What to Read Edition

 

I feel kind of embarrassed, I haven't read as many books as I would have liked this year.  I really do enjoy reading, but by the end of the day, it is sometimes easier to watch something on Netflix or Hulu than pick up a book because when I do I often fall asleep.  The second problem is that I enjoy reading so much that I have a hard time putting it down once I start and that is not good when you have children you have to get up for the next day. Over the summer though I was able to get some reading done.  The first book I read was Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah.  This story is about a psychiatrist who after a difficult season with her work questions her abilities and moves home to her home state of Washington.  Hoping to get some rest, she is called in by local authorities to evaluate the girl who seems to have appeared out of nowhere.  The girl has limited verbal skills and it is the main character's job to try to figure out who she is and how she got to this small community.  The story was well written and while it doesn't have you contemplating the meaning of life it is entertaining. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid was certainly not what I was expecting it to be about.  While this book is controversial in the Christian world for its discussion of Homosexuality, the book certainly gets you thinking about how as a society we treat this community and what they do to protect themselves.  As a Christian myself, I felt conflicted reading this book, but I rarely do not finish a book once I start reading it.  Erring on the side that it is not my place to judge others' sexuality I did like the book because it still has me thinking about the subject months later. 

The next book Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis is just a fun easy read! The story is about two friends who have now grown up and are finding their paths taking them in different directions.  Do they hold on or do they move apart?  The book is sweet! As I said, an easy read. The next book while not a badly written story, made me upset with the author because I felt the story was way too familiar with the JFK Jr story  While the author of Meant to Be did change things around it wasn't enough to not recognize the original true story.  She even admits to pulling her inspiration from his story.  As a reader, I felt cheated in that I had spent so many hours reading a story I was already familiar with; however, this book may be more for the 20-something young woman who has no memory of this historical figure and his new bride. Nicholas Spark always offers a good read and he didn't disappoint in his book The Wish.  What would you wish for if you were going to pass away?   If you are familiar with his stories they tend to fall in the pattern of one book happy ending, and a one-year sad ending.  I would say this one falls in the category of in-between. Last but not least story The Giver of Stars by Jo Jo Mayes is a historical fiction of early mobile book services here in the United States and in this case Kentucky.  These early mobile book services brought education through reading to rural and remote areas along with bringing the outside world into areas that were very cut off from the rest of the world.  A very engaging story!

Well, if I am lucky I might be able to squeeze another two books in before the end of the year.  What is on your reading list?