61 Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 7/2 (audio/library)
Challenges Met: 52 Bookclub
8. Features The OceanThis book was a delight. I loved it. I highly recommend the audio. You can't help but fall in love with the characters. Especially Marcellus, a giant pacific octopus. It deals with grief, family, found family, fresh starts and 2nd chances.
As a general rule, I like holes. A hole at the top of my tank gives me freedom. But I do not like the hole in her heart. She only has one, not three, like me. Tova’s heart. I will do everything I can to help her fill it.
“Marcellus, it’s me.” The octopus shifts slightly out of its corner and peers at her, blinking its creepy eye. Who is this lady? And how did she get in here, anyway? She nods, encouraging. “It’s okay.” She holds out her hand, and to Cameron’s shock the creature extends one of its arms and winds it around her wrist. She repeats, “It’s okay. I’m going to help you down now, all right?” The octopus nods. Wait, no. It did not. Did it? He rubs his eyes. Are they pumping hallucinogens through the ductwork here?”
As one would gather from the name, the Knit-Wits began as a knitting club. Twenty-five years ago, a handful of Sowell Bay women met to swap yarn. Eventually, it became a refuge for them to escape empty homes, bittersweet voids left by children grown and moved on.
“I don’t have children who will come stay with me when I’ve had a fall. I don’t have grandchildren who will stop over to unclog my drain or make sure I’m taking my pills. And I won’t put that burden on my friends and neighbors.” “There’s your problem,” says Janice softly. “Assuming it’s a burden.”
62 Long Island by Colm Tóibín 7/4 (print/library)
Challenges Met: 52 Bookclub 33. An Abrupt Ending
Oprah's book clubI read this because it was an Oprah Book Club selection. It was ok. I didn't love it and it left me feeling sad.
In the opening scene of the book the main character Eilis is told her husband is has gotten another woman pregnant, and that husband is expecting her husband to take in this child. Eilis is against this, tells her husband as much and proceeds to go back to Ireland for the summer. To her mother and hometown which she has not seen in 20 years.
If you like unlikeable characters, secrets and infidelity this book might be for you, but not so much for me.
63 Girls and their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier 7/7 (print/library)
Challenges Met: A-Z "G"
Read for MMD Book club. This is one from my stack of started books I needed to finish. It was due back at the library and I finished it just under the wire. This is a mystery in which we know from the beginning someone is dead, but we don't know who and we don't know how. The story is told from multiple points of view, from the detective and then two horse moms and three daughters from several months before going forward.
64 A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas 7/8 (kindle/library)★★★★
Third book in the ACOTAR series. Not much I can say as it would give spoilers from the previous two books but I very much enjoyed this book. There were a couple things that bugged me about the ending. But I am looking forward to reading the next book when my library hold comes in. 😏
We're all broken, in our own ways - In places no one might see.
Only you can decide what breaks you, Cursebreaker. Only you.
I would not have known that it is the family you make, not the one you are born into, that matters. I would not have known what it is to truly hope, even when the world tells you to despair.
65 The Women by Kristin Hannah 7/10 (audio/library)★★★★★
This was an amazing but heartbreaking story. Frankie enlists as an army combat nurse to follow her brother Finley to Vietnam. I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book- I had heard many mixed reviews but I loved it. Not an easy read but good and worthwhile.
There’s no going back, Frankie. You have to find a way to go forward, become the new you.
We—Americans, I mean—can’t seem to talk to each other anymore, our disagreements seem insurmountable.
The women had a story to tell, even if the world wasn't quite yet ready to hear it, and their story began with three simple words. We were there.
66 The Coworker by Freida McFadden 7/11 (kindle/kindle unlimited)
Read for book club. As always Freida McFadden penned a page turner with a twist. It was an easy read and one I flew through to find out the ending.
One morning Natalie notices that her coworker Dawn is late. Dawn is NEVER late so Natalie begins to be concerned something has happened to her.
As strange as Dawn’s schedule is, it’s even stranger that today she isn’t following it. I can’t help but think that Dawn’s absence must signify something ominous. After all, Dawn is never late. Never.
After all, there’s nothing that binds two people like a shared secret.
67 Still Standing by Courtney Joseph Fallick 7/12 (print/own)★★★★★
I loved this book. I read it chapter by chapter in my morning devotional time. It felt like it spoke to my very soul. I found it so encouraging. Solid Biblical wisdom and Truth. I could read it again and again.
When we hide we get isolated. God gave us church for a reason. God knows we need to live in community with other believers. Isolated people can become sick emotionally and spiritually. Our minds get assaulted with the lies from the enemy with no outlet for our thoughts to be discussed and no inlet for wisdom and godly thoughts to come in. This closed circuit leads to a murky mind.
God's Word is vital to changing us. It brings light to the darkness and dispels the lies of the enemy.
God loves you. Live loved, stand firm, and remember -- in his presence is fullness of joy.
I read this book
last July. I fell in love with the cover and preordered it. I loved it and on a whim decided to use it for book club last month. I enjoyed the re-read just as much. A story about forgiveness and friendship, 2nd chances and fresh beginnings.
Mrs. Simmons is a very minor character but I just love her and how she took Addie under her wing and prayed over her on the ship to Boston. Even now it chokes me up and gives me goosebumps. May we all strive to be a little more like Mrs. Simmons and keep our eyes and hearts open for "Addies" in our path. 💖
Dear God and Father of us all, we come to You tonight heartbroken, grieving the sudden and terrible loss of Adelaide's beloved mother and father. We grieve the loss of their strong arms about her, for the loss of the home she dearly loved-- the home where she was born, felt safe, and had expected to grown to womanhood.
Now she's on a journey, Lord, into the unknown. Be with her, Father. Let her know Your love and care. Bring others into her life to help her. Remind her daily in tangible ways that she does not travel this life alone. Hold her, guide her, protect her, Father, assuring her often that she is Your precious daughter.
Thank you for going ahead of us, for assigning our berths in this cabin together on this voyage, Lord. Only You could have orchestrated such a gift for us both. Bless Adelaide with sweet rest this night, and wake her in the morning with courage and peace only You can give
Thank you Father, for placing this dear girl, my new friend, in my path. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
69 We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels 7/17 (print/library)
I'm not sure how I came across this book, one of my deep dives looking for book club books probably. It was pretty interesting, I'm not sure I would have really classified it as Christian fiction- it was clean but didn't have much faith content that I recall. The story was interesting. Told from three different women in the same family tree, one during the civil war, one in the 60's and one in present day. Set on a farm aways outside Detroit, MI. I think Mary's perspective (from the civil war era) was the most interesting storyline. But of course they all intersect and are interwoven throughout the generations. The story involves a lot of racial issues. I think the author did a wonderful job making these feel authentic and also gave interesting perspectives.
All it took to lose one’s history was a single generation that didn’t take the time to learn it and pass it on. I would do my part to keep it alive.
70 The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh 7/20 (audio/hoopla)
This was such a fun, cute read. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. A story about letting go of regrets and saying
YES! to the things that scare you.
Kelsey awakens in the hospital after getting hit by a car. She is a young woman who is devoted in everyway to furthering her career. Her roommate is an older woman she immediately recognizes as Georgina Tate--"a glass-ceiling-shattering, wildly successful businesswoman".
As Kelsey contemplates her near death she begins to wonder if the life she is building is the life she truly wants. She decides to spend the summer saying YES to all the things she usually says No to and somehow convinces Georgina to join her.
The result is a funny, heartwarming story that left me laughing and crying in turn.
71 Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult 7/22 (kindle/library)
Challenges Met: 52 Bookclub 35. Title Matches Lyrics From A Song
I'm not sure how I feel about Jodi Picoult's writings. She definitely has a vastly different world view than me. Her books are thought provoking but always leave me feeling concerned and unsettled. Maybe that's her goal as she certainly writes about controversial topics.
This one takes place at the beginning of the pandemic. My experience in somewhat rural upstate NY is far different from the experiences described in this book, which takes place -in part- in NYC.
We are breaking curfew, Gabriel isn’t really a guide anymore, and the volcano happens to be active. What could possibly go wrong?
All of us are grieving something. But while we are, we’re putting one foot in front of the other. We’re waking up to see another day. We’re pushing through uncertainty, even if we can’t yet see the light at the end of the tunnel.
We are battered and broken, but we’re all small miracles.
“Do you think we’ll ever go back to the way it was?” I ask Finn. He glances at me. “I don’t know,” he says thoughtfully. “When I used to talk to patients before surgery, they always asked if they’d be able to do everything they used to do before the operation. I mean, technically, the answer should be yes. But there’s always a scar. Even if it’s not right across your belly, it’s in your head somewhere—the brand-new knowledge that you weren’t invincible. I think that changes you for the long haul.”
72 The Rom-commers by Katherine Center 7/29 (audio/library)
Challenges Met: 52 Bookclub 44. Includes A Wedding
Such a great read. Or listen I guess. This one was on my list because. Katherine Center. But bumped up because Loren picked it for book club. I thought I was going to have to breakdown and by it in order to get it read in time but happily the audio book came in on Libby. (I had put it on hold in every format in two different library systems). It did not disappoint.
Emma, has been her father's full time care taker for the last ten years, after a traumatic brain injury. She is presented with an opportunity to go to LA for 6 weeks to help rewrite a Rom-com script with her all time favorite screen writer Charlie Yates. Her younger sister Sylvie, recently graduated from college, moves back to care for their father while Emma moves out to LA to work with Charlie. It was a delight through and through. All the emotions and of course HEA. 💖
Charlie turned out to be a blue-ink person, while I was exclusively black. FYI for nonwriters: blue versus black ink is an essential identity issue. Much like Coke versus Pepsi, or the Beatles versus the Stones, or college-ruled notebooks versus regular. You can be one kind of person or the other, but not both.
“Choose a good, imperfect person who leaves the cap off the toothpaste, and puts the toilet paper roll on upside down, and loads the dishwasher like a ferret on steroids—and then appreciate the hell out of that person. Train yourself to see their best, most delightful, most charming qualities. Focus on everything they’re getting right. Be grateful—all the time—and laugh the rest off.” My dad smiled at us, and then put a hand back on his walker. “And that goes for kids, too, by the way—and pets, and waiters, and even our own selves,” he said. “There it is. The whole trick to life. Be aggressively, loudly, unapologetically grateful.”
Total: 12 2024: 72
Kindle/Ebook: 3 Print: 5 Audio: 4
Library: 9 Owned: 2 Kindle Unlimited: 1
Favorite: I don't think I can answer that this month! So many GREAT reads! Lets go with least favorite- Long Island or Wish You Were Here.
50 States: 0- 37/51 (includes DC)
52 Bookclub: 4- 30/52
A-Z: 1- 15/26
Also I am pretty proud to have finished 6 of the 8 books I had in progress here. I didn't read much of The Time Traveler's Wife and honestly misplaced it most of the month.... turns out it was near the bottom of one of the stacks on my nightstand 😑 I don't love it and might DNF but we'll see what August holds.
I am 52% through Familiaris and loving it. I switched to the kindle version to make it less daunting. I'm on track to finish it before my library loan ends.
Happy Reading everyone! What was your best (or worst) book for July?
