Pretty good line up this month! I started out this month with “We Own the Sky,” but only read about a third of that book. The language was just too much for me and the story was leading up to something tragic happening to the main character’s little boy and that just hits too close to home. So I moved on to this read…
I really liked “Carnegie’s Maid!” What a great story about a woman who worked in the Carnegie’s household, how she got there and how she influenced Andrew. I loved reading about their relationship, but was super sad about the ending of the book. I don’t want to say much more than that though because that is probably spoiler enough! Definitely was an interesting read about an obscure person who was part of an influential family.
Next, I read about 65% of “The Atomic Weight of Love”… so the first part of this book is about a girl who while working on her degree at a university, falls in love with her professor and they get married. Set during the WW2 era, (I know, I know, another one!) her new husband gets sent off to New Mexico to work on what seems to be the atomic bomb, although at the time everything is hush hush because of the secrecy of it all. She eventually follows him out there, and they try miserably to make a life together. But why did I quit reading? Because out of the blue, she meets a hippie and basically begins exploring all the areas of her life that she was naive too. It was so random and weird. Like really, she meets a hippie out on a mountain trail while she is bird watching. And after reading a couple of chapters I just couldn’t anymore. It was almost like a brand new book started, just so bizarre. So I have no idea how this book ended nor do I want to. 😬 Totally disappointed with the path the author took!
So since I had good luck with Marie Benedict, I tried another one of her novels!
Again, I really enjoyed “The Other Einstein!” I love how Benedict takes women in obscure but influential positions and tells their story. Of course, it is fictional but also based on historical events of the life of Einstein’s wife, and she kind of fills in the blanks about their interactions. And wow, did I learn a lot. So much about Albert Einstein that I didn’t know before, but also how vital his wife was to his own founding and accomplishments, and the poor thing was never formally recognized for it! Definitely was an interesting read!
I really enjoyed “The Masterpiece” by Francine Rivers. I haven’t read a book from her in a long time, but her “Mark of the Lion” series is one of my favorites that I’ve actually read through twice! This book was a story about two people who came from difficult childhood backgrounds, and how those backgrounds defined and influenced them as adults. I always appreciate how she weaves God throughout her stories, and she did the same here as well, but there were times that some of it just wasn’t really my style or speed if that makes sense, like when she talked about “graffiti for God…”it was just a little strange to me but that’s just my personal opinion. Overall I really enjoyed this read and the characters, I was sad when it was done!
Y’all know I have read a number of WW2 historical fiction novels…“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” popped up on Amazon as one I might like, so I downloaded it from the library. At first, I felt like this story was too fictional if that makes sense…I have read so many of these books, that a lot of the things the main character, Lale, was doing seemed unbelievable. Especially how he seemed to be able to have a relationship with Gita inside of the camp. But when I read the acknowledgements and book info at the end, it very well was a man’s true experiences in Auschwitz. So I don’t say that to belittle his experiences by any means, but this book was just a different view than one I had read before, and part of it may be the authors writing and how she filled in the blanks. It’s almost a little jumpy at times, just going through events at a very quick pace, but it kept my attention and I was interested in finishing it. Every time I read one of these books, I am just astounded at what people were put through and what they endured. We live in such a rich and blessed place and time.
Attention everyone who is a parent. You need to read this. “The Collapse of Parenting” was probably this best parenting book I’ve read in a long time. Every single page had something to offer. Practical and reasonable, Dr. Sax explores how parenting has changed over the last couple decades, why it has changed and what we can do about it. Encouraging us to become parental authorities on teaching our children a culture of respect, and doing the hard things by setting boundaries in their lives, he is super motivating about making positives changes in home life. I love how he acknowledged conscientiousness and humility as the two deciding factors of a child being successful as an adult. I loved the way he discouraged bad habits of unmonitored video games, social media and technology among kids, and compelling us to replace those things with human interactions with our children. While so many things sound like common sense, he just supported the need for us to be aware of how we are parenting and to take advantage of the time we have with our children. I could go on and on about this book, but bottom line is that if you have kids you need to read this.
Last but not least, I finished up this month with “Little Fires Everywhere.” I liked this book. So many different personal stories interwoven into one…people struggling with adoption, surrogacy, abortion and family relationships…there was an overriding story about a little baby who had been given up by her mother and was been fostered to adopt by another family, but then the mother decided she wanted her back. This story, and the court dealings, flows throughout the majority of the book while the other characters, who all live in the town of Shaker, are going through their own challenges of life and relationships. It was a good read, definitely posed some things to think about.
I hope you all found something interesting to you! I reading a Christmas themed book right now by Kristin Hannah and would to have more recommendations for my December reviews! Let me know what you’re reading! In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this… 😉
My previous months book reviews can be found here!
What I’m Reading – October 2018
What I’m Reading – September 2018