You guys, it’s the last day of school!
(Well not technically because Smith has to take one final first thing tomorrow morning…but basically, we all feel VERY DONE today!)
Not only is it the last day of school, but if you’re looking for me at 5:30 AM, I will be the one at DFW Airport in her pjs picking up her 10 year old after a few days in Maui 🙂 .
Needless to say, it’s a BIG day!
I have one post for our day, and then I’m going to enjoy Ashby and Kensington’s last day, pick up Mades, and CELEBRATE the end of the school year. I am POSITIVE that I’ll have more to say on this tomorrow. In the meantime, it’s the 22nd of the month which means, it’s BOOK CLUB DAY!
I just love me some Book Club 🙂 .
I especially love me some Book Club this time of year because my Kindle is ON FIRE with great summertime reads. I cannot wait until my MAY BOOK REVIEW!
Okay, just to recap before we begin…
Here are the books we discussed in 2024 along with my own personal “star ratings”…
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey 4 STARS
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon 5 STARS
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins 3 STARS
The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin 3 STARS
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth 4 STARS
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl 2 STARS
Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand 3 STARS
Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams 3 STARS
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult 4 STARS
Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker 4 STARS
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout 2 STARS
And so far in 2025, we’ve discussed:
In January: The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry 5 STARS
In February: Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old by Brooke Shields 2 STARS
In March: The Crash by Freida McFadden 3 STARS
In April: One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter 5 STARS
If you want to check out any of these Book Club posts, they are all HERE!
Before we get to today’s book, let’s revisit the “rules” of Shay’s Book Club:
Here are the details:
1: On the 22nd of each month, I will share a BONUS blog post that is only about the book we read together that month. So, if it falls on a weekend, look for it that day, if it falls on a Tuesday, expect a food post, a normal lifestyle post AND third post just for the book review discussion.
2: I picked the 22nd because I want this post to come out BEFORE our normal monthly BOOK REVIEW POSTS. I will still share my normal monthly book reviews (where I average 4 to 6 books a month) at the end of each month. I will reference said “book of the month”, but I will not be reviewing it on that post, I will be linking back to the BOOK CLUB POST. Why? Because I want all of the content about the one specific book club book in one spot instead of spread out over multiple spots.
3: Each month at the end of the Book Club blog post, I will share what the book will be for the following month. This will give everyone one month to read this one particular book.
4: Let’s be real, I’m going to try to pick new/popular/relevant books every month, but I’m also going to pick books that speak to me. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them with me. I’m going to *try* and make the books different genres each month. I would love for us to read a variety of fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, chick lit, thrillers, etc this year. That’s the *goal*.
5: What are the rules of the book club? I know a lot of book clubs have rules and perhaps I’ll add some as we go, but basically, if you want to read along with us, we’d love to have you and on the 22nd we’ll dive a little deeper in the comment section here about that one particular book. Easy as that! That post is the one place where we’ll discuss the book so that all thoughts/opinions/questions/etc can be in one location.
6: In this blog post and in the comment section, WE WILL BE DISCUSSING SPOILERS. If you are interested in reading this book, you might not want to read below this line. In MAY’S BOOK REVIEW later this month, I will give a quick recap and let you know if I recommend the book or not, so if you haven’t read it, you might want to wait until that official BOOK REVIEW because there will be no spoilers and based on that, you can decide whether or not to read the book. Anything below this though will include spoilers as everyone commenting here has already read the book.
Make sense?
Here we go!
This month’s novel was…
……All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett.
So, I liked this novel, but I didn’t *love* it. I debated for way too long about whether to give this one three or four stars, buuuuuut I decided that since I was on the fence, that probably meant I should give it three.
In my opinion, it was a little forgettable, and honestly, had it not been our Book Club pick for the month, I think I would look back at the end of the year and have a hard time remembering it. Maybe I was thrown off by the reviews (this one is a Reese’s Book Club pick), but I think I was anticipating *more* from this one. When it was all said and done, I thought it was a little predictable and maybe not as meaty as it could have been.
Here are some of my random notes and talking points:
– I liked how the book is a little “modern day Jane Austen-ish”. That was a fun thread to follow throughout the story.
– I never really loved Anna. I liked her, but I don’t know that I loved her. I wish the author would have gone into more depth about her relationship with her dad and her mom. Since I found that part a little surface-level, it made it hard for me to be as compassionate for her as perhaps I needed to be by the end. I needed just a little more info about her childhood/backstory to really complete the picture.
-I loved the two various settings. I ate up the Saint-Tropez portion of the book. I also loved that she was an American living in London. I thought that detail made the story way more interesting than her just being a Brit finding herself in this social situation.
-Anna’s friends were my favorite characters. I could have had more of them.
-I was pleasantly surprised that she ended up happy with Callum. I disliked him quite a bit for most of the book, so to see their relationship come full circle at the end was a nice way to wrap up the story.
I mean…it was good, but I don’t have a ton of gushing remarks. I’m going to be really curious to see if you guys just ADORED it. I finished it and felt kind of vanilla about the whole thing.
Okay, coming up next…
…Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein.
The title alone makes me smile 😉 . I hope you read along with us!
Don’t forget, if you want to stay current on all of the books I’m reading in 2025, THIS PAGE HERE is where I keep the books, authors and reviews each month.
Okay, please head to the comment section to share your thoughts on today’s Book Club pick today! I’m anxious to hear what you have to say.
Happy Last Day of School, friends! Can you believe we’re here?!?! I’m so ready for SUMMER! xx
Elspeth Mizner says
I have this book on my to be read and can’t wait to dive in!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.
Becky says
Yay, I am already in the middle of Maine Characters! I am enjoying it do far. I am a teacher and mom from Western, NY. We start after Labor Day in September, so we go until the end of June for school.
Mix and Match Mama says
I am a little jealous of this summer schedule 😉 .
Kara says
I agree! It was just ok for me and I read it at the beginning of May and am having a hard time remembering some of it already! Excited for next month!
Katie Compton says
I didn’t get a chance to read this one but I’m super excited about June’s pick!! Sounds like a fantastic first read of summer.
Shay!!! Our baby girl, our only, graduates high school today! She will be off to her dream college in the fall to pursue a career in education… just like her momma! So many feels right now, but mostly pride and happiness. She is so excited about her future and SO ready. I guess that’s all we can pray for as parents, right? I have a houseful of family visiting, but I’m up early sipping my coffee, in my favorite spot, with my favorite blanket, and my favorite blog SAVORING the quiet for a bit. ❤️
Mix and Match Mama says
Oh my goodness, this comment gave me CHILLS! I hope you enjoy every minute of this day. You should be so so proud (you both should!). Well done, mama! xx
Debbra Weber says
Hugs to you, momma, with all the feels you have and will have over the next few months. It’s so special that she is following your footsteps in education. Best to you all and enjoy celebrating!!
Katie Compton says
Thank you both!! It was such a beautiful day filled with so much joy, pride, and love. It was truly an amazing day!
DJ says
So this is a hot take but I actually steer away from Reese’s Book Club. I love her as an actress but I’ve found she picks ok books that can be turned into a mini-series for her production company. The shows are usually great and pull you in, but I’ve never really loved any of her books. (Don’t worry, I’ll keep following your book club!)
Mix and Match Mama says
Okay, that is a GOOD hot tip!
Amy Androff says
A book to consider, maybe you have read already! Check out The Midnight Library.
A modern spin on Its A wonderful life.
I read it in two days! So good!
Mikayla Amsden says
I loved this book! I have always wanted to move to London, so I think that piece sucked me in straight away!
Jessica says
I wanted to like Anna but I really had a hard time with her. I felt like she knew exactly what she was doing the entire time and was still stunned she got caught. I also would have liked to have seen her relationship with her father developed out a little more.
The book just didn’t give me the character development I needed. However, I was still entertained and wanted to see how it ended. Three Stars from me as well!
Lori says
I need to check out your June book! I so enjoy your monthly book club!
K.K. says
Love the title of the new book! I’m already intrigued. May was crazy so I didn’t read this time, but it sounds like I didn’t miss the best of the best books. Thanks, Shay!
Kay says
Hi! This is the VERY first time in all of your book club history that I didn’t finish the book on time. (I have less than two hours to go and will definitely finish by end of week :).
Being 3/4 the way through, my biggest concern is…WHAT is this ABOUT? Maybe I just need to finish it, but I am having trouble understanding what it’s really about. When Callum was a little strange about seeing her at the park at the beginning, I thought, ooh, maybe this is a twisty suspense novel? Then I thought maybe Anna would get caught stealing clothes and have to flee her posh new home? At any rate, I guess it’s just meant to portray Anna’s struggle?
I agree with you about not loving Anna. When she justifies her actions by saying she “just wants to live like her friends,” I didn’t have a lot of sympathy? I wanted her to try to love HER life, and not feel she’s missing out because she doesn’t live the way the richest families in London live? I mean, MOST people don’t live that way! I also felt bad about the way she treated her original friend group.
Anyway, excited for next month. Happy “last” day of school to you all!
Mix and Match Mama says
Kay, I think that is a VERY astute observation. I could not agree more with your feedback on this one. Thank YOU for sharing! xx
Robin Green says
I loved this month’s book!
Emily says
I’m not usually an audiobook girlie but it was the only way I could read this one in time and I was pleasantly surprised. I’m super picky about narration and this reader made the book more entertaining than it probably actually was. I too considered 3 or 4 stars but bumped it up to 4 because of the audio!
Kaley says
I also thought the stakes were too low/this doesn’t really make sense to me several times in this book. Like we are supposed to believe that these people handed over their beautiful mansion in the best part of London for free and then freak out when the person they handed over their house to wore some clothes that had been left there for years? Like… what? And were going to press charges with the police for fraud after literally giving this person keys to their property? This didn’t make sense to me at all!
I still gave it 3 stars because it kept me engaged until the end, but I think it could have been so much more with a little character development and amping up the angsty romance angle with her and Callum.
Mix and Match Mama says
Agreed!!!!
Emily Firko says
I felt the same and rated it 2/5. I didn’t look forward to picking it up. Hopefully June’s pick is a good one. Love this book club. : )
Debbie Hibbert says
For, whatever reason, I had a very hard time getting into this book! I started it the day you posted it. I read two chapters, put it down, and it was a couple of weeks before I remembered that I started it! So I went back to it, and I absolutely couldn’t remember what I’d read earlier … so I restarted it … but I just couldn’t get into. It doesn’t happen very often, but I decided to move on.
Laura says
Felt the same way as you – didn’t love Anna and the book was just ok for me.
Emily G says
Agreed- it was super boring and I never could muster up empathy for her. I really wanted more intel on her dad- that was a big miss. The only characters I wanted to hear more about were Liv and Andre 😆
Lisa Brown says
Yaaay!! I am so excited to be able to participate this time and be a part of such a positive community! This was one of my “last week of being 47” doing something out of my norm things and I am so excited! I usually stick to non fiction and sometimes struggle to stick with fiction. This one wasn’t bad! I am a book LOVER, but not a very experienced fiction reader so my review my need to be taken with a grain of salt – lol