What I read in August (2025)

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1. We Were Liars

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SUMMARY

A beautiful and distinguished family.

A private island.

A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.

A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.

A revolution. An accident. A secret.

Lies upon lies.

True love.

The truth.

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MY REVIEW

I’m not even sure why I put this book on hold at the library. I think somewhere I read an article on “must reads for the summer.” Considering it was middle grade/young adult, I had high hopes for this novel. In addition, in the first few days I carried it around, multiple people mentioned they had heard good things about the book, and did I know it was turned into a miniseries as well? (I did not).

The plot does make for a fascinating read. Four friends continue to meet each summer on a tiny island just off the east coast. But something happens to one of the four in which she loses her memory and no one is willing to tell her why.

Ultimately, the depth wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I read one review that used the word “cringy,” which I thought was a perfect description for a novel geared toward the very generations that would use that word. It felt a bit to “soap opera” with deep dark secrets and family feuding; when I finished reading it I was not surprised at all that this had been turned into a show. It has all the drama elements necessary for good watching.

If you are someone who needs lots of drama to keep you turning the pages of a book, then I would recommend this to you.

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2. How to Age Disgracefully

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SUMMARY

When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards.

The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.

When the city council threatens to sell the doomed community center building, the members of the Social Club join forces with their tiny friends in the daycare next door—as well as the teenaged father of one of the toddlers and a geriatric dog—to save the building. Together, this group’s unorthodox methods may actually work, as long as the police don’t catch up with them first.

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MY REVIEW

My husband recommended this book to me, as he knows my penchant for older, curmudgeony narrators (I’ll give you a rundown of my favorites sometime in a 2026 newsletter). The first chapter is fantastic. In literary terms we use the phrase “in media res” meaning to start a story in the beginning. But actually, the first chapter happens chronologically at the end of the novel. The author throws the reader into the middle of chaos, ends the chapter, and requires the reader to slowly work their way through the plot in order to watch the issues build.

Pooley creates a lively and loveable cast of senior citizens for her story. While the plot does have its twists and turns, the overall arc is fairly predictable and the reader has confidence in how the novel is going to end before the author actually gets us there.

This is a pleasant, light-hearted, straight-forward read. If you enjoy (or even appreciate) older, curmudgeonly readers as I do, than I recommend this book as worth your time.

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3. SUMMER ON LILAC ISLAND

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SUMMARY

Broke and newly unemployed, Gigi Jenkins is heading home to the horse-and-buggy Mackinac Island that she once couldn’t wait to leave behind. She’s going to be spending the summer with her mother, and she’s not sure what that close proximity will do to their already fraught relationship. Almost immediately, they find themselves in a battle of wills, and they agree to play matchmaker for each other. Both women are certain that the other couldn’t possibly understand them, so surely these potential connections will fizzle out before they even begin.

Misunderstandings, interference, and near-misses are skillfully wielded. Gigi and James circle each other through the curse of small-town encounters–cornhole tournaments, church fundraisers, and lakeside run-ins–and a fresh nemesis-to-lovers plot plays out. Meanwhile, Eloise feels sparks for the resident-for-the-summer Scottish author that she never thought she’d feel again.

But the greatest love story of the summer is the one between Gigi and her mother, Eloise. As they navigate the world as two single women, staying up late to wait for each other to get home from dates and helping each other pick out outfits and draft texts to their respective suitors, their strained relationship starts to heal as they transition from mother-daughter to confidantes and friends.

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MY REVIEW

I believe I first became interested in this novel through an online “summer reads” recommendation by Schulers Book employees. I do love a good seasonal fiction story; I’ve been known to fall prey to more than one Christmas novel in December (hoping it will soften my otherwise Scroogish spirit). And summer reads should be read…well…in the summer. Add in that the novel takes place on Mackinac Island, a charming place I have visited a handful of times, and I was all in for this novel. I placed my holds early and was pleasantly surprised that my name came up in the queue well before the end of summer.

Overall, it is a lovely novel with enjoyable characters and a plot that keeps the pages turning. But if I had to flavor the novel as if it were an ice cream cone (perhaps sold at Sadie’s on the island), it would be vanilla. The characters were quite predictable, and the plot was fairly straight forward with a few minor twists and turns thrown in. And while I love Mackinac Island, there was just too much of it. Too much description, too much history; the main character continues to explain how she feels claustrophobic on the island, and after reading the novel, I did a bit as well.

I’m so glad I got the chance to read this summer novel in the summer. And I hope it enlightens more people to visit this island set back in time, with all of its charm and grandeur.

For those of you looking for a sweet, simple summer romance novel, I highly recommend this for you.

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4. The Patron Saint of Liars

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SUMMARY

St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky, usually harbors its residents for only a little while. Not so Rose Clinton, a beautiful, mysterious woman who comes to the home pregnant but not unwed, and stays. She plans to give up her child, thinking she cannot be the mother it needs. But when Cecilia is born, Rose makes a place for herself and her daughter amid St. Elizabeth’s extended family of nuns and an ever-changing collection of pregnant teenage girls. Rose’s past won’t be kept away, though, even by St. Elizabeth’s; she cannot remain untouched by what she has left behind, even as she cannot change who she has become in the leaving.

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MY REVIEW

I’m not even sure why I reserved this particular book at this particular time from the library. I have wanted to read Ann Patchett for some time (ssshhh–don’t tell others I hadn’t read any Ann Patchett up until this point). I will join her throng of followers in confirming she is a talented writer. Her characters are deep and complex and well-thought out. I loved how the novel changed in point-of-view to three different characters.

The novel left me thinking about the definition of villain. Rose is not meant to be liked, although there are aspects of her we can empathize with. While she’s not a good person, she’s not evil. And given the time stamp of the story (1960s) and the location (rural Kentucky), I wonder how much agency Rose had in her own story. Did she truly have the ability to choose what she wanted to do in life, or was she limited by her gender, level of education and socioeconomic status?

This novel is a slow read for sure. Patchett puts this fiction stew in a Dutch oven and sets it on simmer for quite some time. The reader will need to commit to continuing to read even when the plot offers nothing new or exciting on the horizon. But it is worth the read at the end. And I’m excited to read another Ann Patchett–perhaps The Dutch House will be my next one down the road.

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