What I Read In June
The amount of books I read In June doubled compared to last minute. I’m so surprised. I actually could have read a couple more books, but I decided to take a step back and enjoy the longer summer days.
Every book I read in June was very enjoyable. I highly recommend each one of these books to add to your Summer reading! They real make an incredible beach read, porch reading, or poolside reading books!
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What I Read In June
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Mansanala
Lila moves back to her small hometown where she helps out with her Tita Rosie’s Filipino restaurant. Her life seems to follow the typical rom-com – she moved to the big city (Chicago), moved back to her small hometown to recover from her awful breakup, deals with her gossipy aunties, and now has to save her Tita’s restaurant. A notoriously nasty food critic dies in front of Lila and now is a murder suspect. The detective is convinced that Lila is the killer and now Lila has to do her own investigation to prove her innocence.
I love that this is another book written by a Filipino author with Filipino characters. I think I like this one a bit better than Simmer Down (the one I read last month). This book is one of those cheesy mystery books but it is exactly what I needed to wind down. This book definitely has more Filipino cultures in it and I relate to A LOT of it haha. I love that the author has a glossy and pronunciation right at the beginning of the book so that you can use it as reference if you come across a word or phrase you don’t understand. However, I wish the author provided the glossary similar to how Kevin Kwan did with his Crazy Rich Asians books. He had an asterisk on a word or phrase and at the bottom of that page, he explains. Since I understood all of the Filipino words in Arsenic and Adobo, it wasn’t an issue for me. However, I can see someone who doesn’t know Filipino to find it frustrating to refer all the way to the front of the book for the glossary.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Every year, Nina Riva throws an end of summer party. This party unanimously known to be the most epic party in Hollywood. Anyone that is a somebody goes to this party… actors, actress, artist, producers, directors, etc. Nina Riva and her 3 siblings’ father is the famous Mick Riva. Nina is a talented surfer and supermodel, Jay is a champion surfer, Hud is a world renown photographer, and Kit is the baby of the family. Everyone is looking forward to the Riva summer party except for Nina. She never wanted to be a center of attention and her famous pro tennis player husband publicly abandoned her. Hud also is dreading the party because he has to confess a big secret to his brother Jay which he knows will not end well. Jay is looking for the girl of his dreams all night and Kit also has a few secrets of her own. The Riva party goes out of control and in the end Malibu is literally on fire. The entire town has to evacuate.
I thought based on this book’s synopsis that I would know what it is all about and I’m wrong in a very good way. I love the tone of the book. It’s definitely more seriously that I expected. The entire time I felt like I was watching a movie. I couldn’t put the book down! I finished it in a couple days. This book was totally worth the hype. For once, I actually really enjoyed all the main characters. They each played a really good part in building the story. I would not be surprised if this book goes into film.
SHOP THE OUTFIT: Hill House Nap Dress (runs big, size down) | Monogram Necklace
People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
Poppy and Alex are two best friends and they could not be anymore different. Poppy is a wanderlust and chatty. Alex prefers to stay at home with a book. Every year they go on a Summer trip. They never missed a trip since they day they met until two years ago. They have not spoken for two years. Croatia changed their friendship and Poppy just wants their friendship back. So this year she was determined to reach out to Alex and go on a Summer trip and fix their friendship. If Poppy keeps the trip true to how they used to travel, what could possibly go wrong.
This is the second book I read of Emily Henry. Last year, I read Beach Reads (my review here). And I love this book way more. I actually enjoyed it much more than I expected. I thought it was going to be your classic modern literature, but something about it was more than that. It was relatable, funny (there were moments I was literally laughing out loud), and it was sweet. The ending is predictable but I wanted it to be predictable. This book was about the ending but more like the journey. It also made me miss going on vacation and trips!
That’s What Frenemies Are For by Sophie Littlefield and Lauren Gershell
Julia Summers is a wealthy New Yorker living in the Upper East Side with her successful husband and two adorable children who go to the best private school in the city. She loves being the trendsetter and influencing her friends on the next big thing. But lately, she has been fading. When she found out she has to stay in Manhattan for the summer instead of their Hampton home, she had to figure out a way to be a trendsetter again. One day, she came across this super trendy spin studio called Flame. Julia hyping up this studio is what will get her back in the game. So she took Tatum, a naive spin instructor, under her wing. Tatum realizes her stardom and indulges in her new power. Julia does not like how she is spiraling out of control and Julia and Tatum’s relationship gets ugly. Overall it is not a good look for Julia and Julia needs to reclaim her perfect life back.
This book was exactly what I needed to read. It was originally in my 2019 Summer reading list but never got to it. So gossipy! I love reading anything bout wealthy New Yorkers with secrets. If you loved the book, Happy And You Know It (my review is here), then you will love every bit of this book. Not going to lie, wealthy people with secrets is my guilty pleasure haha. Which I’m sure some of you already know haha. I couldn’t put the book down and quickly finished it!
Did you read any of these books? If so, which one did you love / didn’t love? Do you have any summer reading recommendations for me? My July reading is pretty much non existent. It’s been an exhausting month haha but I want to get back to reading!
xo RD
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