We started August really strong on the reading front! And then by the end of the month I got a little burned out. So I’m currently taking some time off of reading and, instead, committing all my spare time to Master Chef and Claim to Fame. I’m a game show girlie (are these game shows???).

Anyway, here’s what I read this month! They were all excellent.
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Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena
Download the audiobook here.
Buy the hardcover copy in-store at Twice Told Tales or online here.

I plowed through this book in two days. I was hooked from the premise of this book. Now, sometimes the jacket copy sounds incredible but the actual book falls flat. And I hate that! (I, personally, felt that way about Big Swiss but I may be in the minority on that one.) Anywayzzzz this one didn’t disappoint at all. This book had several really good plot twists.

So the book opens with William is cheating on his wife. OR he was cheating on his wife but his lover/ neighbor just broke up with him. So instead of going back to work, he heads home to clear his mind a little bit. The house should be empty. But it’s not empty. His daughter, Avery, is home early for some reason and he’s annoyed. After a brief, tense conversation he heads back to work.
Sometime later, William’s wife calls him frantic. Avery is missing.
William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, the whole neighborhood becomes increasingly unhinged.

This book does deal with the subject of a missing child so I definitely recommend checking out the content warnings tab on the StoryGraph page.

My Name is Iris by Brando Skyhorse
Download the audiobook here.
Order the hardcover here.

This is one of those books that stayed with me for a long time after finishing it. It gave me so much to chew on and it wasn’t until I had a conversation with a friend before I decided I loved this book. I would recommend My Name is Iris to anyone who was super intrigued by the plot of Celeste Ng’s latest, Our Missing Hearts.

In a near-future California, Iris is starting over. After a surprisingly amiable divorce, she’s striking out on her own and excited to join her new neighborhood with the gossipy neighbors, neighborhood watch, and the rules that the homeowners association put in place. Iris is good at following the rules. It’s how she’s survived her whole life thus far as the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her personal motto might as well be, “if you never do anything wrong, you’ll never get in trouble.” Some of her Mexican family and friends accuse her of denying her heritage but Iris doesn’t see it that way. It’s just that sometimes you have to go along to get along.

A new government system is going into practice which requires every American to wear a band. This is a handy device that will not only serve as identification, but holds your bank information (you can pay for your groceries or utilities just by tapping the band! How convenient!), your school enrollment information, your medical history, your criminal history, etc.
When Iris goes to register for her band she discovers that she’s ineligible. And this simple bit of government red tape starts the process of unraveling her whole worldview.

None of this is True by Lisa Jewell
Download the audiobook here.
Order the hardcover copy here.

This is my very first Lisa Jewell book! So many of my customers have raved about her for years so when I got access to an early release copy, I thought I’d give it a shot. And holy moly! This book was good. It’s giving Single White Female? A movie that I have never ever seen but I’ve seen it referenced enough in pop culture to have an idea about the vibes. And now I kinda really want to go watch it.

Alix crosses paths with a woman named Josie when they run into one another in the bathroom where they’re both celebrating their 45th birthdays! What luck!
All I’ll say is that after that, they run into one another a few more times. What are the odds???

There were so many satisfying plot twists in this book (and maybe one or two that felt a little clunky if I’m being honest but I still loved it) and I’m still not confident that I know exactly what happened in the end (but if I’m being honest I’m not sure if it’s because I’m just confused or if the author wanted us to feel that way). Either way–I’m into it!

On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and The Price Women Pay to be Good by Elise Loehnen
Download the audiobook here.
Order the hardcover here.

Non-fiction: who is she??? I heard about this book from Nora McInerney who recommended it in her IG stories one day. I was really intrigued and bought it right away. And then I read it immediately which never happens.

I really liked the structure of this book–an exploration of each of the seven deadly sins and the way that these “sins” function in our greater society and the way that almost all of them have a double standard for men than for women. It wasn’t a man-bashing book but more of an exploration of how people who were raised to follow the rules of womanhood can break free from these structures and, in turn, live more freely.

As someone who is deeply triggered by the concept of laziness, I found the chapter on sloth to be particularly enjoyable. Here’s a pic I took of the last page from that chapter:

And after that I took a break from reading for a minute. But I’m excited about what’s new so I’ll start up again ASAP.