives. I actually found this to be an easy and enjoyable read. While I wouldn’t rate it 5-stars, it was a great fiction novel to get me back into reading.

My next 3 books were: The God of The Woods by Liz Moore, One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, and The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. Without getting into too much detail, The God of the Woods was incredible, a must must read. One Italian Summer was pretty cheesy, but if Positano is a place close to your heart, it is worth the read. Lastly, the Summer I Turned pretty is a well-written, feel good, summer novel about a first love (is there anything better?). I adored the book and to put it frankly – it is much better than the show.

Linking my Goodreads below – I will say, my friends have great taste and I’m typically poaching from their reading list.

Cheers!

Molly