It’s been a bit since I’ve done a book post and there are some good ones on this list. As things start to open up, I still want to try to keep up the reading pace I had during quarantine. There is nothing quite as blissful as listening to an audiobook whilst taking a walk around the neighborhood. I highly recommend you try.
If there’s a book that I should read in June, I always love book recommendations so feel free to leave them in the comments.
Enjoy!
The Sun Down Motel
I loved this book so much that I bought a copy for my mom. It’s creepy and absolutely captivates your attention. When Carly goes to Upstate New York to find answers about her aunt who went missing thirty year ago, she gets way more than she bargained for. I looooved this book.
Untamed
Unpopular opinion time. I didn’t love this book. While Glennon Doyle’s writing style couldn’t be more perfect and flowy and entertaining, what I took from her was that YOU are the source of your own truth. Which, welp, is pretty contrary to my Christian worldview. Not to say that she doesn’t have some fantastic things to say in Untamed and that it’s not worth the read (could that cover be any more gorgeous?), but to perhaps take some of the things she says with a grain of salt.
Killers of the Flower Moon
This book was disturbing and frankly, a little tough to follow in audio format. It depicts an untold part of American history that is SO important to read and research– The Osage murders and why the FBI came in to existence. It (along with recent events) really got me thinking about how “white” the American history we’re taught is. While the signing of the Declaration of Independence, World War II, etc. are all SUPER important, there are also several other historical threads that are worth researching as well.
The Choice- Embrace the Possible
No joke, this book was life-changing. Dr. Edith is one of the few remaining Holocaust survivors and wrote a beautiful memoir about how she was still “free” in Auschwitz. Now a clinical psychologist, Dr. Edith talks about her experience in the death camp, yes, but also how her wound has helped others to heal. It’s a beautiful story that I can’t recommend enough.
All Adults Here
Another unpopular opinion. I didn’t love this book either. While I certainly am more than open to novels depicting different lifestyles, this one crammed too many alternative lifestyles in to one family, making it just plain odd. It’s basically a novel about a wonky family that has a TON going on. That being said, it seems like people like it (it has 3.5 stars on Goodreads).
Before and After- The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society
This book was so interesting and SO disturbing. It’s the real-life sequel to Before We Were Yours which tells the story of the Tennessee Children’s Home, which basically sold children… Yeah. Both are worth the read because, talk about American history that isn’t told. It really happened and it’s kind of crazy.
Open Book
Were you even in high school in the early 2000s if you WEREN’T obsessed with Jessica Simpson? Nope. And I named by blog what I did for a reason so I absolutely HAD to read it.. And I devoured it. Jessica Simpson is such a sweet soul and I loved hearing about her life now.
American Dirt
This book was fantastic and really opened to eyes to the reality of immigration from Latin countries. It’s a novel but tells a story of what could happen. There is certainly an agenda in American Dirt, but it really got me thinking about the tough decision women and children have to make sometime so get out of harm’s way in their home countries and seek refuge here. I don’t know what the answers are, but I do know that many who come here illegally are coming from very difficult and dangerous situations in their home countries.
Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit
I loooooooved this book and HIGHLY recommend that anyone I went to college with read it. It’s very much in the vein of Hillbilly Elegy (which is another favorite of mine) except the family that she’s trying to understand is devoutly Catholic and she’s working in the steel mill in Cleveland. Elise, the author, was a classmate of mine at Franciscan (I didn’t know her) and she really depicts what life was like there well.
Catherine House
This book was weird and I still don’t entirely understand it. A group of students go to a college thing that isn’t quite a college and then some are brainwashed in to being something that.. Yeah, read it if you’re in to dystopian type stuff. Aside from Brave New World, dystopian isn’t my thing.
OK, I mean it pals, leave me your recommendations!!! Happy reading!
