The end of August is such a funny time of year. I’m trying to cherish every last minute of beach time and summer fun, but you can’t stop thoughts of fall from creeping in. It’s a blend of trying to cram every last minute with memories, but also feeling ill from living on french fries and ice cream for three months and beginning to feel excited to start fresh in September and be healthy and focused and in a routine again.

I went to the bookstore yesterday looking for books that would bridge this gap time and I found some fun options that I’m excited to dive into this week. They’re a mix of fluff and inspiration, and I think they’ll be perfect to read on the beach while also getting me motivated and thinking about what I want to accomplish this fall.

Red Letter Days by Sarah-Jane Stratford

Here’s the description of the book from the back cover:
Amid the glitz and glamour of 1950s New York, Phoebe Adler pursues her dream of screenwriting. A dream that turns into a living nightmare when she is blacklisted—caught in the Red Menace that is shattering the lives of suspected Communists. Desperate to work, she escapes to London, determined to keep her dream alive and clear her good name.

There, Phoebe befriends fellow American exile Hannah Wolfson, who has defied the odds to build a career as a successful television producer in England. Hannah is a woman who has it all, and is now gambling everything in a very dangerous game—the game of hiring blacklisted writers.

Neither woman suspects that danger still looms . . . and their fight is only just beginning.

But what really got me was this review:

“Red Letter Days is a blacklist-era game of cat and mouse that’s positively Shakespearean in its witty dialogue, forged identities, banishments, unexpected romance, and even its drama within the drama. The final lightning-speed pages left me breathless.”—Kerri Maher, Author of The Girl in White Gloves

Doesn’t that sound juicy???

The Unbreakables by Lisa Barr

Here’s the description from the back cover:

It’s Sophie Bloom’s forty-second birthday, and she’s ready for a night of celebration with Gabe, her longtime, devoted husband, and her two besties and their spouses. Dinner is served with a side of delicious gossip, including which North Grove residents were caught with their pants down on Ashley Madison after the secret on-line dating site for married and committed couples was hacked. Thirty-two million cheaters worldwide have been exposed…including Sophie’s “perfect” husband. To add insult to injury, she learns Gabe is the top cheater in their town. 

Humiliated and directionless, Sophie jumps into the unknown and flees to France to meet up with her teenage daughter who is studying abroad and nursing her own heartbreak. After a brief visit to Paris, Sophie heads out to the artist enclave of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. There, for the first time in a long time, Sophie acknowledges her own desires—not her husband’s, not her daughter’s—and rediscovers her essence with painful honesty and humor, reawakening both her sensuality and ambitions as a sculptor. 

As she sheds her past and travels the obstacle-filled off beaten path, Sophie Bloom is determined to blossom. Allowing her true self to emerge in the postcard beauty of Provence, Sophie must decide what is broken forever...and what it means to be truly unbreakable.

And here’s the review that pulled me, as I loved The Kiss Quotient:

“Artful, feminist, and emotionally gripping. The Unbreakables is a remarkable tribute to a woman’s strength in the face of heartbreak and adversity.” — Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss Quotient

Break the Good Girl Myth by Majo Malofino

Here’s the description from the back of the book:

For thousands of years, women have been taught to be “good” instead of powerful. But when we embody the good girl, we hold back their voices and gifts in a world that desperately needs female perspectives. 

Drawing on countless coaching sessions and conversations with female leaders, Majo identifies five self-sabotaging tendencies (“the five Good Girl Myths”) every woman must overcome to unleash her power and design a more purposeful life: 

1. The Myth of Rules

2. The Myth of Perfection

3. The Myth of Logic

4. The Myth of Harmony

5. The Myth of Sacrifice

While there are many women’s leadership books, Majo uses her knowledge and training in design thinking (which is used by the world’s most innovative people and companies) to help you build creative confidence and break free from these disempowering myths once and for all. 

Discover how each myth negatively affects your relationships, career, and well-being and identify your primary good girl myth – the blindspot that’s zapping most of your power as a creative badass. 

This is definitely more in the self help category (although I think I found it in the philosophy section of the store), but my anxiety has been through the roof with the return to online learning and all of the uncertainties we’re facing, so I thought it might help me to feel better to take control of those aspects of my life where I can have a positive impact, especially in terms of raising empowered girls!