This month I read 5 books, and my favorite book hands down was Uninvited. And my second favorite was a Great Reckoning. I'm always looking for book recommendations, so tell me, what are you reading?
Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst
I enjoyed this book so much. It's a book written for all of us, but especially for women who have faced rejection in their life. There were bits I even read outloud to Peter about a time the author wasn't selected for a job position and how that story of rejection played out. I highlighted so much of the text and I loved how it was steeped in scripture and biblical truths. I found myself raising my fist upwards and shouting yes, this, so good! It's all about living loved and remembering that our worth is in the Lord! Whether that's stuff you need to hear right now or someone close to you does..it will be worth the read. "Let the breaking of you be the making of you." You're welcome.
Goodreads blurb, "The enemy wants us to feel rejected . . . left out, lonely, and less than. When we allow him to speak lies through our rejection, he pickpockets our purpose. Cripples our courage. Dismantles our dreams. And blinds us to the beauty of Christ’s powerful love. In Uninvited, Lysa shares her own deeply personal experiences with rejection—from the incredibly painful childhood abandonment by her father to the perceived judgment of the perfectly toned woman one elliptical over. With biblical depth, gut-honest vulnerability, and refreshing wit, Lysa helps readers:
Release the desire to fall apart or control the actions of others by embracing God-honoring ways to process their hurt. Know exactly what to pray for the next ten days to steady their soul and restore their confidence. Overcome the two core fears that feed our insecurities by understanding the secret of belonging. Stop feeling left out and start believing that "set apart" does not mean "set aside."
End the cycle of perceived rejection by refusing to turn a small incident into a full blown issue."
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
I really enjoyed this book, a good read. The first book I've read by Louise Penny and I'm sure it won't be my last. I enjoy mysteries and always appreciate how quickly I can turn the pages!
Goodreads blurb, "The next novel in Louise Penny's #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. When an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity. But the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes. Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him to shattering secrets. To an old friend and older adversary. It leads the former Chief of Homicide for the Sûreté du Québec to places even he is afraid to go. But must. And there he finds four young cadets in the Sûreté academy, and a dead professor. And, with the body, a copy of the old, odd map. Everywhere Gamache turns, he sees Amelia Choquet, one of the cadets. Tattooed and pierced. Guarded and angry. Amelia is more likely to be found on the other side of a police line-up. And yet she is in the academy. A protégée of the murdered professor. The focus of the investigation soon turns to Gamache himself and his mysterious relationship with Amelia, and his possible involvement in the crime. The frantic search for answers takes the investigators back to Three Pines and a stained glass window with its own horrific secrets. For both Amelia Choquet and Armand Gamache, the time has come for a great reckoning."
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
I really enjoy reading books by authors from different cultures, and this was Gyasi's first novel and she's only 26!! I also really enjoy reading books about different cultures, and this was about Ghana. I enjoyed this, but it was hard to follow at times as it spans countless years and many characters.
Goodreads blurb, "The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Written with tremendous sweep and power, Homegoing traces the generations of family who follow, as their destinies lead them through two continents and three hundred years of history, each life indeliably drawn, as the legacy of slavery is fully revealed in light of the present day. Effia and Esi are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast’s booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia’s descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation."
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
This was a quick read, and it was interesting, but I don't think I'd recommend it. There are far too many other books that I think you'd enjoy more!
Goodreads blurb, "Running into a long-ago friend sets memories from the 1970s in motion for August, transporting her to a time and a place where friendship was everything—until it wasn’t. For August and her girls, sharing confidences as they ambled through neighborhood streets, Brooklyn was a place where they believed that they were beautiful, talented, brilliant—a part of a future that belonged to them. But beneath the hopeful veneer, there was another Brooklyn, a dangerous place where grown men reached for innocent girls in dark hallways, where ghosts haunted the night, where mothers disappeared. A world where madness was just a sunset away and fathers found hope in religion."
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
256 pages, and I flew through it. Think I might have finished it in a few days as it reads really easily with short prose. And I really enjoyed it, but like I said, I really enjoy reading books about other cultures, and this was a book about a boy from South Sudan I think? They don't really mention the specific country, but he is in a refugee camp, and eventually comes to Minnesota, where he lives with his aunt and his cousin. And the book follows his journey of transitioning to life in the states.
Goodreads blurb, "Kek comes from Africa. In America he sees snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He's never walked on ice, and he falls. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winter – cold and unkind. In Africa, Kek lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived, and now she's missing. Kek is on his own. Slowly, he makes friends: a girl who is in foster care; an old woman who owns a rundown farm, and a cow whose name means "family" in Kek's native language. As Kek awaits word of his mother's fate, he weathers the tough Minnesota winter by finding warmth in his new friendships, strength in his memories, and belief in his new country. Bestselling author Katherine Applegate presents a beautifully wrought novel about an immigrant's journey from hardship to hope."
Books for June // July // August // September // October // November // December // January // February // March
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