June ended up being a much busier month than I expected and so much to my disappointment, my reading suffered a bit. That said, I read one of my favorite books of 2024 and two books that I ended up flying through, so I am excited to share a recap of those books. Here are the 3 books I read in June 2024.
See my favorite reads from 2022 here, 2023 here, and check out what I’ve read here. You can see the 5 books I read in January here, everything I read in February & March here, what I read in April here, and the 4 books I read in May.
3 Books I Read in June 2024
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Synopsis
Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.
But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.
At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked “the Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.
Despite it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.
Meghan’s Thoughts & Review
- This book was a little slow for me in the beginning and at times, a tad bit more technical. About halfway through, something switched for me and I flew through it. I did find it a tad frustrating that there was a lot of Spanish included between Carrie & her dad without any translations offered. I’m not entirely sure if I missed something as a result. I did love Carrie’s story, the mix-in of Bowe & Gwen, and the ending was really spectacular. And this quote, that should be made into t-shirts & sold far and wide: we live in a world where exceptional women have to sit around waiting for mediocre men
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Synopsis
Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn’t be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.
In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can’t shake the sense she’s hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than it provides answers.
In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance–a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.
Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made? And if we are made, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?
Meghan’s Thoughts & Review
- I have had a book hangover for the last 24 hours since finishing this. It is such a beautifully written novel with three parts. One of Lily Chen based in NYC, one of Nick Chen based in Washington State, and a final portion with Nick and May. May made difficult decisions she had to live with for the rest of her life. Despite these three different storylines, Khong weaves them so well together. It’s a must-read.
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
Synopsis
Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren’t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she agrees to try out with him.
A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla finds herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples–Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana–to win a cash prize.
But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and freshwater runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real–and the stakes are life or death.
Meghan’s Thoughts & Review
- I gave this 3.5 stars because I read it pretty quickly. That said, it felt pretty predictable, which contributed to me being able to fly through it. I did appreciate the ending and always love stories of women banding together. Would be a fine beach or pool read as you can finish it in a few hours.
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
