June Favourites (Monthly favs #6) - Very short reviews

Ugh, another month has come and gone, where does all the TIME go? Is there a time-graveyard somewhere (along with the missing socks and my missing books?). Anyway, as I love my *statistics*, here comes my short recap of June where I present my favourite books I read over the past month.

I've been on a blogging hiatus (and still am, kind of), due to spending my Summer at the lake:

I've tried to read a lot, but was often distracted, sometimes by various animals as the BIG BLACK SNAKE I came across or stories my father told me daily about coming eye to eye with a wolf or a moose...this country is scary...lol :). Anyway, according to Goodreads I've read 16 books, which is not as bad as the previous months. I also discovered that I like to read on my Kindle much more than I like to read actual *tree* - books.

So, here are my June favourites!:

Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern

On the first day of Lillian’s summer-before-college, she gets a message on her cell from her sort-of friend, Penny. Not only has Penny faked her own kidnapping, but Lil is the only one who figures it out. She knows that Penny’s home life has been rough, and that her boyfriend may be abusive. Soon, Penny’s family, the local police, and even the FBI are grilling Lil, and she decides to head out to Oregon, where Penny has mentioned an acquaintance. And who better to road-trip across the country with than Lil’s BFF, Josh. But here’s the thing: Lil loves Josh. And Josh doesn’t want to “ruin” their amazing friendship.

Josh has a car and his dad’s credit card. Lil has her cellphone and a hunch about where Penny is hiding. There’s something else she needs to find: Are she and Josh meant to be together?

I have mentioned a few times earlier that I simply love Road-trip books. As I've never been to the US I find it really interesting to read about all this peculiar places and look up pictures of these places on google. I love being in a car, even though I don't have a driving license myself ( I've never had enough money...). Most of my Summer-holidays consisted of my family driving all over Europe, yeah Road Trips!
For me this book had everything, the right places, the right pacing, an interesting story, a sweet romancing, a little bit of mystery. It is a coming of age story, finding the right way and there's just enough of an openness at the end to not lock the story in between it's covers but still giving me that feeling of content.....

Back When You Were Easier to Love - Emily Wing Smith

What's worse than getting dumped? Not even knowing if you've been dumped. Joy got no goodbye, and certainly no explanation when Zan - the love of her life and the only good thing about stifling, backward Haven, Utah - unceremoniously and unexpectedly left for college a year early. Joy needs closure almost as much as she needs Zan, so she heads for California, and Zan, riding shotgun beside Zan's former-best-friend Noah.

Original and insightful, quirky and crushing, Joy's story is told in surprising and artfully shifting flashbacks between her life then and now. Exquisite craft and wry, relatable humor signal the arrival of Emily Wing Smith as a breakout talent

This is also a Road-trip books, but quite different from 'Don't Stop Now'. This books actually took my kind of by surprise. I never expected to like it, event though I really adore different and quirky books. I downloaded the sample to my kindle and when I saw the word 'Mormon' I was intrigued. I've never read a book set within the mormon culture before and it was quite frankly not what I wanted to read about at this point, I just wanted to read a book about a boy and a girl ..a road and a car...lol. Well, there isn't much 'mormon' in this book as far as I could detect, or at least it didn't hinder my reading-experience. I loved the *journey* Joy went through, most of all her internal one. I really enjoyed this book, it gave me quite a few things to think about.

The Single Girl's To-Do List by Lindsey Kelk

A hilarious and romantic standalone novel from the bestselling author of the I Heart series Rachel Summers lives every area of her life according to a to-do list and so far, she is ticking most things off. She has a job she loves (make-up artist to the stars), the perfect boyfriend, a cosy London flat and a fantastic circle of friends. All that remains on her life to-do list is to get married, have a baby and live happily ever after. Simple. Well, not quite! Suddenly, Rachel's perfect boyfriend wants to take a break. She's convinced it's just cold feet but when the break turns into a split, her best friends Emelie and Matthew step in and come up with the ultimate heartbreak cure -- the single girl's to-do list, the top ten things Rachel must see and do to kick-start her fabulous, new single life. But nothing can prepare her for the adventures that unfold as the to-do list takes them all over town and even abroad, and proves to all three that love is out there if you're willing to take a chance!

I just realized that all my favourite books this month are about journeys. This chick-lit-y book is also about one. It's the journey from being just dumped and miserable to enjoying single-ness, this is achieved with the help of a list. A list written while being drunk. I love Lindsey Kelks novels. I enjoy her humour, her talent to draw me in, the feel every emotion within the pages, to identify with the characters. A perfect Summer- Beach-Read (or Winter-hot chocolate-on couch-read).

Groundswell by Katie Lee

EAT, SURF, LOVE. A butterfly flaps its wings in New York City . . . and a groundswell forms in Mexico. . . .

Sometimes the biggest ripples come from the smallest events. Like the day that Emma Guthrie walks into world-famous movie star Garrett Walker’s trailer. When she steps through the door, she’s a novice PA who’s just dropped out of college after losing her scholarship. When she walks out, she’s on her way to becoming Mrs. Emma Walker—wife of an A-list actor. Soon, Emma has made the transition from nobody to red-carpet royalty, trading jeans and flip-flops for closets full of Chanel and Birkin bags, swishing past velvet ropes to attend every lavish party and charity gala on both coasts. With her husband’s encouragement, Emma pens a screenplay based on her life, Fame Tax, which becomes a blockbuster sensation. Through it all, Garrett is her ally and her mentor . . . until their relationship is thrown into question by an incriminating text message that Emma discovers on Garrett’s phone the night of the Met Costume Institute Gala.

Devastated by her husband’s infidelity and hounded mercilessly by the paparazzi, Emma must flee New York City to get away from it all and clear her head. Her destination? A sleepy coastal town in Mexico where no one recognizes her and there is nothing but unspoiled beaches for miles. Here, she meets Ben, a gorgeous, California-born surf instructor, who teaches her about the healing powers of surfing, shows her the joys of the simple life, and ultimately opens her up to the possibility of love.

From Manhattan’s hippest restaurants to the yacht-and-celebrity infested waters of St. Barts, Katie Lee’s debut novel is an irresistible insider’s glimpse into a glittering world—and a captivating story about how losing everything you thought you wanted can be the first step to finding what you need.

And another book about a journey, gosh, what is it with the month of June??
This book also completely surprised me. It has all the elements I don't like in a book. Written by kind of a celebrity (even though I've never heard of her, as I live in Europe), a too long flashback and too *new-life* story, I still enjoyed this book immensely! I downloaded it to my kindle one late evening and I didn't go to bed until I'd finished it sometimes early early morning (or late night :P ).

So, last but not least, these are about my own journey, about how I've grown, where I've come in my life....

The Rywig- series by Berte Bratt

These books were some of my favourite books when I was a very young teenager. They were already *old* when I read them some 16 years ago, as they're set in the 50's and 60's in Norway, Germany, Africa, Australia and Canada.

I recently bought them used and got the revisit my favourite childhood characters. Yes, I teared up. Yes, I still love them. Yes, they opened up my eyes to things I didn't see before. They are still changing me, even all these years later.....