Halfway Through August And What I'd Read

As of this morning, my summer break is over and I am back to work. Boo. I have to remember that I really do like my job (middle school secretary) and I am fortunate to have a seven week summer break. And that we need to find some way to pay for all the fun we had this summer -- HAHAHA!!! However, I will be back at the school by myself as even the principal is still off this week. Next week my principal and the other secretary should be back and, by next Wednesday, the rest of the staff returns. It's just hard to be the only one around for a week.

Okay, my complaining is done (for today - haha!) and I'm going to share what I read the first half of August. This is the last of my summer reading so I was able to read quite a few books.

You may remember that I read the second two books in this trilogy in early July so I wanted to remind myself how it all began. This series really is similar to other series Roberts has written but I enjoy re-reading them anyways :)

This was a Decades Reading Challenge book set in Colorado in the 1940s. I really enjoyed reading a little bit more about Colorado and, while this book is an emotional read (racism against First Nations' people, giving up a child), it is a beautiful, powerful, book. I highly recommend it.

This was my book club book this month and I enjoyed it. I learned about how "diet culture" is tied to racism, which I hadn't known about. I thought it was very interesting. However, even though my head understands how an "ideal weight" is an invisible goal to reach for, my heart just isn't able to accept my weight. One of the main themes King goes back to again and again is that "a body is a body and it doesn't matter what it weighs -- it's just a body." However, I will still struggle with my weight, even if I understand a bit more about how some of my mindset is influenced. Does any of this make any sense?!?!?!

I really like Jenny Colgan's books but I don't think this was one of her winners. Maybe it was the space I was in when I read it, but I just didn't engage with the story like I usually do. Unfortunately, I was left feeling disappointed, which is a surprise for me when I read a Colgan book.

While this was a difficult book to read, as it deals with the sterilization of poor, Black girls in the 1970s, it was a very important book to read. The story was similar to Necessary Lies but with a different group of people. I would highly recommend this book, as it is excellent, even though the story was a hard one. I am thankful I discovered this book through the Decades Reading Challenge.

While I really enjoy Karen Kingsbury's Baxter series, this book shouldn't have been written. Yes, I said it. This is a prequel based on a TV show and I felt it was completely unnecessary. I didn't like how it showed Kari on her wedding day to Tim (I don't think she would have been that conflicted about her marriage) and I didn't think it added anything to the Baxter family story. I also didn't think it was Kingsbury's best writing.

This is a book I'd had on my TBR for awhile and I'm so glad I finally read it. Davis' autobiography is very raw and powerful and you should read this book. Now I want to watch "How To Get Away With Murder" which she starred in.

 

After I'd read through the "Redemption" series, I wanted to continue with the Baxter's series. This one focuses on a different set of circumstances and while, sometimes, the story moves a little slower than I'd like, they're still good reads.

I'm pretty sure I'd read this book before but I wanted to read The League Of Extraordinary Women series again. I enjoy these stories of women fighting for women's rights in the 1800s, but also with some romance.

So that's what I read in the first half of August. Now that I'm back at work, my reading will likely slow down a little bit. What are your favourite books to re-read? I didn't realize until I wrote this post that a bunch of these books were ones I'd read before.