New Reads:
1. The Night Swim by Megan Goldin - This was my first August Book of the Month that I read. It was an interesting mystery with an important topic. There were interweaving stories from the past and present, with unexpected connections. I enjoyed the "true" crime podcast aspect of the story. I have never listened to one personally, but they sound interesting. I liked Rachel and the investigative work that she did. As someone who enjoys a good legal thriller, I liked the courtroom and trial aspect of the book. I felt for Kelly and what she had to go through having to testify.
2. The Comeback by Ella Berman - This was a powerful story about Grace, who became famous at 14 years old, and then suddenly disappeared from the spotlight for a year when she was 22. I thought this book did a good job at really delving into her emotions and how she had been manipulated by a director from a young age. One of my favorite parts of the book was her relationship with her teenage sister, Esme. It was well developed and complex, and they clearly really cared about each other.
3. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - This was an interesting sci-fi story that used multiverse theory, similar to Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, though the overall premise of this story was a lot different from that one. There were many complicated characters in this book, including ones who had different personalities on different worlds. One of the characters that was particularly complicated was Nik Nik, blood emperor in Earth Zero. Cara had many varying relationships with him across worlds.
4. The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan - At first this book was a slow burn, but once I got more invested in the characters, I really cared about them and loved the book. I felt for Cassidy and Merry the most. I went back and forth on my feelings for Rose, sometimes really liking her and other times being really mad at her. I didn't care for Yumi very much. This book showed the behind the scenes of a fictional pop music group and showed how relentless the scene was for them, from fans to stalkers to the paparazzi and gossip magazines printing sometimes false information. I felt sad for Cassidy and wished that she had been able to find happiness with people who loved her.
5. All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban - This book had very One of Us is Lying vibes, but I think I liked the twist in this one better. I was shocked by it. This book made me care about some characters and strongly dislike others within the span of its pages. It had a tense plotline where I had to know who was responsible for putting them in the room, so I just kept reading until I was done.
6. Missoula by Jon Krakauer - The author of this book is an acclaimed author and journalist, and while this is my first book by him, it will certainly not be my last. Krakauer paints an alarming picture in this book of a justice system that oftentimes failed victims of sexual assault. While this book specifically focuses on the University of Montana, the issues in it could have occurred at many college campuses. This book is relevant to today's culture and is readable and well-researched.
7. The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner - This would have been a heartbreaking fictional story, but it being a memoir made it even more impactful and sad to read. I felt deeply for everything Ruth and her siblings went through in their childhood, and very strongly disliked the stepfather, Lane. I wished Ruth's mother had done more to get them out of the situation they were in. Ruth is clearly a strong person, and I was glad she was eventually able to make a good life for herself and her siblings. The story ended hopefully, but there were many sad parts before.
