Great, hilarious sequel to the first book, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers!

Very interesting story around a true event about a flying race across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii.

Murder, prejudice, poverty - all intertwined to create a very enjoyable mystery. One of Krueger’s best.

I really enjoyed this book about family relationships. It was a nice look into a close italian family relationship and how they support one another. The relationship between Jess and Leo is inspiring. I liked having the setting in beautiful Italy and hearing the many descriptions of Italian, delicious food.

This is Alison Bechel’s memoir graphic novel, which was also made into a Broadway musical. I think there were some interesting choices in what words she chose. Some of them were very academic. I am not sure if that was intentional to reference her father’s sophisticated preferences, but it made it a more challenging read. I did find the story interesting and it was a unique way to tell it through words and art. The book is very revealing and heartfelt. It helps tell a story of how we can all struggle with finding who we are.

Fredrik Backman has a way to write broken people that you fall in love with. A priceless painting is gifted to a runaway foster kid by the artist himself. Can Luisa handle the responsibility of having such a priceless gift? As she travels with the artist’s best friend to sell the painting, the full story of the artist, his friends and growing up in a poor neighborhood is unfolded. This book weaves past and present together creating an intriguing story.

Predictable and Disappointing. A nice feel good book, but I expected more.

Songs of Summer by Jane L Rosen is another enjoyable "Summer Reads" (If you haven't read it, SPOILER ALERT STOP READING HERE. The central plot takes place of Fire Island. The story while a little predictable still kept me interested. I was impressed by the characters back story. I would have preferred a few more surprises. I liked the ending BUT, it was for me, cookie cutter - It is as if Ms. Rosen didn't try hard enough to be creative which is why a 4 and not a 5.

This was a great summer read for me. It kept me interested and wanting to keep reading to see what happened next. I am not a fast reader at all but was able to finish in a few days and really enjoyed this book. I would recommend it for a quick easy read.

The beginning of the book was warm and informative; Ina was totally relatable. The middle of the book was interesting-learning about her foray into the food business; the failures and successes and lessons learned. At the end, I didn't want to read about her apartment in France and the interior decoration. Advice would have been good; bragging/name -dropping was a turn off. Although overall, the book was engaging, an editor should have removed many of the exclamation points!