Well Covid finally got to me, so I didn’t finish as many books this month as I was hoping I would. The headaches have been brutal, so it’s really slowed down my reading. I’ll be back at it again in September, so I’m a-ok with that.
Did you read the Books I read in July post?
Books I Read in August
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.
In spite of 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.
My Thoughts:
Thanks to Libro.fm for the complimentary audiobook! I LOVED this story. I feel like the audiobook is the way to go for this book. The cast of characters, the sports commentary, and the narration is fantastic. I feel like this is a great way to experience this story.
HOWEVER, I will admit that this book is very tennis heavy. If you don’t care about tennis, you might get bored? Although, I think the story of Carrie Soto is enough to keep you entertained and wanting to know what happens even if you’re just ehh on the sports part of the story. Just maybe read a sample of it before you pick it up if you’re on the fence.
There’s been some issues with Taylor Jenkins Reid and her portrayal of women of color in her books. She is a white woman, who is writing characters who are mostly not white. I think this article is a good read as she explains herself.
I am a white woman living in a society that caters to white people, and my ability to understand the life of someone who is a woman of color is very, very limited because of the way that society caters to my gaze. I lie awake nights literally unable to sleep because I do not know what the right thing to do is. I just approach it with the feeling that the women of color in my life deserve to be the center of stories.
The Cut
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
Synopsis:
Tanzania, 1964. When Katie Barstow, A-list actress, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to bring their Hollywood friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon, they envision giraffes gently eating leaves from the tall acacia trees, great swarms of wildebeests crossing the Mara River, and herds of zebras storming the sandy plains. Their glamorous guests—including Katie’s best friend, Carmen Tedesco, and Terrance Dutton, the celebrated Black actor who stars alongside Katie in the highly controversial film Tender Madness—will spend their days taking photos, and their evenings drinking chilled gin and tonics back at camp, as the local Tanzanian guides warm water for their baths. The wealthy Americans expect civilized adventure: fresh ice from the kerosene-powered ice maker, dinners of cooked gazelle meat, and plenty of stories to tell over lunch back on Rodeo Drive.
What Katie and her glittering entourage do not expect is this: a kidnapping gone wrong, their guides bleeding out in the dirt, and a team of Russian mercenaries herding their hostages into Land Rovers, guns to their heads. As the powerful sun gives way to night, the gunmen shove them into abandoned huts and Katie Barstow, Hollywood royalty, prays for a simple thing: to see the sun rise one more time. A blistering story of fame, race, love, and death set in a world on the cusp of great change, The Lioness is a vibrant masterpiece from one of our finest storytellers.
My Thoughts:
I wanted to love The Lioness, I really did. Parts of it really had me hooked, but other parts left me not really connecting with the characters as much as I wanted to. This story has a lot to offer, but ultimately fell short for me. I could see this being a hit tv show or movie for sure!
Those were all of the books that I read in August, but I’ll be back with my September Reading List before you know it! Do you have any must-read books on your list for September? Any books you read in August that you loved? Let me know in the comments below.
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