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Remember to stay up to date with the world, listen to those facing atrocities and help spread awareness/donate where you’re able to.

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We have been having so many hot days in UK and my body is not a fan! But I thought I would match the summer weather with some fun “lighthearted” books to go with the mood! The Storygraph has the feature where you can search for books by the “emotion” users ascribe to it in their reviews.

I thought it would also be a fun way to get through my TBR (which stands at 241 currently 😱). I then random number generated five results.

I will be rating each book using this emoji: 💚 (a “light” green “heart”~). It will be the same as the star ratings, so the highest would be 5 hearts.

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Oh Miriam!: Stories from an Extraordinary Life; Miriam Margolyes

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I didn’t realise when this came out that it was a sequel to Miriam’s memoir “This Much is True”, which I have not read. I will read that one at some point, but it wasn’t necessary for this sequel.

I would highly recommend the audiobook as Miriam does such wonderful narration and really brings her writing to life. Her accents are also incredible! The chapters explore lots of different topics, from ridiculous and funny to heartwarming and melancholic.

lighthearted?: 💚💚💚💚

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To Swoon and to Spar; Martha Waters

rating: ⭐⭐⭐.75

Penvale’s only goal in life is to buy back his ancestral home. When his Uncle decides to set a price, Penvale isn’t phased that the deed will also come with a wife: Jane. Despite being a neglected ward, Jane has fallen in love with Trethwick Abbey and if she can get rid of one man with a orchestrated haunting, she can get rid of another – even if they’re legally married. However, as time progresses and Penvale defies her expectations of his character at every turn, she starts to wonder whether scaring him off is the right plan. Not to mention that Penvale is less easy to scare away than anticipated.

I’m not disappointed per say, but I would have loved for this to be a bit longer. Penvale and Jane’s personalities are pretty similar, which made for fun bickering, but the pacing felt too rushed. The chapters should have come with dates or something because months went by and I hadn’t realised!

The romance itself was cute, but I would have liked more ghost shenanigans and hijinks. It was lovely to see inclusion of the village and how Penvale’s introduction to the place meant that Jane becomes somewhat beloved, but also that her own actions show her character development.

I really enjoyed the conversations these two had and they were, for the most part, a couple that had good communication. And seeing Penvale and his friends (especially James) have heart to hearts was so wholesome.

Overall, it was fun but had a lot of wasted potential.

lighthearted?: 💚💚💚💚

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The Princess Diaries: Give Me Five; Meg Cabot

rating: ⭐⭐.5

Mia is turning 15 and her heart is set on attending the senior prom with Michael. Unfortunately, their thoughts do not align on this high school tradition. While working out ways to persuade her boyfriend to attend (and take her), Grandmere (and Lilly by proxy) could threaten the prom even taking place after causing a city wide worker’s strike.

I know that I am not the target audience for these books and I’m not saying that I didn’t have some fun. I think there is a lot of funny and satirical content in this series, but some of the language, terminology and views did make me slightly uncomfortable. Especially, when I’m not sure how unpacked or obvious it would be to some of the younger readers (the target age for the series is apparently 11-14).

Mia continues to be somewhat annoying, but it’s pretty fun to follow her as she is growing as her own person. Although, all these teenagers are. A. Lot. Is it because they’re mostly rich and slightly out of touch? Maybe 😂

I also really enjoy the mixed media elements to these books!

lighthearted?: 💚💚💚

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DallerGut Dream Department Store; Mi-Ye Lee (Translated by Sandy Joosun Lee)

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The DallerGut Dream Department Store welcomes people (and animals) from all over the world to purchase all kinds of different dreams. We fall into the story when Penny, an enthusiastic new hire, enters the world of work.

We follow her through mishaps and ephiphanies as she tries to get to grips with the mysterious and intricate workings of dreams and the DallerGut Dream Department Store’s role.

I love the cover of this one! The inside, not so much. The novel reminded me of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold books by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and also just Matt Haig in general. This is because the novel theme feels somewhat surface level. It has also has a very broad and overly positive approach to problem solving, which meant that there wasn’t much substance to the stories and characters.

I did enjoy some of the characters, DallerGut himself was really interesting – as were all the Dream Makers – and I really liked Weather. One of the big problems was that I didn’t really understand the appeal of Penny. She’s treated as being super insightful and wonderful, but she’s mostly just making stuff up as she goes along and wasn’t actually saying anything profound.

Overall, it was just fine. The synopsis for the second book in this duology does sound great though, so I think I will continue when it’s published in the UK later this year.

lighthearted?: 💚💚💚💚

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Tress of the Emerald Sea; Brandon Sanderson

rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Tress is a pragmatic girl who lives on an island surrounded by an emerald-green sea, from which no-one can ever leave. She enjoys collecting cups from trading sailors and spending time with her friend Charlie. Her simple life is shattered when Charlie is forced on a voyage to find a bride, and even further so when it becomes clear she needs to save him from a terrible fate. Becoming a stowaway to save the man she loves from a dangerous Sorceress takes her on a journey of self-discovery.

This was such a lovely adult fairytale-esque story. While Tress and her friends face danger, it all felt very low stakes and I didn’t necessarily have any worries.

This book has an engaging narrative, which is rather similar to The Princess Bride, which Sanderson mentions in his postscript as being the inspiration for Tress. It has a witty and conversational style, with some dry humour thrown in for good measure.

Throughout the novel, we watch Tress go through a lot of challenges and see her grow into being a young woman. My main issue is that I perhaps don’t really enjoy reading about sailing the seas… while I loved members of the crew, I just found it a bit underwhelming and would have preferred more action.

If you want to create heroes, don’t give them something to fight for. Give them someone to fight for. pg.265

lighthearted?: 💚💚💚💚

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Thanks for reading!

I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥