July is fair month around here! While we don’t show animals, my children are heavily involved in miscellaneous 4H projects and submitting open class items to the fair. We’ve been super buys, but most nights, I could still read for a few minutes before falling asleep. Here is what I read in July:
The Switch by Beth O’Leary
In The Switch, Leena’s life comes to a halt when her employer tells her to take two months off – paid – because she messed up a presentation with a big client. She’s trying to keep a normal pace, but she’s recovering from her sister passing away from cancer, a boyfriend who is pulling away and a strained relationship with her mother. A quick weekend trip to her Grandma’s to kick off her break finds her Grandma in a similar boat. Grandpa has left her and she feels in a rut with her small-town life. The idea strikes them both – switch places for two months!
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Normal People is a story about the relationship between Connell and Marianne. It starts with them in high school, only talking to each other at Marianne’s house when Connell picks up his mother from her job cleaning there. They both end up going to the same college, but their own unique immaturities and brokenness have them hurting each other over and over. I didn’t really enjoy this book very much as it’s more a look at the psychological impact of a relationship in a fiction book than a “normal” fiction story.
My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
Ella is heading to England for a year at Oxford studying as a Rhodes Scholar when she gets the call of her dreams – a job working on the primary campaign for a presidential candidate. They agree to let her work from England, but she has to be on their beck and call. As she meets new friends at Oxford, she has a fling with Jamie, a professor. They both don’t want a relationship. However, when the truth is revealed about why he wants to take a month break from their fling, Ella learns some lessons in truly living. I really enjoyed the way this book took a journey where people discovered what love truly is in My Oxford Year.
Growing Slow by Jennifer Dukes Lee
Growing Slow is about living a life more intentionally instead of hurriedly. The author realized how much of life was out of her hands when the rain wouldn’t stop falling on the farm fields, not letting the farmers plant their crops. She divides the book into the four seasons and likens them to different seasons of our lives. The biggest takeaway I had from the book was to try to stop filling up down time with things – don’t check the phone at a traffic stop, interact in lines instead of checking out and just take time to relax.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
In Project Hail Mary, Ryland Grace wakes up in a medical room, where a robot is asking him what is name is. He can’t remember. In the room are two other people, but they are dead. The robot feeds him meals, but doesn’t help with Ryland’s memory. As the days pass, he slowly remembers and when he finally remembers his name, he obtains access to the room above his. He’s on a space ship …. and he doesn’t know how or why! As he investigates his surroundings and time passes, he finally remembers that he’s on a suicide mission to save Earth, but he now has to do it all by himself.
Forever Wild by K.A. Tucker
Forever Wild continues the Simple Wild series and is a short novella about having relatives visit Alaska over Christmas-time. As often happens in families, there is drama, but Calla and Jonah find a way to make their families get along …. and I really think another book will be coming!
The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone
The Woman Who Smashed Codes, Elizebeth, was one of America’s original codebreakers. She started working for an eccentric millionaire who wanted to prove Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays and put coded messages in them. It was there that she met her future husband, William Friedman, and together they started cracking codes when the government requested their assistance during World War I. Eventually, they had to break off their relationship with the millionaire to work for the government full-time.
Another Gospel? by Alisa Childers
Alisa Childers shares her story of how she faced her doubts about Christianity by researching its history. She searches for the truth in the midst of a progressive religious culture that wants to put feelings and the culture ahead of Bible and Tradition. Another Gospel? was very thought-provoking.
What interesting books have you read lately? Share them in the comments!
