Hello!
I read six books in July, with one of them being an audiobook. There were two memoirs and four fiction books.
I’m excited to share these books with you today!
This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell
This Must Be The Place is a love story that centers around an unforgettable family.
The protagonist of the story, Daniel Sullivan is living in Ireland with his wife, Claudette who is an eccentric former movie-star. He also has children he never gets to see in California and a father that he hates in Brooklyn. He and Claudette have made a wonderful life together in the countryside, but a secret from his past threatens to destroy it all.
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
I’m Still Here is Austin Channing Brown’s memoir of growing up as a Black woman in a world made for whiteness. She shares her journey towards loving blackness and finding dignity as a Black woman.
This is an eye-opening look at growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America.
I did a full review of this book here.
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
Becoming Mrs. Lewis, as you can probably ascertain from the title, is the title, is the love story of Joy Davidson and C.S. Lewis.
I wanted to love this novel so much more that I did. In all honesty, I didn’t know a lot about the history of C.S. Lewis and his wife, Joy Davidson. I found her to be a very unlikeable person and struggled throughout the book to relate to her. In the end, I did have compassion for her, so I give the author credit for that.
It took me quite a while to finish this book and it felt like it was dragging because at times I just did not want to read Joy Davidson’s whiny voice. I ended up giving it three stars as a rating because my feelings evolved throughout the book.
What You Wish For by Katherine Center
I am a fan of Katherine Center’s books and I absolutely love the way she writes strong female protagonist characters.
In What You Wish For the main character, Samantha is a librarian who loves her job and the community she lives in. A new school principal that Samantha has a history with comes to rule the school with an iron fist that threatens to destroy the sweet community.
Samantha and Duncan come to learn what it means to be brave and take a chance on love.
I loved this book and it was just the light-hearted, hopeful read I needed when I picked it up!!
The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
The Beauty in Breaking is the second memoir I read this month. In it emergency room physician, Michele Harper, explores how her life of service to others has taught her how to heal herself.
I loved getting a peek inside the world of emergency medicine and the Veterans Affairs hospital in the stories that the author shared. I loved reading Michele’s insights into the lessons she’s learned from her patients and experiences.
I also loved taking this journey towards inner peace along with the author as she told her story. It is a hopeful, moving, beautiful book that I’m so thankful to have read.
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
I read A Long Petal of the Sea on audio through Libro.fm and enjoyed it, although I think I would have preferred to read this one in print…not because it wasn’t engaging, but because I have been a distracted audio listener lately.
This book is set in the 1930’s when the Civil War gripped Spain. It follows the life of Roser, a pregnant young widow at the beginning of the war, and Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and brother to Roser’s deceased lover. Their lives become entwined as they flee Spain together and relocate in Chile as refugees.
This is a book that I think would have been a favorite in print, so I may definitely come back to it one day.