July was hot! I read much more slowly and really enjoyed the seven books I read. I spent a lot of time with my children doing the fun activities of summer and I don’t regret that at all! I also spent time putting the final edits on a book I’ll have published in early fall! Here is what I read:
In From Foster Care to Millionaire: A Young Entrepreneur’s Story of Tragedy and Triumph, Cody McLain faced many challenges during his childhood. His parents were alcoholics. He and his sister lived with their grandparents in Florida for a while so their parents could get their acts together, but once they came back home to Ohio, it wasn’t long before the drinking started again. His father passed away from drinking complications and Cody headed to foster care while his mother went to rehab. Around that time, Cody decided to do something that would change his life’s path – he started a business.
War is not just for men. During World War II, several governments recruited women for various jobs that would help the war effort – and some of those were on the frontline. England brought women into the Special Operations Executive and trained them to send messages and sabotage the enemy. That is the stage that The Lost Girls of Paris sets its historical fiction tale of the women of SOE and a war widow who stumbles upon their story.
A blizzard almost like no other hit the U.S. prairie on Jan. 12, 1888, and by the next morning, hundreds perished. David Laskin weaves the true tale in The Children’s Blizzard through the eyes of those who lived on the prairie and those tasked to forecast the weather. Even the atmospheric conditions had to work in just a certain way to produce a storm that was upon people in mere minutes – they went from enjoy a day where a light jacket would do to not being able to see a few yards away. One of the worst tragedies of the storm was that it hit when many children had just been released from school. Many never made it home.
Secrets have a way of coming out. For one family in Tennessee, the family secret runs deep. Avery is back home to help her family take care of her father, who has cancer, and to be seen so she can possibly run for the Senate seat he holds when he’s no longer able to serve. She discovers her family might be tied to a scandal in Before We Were Yours. As Avery starts delving into her family’s past and its ties to a long-forgotten Memphis scandal, the readers also hear the story of Rill Foss. As a young girl, she grew up on the river with her family on a shanty. One night, her mother goes into labor and the midwife sends her to the hospital. Two days later, people show up to take Rill and her siblings to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society.
Rock bands are the stuff of fantasy. Daisy Jones & The Six explores how this particular rock band formed and how it fell apart. It feels like you’re reading a very real story as it goes back and forth between each character. Love, drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll are all covered in this read. Only pick it up if you have time to finish it – you’ll be hooked quickly.
Wicked is coming to us early next year and in preparation to see it, I want my children to read the original Wizard of Oz books. The differences in the books and the movie are fascinating, but the Wicked series is based on these books and not the movies. I feel it makes the musical much more understandable if you read the original books. Dorothy’s shoes are a different color in the book (my daughter is still struck by this fact)!
I am always up for reading a good book on parenting, especially parenting teenagers. Dr. Kevin Leman gives a psychologist’s perspective of how to get a teenager to respect your parental authority. Written mainly for a parent who is at his or her wit’s end, Have a New Teenager by Friday has a lot of tips for every parent.
What did you read this month? Share on the blog! I’m always looking for great book recommendations!
