The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman by Mamen Sanchez

The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman is a mystery, a love story, a story of strong friendships and also quite funny as well.  Atticus Craftsman is the son of a wealthy tycoon in the literary business.  His father had established small literary newspapers across Europe.  All were very successful expect the Spain office.  Atticus is sent to Spain with the task of firing the five employees and closing up the office.  His father sends him off with a warning - they're all women.

The women of the office are a tight group of friends.  They help each other out when in need and celebrate each others successes and cry together when life isn't going as planned for one of the group.  When they receive word that the office is too be closed they quickly make a plan to stall for time.  And the mystery begins.

All of the characters in the book were very like-able.  There were many characters in the book and I was worried it was going to get confusing but they were each well defined and distinct.  I enjoyed reading a book set in Spain.  I can't think of anything else I've read set in Spain.  It was a nice change.

The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman  will be on sale August 9th, 2016. 

Us by David Nicholls

I am quite stingy with my stars when rating my books.  4 stars is for books I really like but 5 stars is reserved for books I truly love.  Us is one of the few that I give 5 stars too.  I thought it was funny and romantic.

Connie has just announced that she would like a divorce.  Nothing wrong with Douglas but it's time for something new and exciting in life and Douglas isn't it.  They've scheduled a summer vacation across Europe with their 17 year old son and Connie insists they should still go.  Douglas sees this as an opportunity to change her mind.  All through their grand tour of Europe Douglas is reminded of the best and worst moments of their 25 year marriage.  Douglas is a bio-chemist and he reminds me a little bit of the main character from The Rosie Project.  

My favourite quote from the book is “Our biographies involve each other so intrinsically now that we're both on nearly every page.”   Isn't that beautiful?  I want to frame it and put it on my bookshelf.  Love it!

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

The Geography of You and Me is a wonderful love story.  It's the story of two teenagers living in the same New York City apartment building.  Owen, the son of the building manager, lives in the basement apartment.  Lucy lives on the 25th floor in a spacious, beautiful unit.  Fate brings the two together in the elevator and luck gets them stuck in it.  Within a few short minutes a bond is formed but neither is certain what those feelings mean and what they other is making of them.  Both Lucy and Owen's lives are in an upheaval and they have to figure out their feelings from where ever they may be living at the time.

Recently I finished a book where I found I disliked just based on the fact that the title didn't reflect what the book was about.  The title misled me and I went into with a misconception of what this book was going to be about.  This is certainly not the case with The Geography of You and Me; it's a perfect title.  

The story is a perfect love story for those grade 7 and 8 girls that want to read romance.  There is no foul language and nothing leading or inappropriate.  I loved it and will certainly be adding The Geography of You and Me to my library shopping list for the fall.

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand

Dabney Kimball Beech works for the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce and she loves everything about the island.  The residents of Nantucket all think quite highly of Dabney too.  Dabney is responsible for matching 42 couples which gives her the well deserved title of matchmaker.  Sadly, as great a matchmaker as Dabney is, she let her own true love match slip away.  Clendenin Hughes was Dabney's true love match but he left the island to pursue a journalism career 27 years ago.  Although Dabney has moved on with her life Clen still holds a large piece of her heart.  

After years of silence between the two, the story begins with Clen emailing Dabney to let her know that he's decided to move back to Nantucket.  The moment Clen arrives back on the island Dabney begins to feel unwell and she is convinced it’s simply heartache.  To complicate matters, she is terrified of leaving the island and can’t get the courage to go to Boston for the medical tests to confirm her self diagnosis.  Her fear of leaving Nantucket is what cost her to lose Clen in the first place.  Between not feeling well and all the lies she is telling Dabney is having a hard time keeping it all together.  As Dabney begins to unravel she continues to keep matching friends and family with their true loves.

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand is a story filled with true love but a fair amount of heartache as well.  Like most, if not all, Elin Hildebrand novels, the setting for The Matchmaker is once again the beautiful island of Nantucket.  The setting descriptions will make you wish you were lying on a beach.  The Matchmaker is a perfect summer read.