Summer Reading Recap
Show Notes:
Summer Reading Recap! Host Julia Washington reviews seven of the many books she read this summer.
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Transcript:
Welcome to Jelly Pops Book Club, where we read book-to-screen adaptations and compare them to their screen counterparts. I'm your host, Julia Washington, and on today's show, I'm sharing my summer reading list, but I'm leaving out the Jelly Pops Book Club picks because those were already covered and the replays are available on Patreon.
If you're not familiar with our show, we are new; we are born from our sister show, Pop Culture Makes Me Jealous, where we analyze pop culture through the lens of race or gender, and sometimes both on that show, we did several book to screen adaptation comparisons. We also started a book club, our Jelly Pops, read book-to-screen adaptations.
So thus became this show. Okay, after I compiled my list of recreation slash other book clubs I'm reading, I realized I didn't read as much as I usually do in the summer months. And my friend reminded me it's because I was busy doing hot girl shit. So I'll take it.
So let's get into my summer reading list. So this isn't your typical episode of book-to-screen adaptations. We are doing a summer roundup because sometimes I want to share with you what I've read. As a reminder, I am not including any of the books we have already covered on the podcast or were part of the Jelly Pops Book Club live book club.
I also want to add that the summaries have all either come from Google or the author's websites or the back of the book directly. Okay, let's start with our first book.
Beach Read by Emily Henry. Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes best-selling romance.
When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They're polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common. Is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke and bogged down with writer's block until one hazy evening, one thing leads to another, and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts.
Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next great American novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of rom com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult. Obviously. Everyone will finish a book, and no one will fall in love. Really?
If you've listened to our sister show, Pop Culture Makes Me Jealous, then you know I am a sucker for a rom com. But I didn't start reading rom coms or even romance novels until 2020. Reading was really hard that year, and I needed something to get me out of a rut. And I heard all about Emily Henry's books, but I brushed it off until this summer. I loved this book. The two characters feel fleshed out and the dialogue is quippy. What's great about this book is that even though Henry follows the romance formula, you forget about it and just fall in love with Augustus in January, falling in love. He's kind of a romantic without intending to be.
She's strong, but not in the I'm an independent woman who knows what I am doing and you can tell me what to do kind of way, though she has her moments. There's fun reveals that were obvious, but who cares when you're reading about two people falling in love? It was the absolute perfect book to kick off my summer reading.
And I recommend this book for people who love the movie, You've Got Mail. This movie will be adapted into a feature film for 20th Century Studios and produced by Original Film. Just not anytime soon because we're still in a writer's slash SAG strike.
The second book we're going to talk about is Just As I Am by Cecily Tyson.
And... This is a quote directly from Cecily. Just as I am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages I am indeed Cecily, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word.
I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of The old hymn for which the book is named. I am a daughter and a mother, a sister and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved a child of God divinely guided by his hand.
And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who at long last has something meaningful to say.
This book is incredible. Ms. Tyson covers her entire life, giving more details than I expected. She goes into detail about her acting career and what it was like being a black female actor during an era that was incredibly defining for America. Not only is she sharing her story, she's offering a history lesson that will never be taught in schools.
This book is absolutely. Worth your time to read. I recommend this book to anyone who loves history, celebrity memoirs, or Cecily Tyson.
Okay, our third book on the list, Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. Just already imagined that I probably loved it, right? Cause it's in the name. Here's the summary.
Sally Milz is a sketch writer for the night owls, a late night live comedy show that airs every Saturday when Sally's friend and fellow writer, Danny Horst begins dating Annabelle, a glamorous actress guest hosted the show. He joins the not so exclusive group of talented, but average looking and Even dorky men at the show who've gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women.
Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called the Danny Horst Rule. Poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman. Enter Noah Brewster. A pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models. Who signed on as both host and hosts and musical guest for the week show dazzled by his charms. Sally hits it off with Noah instantly and they collaborate on one sketch after another. She begins to wonder. If there might actually be sparks flying, but this isn't a romantic comedy, it's real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her, right?
Y'all, this book feeds into every romantic delusion I could ever freaking have. Sally is dedicated to her job and doesn't have much of a social life and a hot, single, pop star shows up who's age-appropriate and is enamored with her, finds her charming and smart, just being her. He sees her in a way no one else really has.
If that's not the goddamn dream, then I don't know what is. This book does take place during those years we lost recently, Sittenfeld handles that dark period of our time. She does it really, really well. Curtis Sittenfield's writing is strong, and it is clear she has done her research on late-night television to write this book. Fans of SNL, 30 Rock, or the movie Late Night will probably enjoy reading this. I know I sure as shit did.
Our fourth book we're going to talk about is called People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.
Here's the summary. Poppy has everything she should want, but she's stuck in a rut when someone asks when she was truly last happy. She knows without a doubt that it was that ill fated Final trip with Alex and so she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together Lay everything on the table and make it all right Miraculously he agrees Apparently it was a rom com summer in my house because this is another romantic Comedy that delivers on the friends to lover trope in a way that is very satisfying I had a post it on page 336.
I have no idea why But when I opened the book and read the first paragraph, I remembered. Emily Henry has a way of writing books that could be deemed silly romances spoken about as merely chick lit, but she offers more substance than that. She opens the book with a summer from five years ago. Then this summer, she rotates each chapter.
Going as far back as 12 summers ago and each past summer getting us closer and closer to the end of this summer. Through this technique, we are learning about Poppy and Alex, who they are and how they love each other. The friendship shift happens and it's completely expected because we've been watching it come this entire time.
But the predictability isn't a disappointment. It's a satisfaction. Fans of destination stories and friends to lover tropes will really and truly enjoy this book. It also is getting adapted for 3000 Pictures and Temple Hill Producing.
You guessed it, book number five is another Emily Henry book. Book Lovers. And here's the summary. Nora agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby, her sister, begs her for her sister's trip away. With visions of small town transformation for Nora, Who she's convinced needs to become the heroine of her own story.
But instead of picnics and meadows or run ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging, four armed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charney Lastra, bookish brooding editor from the, from back in the city. It would be a meet cute. If not for the fact that they've met many times and it's never been cute.
Not only was this a rom com summer, but apparently it was an Emily Henry summer. This book had me at bookish brooding editor. Because I am a sucker for brooding love interest. This might be my second favorite Emily Henry book because it has a hallmark concept without any of the hallmark vibes. A high powered, tough as nails literary agent escapes from the big city and falls in love.
Nora is full of love and hope, but she can't feel those things because she is the older sister. She must be the strength of her family, despite the fact that her little sister is married with a family of her own. Not only does the quiet... Though misrepresented, Sunshine Falls provide an opportunity for Nora to slow down.
It allows her to experience life in a new way. People who hate, watch Virgin River and Sweet Magnolias will genuinely love this book. It's everything those two shows wishes they could be. And guess what? You're right. It will be adapted into a feature film. Okay, so you could argue that I read the first three Emily Henry books.
To prepare for Happy Place, which is book number six. Here's our summary. Harriet and Wynne have been the perfect couple since they met in college, except now they broke up five months ago and still haven't told their best friends, which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the main cottage that has been their friend's group yearly getaway for the last decade.
This is the longest book of Emily Henry's work, and I have to admit, I started skimming some parts just to get on with it. While I did enjoy this book, I do think that RomCom's pushing past 350 pages is completely unnecessary. While this is another charmingly smart and funny book, trimming out... 30 pages would have been an okay move and still keep the soul of the book.
There are adorable hijinks by the friends, and I absolutely loved seeing a full friend group embark on a summer hurrah. I found myself rooting for Harriet and Wyn to reconcile, and I loved the predicaments Emily and Henry placed them in throughout the entire book. Fans of Elon Hildebrand looking for a More comedy in their lives will enjoy this book.
Okay. Number seven and our last book Page Boy by Elliot Page full of intimate stories from chasing down secret love affairs to battling body image and struggling with familial strife. Page Boy is a love letter to the power of being seen with this evocative and lyrical debut , Oscar-nominated star Elliot Page captures the universal human experience of searching for ourselves and our place in a complicated world.
The reviews on this memoir are mixed and my review is this. I really enjoyed it. I appreciate that Elliot Page is starting to share the journey he experienced leading up to this book. Mostly written as vignettes throughout his life, it's not quite chronological. Organized in a way that leads me to believe that writing this was more about his emotional growth and understanding of who he is.
The world is still wildly transphobic and for Elliot to put this out there, sharing a level of himself is a big deal. It's a big deal for those who are scared to live as who they are. Some don't believe it was vulnerable enough, but Elliot doesn't owe us that because I believe he was as vulnerable as he wanted to be.
I really did love it. It's not profound or incredibly deep, but it is insightful for the reader. Fans of celebrity memoirs might find this one lacking, but cursory fans of Elliot Page may enjoy it.
If there was a book from this list that you've read, tell me what you thought of it. You can find me on Instagram or TikTok at the Julia Washington. You can find the show at Jelly Pop Books. On Instagram and at Jelly Pops book club on TikTok. Next week we are diving into Water for Elephants with my friend, Samantha Crockett.
I am so excited for y'all to hear that discussion. If you want more of the show, you can join us on Patreon. Just go to www.patreon.com/juliawashington. There you get bonus content. Access to our live book club and so much more. Also, if you join our newsletter, you get sneak peeks of my Jennifer magazine column before they go live on jennifermag.com. I reviewed Survival of the Thickest for the August issue. Which is a Netflix original loosely based on Michelle Buteau’s collection of essays of the same name. It was so much fun to write and I'm so thrilled that people are reading it and then watching that show based on my recommendation.
Friends, I am so glad you tuned in today.
Again, tell me what books TBR. Thanks for tuning in y'all. Until next time.
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