Hey friends! I love summertime reading, although I never have as much time for it as I think I will. This summer’s stack included works from a couple of favorite authors as well as several more by those who were new to me. Here’s my quick take on a few:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

This Pulitzer Prize-winner had been on my bucket list for years. At nearly 900 pages, it is a door stopper. Last year for our anniversary, I gifted it to my husband, thinking we could read it one after the other and then discuss it together. It took us another year to get around to it, but this summer we did. I think we both enjoyed it tolerably well, although personally it was the kind of story that grew on me the more I reflected on it. It’s gritty and violent at times, but not gratuitously so. Those parts I was happy to skim through, but many of the characters are such that they are likely to remain with me forever. For sure, all of the above generated great bookish convo between my man and me, and so this tome well lived up to its intended purpose. The experience was all the more enjoyable as we followed up our reading with watching the TV miniseries. Its all-star cast made it worthwhile, and we were both impressed with how well the script stayed true to the book. Not a book nor a movie I need to read or watch again, but I sure am glad I did both the first time.

These Is My Words by Nancy Turner

I “read” this book on audio and loved it so much I promptly ordered a print copy to keep on my forever shelf. Though it takes an unflinching look at some hard times, I appreciated the narrator’s optimism and determination, while the story’s swift pacing and unexpected turns kept me riveted. But what I really liked was the love story at its heart. Note for audio listeners: I wasn’t delighted with the narrator at first as she had a sing-songy cadence that I found slightly irritating, though not enough to stop me from continuing. By the book’s end, though, either I’d gotten used to it or she had found her rhythm.

The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty

Of the three novels by Moriarty I’ve read so far, I liked this one the least — but that still leaves plenty of room for enjoyment because I liked the others a lot. My pleasure in this one was tempered by the characters themselves — they were pleasant enough, but only that, and I didn’t love the choices they made for themselves. I was tempted to skip to the end to see how it would end for them. And though it didn’t conclude the way I hoped it would, Moriarty still managed to pull off a conclusion that left me surprisingly satisfied.

Visible Empire by Hannah Pittard

Of the several books I took with me on vacation, I liked this one the most. Well paced and filled with many unexpected turns, it did have one plot thread (and one or two specific paragraphs) I would have excised if I could. Worth the read, nonetheless, especially for its satisfying conclusion.

The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams

I loved Tiny Little Thing by Williams. Here I found a similar snazzy voice, but rather too much so. It felt self-conscious to me, the pacing flagged, and I didn’t like where the story seemed to be going, so despite its initial promise, I decided to move on.

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Since reading Bel Canto many years ago, I will probably read anything Ann Patchett writes. Indeed, I believe I pretty much have, to varying degrees of satisfaction. While nothing so far has quite measured up to Bel Canto, if you’re judging by the degree to which my nose remained glued to the book, Commonwealth might come pretty close. And here’s the thing: I can hardly tell you why. The story is not a happy one, the characters generally not very nice at all. But Patchett’s skill as a writer is such that her magnetic narrative and her insight in human fallibility kept me riveted from first page to last. Make of that what you will.

Circling the Sun by Paula McClain

Of all my summertime reading, I was most disappointed with this one. This novel is based on the real-life character Beryl Markham. Maybe my disappointment would be better placed with the woman herself than with this portrayal because I could find little to like of her here. To be sure, she was a flamboyant character, but somehow the way her choices and peccadilloes were lived out on the page left me with little of anything sympathetic to latch on to. Turns out I learned all I need to know about this twentieth-century legend from her own autobiography, West with the Night (which I actually listened to on audio and enjoyed considerably more).

After words:

And you? What was on your summertime stack?