Hey! We’re caught up to halfway through the year!

Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny

Jane, a young teacher, moves to a new town and promptly falls into a relationship with the town handyman, who, it turns out, has already been with practically every other woman in the county. And it turns out living with that is harder than Jane thought it would be. There are twists and turns and tricks of fate and senses of responsibility and found family (whether you want to be found by them or not) and before you know it, 15 years have passed, and your life is your life.

If you’d like a novel version of the Beatles’ lyric, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans,” this is it. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but I could appreciate what others saw in it.

Paper. Library copy. Pages: 320

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

This is the first novel in a series about high-powered Nashville men who read romance novels to better understand the women they love. In this story, a professional baseball player is on the verge of losing his wife after a serious fight and an ego-crushing revelation, when his teammate and some of his well-heeled friends reveal that the secret to saving his marriage can be found by reading romance novels. By taking an intensive crash course in what female protagonists are looking for in general and applying that to what his wife may feel she is missing in particular, he hopes to heal the rift with the woman of his dreams.

It was cute, but alpha males aren’t really my thing. Might or might not read another someday.

Audiobook. Library copy. Pages: 339