I read a true grab bag mix of books in June! I read 12 books with 8 of them being fiction and 4 being nonfiction. My books this month ranged from 3 stars to 5 stars, but I did DNF several books within the first 50 pages because I was just simply not in the mood for them.
Summer books are just my FAVORITE and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE summer reading lists. The problem is that I’m not a mood reader, and I feel so guilty for skipping my giant, toppling stack of TBR’s just to start a hold I got from the library today. So maybe my goal for July will be to just read what I feel like reading. The problem with this is that if I read too many books from the exact same genre (I’m looking at you, summer romances) then the characters and plots start to get a little bit muddled. So somewhere in there I need some good, solid characters and an interesting plot with some sad points instead of a happily ever after. Anyone else put this much thought into what they are going to read next? Just me?
Broken Country
My Review: SO many people are LOVING this book and already saying that it is one of the top books of the year. I picked it up because I had a friend recommend it for book club (before she had read it). The writing is BEAUTIFUL. The characters are so realistic, you fall in love with each one of them, because you know someone just like that in real life. The plot is mesmerizing. There is grief and love and loss and every part of humanity in the pages of this book. But the one thing that I just cannot stand? The entire plot of this book is written around an affair. There is a love triangle. Is the main character going to pick her steady, faithful husband, or is she going to pick her first passionate love who has come back onto the scene. SPOILER: she picks the passionate first love, and we get all of the details of the affair. Now, listen…this is a big part of the plot. I can totally see where the book would not work without it. But I’m honestly surprised how much “wrong” or “depravity” we (as a culture) can overlook or excuse for the sake of a “good story”. It gave me a lot of food for thought. I wish I had known going in to the book that this was a major point, and I now know that I need to read trigger warnings better because that type of plot point (and more so how much EVERYONE loves this book) is NOT for me.
Mom Enough
My Review: This is a tiny book (less than 100 pages) and is actually a compilation of blog posts written by several different Christian mothers. I found this book to be so encouraging and uplifting, especially when I was a new Mom. I enjoyed reading it again this time around, and passed it on to a friend who is a new Mom.
Tress of the Emerald Sea
My Review: Fantasy/Sci-fi/World-building are NOT my preferred genre, but this was an Everyday Reading book club pick, so I tried it out! I actually listened to this primarily on audio and it was a delightful audio book. This is a charming story of Tress who lives in the Emerald Sea and leaves on a voyage to find her one true love who had been captured by a Sea witch with a dragon. She runs into all kinds of adventures and misadventures and makes many friends along the way. Although it’s still not my preferred genre and I probably won’t be reading any more in the series, I did thoroughly enjoy this reading. Bonus points: You could absolutely give this book to your 12+ year olds and they would probably greatly enjoy it!
Stargazing
My Review: This book showed up in my library holds stack, and Tera and I couldn’t figure out if it was for her or for me. I decided to read it first just to make sure. This is a graphic novel about a young girl who occasionally sees stars, and has a really unique personality. Turns out she is diagnosed with a brain tumor, and when operated on, she can no longer see stars and some of those “unique” things are gone. This is about friendship and family and being an immigrant. It was cute, and I read it all in one sitting.
Summer Romance
My Review: This was not my favorite romance story because it featured a divorced middle aged woman with three children finding love again. I find this trope popping up all over the place, and I don’t think it’s wrong/bad…it’s just not a trope that I’m drawn to. I don’t know why, but I don’t love books that have children as side characters. I always find the children unbelievable, or I find the parent in the story totally unrelatable to my own parenting. Anyways- too much griping, not enough reviewing the actual book! It was good. I liked the second chance romance aspect and how they tackled some real-life issues that would probably come up in real life when encountering a romance like this. It wasn’t a light and fluffy read, even though I felt like it was trying to be. So, not a home run for me…but not a flop, either.
The Let Them Theory
My Review: This is one of those non-fiction books that I think everyone should read! I feel like this theory applies to everyone regardless of gender, social status, marital status, economic status…any status. The theory in itself is simple: stop wasting time on what other people are thinking, doing or responding…and just Let Them. Then, take it a step further and identify what I can do in the situation…Let Me. The book itself is very long and repeats this theory 45094598498x, which can be helpful as she lays out certain examples of places to use this theory, but the basic theory itself is very simple.
I had actually gone into the 24-25 school year with a bit of baggage from a crash landing of the 23-24 school year. I wrestled a lot over the summer with anger and frustration over how some decisions were made and how I didn’t feel honored or respected. But by the end of the summer, after a lot of work and journaling, I went into the 24-25 school year with this motto: Stay In Your Lane. Which is honestly kind of exactly the same at the “Let Them Theory”. When I was able to focus on MY lane, and not worry about how someone was operating the vehicle in THEIR lane, I was a much happier person…and way better to be around, too.
The Girl with the Louding Voice
My Review: This was an incredible book! It is not an easy read- this is the story of a young Nigerian girl who is married off at age 14 and comes into a life of abuse and servitude. Still, she has one dream- to be educated. And throughout the story, she pursues that dream and in the end is able to achieve it. This story did such a great job of portraying the harsh realities of what life may look like for an impoverished girl in Nigeria, while also showcasing the beauty and vivacious life that a young Nigerian girl lives.
How to Raise a Reader
My Review: Do you want your kid to be a “reader”? Then I highly recommend this book! It gave so many great tips and tricks from birth to teens on how to encourage them to be readers. While I already implement most of these strategies (it’s really not rocket science), I still enjoyed reading her tips and tricks. And I loved the book lists that were found at the end of every chapter and the end of the book!
The Glass Castle
My Review: This is my absolute favorite genre- memoir that is wilder than fiction. This is the life story of a girl who grew up in an impoverished family with an alcoholic Dad, and some extreme dysfunction on both sides of her family. This is the story of how she and her siblings overcame the hurdles while wrestling with how to respect and love their parents. I loved this book and could not put it down!
Julie of the Wolves
My Review: Another Newberry Medal winner…another book that was SO BORING. I started this as a read aloud for my kids and we were all so bored we gave up. I finished it by myself, but I didn’t love it. This is the story of a young girl who runs away from her husband and lives with a wolf pack in the arctic. While it’s not a true story, the author did do some extensive research on people who interact with and live amongst wolves, so that part was interesting.
Beach House Rules
My Review: This is the perfect summer read! It’s all about a Mom/daughter duo whose lives are flipped entirely upside down when the Dad/husband is arrested for money laundering. They are taken in by a couple of other single Moms who all live together in a house that is called the “mommune”. Throughout the book there is an air of mystery- did the guy really do the money laundering, or is he being framed? And is everyone at the mommune really to be trusted? It wasn’t a thriller nor a true mystery, but I did appreciate these elements in the story and found the characters quite lovable. Except the one teenage boy, who was portrayed as a perfect, mature young man…I thought that was inaccurate and wished that he had been portrayed as a little more teenager-ish.
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years
My Review: Two Newberry Medal winners in one month! That’s because I didn’t read any in May haha. This was my favorite Newberry Medal read so far! It was all about life from the perspective of a doll, and how she went from owner to owner throughout her 100+ years. I loved the sweet perspective of the doll and it made me look around at all of our inanimate objects and wonder what they may be thinking, too.
That’s all for June! I am hoping to blaze through a bunch of good summer reads in July! What is on your reading list? Have you read any of these books? Thoughts?
I loved The Glass Castle too; much like the book Educated I found myself thinking “this can not be true!” so many times despite knowing it very well could be. It was heartbreaking but so heartwarming to know how they overcame these obstacles. I thought Beach House Rules was so cute too!