#gretchensbooks2026 - June

 

I was smart on my first summer trip of the year and brought three books! I didn't finish all three, but I did finish two and start the third! I have a goal of reading 52 physical books this year in an effort to make a dent into the books I own but haven't read yet, and finding the time to do so has been harder than I thought! Half way through the year, but I'm not halfway through the 52. I'd say maybe next month, but I know better by now. July is often the month I read the least, because being a teacher, its nice that I have (almost) unlimited time AND energy to get done the things I don't have time/energy for during the school year. My "Books Read" list may be small in the summer, but my "To Do" list has a lot of checked off tasks!

Book 32 of 2026 📖 People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (4/5⭐️)

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. 

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since. 

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees. 

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

I read my first Emily Henry book about a year ago and now I’m anxious to read them all! I purchased this one with the sole purpose of reading it on a vacation, and with it coming out on Netflix I knew I needed to get to it sooner rather than later!

I haven’t read enough Emily Henry to know if the books always end happily (though I am under the assumption that they end in best case scenario!) and because of that I was on edge, wondering if Poppy and Alex would end up together or not. And as much as I wanted them to end up together, I also REALLY like a good solid friendship story, so I knew I’d be happy if it ended that way as well.

The story was lovely, and it was perfect to read while basking in the Hawaiian ocean air. 

Book 33 of 2026 📖 Heart Life Music by Kenny Chesney (4/5⭐️)

Heart Life Music is a love letter to the journey: all the places I’ve gone and how we got here. This book takes you on the ride.

Knoxville. Moscow. Myrtle Beach. The Virgin Islands. Plentywood, Montana. Holmdel, New Jersey. Key West. New England. The Road. No Shoes Nation. Beyond.

We’ve had a lot of fun, a bunch of challenges, a few moments of wondering “what the hell?”—and more love than any artist deserves. You’re gonna meet so many people, some you’d never expect to see crossing my path, whether it’s the Wailers, Willie Nelson, John Madden, or Grace Potter. Maybe you won’t be surprised at all. I just know this: A whole lot has happened.

For anyone who’s found a piece of your life in any of my songs, this is for you. Open a cold drink, get out on your deck or your boat or wherever your happy space is, jump in, and live them along with me.

And if you’ve got dreams, whatever they are, know they don’t always come easy. But if you believe, do the hard work, and keep coming back, you’d be amazed at what can happen. I’m a pretty average guy, so look at this—know you might could do it, too.

It’s been a helluva trip around the sun.

When I think of who played on the radio when I was growing up, Kenny Chesney is one of the first that come to mind. He was a favorite of my dad’s, and because I am my father’s daughter, he became a favorite of mine too. It’s so easy to forget ‘famous people: they’re just like us!’ I’m always so fascinated in the behind the scenes, how did a person get to where they are, what was their childhood like, how did their brain process their life choices, etc etc etc. This was an easy read, and covered Kenny’s life growing up and into adulthood as he entered the music industry in Nashville up until now.

Memoirs are always hard to rate, because I don’t want it to seem like I’m rating someone’s life. Or really their depiction of their life. I chose a 4 because it was organized nicely and held my interest, but wasn’t un-put-down-able like other memoirs I’ve read have been.

Book 34 of 2026 📖 High Noon by Nora Roberts (4/5⭐️)

Police Lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara found her calling at an early age when a violently unstable man broke into her family’s home, trapping and terrorizing them for hours. Now she’s Savannah’s top hostage negotiator, who puts her life on the line every day to diffuse powder-keg situations. 
 
After watching her talk one of his employees off a roof ledge, Duncan Swift is committed to keeping this intriguing, take-charge woman in his life. Phoebe’s used to working solo, but she’s finding that no amount of negotiation can keep Duncan at arm’s length. Especially when a man throws a hood over Phoebe’s head and brutally assaults her—in her own precinct house—and threatening messages begin appearing on her doorstep. Duncan backs her up every step of the way, as she establishes contact with the faceless tormentor who is determined to make her a hostage to fear—before she becomes the final showdown.

I found this book in great shape at Goodwill, and I’ve read a lot of great Nora Roberts books in the past year, so I grabbed it to add to my collection. The thing I love about Roberts is how varied her writing is. I’m not normally a fantasy reader, but I’ve LOVED fantasy novels of hers. On the other end of the spectrum, this book was police procedural and I was hooked on every work. In fact I stayed up way too late finishing it, resulting in this being a 1-day read. I have a couple other Nora Roberts that seem to be along the same lines as this one that I will have to pull out soon.

Book 35 of 2026 🎧 It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica (4/5⭐️)

A scream shatters the silence…
Courtney Gray’s peaceful vacation turns into a nightmare when she discovers her brother and sister-in-law dead in their lakeside cottage. Her niece Reese is missing. Her nephew Wyatt is asleep upstairs—unharmed.

A town full of secrets…
As police swarm the quiet resort, dark truths about Courtney’s family—and the town itself—begin to surface. Is Reese a victim… or the killer?

A truth no one saw coming…
With everyone hiding something, Courtney races to uncover the terrible mystery. But the closer she gets, the harder it is to know who—or what—to trust.

It’s taken a lot for audiobooks to hold my interest in the last year, but I think I finished this in less than two days. I didn’t know how this was going to wrap up, and I was kept wondering until the very end. The story was fast-paced, and I liked how the story wove between the different perspectives. If you’re someone who likes believable stories, this one might step outside , but I enjoyed it!

Book 36 of 2026 📖 We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) by Karin Slaughter (4/5⭐️)

Welcome to North Falls. A small town where everyone knows everyone. But nobody knows the truth. 

Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites.

For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.

But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did.

Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

This is the first book in a new Karin Slaughter series. Much like all of her others I was hooked - and though it may be too early to declare this, I think this will be my favorite series of hers. Not even a quarter of the way in and I already feel like I know the characters in their town. I’m so happy to see that there is a second book already coming out this year. 

*This post may contain affiliate links, which means when you purchase something through that link, you're helping support this blog (and my reading addiction!) at no additional cost to you!*

(Summaries are from Amazon, but all thoughts about them are my own!)

Reading Challenge: 20/52 physical books read in 2026

Total Books Read in 2026: 36

You can find previous book reviews here and add me on Goodreads here! Also, if you use StoryGraph, you can add me here! Also, I am on Fable here!

Hawaii 2026 // Day 12+ - O'ahu

Friday, June 19, 2026 // Day 12

We woke up this morning bummed that it was our day to depart Maui, but glad we had decided two weeks before to change our flights and stay an extra day. 

Aaron and I walked around the yard, taking photos of the beautiful plants that lined the property. I want to bring a palm tree home, but I fear it will not survive the Minnesota winters. Nor the airplane cargo space.

Our flight off the island was at 11, so we headed to the airport at 9, giving us time to return my rental car and get through TSA. The general line moved faster than the precheck line, but we all still made it through with time to spare. The downside of security at OGG is that it is not air conditioned! While the natural breeze feels nice, the standing air does not!

After a quick up and down flight, Aaron's aunt picked up his parents and our luggage from the airport and he and I took the skyline tram to Pearlridge for one last go at shopping. We panic boarded one of the trams as it got there as soon as we bought our passes and entered the station. Turns out we got on the wrong one. Both trams arrived at the station at 12:19, but like 30 seconds apart. We were supposed to get on the "later" one. Oops. It wasn't a big deal luckily, as we only went two or three stops in the wrong direction before the tram backtracked through the stops once more. This way we got to see more of Honolulu from above!

I had a few things I was still looking for and was hoping I'd find them at Pearlridge. Also, we needed to go to TJ Maxx to buy another suitcase to bring home the extra stuff we accumulated (to be fair, the box of pineapples took up 1/4 of a large roller bag!) Aaron also got a few loaves of Japanese milk bread to bring home and freeze which took up another 1/4. 

When we were done, we called Aaron's parents and they came to pick us up in their rental car. We headed to Safeway and then Don Quijote (both grocery stores) to pick up some additional things to grill that night for dinner. 

Saturday, June 20, 2026 // Day 13

Our flight left HNL at 2:45 this afternoon. After the longest 8ish hours of my life, we landed in Detroit at 4:30AM. After two hours of waiting, we impatiently boarded our two hour flight back to Minneapolis. I didn't want to leave Hawaii, but after that day of travel, I was ready to be home!

Hawaii was so lovely, and I already have a list of things I want to do when we go back! 

See additional Hawaii posts here!

Hawaii 2026 // Day 11 - Maui

 

Thursday, June 18, 2026 // Day 11

Aaron’s parents had to drop off their rental car this morning, and since we had added another day on to ours, we drove into Kahului to pick them up and bring them back to Lahaina.

Then we headed back into town to check out the mall. We didn’t find anything we were looking for there, but I did pick up a Hawaii bookmark from the ABC store. We went to the Safeway to grab some food to grill for dinner. I also grabbed a couple more bags of Hawaiian Sun pancake mix to bring home!

After taking the groceries home, we went to the taco truck down the street that we didn’t get to eat at on Tuesday. I ordered two fish tacos and Aaron ordered one fish, one shrimp and one barria taco. Oh my goodness. They were delicious! I’m just mad we didn’t eat there earlier in the week so I would have time to go back! We checked out the shop that was down the path and were hoping to check out the pie place but the line was so long and we were anxious to go back to the pool.

The afternoon was spent poolside as we alternated between scorching sun and clouds. Aaron spotted an animal across the yard, and I had mentioned that Ike and I had seen some on our hike last week but weren’t sure what they were. I googled it and learned that it was a mongoose! Apparently they were brought to Hawaii in the 1800s to help control the rat population that was eating the sugar cane. The plan kind of backfired however because 1) rats are only a small part of the mongoose diet - they also eat birds, which ended up harming their nene population - and 2) the mongoose is awake during the day whereas the rats are nocturnal. Mongoose are now considered an invasive species in Hawaii and are on every island except Lanai and Kauai.

We had another night of grilling for dinner - potatoes, garlic bread, shrimp skewers, steak, rice and hot dogs.

We were blessed with one last Maui sunset before we settled in for the night!

See additional Hawaii posts here!

Hawaii 2026 // Day 10 - Maui

 

Wednesday, June 17, 2026 // Day 10

Today was a pretty chill day - I haven’t had many of those this trip (tbf, I never really do in general!) 

Aaron and I went down to Mala Ocean Tavern for breakfast. We had noticed it when we went to dinner last night and wanted to check it out.

We went just after 8 when it opened and were seated right away, despite not having a reservation. They serve a brunch menu from 8-2 which has everything from pancakes to fish and chips. They seem to be known for their Ube hot bread with honey butter so we got that as a starter. It was so yummy! And purple! I would like for all of my bread to be purple henceforth.

I also tried the root beer from Maui Brewing Company. t was fine, but it doesn't come close to comparing to Lakeview root beer!

I ordered the French toast with strawberries, blueberries, coconut syrup, and ube ice cream. I demolished every last bite which NEVER happens! Aaron got the Loco Moco - 8 oz. Burger patty, two eggs, white rice, mushroom gravy, and furikake. It was A LOT and he ended bringing half of it back to the house.

We hopped into the ABC store in the mall where we parked so I could look for a few things before heading back to the house - including a tube for the pool! On our walk to the store, we saw so many chicks! There are chickens everywhere in Hawaii. Because I like having answers to my questions, I looked up why this chicken phenomenon was occuring, and apparently the answers is two-fold. The chicken population began when the Polynesian people brought over a relative of the chicken 1,000 years ago. Then, in the 1800s, chickens were brought over to live on the sugarcane and pineapple plantations. In 1982 and 1992 two hurricanes struck Hawaii, destroying thousands of chicken coops and releasing the chickens into the wild where they mated with the original wild junglefowl descended from the ones the Polynesian people brought to the islands.

The rest of the day I spent reading! In the hammock…by the pool…in the pool….in bed. I started a 467 page book and I was bound and determined to finish it! (I did! At midnight...)

Aaron’s parents made sloppy joe’s for lunch and after his brother and sister-in-law arrived we grilled for dinner. I partially regret not "doing something" today, but I always feel like I need a vacation after my vacations to relax, so it was good to have some built in rest days this week. 

See additional Hawaii posts here!

Hawaii 2006 // Day 9 - Maui

Tuesday, June 16, 2026 // Day 9

Our first tour for this morning was set for 9AM and located just up the street! We were going to take a tour of Maui Dragonfruit Farm and have a fruit tasting. Our tour guide, Erin, was fabulous - I didn’t know that I knew so little about fruit and the processes used to grow it!

Maui Dragon Fruit Farm was originally started for a woman with diabetes. Dragonfruit is the best fruit for people with diabetes because it is good for your blood sugar and your cholesterol (I’m not a doctor…don’t follow me for medical advice!) The dragonfruit won’t be ready to harvest for another month, but we did get to look at some of the dragonfruit plants. I learned that a dragonfruit plant is actually a cactus. The flower on the cactus that eventually becomes a dragonfruit blooms for only 12 hours one time, and it happens at night. That is because the animals that pollinate the dragonfruit are bats. Because there are no bats on this part of the island, the workers have to self-pollinate the dragonfruit plants by coming outside at night with a headlamp and make up brush. The flower will eventually fall off and the base will swell up, becoming a fully formed dragonfruit in 5-6 weeks.

From the farm we could see the island of Lana’i. Lana’i is where the Dole Pineapple Plantation was originally before it moved to O’ahu. The reason it had to move is because pineapples are nutritrient suckers and they had leached up all the nutrients in the soil of Lana’i. Larry Ellison, a tech billionaire, now owns 98% of Lana’i for $300 million ten-ish(?) years ago.

We could also see the island of Kaho’olawe. This Hawaiian island is particularly intriguing because generally, people aren’t allowed on it. The reason for this is because during WWII, the US practiced bombing on the island, and there are still live bombs “lost” on the land. Only government officials and volunteers to clear bombs can go there. This island was also once a prison, but because it is only a 7 mile swim from the island of Kaho’olawe and Maui, they had to knit that because prisoners were taking advantage of this.

We saw plants growing other fruits as well. For example, we saw a sour sop plant. I had never heart of this fruit before, but apparently a sour sop, when fully ripe, is so soft that if you try to hold it your thumb will slide right through it and it will fall apart. Because of this, they’re impossible to ship. The fruit is most popular in Asian countries. I didn’t try it, but I was told that it tastes like a green jolly rancher with the texture of a wet cotton ball. PASS!

There was a fruit called Buddha’s hand. The origin of the name is hazy - it may be because it looks like praying hands as it grows, or may just be because Buddha really liked this fruit. This fruit is used to zest like a lime or lemon. It is hard to grow from seed, so when Maui Dragonfruit Farm decided to grow them, they grafted a Buddha’s hand tree onto an orange tree.

I learned that if you see a guava tree “in the wild” in Hawaii, you are encouraged to pick and eat the guava. Guava trees are considered an invasive species in Hawaii, and eating the fruit helps to prevent the seeding of new guava trees.

Male papaya trees don’t produce actual fruit. HOWEVER, if you stab a stake through the base, it will turn itself female in an act of self-preservation and begin to produce fruit. Something else cool about the papaya tree is that you can see its history by looking at its trunk. Each “heart” is where a leaf once was, and the dot above it is where a fruit was!

I learned that the Monkeypod is the Hawaiian state tree, and that the plumeria flower (which are EVERYWHERE in Hawaii) throw their scent at night because that is when they are pollinated - by moths! We smelled curry leaves (which aren’t actually in curry) and I learned that banana trees only grow once, but they clone themselves so when you see a banana tree you will see a little baby banana tree right next to it!

Our guide, Erin, mentioned that the waves are especially big at the moment. I had assumed they were always like that on Maui! Apparently the waves are significantly higher than usual - enough so that beachfront restaurants have been dealing with flooding as high tide comes in. I looked up why and I guess it comes from storms in the southern hemisphere. Crazy! Science is a fascinating thing.

Once the tour was over, we sat at a picnic table (with a fabulous view) and Erin brought us dragonfruit lemonade and a fruit plate - with mango, watermelon, papaya, pineapple, lychee, longan. Lychee was new to me, and though I’d heard of it, I’d never eaten it (mostly because I had no idea how to!) You have to bite the outer layer to crack it open, then peel that layer off and each the fruit inside it. It had the texture of a grape, but had a pit inside it. It was very juicy!

From there we went back to the house to spend an hour or so by the pool before heading out for lunch. We had planned to go to the taco truck down the street, but by the time we got there, found the truck, and got in line, there were too many orders ahead of us for us to feel comfortable having time to eat and still making it across the island for our 1:45PM tour of the Maui Gold Pineapple farm. 

After deciding to just hit the Sonic near the farm on our way there, we made it just in time for the 1:30PM check in. They gave us a card with our bus number on it and we headed outside to join our group.

Our shuttle drivers name was Tatianna and I thought she did a great job! She began by telling us about the parts of the pineapple plants - the crown, the eyelets/fruit, the slip, and the stalk - also known as the padunkle! I learned that each eyelet on a pineapple is a berry, and that a pineapple is actually just a bunch of berries fused to the core. Pineapples are native to Brazil, not Hawaii, which I also did not know. There are only two pineapple farms left in the United States - Maui Gold and Dole - so I can now say I’ve been to every pineapple farm in the country! Neither Dole nor Maui ship outside of Hawaii - all of their pineapples are used in state. In fact, there is a law in Hawaii that if you want to buy a pineapple, it has to be grown here. This also means that all the pineapples we get in the grocery back home are shipped in from other countries. It takes 23 days to ship from Hawaii to California - which is why they don’t ship them - they’d be rotten before they even made it to the mainland.  This means they can grow them sweeter in Hawaii since they go directly from farm to store/consumer. Pineapples are best the second they are picked - they only 'rot' from there. Leaving them to sit does NOT help to ripen them, only rot them. It generally takes 2-3 years to grow a pineapple, but there are things they do to speed up the process so they can get a pineapple in only 18 months.

To choose a pineapple, it has nothing to do with color, smell, or even being able to pick a leaf out of the crown. In fact, pineapple producers spray pineapples to get them to turn yellow so people are more likely to buy them. When you’re choosing a pineapple, you want one with big, flat eyelets that fill out the space. This means the berry has been able to fully form. 

Another fun fact is that Hawaiian pizza is actually a Canadian creation. 

After our tour we popped into Walmart to grab a few things and then headed back to Lahaina. 

For dinner, Aaron and I went to Coco Deck - a restaurant I had seen recommended on YouTube. We were seated outside right away. I ordered the fish tacos (grilled mahi, and Aaron ordered the Mango Tango Wings (mango tajin sauce, lime, and southwest ranch). My tacos were okay - I only ate two and Aaron ate the third. He said it tasted very fishy, which I hadn’t noticed. The chips that came with it were delicious though! Aaron did like his wings, and he REALLY liked the dipping sauce that came on the side!

After dinner we headed back to the house, hanging out outside admiring another clear sky full of stars until it was time for bed.

See additional Hawaii posts here!