Second Quarter Reading Wrap-Up

Second quarter wrap-up; in the last 3 months, I’ve resd 64 books, bringing my overall yearly total to 105. A lot were shorter quick reads, and many from my backlog of TBR. 

Books read for Book Club: 

1. Our Hideous Progeny by CE McGill—all of us found this one to be a tedious drag
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig—we liked this one better; some good philosophical concepts in a library between life and death
3. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie—classic for a reason; she’s a great author

Nonfiction 

1. Become Who You Are: A New Theory of Self Esteem, Human Greatness, and the Opposite of Depression by Ryan A Bush—author is not an expert, it’s not peer reviewed, it was recommended so I checked it out but I view it as some dude’s thoughts and not science 
2. The Laws of Medicine: Field Notes from an Uncertain Science by Siddhartha Mukherjee—interesting 
3. Paris: a Memoir by Paris Hilton—broke my heart; very real and impactful work 
4. Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living by Shauna Niequist—she might have had a point, but it flies in the face of how I function 
5. The Six Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni—interesting way to understand other’s motivations and work within your energizers 
6. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown—I’m basic; I like Brené
7. America Again by Stephen Colbert—jokes didn’t hit where I was finding humor, so fell flat to me 
8. The Woman They Wanted: Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife by Shannon Harris—good look at how broken doctrines can hurt 
9. Jesus In the Shadows: Seeing Jesus in the Bible’s Most Well-Known Okd Testament Stories by Eric Robinson—a yearly reread, first time with the audiobook. Definitely worth getting both, I like hearing it in the authors voice 
10. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay—I like the way Gay writes; she has a way with words that makes her journey hers but also yours 
11. Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, or Dusting Off Your Boots by Reba McEntire—she has the cutest freaking laugh, so I got the audiobook and was not disappointed 
12. Stop Doing That Sh*t: End Self Sabotage and Demand Your Life Back by Gary John Bishop—I didn’t stop doing that sh*t, sorry 
13. If You Ask Me (and Of Course You Won’t) by Betty White—woman was, is, and always will be a treasure 
14. How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less by Nicholas Boothman—not sure what I got out of this, except to make me suspicious people are trying to trick me into liking them 
15. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell—not what I expected, it was a lot of statistics, which I found kind of cool 
16. Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation by Bill Nye—Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!
17. Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization by Neil DeGrass Tyson—underwhelming. Felt like he dug just enough to justify his own beliefs and stopped, like so many do. I wished he did better. Oh well. 
18. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear—everyone was talking about this so I got nosy. Meh. It was alright. 
19. Educated by Tara Westover—this was recommended to me so many times, I finally got around to it and kicked myself for not checking it out way sooner. Worth the hype. 
20. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy—well written, well told story 
21. How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Other and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks—read so I can try and make my kids feel seen 
22. The Promise of Security by Beth Moore—very short read by Beth, but it was a good little devotional consideration 
23. The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon—felt like toxic positivity but a good reminder to try and frame what you can in matters of growth and how your negativity can bring others down 
24. The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking—I think this is what I wanted the deGrasse Tyson book to be 
25. Whole Again: Healing Your Heart and Rediscovering Your True Self After Toxic Relationships and Emotional Abuse by Jackson Mackenzie—read this to better understand what someone else was going through. Helped. 
26. Rewire Your Brain: Five Healthy Factors to a Better Life  by John B Arden—no new information and stop telling me to work out
27. The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Your Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self by Michael Easter—if I get over the personality differences between me and the author, he’s got some good points, and they have helped so 
28. Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed History of America by Michael Harriot—author is a strong journalist, and he uses imagery, emotional resonance, and quality research really well in this book. I’m going to keep an eye out for more by him. 
29. It’s Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health by Karen Tang—it came off like reading a textbook…and I mean that in the most complimentary way. That is what I wanted. Tang is a very smart doctor, she teaches you what you need to know to advocate for yourself and what the reality of your choices are. 
30. Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear by Jinger Duggar—gotta be honest, I’ve never given a crap about the Duggars, but I really liked this book. She’s a sweet girl trying her best to be a good person, even if that means reevaluating what she was taught. That’s important for us all to do. 
31. Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar—this is the same as Jinger, but instead of a Grace approach to her family, Jill has anger. And that’s okay. They’re both supposed to go through the journey as makes sense to them. It helps me to know that if it’s okay for them to have their responses, it’s okay for me to have mine too.  

 Fiction: 

1. My Heart Will Find You by Jude Deveraux—I’ve read everything she’s ever written and I will probably continue to do so 
2. Taken by Mistake by C Daring Wyckoff, Brianna—author I know from Facebook; this book was delightful and felt like a classic. Worth checking out 
3. The Black Lyon by Jude Deveraux—reread; she’s so good at making me have an emotional response to a character 
4. The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde—cute and quick 
5. The Light Princess by George McDonald—sweet, but a little forgettable for me 
6. Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II by Joseph Bruchac—informative for a novel, and an easy, engaging read 
7. The Return of Rafe MacKade by Nora Roberts—never read a Nora Roberts, but I liked the 90s big hair romance of it all so I read all four 
8. The Pride of Jared MacKade by Nora Roberts 
9. The Heart of Devin MacKade by Nora Roberts—this should have been the final book; it was way more, felt like the culmination of the previous books in the best way 
10. The Fall of Shane MacKade by Nora Roberts 
11. Daughter of the Red Deer by Joan Wolf—first romance I ever read, I reread too much 
12. Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo—BOTM pick; better in concept than in execution. 
13. The Adventures of Space Girl Red by R. A Davis—read this aloud with the family; I’m not great at sci-fi but I like the story 
14. Love In Color by Bolu Babalola—BOTM, short stories some better than others 
15. River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer —BOTM, did some awesome things and told a good story 
16. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan—reread because Stacia likes it, this was the first time it hit me the way it was supposed to 
17. Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland—BOTM couldn’t put down, so great 
18. The Gift by Freida McFadden—quick read, just okay 
19. Whalefall by Daniel Kraus—haunting and riveting, oddly enough 
20. Wolf Bride by Elizabeth Moss—wolf wolf 
21. Her Christmas Pleasure by Karen Erickson—when I needed a little smutty kick 
22. Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley—BOTM, hated the first couple of pages the first time and dropped it; glad I tried it again, I adored it 
23. The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado (Hank the cowdog number 25) by John R. Erickson—I love Hank the cowdog and Jarrod was late back home so I raided his bookshelf 
24. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan—Ben’s favorite book so I decided to check out 
25. Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan—I like it, it’s like a wedding heist story 

Other:

1. Great short poems from around the world by Bob Blaisdell (editor) 
2. The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley—essay about time on mescaline 
3. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei—nonfiction graphic novel 
4. Something’s Wrong! A Bear, a Hare, and Some Underwear by Jory John—picture book; Tula and I read many, but this one was worth mentioning