Photography by Kate Greer
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Dress c/o // Shoes {old from Marshall's, similar here} // Purse {from a local boutique in my hometown, very similar here} // Bracelets old // Lipgloss //
This pretty blue eyelet dress has stolen my heart. It's definitely a clothing item from Shein where the quality of the dress is better than the low price point- or at least I think so! I typically size up with Shein purchases- I'm wearing a M and it fit me pretty well. Just a tad loose on me- but the flowy look works with this dress. I can't wait to wear this again and again during the rest of summer!! I think the fabric and style makes it a tad too summery for it to be a fall transition piece, but you bet I'll be wearing this up until Labor Day Weekend.
I haven't shared any book reviews on the blog in awhile- the last post I did was a massive book review reading list a couple months ago! Don't worry- I've still been reading regularly since then. Unfortunately, a lot of the books I've read this summer I haven't been crazy about, but there have been a few that weren't bad. Sharing four books I've read lately for you:
*The Identicals by Elin Hilerbrand: This is such a great summer read! The Identicals tells the story of two adult identical twin sisters, who each live on a different island in Massachusetts. Their parents had a messy divorce when they were growing up- one sister went to live with their father in Martha's Vineyard, and the other with their mother in Nantucket. Sisters Harper and Tabitha have a pretty estranged and complicated relationship at the beginning of the book. Things take a turn when after a series of events, Harper goes to live in Nantucket, and Tabitha comes to Martha's Vineyard. This book was a fun read, and of course featured some family and dating drama. I also enjoyed the vivid depictions of summer on the coast in New England- it made me miss my hometown in Maine a little bit!
***3/5 stars
*Settle for More by Megyn Kelly: Back in Vermont, I developed a new weekday morning tradition. I'm sure many of you share it with me as well- it's watching TODAY on NBC, followed by Megyn Kelly's new NBC show. I never used to watch Fox News back when Megyn had her show on that network, so I wasn't too familiar with her journalism until starting to watch her new NBC show last year. I really enjoy her interviewing style and a lot of the guests that she has on the show, so when I saw her autobiography at my local library a couple months ago, I knew it would be a good read. I did enjoy it overall! Some chapters were a little longer/tougher to get through than others, but I loved learning about Megyn's upbringing and her law career, and how she got into TV news later in her career.
***3/5 stars
*The Wild Zone by Joy Fielding: If you've been following my other book review posts, you know that I've gotten really into Joy Fielding's books this year! She writes unique suspense novels, and they just about always have a huge plot twist or surprise near the end. I enjoyed The Wild Zone! It tells the story of a woman caught in an abusive marriage, and how she met a few men at a bar one night, and then things spiraled out of control for everyone involved. It should be stated that this book has graphic descriptions of verbal and physical abuse in it- so if you're sensitive to reading about that, I wouldn't recommend this book. However- I thought it was still a good read, and in typical Joy Fielding fashion, I didn't see the ending coming AT ALL.
****4/5 stars
*Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch: I mentioned above that while I have been reading a lot this summer, a lot of the books haven't been that great or noticeable. I picked up Girls in Trucks because it was on display at my local library, and the cover art interested me, and gave me an idea of what I thought the book would be about (the inner cover described it as being about a South Carolina debutante and her coming of age). What it actually was like couldn't have been more different. I don't usually stick with reading books that I dislike by halfway through, but I guess I kept holding out hope this would get better. The answer is nope. This book was written in an extremely confusing way, and kept leaping forward between the past and present in each chapter, but in a complicated way. It's poorly written, and I didn't like the ending. A lot of loose ends are never tied up in the book. Definitely don't recommend this one- goes to show sometimes judging a book by the cover doesn't work!
*1/5 stars
I hope that y'all are having a great week so far! It's a rainy one here in Virginia, but I'm hoping that the summer sunshine will return soon.
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
