It feels like the summer just flew by here! My children had lots of fun activities – mostly sports-related. However, we also participated in our county fair through 4H and showing open class art items. Some blue ribbons were earned 🙂 I got some reading done in the waiting moments … for judging, for getting off work, for car rides. Here’s what I read last month:
I’ve read many of Gary Paulsen’s books and I saw Gone to the Woods in a bookstore. It’s about his childhood and how he first fell in love with reading and writing. His childhood was not a happy one as his mother had several affairs and his parents drank and fought a lot. He managed to survive a lot on his own. His main happy time in his childhood was a brief stint on his aunt and uncle’s farm where he learned some survival skills. Fans of his books would really enjoy getting this glimpse into his life.
I’ve read a few books by Henry now and saw a friend highly recommend Once Upon A Wardrobe on social media, so I checked it out. It’s a heartbreaking tale of a sister who wants to find answers for her dying younger brother who loves Narnia. She manages to get an audience with C.S. Lewis and asks him where Narnia came from. He meets with her several times to tell her of his life and all that led to the time and place where he wrote The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I was hoping it was historical fiction for the main characters, but it’s just about C.S. Lewis. I learned several new things about his life, though. I highly recommend Once Upon A Wardrobe.
I wasn’t quite sure what I was reading at first in Other Birds as the characters take turns telling their stories and there are ghosts and invisible birds involved. However, as the story unfolded of residents of a small condo complex on an island, it showed that the story was about people grieving. It was an interesting read, but a bit like a soap opera in the way the story is told.
How does a young woman cope when her dreams are shattered over and over and over again? In The Snow Hare, Lena dreams of becoming a doctor in Poland in the years before WWII. However, an accident leaves her lame and being married to an Army soldier. She feels no love for him, but he forces himself on her and they eventually have a daughter. When he hears that an invasion is coming, he sends her and the child away to escape to another country. Instead, she heads home where she finds a bit of rest until the family is sent to Siberia for a work camp since her husband is now an enemy of the state. There, they struggle to survive and she finally finds a glimpse of real love … and real sacrifice. It was an interesting story, but not an easy book to read.
This Much Country is a memoir about a young woman’s journey to living in Alaska. Kristin goes over how a breakup pushed her to go live in Alaska where she fell in love not just with the state, but with the sled dogs that make life bearable for so many who live there. She eventually starts running dogs and finds herself wanting to participate in the sled dog races. She finds another person to share her life with and ends up running and finishing the Iditarod. After going to Alaska this summer, I really enjoyed reading a firsthand account of an Iditarod musher.
Waymaker is Voskamp’s latest book where she shares very intimate details about some of her life struggles. From marital intimacy to not talking to her husband when their adopted daughter needed heart surgery, she bares a soul and shows how she struggled to find her faith and her way back to her husband. Her writing is sometimes hard for me to read as she shares a few life details and then goes on about the thinking/faith aspects and then winds back to the details. However, I appreciate her honesty and felt comforted that someone with such a big following is letting people know life can be very hard and full of struggles sometimes, yet, God is still there and forgiveness is possible to give and get.
Set in Alaska before and right at statehood, Homestead follows a man and his new wife as they navigate not only a relationship but how to live in Alaska. Lawrence has filed for homestead land when he meets Marie at the local bar. They marry days later, but don’t even know each other or even how to be in a relationship. They live in a trailer while he builds their house and face almost insurmountable problems – a stillbirth, a bear attack, failed crops, lies and cold shoulders. In the end, they both find a way to not only build a homestead, but a family.
I watched Ready Player One several years ago, but when I saw a friend had recently read the book, I decided to see how the book was compared to the movie. The book is way more in-depth telling the story of how Wade searches for the “easter egg” hidden in a virtual reality world. He faces enemies who are fighting to get the egg so they can monetize the world while trying to maintain friendships with people he’s competing against. The 1980s references are so fun, but the book also contains a premise of global warming changed the whole world. A fun read for the most part, though.
In Hostage, Mina is a flight attendant aboard the first non-stop flight between London and Sydney. However, while on board, she is threatened – help with a hijacking or her daughter will be harmed. Back at home, her husband is watching their adopted daughter, but is having his web of lies come down around his world. Both of their decisions will affect the life of their daughter. I don’t read too many thrillers as they’re often nerve-wracking or graphic, but this one had just enough suspense to keep me interested, but not enough to where I couldn’t put the book down. The deaths were not overly graphic either. I enjoyed it as a fun, fiction read.
What did you read recently that you enjoyed? Share in the comments so I can add it to my to-read list!
