June 2020 Book Reviews and Recommendations

I’ve been reading a ton again this month including a number of best sellers. Read my reviews on these popular books below. If you enjoy historical fiction as much as I do, I have a four-star book recommendation for you this month!

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When We Left Cuba

To be honest, When We Left Cuba is nowhere near as good as the first book (Next Year In Havana). But I still love historical fiction and I’m never going to stop.

This book continues the family’s story in Palm Beach after having been exiled from Cuba. Most of their wealth is gone but they hope their beautiful unmarried daughters will marry into status and wealth.

One daughter does not like being told what to do and the debutante life is not for her. She wants revenge for her twin brother’s death. She wants to go back to Cuba and see Castro removed from power. The CIA and espionage might be the way to make her dreams come true.

While I enjoyed that there was a romance in the book, I thought the relationship developed a little too quickly and easily to be believable. Important events weren’t drawn out enough so the reader isn’t as invested as he/she could have been. The rest of the main character’s life sounds fascinating and I would have liked to have read more about that.  Overall, the book is good especially if you don’t compare it to the first book.

   

Today Will Be Different

I’m sorry, but I do not understand why her books are so popular. In Today Will Be Different, the writing is all over the place. I found it hard to follow and I get that’s the point because the middle-aged female main character is all over the place but it frustrates me as a reader.

I also didn’t love her last book that everyone else seemed to but I actually enjoyed the movie. When can you say that?

In this book, a woman has a chaotic day after finding out her son is being bullied, her husband took a week off work without telling her, and a blast from her past makes her question some career decisions. The tumultuous relationship with her sister is also gone through in detail.

Not really sure what the point of this book is. I think I made it sound more interesting than it really is.

   

Room To Breathe

I thought Room To Breathe was fine but nothing special. The book seemed a little amateurish and very unrealistic. But if you need an easy read for a summer trip or the beach this might be a good option.

A children’s book author is renovating her home and just starting to think about getting back into the dating scene after being divorced for a few years. Meanwhile, her grown daughter did not receive the fashion internship she was counting on and has become her mother’s assistant. Currently, the daughter is frustrated with her fiance because his medical school studies are taking up all his time.

Romantic relationships, lies, and entitlement issues are prevalent throughout the story. Should a woman have to feel guilty for being successful and happy if it impacts other’s lives in a seemingly negative way?

   

What the Wind Knows

What The Wind Knows has a lot of elements I love. First of all, it’s a historical fiction story. It’s set in Ireland in the 1920s featuring the Easter Rebellion and the political, often violent, events that took place after. Also, there is a love story. But I was surprised at how much I liked the fantasy part of this book. A woman travels through time but don’t think this is another Outlander. The romance is very tame.

A woman mourning the loss of her beloved Irish grandpa goes to Ireland to spread his ashes. She ends up traveling back in time to when her grandfather is a young boy being raised by a family friend. When she is rescued from the lake everyone assumes she is her great-grandmother (a woman presumed dead) who she looks exactly alike.

The reader learns a lot about the different factions wanting independence from England. As a person who doesn’t typically enjoy fantasy, I thought this book was great. Plus, it really made me want to travel to Ireland.

   

Need more book recommendations? Take a look at my May Book Reviews and Recommendations.