The summer before Emma Lane's eighteenth birthday is the last summer she will have to return to York Beach, Maine for the court ordered two months of visitation with her mother.  Since Emma came out as gay at the age of twelve, her mother has been unaccepting of her sexuality, distant and divorced her father.  Now, Emma returns to York Beach only to be dumped at Camp Maplewood where she suffered a traumatic episode several years before throwing Emma into a depression complete with PTSD while her mother jet sets around the world with her new husband.  Emma immediately sets out to get herself thrown out of camp by breaking into the shed holding the camper's phones only to be thwarted at every attempt by counselor Vivian Black. As Emma deals with her worst fears at camp, she makes a friend in chipper, outgoing Gwen Black and a passion for cooking with Julie Black, the camp cook. Each time Emma even thinks about doing something to get herself kicked out, Vivian seems to be a step ahead, helping Emma through her fears and getting to know her well, maybe even more.

Night Owls and Summer Skies is a perfect summer romance.  I loved that Emma's character was already secure in her sexuality and that finding her sexuality was not the main point of the book, this was simply a romance.  Emma's character also had deeper issues such as her depression and PTSD which still affect her, but don't define her.  The writing brought me into Emma's head and at times I felt like I was having a panic attack along with her.  Emma's growth at camp was amazing to read through.  From dealing with bullies, making friends, finding a hobby she enjoys and learning how to trust again along with slowly recovering from her trauma from years before.  Emma and Vivian's relationship felt natural and unhurried as they simply fell into one another.  I did find it a little weird that they were counselor and camper, although they were only one year apart in age.  I do wish there was some growth for Emma's mother along with some of the other campers; however, it is Emma's story.  Overall, a fun summer romance.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I haven't bothered with these monthly wrap-up posts in recent months because I've got so little reading done and with moving my account, it just got lost in the shuffle.

So anyway, four books finished in June. Only one fiction that I chose to read and it was pretty good. Three non-fiction from Netgalley. I seem to have a backlog of those all of a sudden. Some of them are a bit woo but I do take an interest in all sorts of things.

I'm reading several books at once so I may have more books done by the end of July. I'm still getting back to normal reading after the end of the world in march so I'm just glad to be reading again!

by Gopi Warrior, Dr. Harish Verma, Karen Sullivan

Non-fiction

I've been aware of Ayurveda for a while but this is the first time I sat down and read a book about it. This one is divided into four chapters: Ayurveda: The Science of Life, The Ayurdedic Approach, Diet and Lifestyle and Practitioner Led or Self-Help?

The first chapter explains what Ayurveda is and gives history and a method to determine your Ayurvedic constitution. It points out that medicine is one "spoke on the wheel" of a holistic lifestyle approach to promote balance and good health, thereby making it easier to combat illness and mostly prevent it.

It explains that illness affects both body and mind and not just one in isolation of the other. It claims that modern illnesses like chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome have been successfully treated with Ayurveda when modern medicine has failed.

It has its roots in Hinduism and both date back over 5000 years, yet stay dynamic to keep up with modern conditions. There are some surprising facts cited about the history, like knowledge of cells and microscopic organisms in a book written 2000 years before the microscope was invented. There's a strong spiritual connection with the practice, yet it embraces science and finds a balance between the two.

The book is filled with colourful pictures of the sort you might see in Hindu texts or temples and these are accompanied by snippets of relevant information. Over all the book is beautifully laid out.

Naturally the Hindu belief system that Ayurveda is based in comes into it and the concept of Karma is explained in full as well as the belief in reincarnation connected with it. In some ways the book is repetitive as the basic concepts get restated many times, but I can see why it is important to drive a different way of thinking into the average western mind.

I admit to feeling some scepticism about the physical types and how it affects the person to be one or another. It seemed too generalised to me. Having said that, I fell heavily into the Kapha category. The second chapter expands on methods and the third chapter, as the title suggests, deals with diet and lifestyle. The final chapter explains when you need to see a practitioner and how to treat yourself at home.

Overall I found the book very informative and easy to follow. While I might not be in complete alignment with the beliefs expressed, they are explained well and I felt the book covered the subject very thoroughly and clearly.

I waffled on 2 or 3 stars, but honestly I was bored out of my mind for the most part while reading this, so 2 stars it is. I liked the idea of a story focusing on King Midas's daughter, but everything with the pirates, the power of her touch, etc. just dragged. I think the world building could have been better (we hear about Dionysus, but what about the other gods) and also Kora's supposed power. The romances felt pretty weak too. 

"A Touch of Gold" tells the story of what happened to King Midas after he got the power to turn things to gold. Hugging his daughter he turns her to gold. When he begs Dionysus for help, he is told to wash everything into the ocean/sea (I can't remember) and do it for everything that he turned to gold. King Midas does, and he restores his daughter Kora back to living flesh. However, he forgets a few items and is cursed forever, she is too, she is a golden maiden brought to life. Ten years later we follow Kora as she has another potential groom paraded in front of her. When she finally thinks she has met someone who can stand to be around her, her father's gold is stolen which leaves him incapacitated. Kora and her cousin Hettie go on a wild adventure to save Kora's father and the kingdom.

I did like Kora, I just wish we had spent more time with her before we find her as a young adult and then dealing with her mooning a bit over the first of the two romantic potentials in this book. She did get more interesting as a character towards the end though. Her cousin Hettie was a delight and I think this would have been a 5 star book if it focused on her. 

The two romantic heroes were blah. Sorry, I didn't like either of them though the twist with one of them I did not see coming. 

The writing was a bit off for me since the dialogue was dry. I just needed something more going on there. I just needed more thing to be happening besides Kora reading a diary, feeling romantic, and eavesdropping. 

The setting of the book really didn't feel like it took place in one of the Greek myths I read as a kid. It's weird that at times the book read as modern or in another part of the world other than where King Midas's story was drawn from which I think is considered modern day Asia Turkey. 

The ending leaves a potential wrinkle in Kora's future which is why I assume there is a second book in this series. 

Happy May the 1st!

And we are about to end 7 weeks in lockdown (some of us anyway).

Hope you have some books to get you through the weekend.

My books are:

A Week at the Shore, Her Perfect Life, and A Touch of Gold.