On the bookshelf in June

The first book I read in June was The Man Who Mailed Himself Out of Jail: The Incredible True Story of Escape Artist Richard Lee McNair by Byron Christopher. This book probably seems totally off the walls compared to the rom com novels I usually read, but I actually have a lot of interest in the justice system. As many of you know, I’m a middle school counselor. My undergraduate degree is in social work & when I was still in undergrad, I went to this play that was put on by the inmates at a men’s correctional facility. Talk about a once in a lifetime strange experience lol. The inmates served us dinner, put on a play & then came back out to greet us & have conversation. As someone in the helping profession, I’ve always been drawn to those who struggle & who have been hurt & have hurt others. One of my favorite self-reminders when working with a “bully” in my school is that hurt people, hurt people. Having this mindset, I was fascinated by the inmates & their pasts. For awhile, I thought I wanted to work in a correctional facility. But quite frankly, thinking about it realistically scared the living crap out of me. * Single 4’11” girl lives alone & works intimately with the biggest, baddest, scariest people. * So I switched gears a bit & dove into the school system & absolutely fell in love with the adolescent age group.

My dad actually recommended this book to me. He knows how intrigued I am by human struggle & what a big sucker I am for a good resiliency story. This book was written by a journalist who corresponded with Richard Lee McNair, a convicted murderer, while he was incarcerated. McNair escaped from three different prisons, three different times. “But how?!” you ask. You’re going to have to read it to find out. ;)

My guess is that the average reader probably would not find this book as enjoyable as my dad & I did — I gave it four out of five stars — but if you’re any bit interested in the justice system, methods of escape, or genuine human struggle, this book could be a great read for you!

The second book I read was The Thirteenth Gift by Charlene Costanzo. This book is super short, like I read it in an hour. Overall, I liked the message, but fantasy fiction is not my favorite genre. The story follows a reporter as she meets with an older woman who tells her a story. The moral of the story is that each of us are blessed with gifts & talents & it’s up to us to discover them within ourselves. I gave it three stars.

The third book I read was If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, & the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olsen. Like I stated earlier, I’m a middle school counselor & am fascinated by the human struggle, so this book was beyond fascinating to me. There were a few books that were on my list that I was saving for the summer. I hear a lot of hard stories during the school year from my students, & I knew these books would be difficult to read, so that’s why I saved them for the summer. This book represented the complicated relationship between children & their abusive parents absolutely spot on. Here is one of my favorite sections from the book:

Years later, she’d search for the words to make others understand how she could have loved an abuser like her mom.

“I think as a kid I depended on her, her being my mom, I don’t think I ever thought I had any other options but to live with her. As an adult I kicked myself for not doing something to help myself back then. My mother could show affection and say kind words when she wanted to … she would abuse me, then the very next day hug me or tell me how I was her baby and she loved me blah, blah. I think it worked like any abusive relationship … a person feels trapped, nowhere to go … they are abused and then the abuser reins them back in with kindness and the person being abused settles, not quite thinking about the next time they are beat etc. just relieved the abuse is over (for now). My mother was a ticking time bomb … I never knew when she would go off. Everything could be great for a few days then boom. I loved my mother because I didn’t know I had a choice. I had to love her.”

It’s based on a true story & it’s pretty horrifying to know that these events actually took place. It is very graphic & Olsen does a great job of writing intense details to where I could almost picture the scene. This book definitely goes on my list of “trigger warning” books, just a heads up. I gave this one five stars!

I’ve been taking my kindle to my parent’s sno cone shack whenever I work & it’s so nice to be able to have all of my books right there with me when I have some free time to read in between customers so I thought it was only fitting to take a picture of my book in the trailer.

The fourth book I read was Bright Side (Bright Side #1) by Kim Holden. I’m having such a hard time writing a review of this book because it honestly left me speechless & thoughtless (& that doesn’t happen very often). I don’t want to give anything away at all either because there are some crucial plot twists that are more easy to enjoy when you don’t see them coming. “Bright Side” is a nickname of the main character, Kate, who received the nickname because she doesn’t just look on the bright side, she lives there. This book shares the most beautiful stories of friendship & truly living life to its fullest. While the characters in the book are probably not people that I would normally be drawn to — rock band, long haired, tattoed from head-to-toe kind of people — I was incredibly invested in their lives & truly felt like I was their friend in the book. That was honestly why this book hit me so deep! My mom read it before I did & we had similar responses to the end of the book. Let me just say, have your kleenexes ready!

This book is part of a series so I decided to read the following two books because I loved the first one so much (I gave it five stars).

The fifth book I read was Gus (Bright Side #2) by Kim Holden. The thing I liked about this book from the get go was that it literally picks up RIGHT where Bright Side left off so it was very easy to get into, even though it is all about a different main character. One of the biggest differences that I noticed between the first book & this one was the amount of sexual content. The first book had a little bit kind of two thirds of the way in, but this one had A LOT & it was all throughout the book. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a prude, but I was uncomfortable. Like it was too much & too detailed. On the other side of things, I do like a good story about healing & grief & this book showed great character development & because of that, I gave it three stars.

I have just enough OCD in me that when I start a series, I have to finish it, no questions asked. SO the sixth book I read was Franco (Bright Side #3) by Kim Holden. I liked this book almost as much as I liked the first book. The only reason I didn’t is because this one was much more raunchy (similar to the second one). I really liked the story plot of this one & I felt like some of the problems were somewhat relatable to problems that people have in real life. I didn’t expect to get into this book very much just because Franco is a pretty minimal character in the other books, but I really enjoyed it. It’s shorter than the other two which makes for a quick read. I gave it four stars.

The seventh book I read was American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. Both of my parents & my grandma read this before me & told me it was a must read. They both said that it’s not necessarily a book you want to read, but it’s a book you need to read. From the get go, this book was heeaaavy. In all the ways. It follows a woman named Lydia & her son, Luca, as they face the most horrific scenarios I’ve ever read & fight for their survival trying to escape their past in Mexico. My apple watch tried reminding me to breathe almost every time I picked up my kindle to read this book.

No matter your opinion on the border / immigrants, this book will stretch you & open your eyes when considering diversity. At the end of the day, if you’re able to read this blog post right now, you are privileged. There’s no denying it, no arguing it, so don’t even try. I am lucky for no reason that I was born here & have had an easy life (especially considering the struggles these characters faced). This book rocked my world & I pray that I’m a better person — more compassionate, more understanding, more empathetic, less quick to judge — after reading it. I gave this book five stars.

The eighth book I read was The Bright Side of Going Dark by Kelly Harms. It switches back & forth between the two main characters’ points of view — one who is a totally normal, average Joe with a challenging past & one is an internet celebrity. How do their lives intertwine? You’ll have to read to find out.

I will say from the get go that this book definitely needs a trigger warning due to mentioning & describing the different methods of suicide. If I’m being totally honest, this book was probably my least favorite out of all of them that I read this month. Most of the plot felt really silly & honestly kind of shallow, but I think my perspective has really shifted after reading American Dirt. It honestly changed my lens & I think I’m still adjusting back to reading more mainstream novels. Even with that being said, I just didn’t love this book in general. I had a difficult time connecting with the characters & being invested in the story line. I didn’t really care much about reading it until the very end when there was a big plot twist & fit hit the shan (so to speak ;) ). I gave this book two stars.

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