On the bookshelf in May
The first book I read in the month of May was West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. It was recommended to me by my mom as it was her book club selection & she said they had great discussion surrounding it! It’s a historical fiction novel & I actually typically like that genre. I wasn’t the biggest fan of my social studies or history classes when I was younger, but I’ve really enjoyed all of the historical fiction novels I’ve read & I honestly think it’s because I enjoy narrative writing over like textbook writing. So I think I would enjoy reading about history if it was written in this type of context. Anyway, this book was very different from others that I’ve read & it was pretty nice to switch it up & read something different.
The novel is based in the 1930’s shortly after the Dust Bowl & a hurricane. It follows a “stray dog boy” & a pair of giraffes as they travel from New York to the San Diego Zoo. The language of the book was kind of hard for me to read at first, but about halfway through the book I was used to it. It’s just kind of old-timey & it just took me a little while to get used to the slang. I wouldn’t say that I’m the biggest animal lover EVER, but thoughts about animal neglect, etc. does make me sad, so, on a certain level, I could relate to the characters & their love for the giraffes. Overall I enjoyed this book. As a school counselor, human struggle & resiliency is absolutely fascinating to me. There’s quite a lot of that in this book so it was right up my alley. I gave it three out of five stars, because it was just really really long haha.
Where to even start with this one… Let me just put it out there. I thought Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon was phenomenal. My mom & I both gave it five stars.
Harmon’s book is based in the 1840s & follows a white family, the Mays, on their wagon-led voyage across the country to California, & a half-white, half-Indian boy, John Lowry, who is one of their guides & interpreters. First of all, let me just say that I am fascinated by the way people interact with & respond to one another, how they process life’s challenges & face adversity, & ultimately, who they end up becoming (no wonder I’m a school counselor lol). This book satisfied all of those fascinations & more. It narrates the challenges that a cross-country trek can take on a person — mentally, physically, & emotionally. It also documents the interactions between white people & the Indians. I think it’s easy to forget history & what took place before our time. The writing in this book was so well done that I truly felt like I was on the journey with them & that I was right there in the deep trenches of struggle with the main characters, Naomi May & John Lowry. Of course, there was some romance to top it off, which is never a bad thing. ;) When I finished this book, I was genuinely disappointed that there’s not another one. That’s how you know it was a good one!
While was in grad school the past two years, I really struggled with reading self-help books. I felt like I was learning enough self-help strategies in my full-time classes that self-help books came across incredibly nagging & annoying. Plus, if I’m being totally & completely honest, by nature I’m pretty stubborn & don’t respond the best to being told what to do, especially if it’s how to do better. I’m a perfectionist & I like to think that I do * most * things to the best of my abilities. So self-help books have not been my fav. Unlike me, my mom LOVES to read them. Like it honestly might be her favorite genre. Which is funny because now that I think about it, I’m not sure if I’ve ever read one that I truly loved … until I opened Dream Big: Know What You Want, Why You Want It, and What You’re Going to Do About It by Bob Goff. Overall, this book is very motivating & inspiring. I really enjoyed all of the stories throughout the book & the little bits of humor he threw in as well. I gave this one four out of five stars which is an incredibly great rating considering my past history with self-help books!
Okay I promised y’all that I would be completely transparent & honest with my book reviews & this is one that it kind of feels hard to do that with. Overall, I feel like the message that An American Marriage by Tayari Jones brings is one that our world desperately needs to hear. As a middle school counselor, I have worked with a lot of students who have a family member that currently is or has been in prison or jail. The stories that these students have shared with me & the lasting impressions that these situations & observations have caused are like none other. Additionally, it is no secret that people of color seem to be accused of crimes they did not commit before they are even able to explain themselves, & even when an explanation is received, a lot of the time it is already too late & their fate has already been decided for them, whether it is the actual truth or not. I’m just putting that out there.
This book follows Roy, an African American man, who is accused of rape & is sent to jail. Roy, & his family members, including his wife, Celestial, are adamant that he is innocent & is being wrongfully convicted. This part of the book I was absolutely fascinated by — his experiences & struggles while convicted & the toll that they took on him, physically, mentally & emotionally. While he did share some stories & there was a chunk of the book that focused on his jailhouse experiences, it mostly focused on these things from the perspective of his marriage & his relationship.
Maybe I was wanting to read something different than what the book was actually about, but I struggled. I did not like the ending of the book & was left feeling like I was missing something. I gave this book two stars, which is super interesting because my mom gave it five stars & we usually rank books fairly similarly. We also really disagreed on whether he was actually wrongfully convicted or not. The book never really tells you 100% whether he is or is not so we were never able to come to an agreement on who was actually “right”. If you’ve read this book, please comment your thoughts below!
The last book I read was 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand. It was a typical summer romance with a whole lot of forbidden love. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, there was enough depth & surprise that it kept me on my toes, even though it was somewhat predictable. The prologue of the book hits you with some heartbreaking news that then you have to keep in the back of your mind as you read the book. Knowing, in a sense, how the book was going to end was honestly kind of sad to me. There was a sweet surprise that offered a bit of closure, but if I’m being honest, I kind of wish I would’ve been left in the dark. It was just like a dark cloud looming over every page as I continued to read! My sister & my mom both read this before me & loved it. We all gave it four out of five stars.
Now that it’s summer, my favorite place to read has been my back deck (or driveway in the sun) in my super comfy Walmart chairs!
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