June Book Review

In June, I read 12 read books- I actually read more nonfiction that fiction this month, and some of them were quick little “coffee table” books! I had quite the range of star ratings- one book was 2 stars and one book was 5 stars, and there were a little bit of everything in between!

I am going to do my book review format a little bit differently from here on out. I typically include the book synopsis and then my review of the book. However, I think my book posts are too long and so I’m trying to majorly simplify and I will just be writing my own review! If you are very interested in the book, you can go read the synopsis. I actually never read the synopsis of books- I love to go in blind! Occasionally, once I’m a couple chapters in I will read the synopsis on the book jacket just to get my bearings a little bit, but I personally skip the synopsis whenever I can, so that is how I’m going to write my reviews going forward!

Above Ground by Clint Smith

I adored this book of poems, and kept finding myself just picking up the book and reading one or two poems as I was wandering through my house. I find it so interesting that it is mostly about parenting…from a Dad’s perspective. It was beautiful and so many of the poems captured exactly how it feels to be a parent. I loved this one.

Old Fashioned On Purpose by Jill Winger

I actually pre-ordered this one before it even came out, and was so excited to get it in the mail back in October! I only just now picked it up to read, but it was excellent! I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a homestead or desires to have a homestead. So much of the information was basic entry-level things and it was both encouraging and challenging, as well as full of good tips! In fact, as soon as I finished reading this one, I’ve already passed it on to two other people to read.

Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martin

This was a book on a summer reading guide, and I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if it wasn’t on a list like that! It is about a first generation immigrant boy who goes back with his family to Mexico to pick up his grandfather and bring him back to live with them in the United States. They travel in an RV with a load of siblings and have a lot of adventures along the way- some good, some not so great. This trip was a “coming of age” sort of time for him, and he learned so much about his culture, his family, and his relationships through the trip. Overall, it was an enjoyable graphic memoir! If you are looking for some quick reading, I would recommend this one!

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Oh, Christina Lauren. What shall I do with you? I have LOVED some of their previous books, but this one was a total miss. I thought the plot was brilliant- a couple gets married because they need the paperwork for housing benefits, but then they have to actually pretend like they *are* married for a destination wedding trip. The man’s family are quintessential “rich people behaving badly”. See? All of those plot points had me SO excited for this book. The problem was that the entire plot was built on a foundation of curse words and open door romance scenes, and that plot crumbled and ruined the story for me. I would absolutely skip this one!

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Listen, all of my holds for this summers newest romance books came in at once. Can you tell? I have also enjoyed all of Emily Henry’s books, and this one might be my favorite yet! A jilted fiancee moves in with the boyfriend of the girl that her fiancee left her for. They then pretend to be together to make their ex’s jealous, and we all know where this is going. I love romances that have more depth and that the characters need to work out some real life problems, and this was just the right balance of a happily ever after with plenty of junk to work through before arriving at the end. I really liked this one!

Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner

This one grabbed my attention because it is a romance novel written by a man! You don’t see that very much! Colton Gentry is a country singer who makes a political statement that gets him kicked out of the industry. He hits absolute rock bottom and then moves back in with his Mom. He runs into his ex-girlfriend/first love and they begin to work it all out again. I really liked this one – I liked the romance and the substance, but I did feel like the plot dragged on and had a few too many plot points. But I would absolutely read another book from this author!

House Rules: How to Decorate for Every Home, Style and Budget by Myquillin Smith

I have loved all of Myquillan Smith’s books, and this one was beautiful as well! I loved how all of these “rules” contradicted each other, but also worked. I will say that I first followed her and liked her home decor much more way back when. The pictures in this book have zero color and I felt like her house looked like a museum and not a home. While most of the rules can apply to any home, I did have a hard time picturing them in my home because my home is full of color and some organized chaos.

Really Very Crunchy by Emily Morrow

I really enjoyed this book, especially the first few chapters! I loved how relatable Emily Morrow was and how she used her sense of humor to make light of a topic that many people get really worked up over. On the crunchy scale, I am no where near Emily Morrow and some of her thoughts/advice on some topics did make me roll my eyes, but overall it was a good book with some great tips!

The Summer We Started Over by Nancy Thayer

I wish I had DNFed this one. The plot had way too much going on, and I couldn’t invest in any character. Everyone had life-is-falling-apart problems, but then they all just acted normal and were completely successful in all that they did. And I wanted to shout into the book: DON’T AGREE TO MARRY SOMEONE WHO PROPOSES THAT WAY! I just didn’t enjoy it at all!

This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan

Actually, this book was mostly about Benedict Cumberbatch. I thought it would dedicate a chapter or so about this woman’s specific obsession: Benedict Cumberbath, and then talk generally about obsessions, why we have them, and what we do with them. Instead, she wrote approximately 10 chapters about her obsession with BC and two chapters about obsessions in general. Well, there was 10 chapters I didn’t really care for and 2 chapters that I enjoyed. I’ll let you figure out which on was which!

The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodsen Harvey

I know that I am a year or two late to this one, but I absolutely LOVED it! The stories, the characters, the plot, the setting… it just all worked so well together! I was rooting for everyone, and disappointed when they messed up, but so happy to see them come out on the other side better than they were before. And the summer camp setting? Oh my goodness…I seriously looked up local summer and family camps after reading this book because I loved the “Parent Trap” vibes. If you are needing a good summer one, make it this one!

DNF

I DNF’ed two books this month. One I was reading aloud to the kids and we were all pretty bored, and the other I was reading for book club and I was bored and struggling to relate to the characters at all.

Rascal

The Paris Novel