This is my struggle too. Only the rarest of books gets a 5 from me, which means that most of the fluff books I read and enjoy end up getting a 3 (hence the desire for a 3.5) because I personally make a distinction between the more literary books I read and the ones that are mind candy (to steal @silverlady’s term!).
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I need more mind candy. I think my ratings are more how does it score for what it is. I’m having trouble reading “real” books right now. I’m not sure I’m going to be able finish The Killers of the Flower Moon. It is quite slow and I’m not enjoying the narrators on the audiobook.
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For mind candy books I like Lorna Landvik, Susan Meissner and Fiona Davis.
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I have enjoyed the following “mind candy”/light books this year - I have had a hard time with some of thinkers post Covid too:
The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Perveen Mistry Series by Sujata Massey - currently 4 in the series. First one - The Widows of Malabar Hill kicks it off.
Thursday Murder Club Series - #3 in the series, to date - Richard Osman
Killers of a Certain Age - Deanne Raybourn
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Killers of a Certain Age was very good.
This year I have liked Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall, and Book Lovers by Emily Henry. I seem to read a lot of Kristen Proby and Riley Sager.
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Barrack Obama published his summer reading list today. I’m always a little pleased when I find we have “shared” a book. This year he recommended Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano and I just downloaded that for my Kindle last week when Amazon had it on sale for $2.99.
I was so pleased with his open letter in defense of librarians and reading freedom recently. He is a bright spot in my world.
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@coffeeat3 - I have read (and enjoyed) most of those books.
I have a copy of Curtis Sittenfeld’s “Romantic Comedy”, haven’t started it yet. I bought it at my local bookstore and as Sittenfeld lives a few blocks from there I wanted to support a local author. I am hoping I see her out and about!
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I really enjoyed Romantic Comedy earlier this summer and have recommended it to several friends. Hope you enjoy, @FallGirl!
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I finished Hello Beautiful this afternoon. I read it on my Kindle, so was aware of where I was in the book as I progressed. I needed many tissues from the 80% point on - a real tearjerker. I loved it and gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.
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I finished Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid this morning. I really enjoyed this book.
I also just read Hello Beautiful, as everyone is claiming it is one of the best books of the year. I really enjoyed reading it and loved the sisterly connection. I was surprised as I was not a huge fan of Dear Edward. A great book, but did not unseat Demon Copperhead as my favorite read so far this year.
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Same here on The Covenant of Water though I’m only about 100 pages in. Agree the writing is good, but I am finding it a bit of a slog. After reading Hello Beautiful which was wonderful, Covenant is not so engrossing. I will go back to it. Switched to Trust and am lost to that one now.
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When I was telling my D about Hello Beautiful, she mentioned she had read Dear Edward and, like you, didn’t love it.
I have had multiple people recommend Demon Copperhead, so will have to get to it soon.
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I’ve started reading Covenant of Water on my new Kindle, at about 8%. So far I like it but am still getting used to the very occasional non-English word thrown in.
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Has anyone done the 2 months free unlimited Kindle offer? Any tricks or conditions ? Can you cancel easily after 2 months if desired?
Howdy, any current beach read recs? Heading out in 10 days.
What I like: dystopian, sci fi, thrillers, time travel - no mysteries, romance or literary fiction. I did like Lessons in Chemistry and loved Demon Copperhead, so I’m not consistent 
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Have you read the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas? It’s fantasy in a dystopian land. Not romance although there are relationships. It’s somewhat about a girl learning what she is and becoming the woman she was destined to be - like Barbie LOL.
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You might like Paradise Lost or Our Missing Hearts in the dystopian category. Neither is total beach trash. Killers of a Certain Age is, and it’s fun.
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Silent Patient?
I liked The Last Thing Ever Told Me and Wrong Place Wrong Time. Both would make great beach reads IMO.
Have you read any of the Blake Crouch books? You might like Dark Matter. Recursion is also good.
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