Shannon Kay's Blog

Read: June 19-20, 2024
Seasonal Vibe: Summer! Takes place on June 20
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

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Reading this book was like hanging out with friends and exploring New York with them for the summer.

• Seasonal Vibe: Summer
  • Starts with a high school graduation and takes place during the summer after graduation.
• Travel Location: New York City

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Just some books that I think I might want to read this summer. This is not an exhaustive list, or even a “To Be Read” list, but just a selection of books that I think I might read during the next season for a variety of reasons.

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My daughter’s sixth grade class was reading Holes by Louis Sachar. I decided to read it too since I had never read the book, but liked the movie. 

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The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery is one of those backlist classic books I’ve meant to read for years. I’ve loved the Anne of Green Gables book series since I was a young girl, but I haven’t read many of her other books. I read this mostly from an actual paperback book.

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Did you know that you can put photos in your GoodReads reviews? If you’re a “bookstagrammer” and also use GoodReads, adding one(or more!) of your photos to a review can let even more book lovers enjoy them.

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This year, I went to yallwest for the first time. That’s a Young Adult book festival in Santa Monica. I went by myself and had a great time meeting people and attending panels.

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Happy New Year! I truly love Rainbow Rowell’s New Year’s Eve themed short story, Midnights, and I already have it in two other volumes of her short stories. This year, I was delighted to enjoy the story in this adorably small paperback, which also has unique illustrations that are not in the other volumes. 

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In November, I started reading the Earthsea books by Ursula K. LeGuin for the first time and read Iron Flame, the sequel to Fourth Wing from earlier this year, as soon as it came out. I also continued my Jane Austen read-through by reading Mansfield Park.

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My oldest child, Guinevere, is a 12-year-old, and while there are some new challenges to tween parenting, it’s mostly pretty great. 

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We attended our second concert in as many days on Friday night. It had been a while since I attended a live performance that didn’t star one of my children.

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Last night, we left the house and saw The Beths in concert.

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The new Percy Jackson book came out this week, and I read it within two days, despite being quite busy and trying not to rush it. In the end, it was pretty short and very wonderful.

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The first 21st century Apple product that caught my eye was the pink iPod mini. After the Apple event on Tuesday, I ordered the pink Apple Watch series 9. I’m really excited about it, and planning to pass my current watch down to my tween daughter. 

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Read: August 6-29, 2023
Seasonal Vibe: Summer
Time: 2020 and 1980’s
Location: Cherry orchard in Michigan and New Hampshire
Genres: Literary, Dual Timeline, Contemporary, Historical
346 pages | 🎧 Amazing audiobook

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I was intrigued when I saw Every Duke Has His Day by Suzanne Enoch described as Bringing Up Baby, in the style of Jane Austen. I love Bringing Up Baby, which is a 1938 movie starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and a Leopard. I grew up watching it, incorporated the song from the movie(I Can’t Give You Anything But Love) into my wedding ceremony, and had a framed Bringing Up Baby poster in my living room. I also like Jane Austen books.

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