For those of you who wait with baited breath for my book reviews, here it is! Finally!
In July, I read four books. None of them were my favorite ever, but all of them were pretty good in their own way.
First, I read Before We Were Yours.
I have heard a lot of hype about this book, especially for foster/adoptive parents. I wasn’t sure my heart was going to be able to handle it so soon after a disruption, but I actually didn’t love it as much as people told me I would. It’s about a young girl who is taken from her poor family and essentially taken to an orphanage to be sold to a wealthy family who is unable to have children. There is adventure, romance, and a lot of harsh truths about the state of our nation’s “orphan” system not too long ago. I believe that the story is based on factual events, so it makes it rather heartbreaking. Children belong in families…their birth family, if at all possible. Overall, it was a good book, although I sometimes felt like it was dragging. I kept waiting for it to be a book I couldn’t put down, but unfortunately, it never was.
Next, I picked up Discovering the Joy of a Clear Conscience.
I had mentioned to a friend that I was really struggling with guilt over disrupting Heavenly’s placement and she loaned me this book. It was a fantastic read, although I feel like it went so deep I only skimmed the surface of the information provided in it. It addresses what our conscience is, why we feel guilty for things we shouldn’t feel guilty for, and why we don’t feel guilty for things we should feel guilty for. It was a really refreshing read for me in this time, although a bit deep and heavy. It’s one I’ll have to read again.
I don’t know how this book got added to my TBR (To Be Read) list, but it did, and I was NOT expecting it at all. You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me
This is a book by a Native American poet dealing with the emotions of losing his mother. He chronicles growing up in a mostly dysfunctional home on a reservation…and boy does he tell it like it is. Raw, Vivid, Detailed. It’s not a very pretty picture at all. In fact, there were some words and descriptive language that he used that had me downright appalled. And yet, his writing is incredible. His poetry drew me in. The things he wrote about opened my eyes to Native Americans and how they are expected to live (both by the tribe and by the culture around them). I don’t know if I could “recommend” this book, but I am glad I picked it up and read it and learned so much from it. I am not more interested in finding books/information about the ways of Native Americans in America today. I don’t know if I will pick up any more of his books, though..like I said…rather crude and graphic (although all within an “appropriate” context, as the stories are real and no matter how crude, he lived through them).
I don’t know if this counts as a book that I read, but I did skim through Homeschooling: The Early Years.
I’m super excited to start on our homeschool journey and the homeschool section at the library is calling my name! This book was published in 1995, but pretty much all of it is still relevant! She walks through the basics of homeschooling, giving out lots of information and personal stories of others who homeschool. Obviously, it’s biased towards homeschooling (It IS after all a book on homsechooling), but I found the information really helpful and the tips completely relevant (although nothing was entirely new or revolutionary).
And that’s a wrap on July! Stay tuned for August- I’ve already read some FANTASTIC books this month and I can’t wait to share!!!