As I was updating my 2021 Book list with my 57th book of the year, I realized we are in perfect ‘summer reading’ territory. You know, that time of year where you like to grab a book for the beach, or snuggle up in the AC and read about beautiful people falling in love. Or kicking ass. You know, whichever genre you prefer!
A good place to start if you are looking for a book to read is my 2021 Book list. After I finish each book, I add it to the list along with a link and a mini review.
If you don’t feel like reviewing the whole list, here are a few of my favorites that I think would be perfect for summer reading:
I’ve recently found a new (to me) author and I’ve been LOVING her writing so much. I’ve read two of her books so far and I’m now at the point where I am searching for anything by her I can get my hands on. Let’s talk about Mhairi McFarlane!
{Oh and for those of us who have no idea how to pronounce Mhairi, it is pronounced Vah-Ree. You can hear her adorable accent, as well as how to pronounce her name in this short video.}
A few weeks ago, I was poking around a Reddit page for book recommendations and added a bunch of books to my library hold list. One of the books was If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane and OHMYGOSH it sunk into my skin and stayed with me.
Synopsis: When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.
My Thoughts: YES, we know what’s going to happen. But the journey to get from Point A to Point B was just so fun. The characters were fleshed out and the banter was fabulous. I loved this book so much and I couldn’t put it down.
I loved that book so much that I immediately went onto my library website to see if they had any other books by the author. That is where I found Don’t You Forget About Me.
Synopsis: If there’s anything worse than being fired from the worst restaurant in town, it’s coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else. Reeling from the humiliation of a double dumping in one day, Georgina takes the next job that comes her way—bartender in a newly opened pub. There’s only one problem: it’s run by the guy she fell in love with years ago. And—make that two problems—he doesn’t remember her. At all. But she has fabulous friends and her signature hot pink fur coat… what more could a girl really need?
My Thoughts: Another absolute winner from the author. There were great characters, some ridiculous ex-boyfriend hijinks and one of the best declaration of love monologues I’ve read… maybe ever.
Now that I’ve devoured these two, I’m hoping a few more come in quickly at my library. Otherwise, I’ll be buying them all off of Amazon… because they are just THAT good!
Jack has been enjoying a new reading series! I feel like that sentence should get like 10 exclamation points. So I wanted to share the series with you all in case you have a young reader in your life! The interest for this latest series came out of an online class with the school librarian. She told the kids about different books they can check out though the school’s online borrowing system.
I was in a meeting, but as soon as I hung up my phone Jack burst into my office with a list of book titles written on his whiteboard.
One of those titles was Princess Pulverizer.
Knowing literally nothing about the book other than the description literally made my kid excited to read, I immediately clicked over to my Amazon account and ordered the first three paperbacks.
Parenting Rule #108: If my kid is interesting in reading a book, any book… I’m buying it!
Princess Pulverizer: Grilled Cheese and Dragons by Nancy Krulik (find it here on Amazon)
Source: Amazon.com
Synopsis: Princess Serena (or as she prefers, Princess Pulverizer) doesn’t want to be a princess–she wants to be knight! But her father, King Alexander of Empiria, thinks she still has a lot to learn when it comes to exhibiting valiant behavior. So, he presents a challenge: the princess must first go on a Quest of Kindness and perform good deeds to prove that she truly deserves to go to knight school. With help from a friendly dragon named Dribble and a perpetually terrified knight-in-training named Lucas, can she complete her quest and discover what it really takes to be a hero?
You guys, if I could hug the author, I totally would. This is a real, actual CHAPTER book with a Lexile score higher than my kid is currently testing. However, he loves this series so much that we have been reading a chapter each night. I read a page, he reads a page, and we go back and forth until the end of the chapter. He doesn’t complain that I’m making him learn… he LOVES IT.
We just finished the second book of the series together, Princess Pulverizer: Worse, Worser, Wurst and he liked it as much as the first one. Even though he thought the wizard was kind of mean.
There are 8 books in the series and I am happy to buy all of them if it helps my kid to be excited about reading!
Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.
