The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm reading See You Yesterday, the recent young adult novel that plays with time from Rachel Lynn Solomon; One Italian Summer, Rebecca Serle's love letter to Italy, a story about a mother and daughter, which also plays with time; and The Love of My Life, Rosie Walsh's contemporary fiction with a psychological twist, plus secrets, deep issues, and hope.
What are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms?
01 See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon
In See You Yesterday, Rachel Lynn Solomon explores the first day of college for Barrett Bloom, who desperately needs a fresh start.
High school was largely a nightmare, so her time at her state university is bound to be an improvement.
But after being involved in multiple disasters in only her first day of classes, Barrett fears that college may end up a ruination on par with the end of her high school career.
She wakes up the next day...and finds that she's reliving her first day again. She has the incredible chance to make the same decisions or to consider her choices and do things differently. The following morning, she gets yet another chance at reliving her first day. Barrett can't decide if this time loop is a dream come true--or a living nightmare.
And there's a cute boy she keeps running into, regardless of which paths and options she alters. He keeps challenging her and seems to know her somehow.
The Groundhog Day -type setup for this playful, romantic young adult story is irresistible.
I received a prepublication digital edition of this book (published last week) courtesy of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and NetGalley.
Solomon is also the author of The Ex Talk, Weather Girl, and the young adult Today Tonight Tomorrow.
02 One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
In Rebecca Serle's One Italian Summer, Katy is reeling after the death of her beloved mother, who was her best friend, her guide to life, her tastemaker, her everything.
Katy is deeply grieving while questioning her own life, including her marriage. She is determined to take the trip to Italy she and her mother had optimistically planned during her mom's illness, and she's set on revisiting the places her mom has raved about since Katy was a child.
But upon her arrival in Italy, Katy begins to discover that her mother left out important pieces of her own Italian adventures, and that her perfect mother kept secrets that shake Katy to her core.
When she wakes up one day faced with her own mother in her youth, Katy wonders if she's hallucinating. But then she realizes she's been gifted with an opportunity to know her mother in a way she never dreamed possible. And if she can cope with her own sadness and dive into the unfathomable experience, she just might learn valuable lessons about herself too.
03 The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh
In Rosie Walsh's The Love of My Life, Emma is a marine biologist who's devoted to her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby. Emma finds herself fighting aggressive lymphoma, and Leo, an obituary writer, privately copes with his pain by writing about Emma.
Emma is recovering. But as Leo continues to dig into his wife's past to confirm details for the summation of her life he has begun, he finds that the facts his beloved wife has told him don't add up. He doesn't want to upset Emma, so he does something he's never done: he goes behind her back, speaking to people from her past who can fill in the gaps. And he finds that almost everything Emma has ever told him about herself has been a lie.
The tone of this feels like contemporary fiction, but The Love of My Life is also a psychological thriller with twists and turns. The structure is interesting, and I can't wait to see where Walsh takes us.