This Book Made Me Think of You

 Book 83 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on August 30

This Book Made Me Think of You

by Libby Page

published 2026

5 stars

This was a lovely book I read in one sitting.  It was warm and light (ish - there are themes of grief) with characters who love books, bookshops, reading, and writing.

Tilly's husband Joe died 6 months ago.  She'd always been a reader but during his illness and after his death, she's found herself unable to concentrate and enjoy reading.  Then a surprise phone call comes from a bookshop owner - Joe had planned and left one book a month for the following year to help her cope.  From kids' books that reintroduce her love for reading to cookbooks that help her learn a new skill to fiction books that reignite her passion, she spends the year re-entering the world and rediscovering herself.  And of course the bookshop owner and his employees factor into this as well.

It was a bit fantastical but grounded in reality as long as you believe in luck and happy endings.  And there were so many book recommendations, from lists at the beginning of each month to conversations between the characters and even the blurbs from other authors on the back of the book (they all included their 'favorite book to share' with their blurbs)!  

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 83rd book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

The Virgin's Lover

 Book 82 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from August 18 - 28

The Virgin's Lover

by Philippa Gregory

published 2004

5 stars

I'm not very familiar with this time period so I can't speak to the accuracy (how much was 'historical' vs how much was 'fiction') but as a story, it was compelling.  Even though I know Elizabeth stays an unmarried queen I wasn't sure how she would get out of the situations she was in.  I felt very sorry and also a little embarrassed for Amy; she was written very sympathetically.

5 stars because this book made me want to read more about Elizabeth and also more from the author.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 82nd book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I purchased in 2026 (my goal is to read any books I buy within 6 months of purchasing them)

After Visiting Friends

 Book 81 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from August 19 - 21

After Visiting Friends

by Michael Hainey

4 stars

This book was riveting and he's very good at pacing.  I wanted more after the information was found out, especially with his mom.  Reflection on how things remained hidden for so long (why not curious at all then hunting so deeply for answers) would've been interesting too.

How lucky he was that newspapers held the information he was looking for.  I'm sure many people have mysteries in their families that remain mysteries because their relatives didn't have articles written about them.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 81st book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I own (my goal is to continue chipping away at my shelves/boxes of unread books)

- A book I own that is leaving my house for a new reader to find (my goal is to declutter and make progress on whittling down my shelves/boxes of books in my house)

An Unhappy Medium

 Book 80 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on August 18

An Unhappy Medium

by Dawn Eastman

3 stars

I read the four books in this Family Fortune Mystery series pretty quickly because the paperback format and light content was perfect for traveling.

This book, the fourth, passed by very quickly.  My concerns before reading it about the author dropping off rather than wrapping up the series intentionally were unfortunately true, although there wasn't as much of a cliffhanger as there could've been.  There was more to explore in the family and the town but things were settled enough that I'm okay leaving it behind.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 80th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I purchased in 2026 (my goal is to read any books I buy within 6 months of purchasing them)

A Fright to the Death

 Book 79 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from August 13 - 15

A Fright to the Death

by Dawn Eastman

3 stars

After reading Pall in the Family, I decided to buy the other 3 books in the Family Fortune Mystery series and they were perfect paperbacks to take along on our trip.

This book, the third in the series, was a flip for me.  In the first two I liked the family dynamics more than the actual mysteries.  In this one, the dynamics were barely there and what was there was super annoying - I'm over Vi inserting herself everywhere.  The mystery was good though, other than a random genetic reveal at the end.

There's only one more book and I will be curious to see if that will feel intentional or the author stopped writing them for some reason.  I really wish Clyde would lean more into her "talents" instead of beating around the bush.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 79th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'F' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

- A book I purchased in 2026 (my goal is to read any books I buy within 6 months of purchasing them)

Be Careful What You Witch For

 Book 78 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from August 10 - 11

Be Careful What You Witch For

by Dawn Eastman

4 stars

After reading Pall in the Family, I decided to buy the other 3 books in the Family Fortune Mystery series and they were perfect paperbacks to take along on our trip.

This book, the second in the series, passed quickly and I enjoyed it.  Again, it was more for the family dynamics than the mystery plot but the mystery was decent too.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 78th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I purchased in 2026 (my goal is to read any books I buy within 6 months of purchasing them)

History is All You Left Me

 Book 77 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from August 9 - 10

History is All You Left Me

by Adam Silvera

2 stars

I bought this at a book sale and didn't realize at the time I've had this on my TBR since 2017.  So the book has caught my eye at least twice.

During the first few chapters of the book the characters were absolutely fictional but I didn't care because they were so cute.  But as the book continued, I liked it less and by the end I wasn't invested.   

I think the scenes could play well visually in a teen movie though.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 77th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I purchased in 2026 (my goal is to read any books I buy within 6 months of purchasing them)

- A book I own that is leaving my house for a new reader to find (my goal is to declutter and make progress on whittling down my shelves/boxes of books in my house)