Summer Reading Reviews 2023

We’re sharing some of your reviews of your Summer Reading 2023 books here–you may find ideas for your next read. Looking for more ideas? Take a look at reviews from 2022, too!

Log your own reviews here!

Updated August 26, 2023
Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium Scotch Plains Public Library
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Summer Reading Reviews 2023

We’re sharing some of your reviews of your Summer Reading 2023 books here–you may find ideas for your next read. Looking for more ideas? Take a look at reviews from 2022, too!

Log your own reviews here!

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All the light we cannot see : a novel
Doerr, Anthony
Paper Book
*NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES--from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti* Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times bestseller...

Anthony Doer's is a Pulitzer Prize winning story and it does not disappoint. All the Light We Cannot See is an wonderfully written, poignant, and powerful novel that deserves every bit of praise it has received. It explores themes of love, loss, sacrifice, and the power of hope. It is a timeless tale that will stay with you long after you turn the final page, and it is a must-read for anyone who appreciates masterful storytelling and richly drawn characters.

All about architecture and the super rich. The book is a bit long. If you’ve ever wondered about the super tall residential buildings on NYC’s skyline, this is your book! I enjoyed learning about this.

-Amy J.

Educated : a memoir
Westover, Tara
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University ...

5 STARS

Tara Westover writes a memoir about her life as part of an ultra conservative family. Her parents do not trust the government. Their children are born at home and do not have a birth certificate. The parents do not believe in sending their children to school but have them work in the family’s junkyard instead. Tara wants to be educated and is admitted to BYU without a high school diploma. Her education then takes her Cambridge. This memoir shows how a person can persevere and achieve their dreams against all odds.

Girl in pieces
Glasgow, Kathleen
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A haunting, beautiful, and necessary book."--Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she's already lost more than most people...

5 STARS

GIRL IN PIECES is an aptly named novel. It is the SHATTERING story of a teen aged girl, one of many who cuts herself to relieve her inner turmoil. This novel is classified as a Young Adult read, however, it is an easy crossover for any adult. While the subject matter is depressing, the author carries you along on a ride that is eye opening. The characters are seedy, unlikeable, until you see the reasons for their dependence on drugs. Everyone has secrets, as do all humans. The secrets in this novel are deep, hurtful, and monstrous. This novel takes you to places you don't want to know, but you learn that not everyone leads a perfect life. It is compelling and difficult to stop reading. Its message reveals the underbelly of society and how many cope. They are deserving of understanding and compassion. A good and important read.

-Edie S.

4 STARS

I’m a sucker for any story about a lighthouse, and I enjoyed imagining the setting of this small island with a close knit set of families working the lighthouse. The characters felt thin to me and the mystery surrounding them was a bit overdone. Worth it for the lighthouse though. :)

-Amy J.

Long shadows
Baldacci, David
Paper Book
From the author of The 6:20 Man, "Memory Man" Amos Decker--an FBI consultant with perfect recall--delves into a bewildering double homicide in this thriller in David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestselling series.   When...

5 STARS

Found it hard to put down this fast moving complicated murder mystery. Piece by piece the Memory Man & his new partner work their magic.

-Anonymous

Nothing to see here
Wilson, Kevin
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller  *  A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, TIME, The A.V. Club, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar ...

4 STARS

A refreshing creative novel.

Obsessed
Patterson, James
Paper Book
In this startling psychological thriller from the world's #1 bestselling author, a killer is targeting young women in New York City and is obsessed with Michael Bennett's daughter.     A killer is obsessed ... with Detective Michael...

4 STARS

I find the Michael Bennett mysteries very entertaining, fast moving & heart warming with aspects of his family life with wife, 10 children & priest grandfather. I marvel how he can manage his sharp detective skills while being a great family man.

--------

4 STARS

-Abby P.

The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo : a novel
Reid, Taylor Jenkins
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the New York Times bestselling author of Atmosphere and Daisy Jones & the Six--an entrancing and "wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet" (PopSugar) as she reflects on her relentless...

5 STARS

Verity
Hoover, Colleen
Paper Book
Whose truth is the lie? Stay up all night reading the sensational psychological thriller that has readers obsessed--soon to be a major motion picture starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson--from the #1 New York Times bestselling...

2 STARS

I traded books while on vacation, swapping the book I read during my departure flight for something new to read on the way home. I wound up with a Colleen Hoover book and figured, after a year of seeing her name spread like wildfire, that I was well overdue to give her books a try.

Verity is suspenseful, but all the build-up doesn't lead to as significant a plot twist as I anticipated. I felt the plot sort of just fizzled out. While there is some resolution, one big question is left open-ended, which may be great for book club conversations, but left me a bit disappointed. I don't think I get what all the hype is about.

-Lauren L.

I will find you
Coben, Harlan
Paper Book
In this breathtaking thriller from a New York Times bestselling author, an innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive--and must break out of prison to find out the truth.   ...

5 STARS

David Burroughs is in prison for the horrific murder of his three year old son, Matthew. After being incarcerated, for five years, David’s former sister-in-law, Rachel, visits him with a photo. In the background of the photo Rachel believes believes she sees Matthew. This is an exciting book that you will thoroughly enjoy.

Wish you well
Baldacci, David.
Paper Book
Following a family tragedy, siblings Lou and Oz must leave New York and adjust to life in the Virginia mountains--but just as the farm begins to feel like home, they'll have to defend it from a dark threat in this New York Times bestselling coming-of-age story. <...

5 STARS

Not your usual Baldacci novel, primarily known as suspense and legal thrillers. This novel could not be further from those. It is a story that actually draws from Baldacci's ancestors' past in the coal mining mountains of Virginia. It is reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird, particularly the nail biting trial at the end. Cotton Longfellow, an attorney, is the counterpart of Atticus Finch. A heartwarming drama filled with the struggles of a poor family, corruption, and the injustice that large corporations can inflict on rural America. A great summer read, whose characters are sympathetic, evil, and all that falls in between.

-Edie S.

The younger wife
Hepworth, Sally
Paper Book
From the author of The Good Sister, the breakout New York Times bestseller and "stunningly clever thriller" (People), comes Sally Hepworth's next novel of domestic suspense about the tangled vines of family secrets. "Smart, suspenseful, brimming with...

5 STARS

A great read about the Aston family. Stephen Aston is a renowned, 60 year old heart surgeon who is getting married to a much younger woman while his wife is still alive and suffering from dementia. This book has many twists and turns as two sisters react to their father’s impending marriage.

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