On the bookshelf in June

The first book I read was Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan. This was actually the book my mom’s book club chose & I decided to join her since I have more free time in the summer. I did not read anything about this book before I started it, so I truly had no idea what it was going to be about. With that being said, there are some HUGE plot twists that literally caused my jaw to drop so I really don’t want to say much at all! There are some controversial topics, but I thought the authors presented them flawlessly & honestly led into them in a way that makes you confront yourself. I flew through this book because the storyline was very intriguing & I just wanted to keep going! I know I’m not really saying much about what actually happens in the book, but I want to protect any of you that go in blind like I do! Anyway, I gave this book five out of five stars.

The second book I read was The Wife by Alafair Burke. Overall this book was a pretty quick read, but if I’m being totally honest, a lot of it felt predictable & repetitive which isn’t really what I’m looking for in a psychological thriller. The book tells the story of main character Angela’s marriage & it’s problems that of course end up in the public eye. For one, Angela was a victim of a horrific crime when she was a teenager. I’m not going to say what the crime was as I don’t want to give it away. For two, Angela’s husband, Jason, is a big wig in the economic world & gets accused of a pretty nasty crime himself. The book gives you a front row seat to his charges & the cases. There’s one big plot twist at the end, & it kind of leaves you hanging to wonder if there will be another book. Typically with thrillers, I’m dying to pick them up & keep reading, but unfortunately, I didn’t feel that way with this one. I gave this book three out of five stars.

The third book I read was Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner. I’m honestly very conflicted about this book. There were parts of it that were interesting — many of the characters are influencers, there’s a murder & an investigation that takes place, there’s infidelity & scandals, etc. But overall, I was bored. Like even though there was a decent plot, I had to force myself to pick up the book. I’m guessing part of why I felt this way is because the last two books I read were super deep. This one didn’t get really good & juicy until the very end. There was a great plot twist which I always appreciate. In the end, I gave this book three out of five stars.

The fourth & fifth books I read were from the Dear Martin series by Nic Stone. The first book is called Dear Martin & the second is called Dear Justyce. Both of these books were pretty short & very easy to read, so I flew through them. The content reminded me a bit of The Hate U Give series. Dear Martin follows the story of main character Justyce McAllister, who is an adolescent African American male who attends a very prestigious & predominantly white school. Justyce often gets picked on by his peers from “the hood” because of the school he attends, & the people he hangs out with. Justyce writes letters to Martin Luther King & when faced with a challenging situation, asks himself “what would Martin do?” Dear Justyce is written from the perspective of one of Justyce’s acquaintances who is currently in jail. I actually enjoyed reading Dear Justyce a bit more than Dear Martin. I felt like it was a bit more raw & unfiltered. Though I am not part of a minority group per se, I am not blind to the fact that there are racial inequalities that are still happening today. As always, it was very interesting to read these books from a perspective that is far different than mine. I gave Dear Martin three out of five stars & I gave Dear Justyce four out of five stars.

The sixth book I read was The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer. I typically know the genre, but I never read the backs of books before I start them, so I’m always super surprised by what I read. I knew this one was a mystery / thriller, but I was really caught of guard by the nature of the book simply because it is about a rape case & more specifically, a male rape case. This book & the review needs to have “trigger warning” written all over it!!! Wahrer did not shy away from sharing the graphic details of the rape as the case unfolds. Overall, I loved the mystery & plot twists & secrecy of the book, but as always, the graphic details of rape cases tend to bother me deeply. I did not recommend this book to my mom simply because of how detailed it was, however, I gave this book four out of five stars.

The seventh book I read was The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand. I feel like so many of the books that I read this month were full of so much depth, so when I first started this one, I was feeling a little bit disappointed, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this book! Main character, Hollis Shaw, suffers the loss of her husband from a car accident. As she tries to heal, Hollis hears about a girls weekend idea called “The Five-Star Weekend” where you invite one friend frome each phase of your life, & get together for a fun weekend together — truly like your life story through friends. Hollis is also a lifestyle + food blogger, so she thinks what better way to enjoy herself AND have some content? The women she invites don’t all know each other that well & there’s a few HUGE secrets among them, so there’s bound to be some drama. Another piece to the puzzle is Hollis’ young adult daughter, Caroline. As we all know, everyone processes grief differently, so Hollis’ relationship with Caroline is fairly strained & they haven’t been spending much time together. Hollis bribes Caroline (aspiring to be a part of the film industry one day) to come film the weekend with a decent sized payout in exchange.
There is drama, forgiveness, self-acceptance, love, & more — everything needed to make a great book! Not to be cliche, but I gave this book four out of five stars.

The eighth book I read was The Guest List by Lucy Foley. This book is about the wedding of an influencer & a TV star who are both very well-known & well-loved. Of course, there were some very dark secrets that had stayed hidden, but what better time for them to come out than on their wedding day?! The chapters switch around between quite a few characters which can get confusing & a bit muddy. There were so many plot twists & surprises that this book kept me guessing right up until the very end. I had about ten pages left & had already decided I was going to give this book five out of five stars, but then the ending just completely dropped off & I was left wanting more. Like I was honestly shocked because I felt like there could’ve been so much more! Because of how disappointing that was, I ended up giving this book four out of five stars.

This is almost always my view on the other side of my kindle when I’m reading!

Have you ever read the whole Bible? I’ve always wanted to & I’ve tried a few times but it’s hard. It’s just so hard to understand! I had heard several people talk about the Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading & Understanding the Entire Bible & wanted to give it a try. Tara-Leigh Cobble walks you through reading the Bible chronologically in one year & she has a podcast that goes along with it. While that all sounds great, I knew that truly reading it every single day was not attainable for me. Yes, I feel guilty saying that. After all, He has done for me, I should be able to spend that much time each day reading His word. However, I know myself & I know I wouldn’t & I also know that getting behind would stress me out & then I’d want to give up completely. Then she wrote a book & I knew this was the answer! I just read it when I can! I try to make it a priority but if it doesn’t happen that day, it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Her summary of what you read is absolutely amazing. I cannot believe how much I’ve learned already!! It’s designed to be read in a year, however if it takes me two, that’s okay! Because reading the entire Bible in two years is better than not at all. If I’m honest, I’ll probably start over once I finish because it’s that good & I’m sure I’ll learn something new each time, because He’s where the joy is!

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