End-of-summer reading list
(Is summer really on the way out already?!)
This post is sponsored by Oyster. They have a special discount for readerfriends, too: sign up here to get 3 months of Oyster Unlimited for $0.99.
Even though I feel like there’s always something I *should* be doing, I’ve made a conscious effort to make reading a priority in my life. It’s a hobby I truly enjoy, and even when there are things to do, there’s often a lot of waiting involved or an opportunity to read, whether it’s at the doctor’s office, in a long line at the post office, or as a distraction on easy cardio day.
Something I’ve been enjoying a lot lately: reading books on the iPad or on my phone.
When Oyster reached out to me to check out their app, I was instantly intrigued. I have a very old Kindle -first edition, baby!- that goes down in history as one of my favorite gifts ever. As much as I adore my Kindle, I don’t take it out and about with me very often. It’s a semi-permanent nightstand fixture. With Oyster, I was able to instantly download books onto my iPad, and the beauty of it all: I can read them on my phone and it automatically picks up where I left off. BRILLIANT. (Oyster works on a variety of platforms, including Kindle Fire, but wouldn’t work since my Kindle is older.) Oyster works on a device that you’re pretty much guaranteed to have with you: a tablet, smartphone (iOS or Andriod) or the web. You don’t need internet to read a book that you’ve downloaded, and once you purchase or download, it’s yours foreverrrrr on the Oyster app.
Some more info about Oyster:
-It’s personalized. You can set up the reader theme and it will provide recommendations based on what you like to read.
-The app is crisp, well-designed, and very easy to use
-You can follow friends and create book lists to discover new reading options
-And quite possibly my favorite feature: Oyster exclusively offers Lumin, which is a revolutionary technology advancement. I don’t love reading from a screen at night because it can affect melatonin levels and sleep quality. Oyster automatically detects the location and time of day to emit the blue light from the screen. I’ve been able to read at night without any effects on precious sleep.
I signed up for the Oyster Unlimited account, which is usually $9.95 per month (they are offering an exclusive offer that is $0.99 for 3 months). You receive instant access to over 1 million books, and if a title you want to read isn’t included, you can purchase it for a one-time fee in the Oyster store. You can also order single books (including new releases and pre-orders) without subscribing to the Unlimited account.
The books on my end-of-summer reading list:
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
My Notorious Life by Kate Manning
The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman
Down the Rabbit Hole by Holly Madison
The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand
How to Talk So Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk by Faber and Mazlish
Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin
(I’ve been reading Down the Rabbit Hole and as much as I unabashedly LOVED the show Girls Next Door, I’m not loving the book. Trying to decide what to switch to!)
I think I’ll make it through a couple before little miss gets here, and will definitely have plenty of material to enjoy during middle-of-the-night feedings. 🙂
Have you read any of the above books? What’s on your current reading list?
If you’d like to check out Oyster, here is the link to get 3 months of Oyster Unlimited for $0.99!
Have a wonderful morning and I’ll see later today with some Livi-isms. (New post on the Family page here!)
xoxo
Gina
This post was sponsored by Oyster. Thank you so much for supporting this blogs and the companies who help to support our family.
Close-up app photo by Danny Chan.
50 Comments
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I seriously JUST started reading ‘The Rumor’ last night. I’ve read all of Elin Hilderbrand books. They’re always such great summer reads.
Just a warning: You might want to skip The Light Between Oceans while you’re pregnant. It’s literally heart wrenching.
Yes! I was going to suggest the same thing. LOVED the book though.
Was going to say the same thing! Wait until hormones die down a little. 🙂
Primates of Park Avenue is a good one!
This would be great for a day on the beach. 🙂
Ive read some great books! You would LOVE the book Delicious by Ruth Reichl since you love to cook and read! Also – The House we grew up in by Lisa Jewell, Girls in White Dresses by Jennif er Close, Maine by Courtney J Sullivan, Seating Arrrangments and lastly the language of flowers! Enjoy!
My book club read “The Light Between Oceans” and it was really good. Tonight, we’re discussing “All the Light We Cannot See” (apparently we like books with the word light in the title) and I thought it was phenomenal.
All the Light We Cannot See, so good!
Yes!! It would make an excellent movie, wouldn’t it?
I love to read too but I haven’t read any of those titles yet. Eager to see which one you like the best! My husband is an author so if I didn’t like books I don’t think we’d make a good match 🙂
I’ll put in a plug for his most recent book “Hope in Every Raindrop” if you’re looking for one to read next!
Thanks for the heads up about Down the Rabbit Hole! I loved The Girls Next Door back in the day, and I’ve been back and forth about whether or not I want to read the book. I think I’ll pass on it for now 🙂
Oh darn, good to know that Down the Rabbit Hole isn’t very good. I was also a fan of the show and excited to see the book on your list. Thanks for the heads up!
This app sounds awesome! I’m trying to read more too. Beautiful Ruins was a great book!
I just started “The Light Between Oceans.” It took me a while to get into it – I thought the first 10 chapters were a bit slow – but now I’m hooked. I would heed the above advice, though, wait until after you’re pregnant to read it.
i’m so glad you guys told me! i’m already a hormonal mess haha
A book that I highly recommend is Still Missing by Chevy Stevens .. it was the best book that I have read in a very long time.
wow, good to know! i haven’t heard of that one 🙂
I second this rec! It was great!
I can read my Kindle books all in sync on the Kindle app on my iPhone, any tablet or PC in a browser, and of course on the Kindle. I love it.
since my kindle is the first edition (kicking it old school!), it doesn’t have that capability :/
I think it should. You can still buy the Kindle Keyboard model and it says it does it. Yours might need a software update. I think it’s more a software than hardware thing. Also, next time you’re on Amazon go to Manage My Content, Settings and make sure Device Synchronization/Whispersync is turned on.
Or be happy with Oyster! : )
awesome, i will see if that works. i’m loving oyster, but had bought a few books on my kindle a few months ago before i switched that i’d like to be able to read on my phone, too
I’ve had so much yoga reading to keep up on I haven’t been able to read any fiction lately 🙁 I do love the yoga texts though! Next on my fiction list is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I’ver heard great things! My most recent book was The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. It was very good!
I always celebrate summer vacation by reading Elin Hildebrand’s newest. The Rumor didn’t disappoint. My booked club loved Beautiful Ruins and are discussing The Orphan Train next week. I really enjoyed it.
Not sure if you can reach out to them or not, but the offer says $0.99 for 3 months, but the small print when you enter your credit card it gives you only one month and states:
“A monthly charge of $9.95 will begin when your offer ends on September 20, 2015, unless you cancel your Membership. You may cancel online at any time. For more information read the Payment Terms” Payment terms do not mention the 3 month offer.
I was excited to sign up and try it out, but I don’t want to end up paying more money than they told me I would! 🙁
i will send an email and see what if that’s a mistake. i’ll comment back when i find out!
hi cindy! checked into this for you and here’s what i got from my contact:
I have confirmation that anyone who signs up for the deal will indeed get a full 3 months for $0.99. For some reason the copy was showing up wrong, so their engineers are working on getting it fixed, and it should show up correctly in the next hour.
sorry about the confusion and thank you for pointing that out. hope you have a great weekend!
So many books, so little time! I’ve been making an effort to read more as well, such a better use of time than TV (although I do indulge between books). I finished What Alice Forgot a few days ago (LOVE Liane Moriarty!) and I’m working on Signal by Patrick Lee. You would like JoJo Moyes, One Plus One was fantastic, and Me Before You (but not while pregnant, very emotional). LOVE BOOKS
i love liane moriarty, too! probably my favorite author right now 🙂
I read pretty much all day for work (research), so sometimes I find it difficult to read for pleasure when I get home at night, even if it’s a great story or fiction. However, I have gotten in the habit of listening to audiobooks while driving to and from work and around town when I am alone, which is a great substitute if you find yourself tired of the actual *reading* aspect. Right now, I am listening to Superfreakonomics (loved Freakonomics years ago, but never got around to the second installment). Before that was The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, which was very good (highly recommend) and the narrator was also excellent.
i LOVED freakonomics and superfreakonomics. i think they have a podcast, too??
i will check out the short and tragic life of robert peace. i’ve been listening to books on audible during drives, too, and prefer it over the same overplayed 10 songs haha
YES, they do! My husband and I listened to a few of the podcasts while painting our kitchen and such. It was the perfect distraction and actually induced very interesting conversations. They definitely make you think!
so awesome!
The Light Between Oceans is on mine!
Ohhhh I read “How to Talk so Kids Will Listen (etc) ” last summer and it is INCREDIBLE! I’m a teacher, not a mother, but regardless, anyone who is around kids should read this book! Hope you like it!
i’m even more excited to read it now!
Yay! Thanks for writing about this! 🙂 Bummed about the Rabbit Hole though, loved the show & thought I might love the book.
I LOVED Beautiful Ruins & also Primates of Park Ave., but I would skip the 2nd to last chapter (last REAL chapter before the Conclusions) of Primates while you’re pregnant.
Trying to read the Rumor now… 25% of the way in, I am not intrigued, but I loved Beach Town for a summer read, and want to read Crazy Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend next! 🙂
I recently listed to Down the Rabbit Hole, since I typically reserve my audiobook credits for things I wouldn’t actually read. Anyway, she actually reads it and it’s hilarious: she does a British accent for the AiW quotes each chapter. It’s ridiculous but so funny.
I just finished Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, and just started an ARC called In the Language of Miracles about an Egyptian family that has to deal with a pretty horrible situation in the states.
oh i like that idea. i have some audible credits to burn up, too.
i tried listening to all the light we cannot see, and could not get into it! i think i need to read the actual book
I’ve been super into reading this summer! I’m currently reading The Last American Man, but also keep reading nutrition books to stay informed. I’ll have to check out those books, too!
You should read To Selena with love by Chris Perez…SOOO GOOD
I am in the middle of Down the Rabbit Hole now…its kind of surprising. I don’t hate it, I am actually intrigued. I read a book years ago about Hef that pretty much stated everything Holly does. Which is funny cos back then Playboy was saying its all lies and the Hollys book comes out and its pretty much what the 1st book said.
Totally unrelated ,but I wondered if you’ve watched this already?
It’s an adorable zumba video!
http://www.popsugar.com/moms/Audrey-Nethery-International-Zumba-Convention-Performance-38152388
Also this! Sorry to clog up your comments with video links…but a mom dancing through labour??
My mind immediately pictured you zumbaing through yours 🙂
http://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/08/21/mom-dances-through-labor-pain-pkg.wcvb
I SAW THAT!!!! so good! i’m going to try and copy her haha
I read Beautiful Ruins last summer and absolutely loved it! It has an old Hollywood glamour to it along with modern day romance…I loved the historical side plus the visions of the Italian coast, so I’d say go with that one next! Thanks for letting us know about Oyster…I honestly hadn’t heard of it and like a lot of the features (esp. the auto time detection and light technology!).
I love to read as well. I also have a very old first edition Kindle that I still use. I usually try to read 50 books a year and this year I am very, very behind. Do you use Goodreads? I like to keep track of all my books on there and get great book recommendations from my friends. I loved The Light Between Oceans. I am currently reading The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes and can’t put it down. I love anything by Jojo Moyes! I also just read all of Gayle Forman’s books which include If I Stay, Just One Day, and the rest – so good! Happy reading!
i do, and i don’t sign in very often 🙂 i will check out those other books, too!
Luckiest Girl Alive was enjoyable! Let’s chat about Primates when you’re done…so much of that hits close to home for some of my NYC friends with kids. Reading that book gave me serious anxiety about ever raising a kid here.
The Light Between Oceans has been on my list! I am almost done with The Rosie Project and have absolutely loved it so far <3