If you are looking for light hearted summer reads, this is not the post for you! 😂 I say often that the books I choose to read depend on what becomes available on my holds list at the library, and I had already done second holds on these first three books because I couldn’t get to them, so it seemed like it was time for their turn!
“Brain on Fire” was a crazy read! I had heard about this book somewhere, about how a girl had written about her experiences dealing with a strange autoimmune disorder that effected her brain, but I had no idea what her story would entail. I cannot imagine having your memory and body begin to fail you in ways you don’t understand, for everyone to diagnose you with psychological issues when something physical was happening inside of your body. I say it all the time, but I love reading because of the awareness it provides, and this time was no different! There are so many strange diseases in this world, and I was glad I read her story to now know that some mental issues could be connected with autoimmune responses, and what that would look like in someone.
“Before We Were Yours” was heart wrenching. A fictional story of a family of children who lived on the river and how they torn from their parents, to be placed in a children’s home and sold for adoptions. The children were fictional, but the children’s home and the woman who ran it were not. Parents would be lied to and manipulated into signing paperwork releasing their rights to their children, or children would be outright stolen from their front yards or walks to school and then farmed our as orphans. It is just gut wrenching to think of the number of children placed under this woman’s “care,” how many were abused, neglected and even died because of their treatment. It was a hard one to get through, but again, shouldn’t awareness create more perspective in our lives? Adoption has been something on my heart for a long time, and this story furthered even more in my mind why if we could provide a home for even one more child here without a family, we should. ❤️
Y’all. What a heavy read. I plowed through this one but had to just take breaks. It was like I could only read small sections of this at a time, and each time I put it down I just kept thinking, “THIS, was Tara Westover’s LIFE.” “Educated” is her memoir, the story of her life, one of isolation and manipulation…a family led by a father who basically was bipolar, and saw himself as somewhat of “God’s mouthpiece” in a sense, always hearing supposedly the way and word of the Lord as his messenger. Tara grew up in a world of lies, constant stress, irrational situations and mental games, and somehow over time was able to break free. The one thing I kept thinking throughout this whole book, was how certain people came into her life at just the right times, to support her and guide her from the childhood of brainwashing she endured. And to me, that is the hand of God in your life, guiding your path and leading you along the way. If you’re in need of perspective to gain an attitude of gratefulness in your life, pick this one up.
After the last three books I read, I needed something lighthearted and easy, so I started “The Wedding Date.” About half way through, I realized that this book was by the same author as “The Proposal” that I read recently, because she referenced characters from that book and it’s also in general the same kind of makeup story wise. It was cute how the couple met in an stalled elevator and he convinces the girl to be his date to a wedding he’s in, and how it becomes more than a weekend thing…buuut the language in this book just got worse as the story went along and just some inappropriate/ trashy stuff like her other book. So needless to say, marking this author off my list and paying attention next time. 😂
“The Last Mrs. Parrish” kept me hooked. One if those physiological kind of somewhat thriller books, and I really liked the way the story played out. It wasn’t too crazy intense, which I appreciated, and I liked the way the book was divided into two perspectives, the initial Mrs. Parrish and the last. If you’re looking for a story that’s not too intense but kind of crazy at the same time, I think you’d like this one.
I picked up “The Only Woman in the Room” because I loved Marie Benedict’s other two novels (“Carnegie’s Maid” and “The Other Einstein”), and while an interesting read, it wasn’t my favorite from her. I had never heard of Hedy Lamarr, so reading about her life story of living in the 1930s as an actress in Austria, and being married to an arms dealer with ties to Germany, and how she made it to America was incredibly interesting. I had no idea of her inventions and efforts to aid the war either. I just had a hard time keeping my attention with this book, I don’t know why. I do appreciate how the author finds obscure women to write about, highlighting their unrecognized contributions to society when they have been passed over. She’s working on a book about Clementine Churchill to be released in January, so I’m looking forward to that!
Hope you found something that interests you! As always, I would love to hear about what you are reading!
Check out my other reviews from this year below!
What I’m Reading – February 2019
What I’m Reading -January 2019
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Some good reads this month! I found both “Educated” and “Before We Were Yours” to be very compelling, and “Before…” especially touched me in many ways. I own “ Brain on Fire” but haven’t read it yet, so it sounds like I need to pick it up soon.
Great reviews!