I had 2 reading goals for August: to catch up on NetGalley eARCs and also to catch up on Book of the Month picks. I met my goal by finishing 2 of each, setting myself up a little better for the next few months. (I also accepted 2 new NetGalley eARCs, which kind of negates my progress, and I still do need to read 7 more Book of the Month books by the end of the year to accomplish their reading challenge.)

Stats

Total books read: 8

#readmyowndamnbooks: 3

ARCs: 2

BOTM picks: 2

Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud by Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman (4 stars) – I loved this fascinating and informative deep dive into the corrupt world of cryptocurrency. Ben McKenzie, an actor who you might remember from The O.C. and Gotham, co-writes and narrates the audiobook, and he addresses very early on that while you might think he’s an odd choice to tell these stories, he has good reasons: he has a degree in economics, he’s a dad looking out for the financial future of his kids, and he’s disgusted by his fellow celebrities shilling for crypto and NFTs with no regard for the financial well-being of their fans. His takes are thoughtful and often funny, and concepts I’d previously had difficulty understanding were explained clearly and succinctly. (He taught me what a blockchain was in a few sentences!) If you’re looking for a great and topical nonfiction, or an absorbing audiobook, I strongly recommend this one.

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto (4 stars) – Second chance romance is very hit-or-miss for me, so it’s not a trope I typically gravitate toward without good reason. I was hearing fantastic early buzz about Julie Soto’s debut novel, however, and ended up loving it. It’s yet another contemporary romance based on Reylo fanfic (I seriously cannot believe how many there are; it’s not my preferred ship, but I’ve ended up reading several just based on synopsis) and does a great job establishing the initial relationship between the main characters through flashback so that the reader doesn’t feel out of the loop during the book’s current storyline. It’s well-written with fleshed-out characters and so much angst; even knowing that there was a guaranteed HEA, I was getting so nervous during the read. I’ll absolutely pick up more from this author; she managed to really stress me out, which means I cared about the characters and storyline. I received an eARC of Forget Me Not from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste (4 stars) – I love a good feminist retelling of a classic story, and the inclusion of fantasy elements and the 1960s San Francisco setting brought even more interest to this read. It’s definitely slower paced, but I loved Kiste’s writing, and found her reinterpretation of the heroines of Dracula and Jane Eyre fascinating. I did, however, find myself wanting to yell USE YOUR VAMPIRE POWERS at the book multiple times per chapter, as the main character could be more passive than I’d have liked. It’s a great fall read if you’re looking for something thematic but not necessarily terrifying, and with well-realized themes.

The Pain Gap: How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women by Anushay Hossein (4 stars) – As a healthcare provider, there’s always more to learn, and when I saw this book recommended on Bookstagram, I thought it would be an important read. Hossein goes into several different topics, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s health; pregnancy and maternal healthcare and how it fails women, particularly women of color; and healthcare professionals’ dismissal of women’s pain and health concerns. I didn’t feel like it necessarily introduced me to much new information, but it covers important topics in a well-informed and interesting way, and I’d recommend it.

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey (3.5 stars) – I’ve been enjoying Tessa Bailey’s Napa Valley-set contemporary romance duology, A Vine Mess, quite a bit, even if I did prefer the first book Secretly Yours to its sequel, Unfortunately Yours. The story centers around a marriage of convenience between Natalie, who was fired from her high-powered job and needs a husband to claim her trust fund, and August, an ex-Navy SEAL who is failing miserably at winemaking as he attempts to honor his friend who passed away by making his dream vineyard a reality. I tend to really enjoy fake dating tropes and the hijinks that ensue, even if I wasn’t completely sold on the main characters; they just weren’t as well-rounded as others of Bailey’s have been for me. I also enjoyed the wine-centric setting; I’ve never been to Napa but have always wanted to go. I received an eARC of Unfortunately Yours from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall (3 stars) – Not one of my favorites from Alexis Hall, but I still had some fun with this light, silly, queer historical romance featuring a grumpy duke falling for the twin brother of the woman he’s intending to marry.

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner (3 stars) – This F/F historical fantasy had a lot of promise, but its mystery lost a lot of this intrigue due to its dearth of characters and, therefore, the minimal suspects in its central murder. It also took place over too short a period of time; I needed more time to establish the relationship between the main character and love interest for their story to be fully realized.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2 stars) – I know I’m in the minority on this one, but I had a lot of issues with this book. The writing style relies heavily on the omniscient narrator telling us facts rather than demonstrating anything via the actions of characters, and the characters themselves are completely one-dimensional. As a woman in STEM myself I was hoping to really enjoy this one, but I had so many issues with the portrayal of the main character and the trite way this book deals with serious societal issues. Everything in this book is oversimplified, and I don’t like books that seem to feel they have to spoon-feed you issues. I wish the author had a bit more faith in her readers to understand nuance, as the story very much needed it.