June Wrap Up

I never realize how many books I read until I do the wrap up!

This was a great month for reading for me!  I read 4 thrillers, 3 books that I guess would be considered women’s fiction, 2 contemporary fiction, 1 YA book and 1 children’s book.

Pride

I read Sewing the Rainbow by Gayle E. Pitman.  This is a picture book, for young children about Gilbert Baker, who was a sparkly boy and was told not to be a sparkly boy, but as he grew up he found a community where he was accepted for being sparkly and he came up with the idea to create The Rainbow Flag as a happy, positive sign of being homosexual.  I love that there are book for kids about homosexuality because it means more people are comfortable with talking to kids about sexual orientation.  When I was a kid, I had no idea what being gay meant and it was a big, awkward conversation with my parents around the dinner table and we were all uncomfortable.  My own girls were raised that their two uncles love each other just like their mom and dad do.  That was it, end of story, nothing awkward or uncomfortable about it.  My girls have been raised that LOVE IS NEVER WRONG.

How I Resist

I saw this book advertised and decided we needed a copy for the library where I work.  I reviewed it when we got it in.  It’s a compilation of essays, lists, interviews by celebrities that encourage youth to stay informed and get involved.  This book details different ways of getting involved, from social media to writing letters to marches to calling your representatives.  I loved the message that even though kids are not old enough to vote YET, they will be one day and their representatives should take them seriously.

Thrillers

I LOVED both What Happened That Night by Sandra Block and Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia.  What Happened That Night is about a college student is brutally gang raped at a fraternity party, the authorities don’t take her seriously and she takes matters into her own hands.  Leave No Trace is about a boy and his dad go missing in the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota.  Years later the boy comes back and is institutionalized because they think he is violent when really he just wants to save his father who is very ill in a remote rural part of the boundary waters.  It’s hard to pick which one I liked better–they were both SO GOOD!

I enjoyed Broken Girls by Simone St. James, too.  It was a stretch for me and a little out of my comfort zone as there was a ghost in the book and that is something I typically stay away from, but I thought the story was good and that the ghost had an interesting and important role that could not have been accomplished any other way.

Something in the Water did not live up to the hype for me.  It started strong, then spent another third or so of the book getting mired down in day to day trivialities.  The characters made stupid choices and it got a little confusing.  It ended well.

Women’s Fiction

I really enjoyed Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin and felt it spoke volumes about friendship and love.

The Ever After by Sarah Pekkanean was a wonderful look at a marriage and what is really important in life and in marriage and family.

Contemporary Fiction

Although I adored A Man Called Ove (who read it that didn’t?), I never read Beartown by Fredrick Backman.  When Us Against You came out and I started seeing all the wonderful reviews, I decided to listen to Beartown on audiobook with my daughter, who was sick at the time.  We both loved it!!  I was happy to visit Beartown again when reading Us Against You, which I also loved.

I have seen some people say they could not get into Beartown.  I can understand that.  There are A LOT of characters and at first it seemed very overwhelming and like how would I keep them straight–my daughter started a chart for them!  lol.  But as the story went on, we found it easy to keep them straight and their story captured so much about the human spirit and the human experience.

 

 

The Summer Sail by Wendy Francis

3/5 stars – a Perfect Beach Read

From the Publisher:

A trio of college friends who reunite aboard a cruise ship experience an unforgettable vacation in this compelling novel from the author of The Summer of Good Intentions,which was hailed as “everything a summer read should be” by Elin Hilderbrand.

Three college roommates are celebrating a twentieth wedding anniversary by taking a cruise to Bermuda. As the ship pulls away from the pier, everyone is looking forward to lounging by the pool, sipping sunset cocktails, and reminiscing. Abby, the mother hen of the group, will be celebrating her wedding anniversary in style, even as she and her husband keep a secret from the group. Ambitious career woman Caroline happily anticipates several stress-free days away from her magazine job with her boyfriend, Javier, who may or may not be finally inspired to propose. And single mom Lee (annoyingly gorgeous and irresistibly popular in college) hopes she’ll win back the affections of her formerly sweet daughter Lacey, who after her first year in college, has inexplicably become a little bit of a monster.

As the balmy pink shores of Bermuda come into view, tensions simmer, and old jealousies flare, sending the temperature from soothing to scorching in this engrossing tale of three best friends on a vacation they won’t soon forget—but not for the reasons they expect.

My Thoughts:

This was a sweet summer read that set a nice tone for summer.  I wanted something to read that put me in a summer state of mind and this did the trick!  This book will have you dreaming about pink sand beaches and clear water!

This is a character driven novel about friendship, marriage, family, life and love.  It is told from multiple points of view.  Abby, who is celebrating her twentieth anniversary with her husband Sam and has twin boys, has a secret which is revealed in the second part of the book.  Caroline, who has a big career as a magazine writer, wants her boyfriend to propose–I found the way she carried on about it to be shallow and immature.  Lacey is a single mom struggling with her relationship with her college-age daughter; Lacey was my favorite character and the one that I found least annoying and most relatable.  What Lacey really needs is to focus on herself.  As a mom of two girls about to start college, I think that revelation is very spot on.  As moms we spend years focusing on our kids and when they grow up we feel empty, we don’t know what to do with ourselves (so we start a book blog!) or in Lacey’s case, realize we need to focus on ourselves.

This book is a perfect beach read.  The characters have issues, but it’s like Disney, you know everything is going to be ok in the end.  I did enjoy the characters and watching them evolve and come to terms with things.  Getting caught up in these women’s lives and friendships as they cruised the Caribbean waters and enjoyed life aboard a cruise ship was a nice way to spend a few summer evenings!