September brought a month of laid back reading – nothing really excited me, but nothing was terrible either. I’m hoping that October brings me a book that I just can’t put down (Spoiler Alert: it already did!). My September lineup included a book by a beloved author, a book that made we want to buy a farm, and a book that made me want to open a small town bookshop.
The All You Can Dream Buffet – 4 Stars
Endearing female characters, sweet animals, delicious foods and handsome men are the heart of this novel. Barbara O’Neal has captured a piece of my heart with her foodie fiction. I love the descriptive tastes and smells that she brings into her books. It makes me want to cook and eat sensually, live simply and dream.
The Foodie Four (a group of women food bloggers) have decided to finally meet in person to celebrate Lavenders 85th birthday. Lavender runs a farm in Oregon, Ginny bakes cakes in Kansas, Ruby is a vegan from San Francisco and Valerie is a roaming wine enthusiast. Lavender wants to make sure her farm and legacy fall into the right hands, so she invites her friends to her farm to celebrate her birthday in hopes that she will be able to choose one to inherit it.
Each woman had a story to hear and I loved every one of them, two hunks to drool over and it was full of second chances, friendship, and love. “There are just times you know that a new life is calling. If you don’t listen, that’s when you get in trouble. If you’re brave and listen to that siren call, you might find something brand new.”
Other Foodie Fiction:
The Lost Recipe for Happiness – 5 Stars
Bread Alone – TBR
Like Water for Chocolate – TBR
How to Find Love in a Bookshop – 3.75 Stars
Emilia returns to her hometown after her father dies, his bookstore – Nightingale Books, is an institution in her town and everyone adores it. But the bills are piling up and Emilia is discovering that maybe her fathers business wasn’t as successful as she once thought. Grappling with her grief, she wants to save the bookstore, but it takes a community to help her make it happen.
This story wasn’t just Emilia’s story, it was the story of the customers and they all tie to the bookshop. I felt like there were too many characters and it was really hard to keep track of who was who. There were some very sweet and some very unlikable characters, but the story itself was endearing and the ending was a perfect bow on top.
Other books that take place in bookstores:
The Secret Life of A.J. Fikry – 5 stars
Booked to Die – 4.5 stars
The Lost for Words Bookshop – TBR
Meant to Be – 3 Stars
Meant to Be follows a family with loosely based on the Kennedys. It is written in dual perspectives, but when she goes back and forth, sometimes we have to reread pieces of a scene from the other person’s perspective. This made the story slower and repetitive. She also spent the first quarter of the book giving us backstory into the characters lives (and sometimes of their parents) before our characters ever met. Overall, I would recommend skipping this one.
When I first started reading as an adult, Emily Giffin was a consistent and reliable author that I favored. Her pastel-colored covers always caught my eye at Target and her writing was like a warm blanket on a cold rainy day. Somewhere around the time she came out with The One and Only her books took a turn that I haven’t really enjoyed. Unfortunately, this one was really no exception and because of it, I think this will be my last.
My Favorite Emily Giffin novels:
Something Borrowed and Something Blue
Love The One You’re With
Heart of the Matter
Looking for more book recommendations? Check out all of my book posts here!
What was your last 5-star read? Do you have any that you would recommend I add to my TBR?
Becca @ Life’s A Pearl
Yay for already finding an unputdownable book this month! The All You Can Dream Buffet sounds pretty dang amazing 🥰 Did you ever read Baby Proof from Emily Giffin? It’s an older one that I enjoyed at the time.
ASHLEY
Yes, I liked Baby Proof too! If you can get your hands on the Buffet book, I think you’d enjoy it! 💗