In 2021 I am attempting to read 65 books. It’s my loftiest goal yet and while I am happy to report I am on track, I am wary that this goal may sometimes feel like work and that’s not okay. So, I am publicly announcing that even if I don’t hit 65 books, that’s okay. Because the real goal is to feed my soul through one of my favorite activities, reading. This year is also a little different because my husband is joining me! His goal is different because he’s not a reader but we’re both pushing ourselves to grow in 2021 and so he’s aiming to read 12 books in addition to his constant re-reading (listening) of Harry Potter on audio while he works. Here are my May — September reads.

May:
Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
Review: Not what I was expecting, I was anticipating much more about actual murder but this book was still enjoyable. I appreciated their vulnerability, championing of therapy, and figuring your life out with grace. There was also a quote that really stuck with me, “Politeness doesn’t require actual humanity. It’s a cultural ritual. Kindness means you actually care and have good intentions toward a person.”

The Hare by Melanie FInn
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: This book was an absolute wild ride. Such an interesting and heartbreaking look at what it means to be a woman in a world much more bent towards patriarchy. Not sure I’d properly recommend it but it was interesting and the cover is beautiful!

All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
Review: Typically, I don’t like poetry but somehow, yearly, I find myself reading a collection of poems written by brave, beautiful women and I’m always shocked at how moved I am by them. So perhaps I don’t hate poems at all. But I still don’t love them — that I can tell you. All that being said, this is probably my favorite collection to date. Her words are encouraging and gentle and her art is stunning. The combination is wonderful and life-giving. Here’s one of my favorites:

Dearest Josephine by Caroline George
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: If YA Historical Fantasy is your vibe — you’ll love this and while there were moments that felt juvenile — it was still so beautiful. Because underneath the actual plot was the running theme of pain and how we grow through it. My favorite line was, “If a child falls and scrapes his knee, he does not say, “at least I didn’t break my leg.” He cries because pain causes discomfort regardless of its intensity.” And it’s such an important reminder that our pain is not to be compared or minimized. It is what we feel and we need to feel it so we can process it properly.

June:
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: What a trip. Like I don’t even know how to write a review for this book because it was a lot. Quite literally it was full of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Mostly drugs and rock & roll but still. Such an interesting story, such a fun historical trip to the 70s and I cannot wait for the TV adaptation. Would recommend if music history and the 70s are interesting to you and you want to read a story about the imploding of a rock band.

July:
The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: It was alright. Quick, easy, read — nothing spectacular or particularly thrilling and I feel like Miranda loves to play on the unreliable narrator thing and I don’t love that. But it was a perfect read for a weekend in Acadia as it was set in coastal Maine.

Uncommon Ground by Tim Keller & Jonathan Inazu
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
Review: While it may have taken me a while — this book was so worth it. It was encouraging and convicting all at once. It was full of wisdom on how to faithfully engage with the world we live in. It was full of nuance and gave so many different examples that provided honest and helpful nuggets of wisdom. If slightly repetitive but nuanced writing isn’t interesting to you, definitely skip it, but if you like full pictures and different facets of the same story, read it! It also came at a really pivotal part of my summer, one that was full of pain and hurt. Some of my favorite quotes:

“It is a divine gift to see the inherent value in each other.” - Sara Groves
….
“This call to peacemaking is not a call to evade or avoid issues, but to face them, deal with them, and overcome them… making peace and striving for justice are intimately entwined…..
Overcoming wounds and bringing and making peace can only be the result of a supernatural encounter with Christ. The natural response to being wounded is to wound in return… it is counterintuitive to desire the positive good and well-being of a person or people who have been hurtful to you.” - Claude Richard Alexander, Jr.

Jesus & John Wayne by Kristin Kobes du Mez
Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
Review: While this book clearly has an agenda, it was a very interesting read and really opened my eyes to the “how” of where things are now. Understanding that has given me so much grace for people because when we understand how things got to be the way they are, we can see how people we love could come to such different conclusions than us. If you’re not interested in critical reading, I wouldn’t recommend it, but if you like to be challenged and process things carefully, I think this a great book. It definitely has the ability to polarize, so proceed with caution. But if you’re a happy middle-dweller, this could be helpful!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: Not life-changing but it was gripping and interesting and I read it in 24 hours and I want to know more. Definitely for adults. So be warned.

August:
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: At first I wasn’t sold on S.J., the expectations were sooo high but this was excellent. It was gritty, saucy, but so well-written and so full of hope. The way Sarah J. Maas weaves in depression and deep themes within fantasy is expert. Her characters are interesting, flawed, and I care about nearly all of them. Again, the adult themes are heavy but if you can read past that, the story will break you and then give you real hope.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: It’s possible that this my favorite of the series, because the actual plot was most interesting. I love a good battle. Plus the character developments were in full-force. Again, there’s much to be desired. It’s not classic literature. But it’s thought-provoking low-fantasy, that if you need a fun break from life, I’d recommend, so long as sex doesn’t offend you.

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: Novella’s are not my thing. They are an important bridge but I wanted more. Felt more like sad fan-fiction than anything else.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: It was okay. Fairly predictable, not earth shattering, and jumping around narrators isn’t my favorite literary device. It would probably make a good movie though.

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: Nostalgia through the roof but don’t at me, Tolkien writes better fiction. Lewis tends to be too heavy handed on Susan and Lucy not fighting and I’m not here for that but it’s a classic for a reason and since it’s an allegory for the best story of all, I’d obviously recommend.

The Circle by Dave Eggers
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: Terrifying. Hate that it ended with the bad side winning but I suppose that’s kind of the point. Apropos for the world we live in and for the work that I do. Recommend for everyone so we can avoid this future. Privacy is so important.

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: Still some concerning patriarchal and racist ideas but the reminder that we don’t get to know other people’s stories and that God is in control even in the difficult moments was such a timely reminder.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: I mean, it was maybe better than The Guest List but I’m still not into Foley’s writing and it wasn’t very exciting.

What did you Expect? By Paul David Tripp
Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
Review: Once again, a book that reminded me that marriage books should just be friendship books! SOOOOO much wisdom in this book. I could probably and probably will write a whole post about this book. Here are some of my favorite quotes.

“You can be realistic and hopeful at the very same time. Realistic expectations are not about hope without honesty, and they are not about honesty without hope. Realism is found at the intersection of unabashed honesty and uncompromising hope.”
“A marriage of love, unity, and understanding is not rooted in romance; it is rooted in worship… The most general and fundamental reason for doing what you do is worship… no marriage will be unaffected when the people in the marriage are seeking to get from the creation what they were only ever meant to get from the Creator. It is only the worship of God in our marriages that we find reason to continue”
“Real love doesn’t demand that life is easy or exciting. It loves as much in the dark of night as it does in the warmth of the sun. It loves when love isn’t much fun and isn’t very fulfilling. It doesn’t quit when things are hard and doesn’t check out in the face of disappointment. There is no such thing as love that does not require real, willing, and daily sacrifice.”

September:
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: At this point, I’ll read anything this woman writes. She builds fantasy worlds but deals with the realest of human emotions. What you think is just a nice little escape from reality, will force you to deal with things in your life in so many unexpected ways.

The Common Rule by Justin Earley
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
Review: I’ve read a lot about rules of life but no one has expressed the why behind the method quite like Justin Earley. I also got to see him share about his experience with rules of life and his book in person and it’s just so Gospel-filled and a life-giving story. It’s not about doing things to check boxes but because of the life that it brings.

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: Oh Nesta, Nesta, Nesta you beautiful, fierce, flame. I really enjoyed the switch of perspectives and the themes that this book covered absolutely broke me. Do I relate to Nesta the most? Probably. Her self-loathing is something I wish I didn’t know. But there was just sooooooo much more sex than necessary in here and I get it, it was a self-destruction, broken, trauma thing, but like it was a lot. That being said, I love the characters. I’m so thankful for the hope that these books bring. That despite the darkness, good will always prevail. That is promise I can hold onto in Christ and though I doubt that’s the intention of these books, that’s what I’m taking from it.

The Invisible life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: You know I wanted it to be sooo much better than it was but it was just alright. I’m just not artsy and emotional enough for this story.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Fiction
Review: It’s like if Harry Potter and the Hunger Games had a baby. There was certainly some concerning racist moments and I’m not convinced Novik is an exceptional writer but then again, neither is Rowling or Suzanne Collins. But the thing about Harry Potter is, the themes of friendship are so beautiful. And the thing about The Scholomance series is, the theme of the need for friendship is beautiful as well.

In the FLO by Alisa Vitti
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Non-Fiction
Review: There was some of this book that was like a little too much for me but most of it was based on science and hormones and food and it made me just so thankful for new research that is looking into women’s bodies and how they are different from men. But it also made me so thankful for the incredible bodies that God created and how complex and wonderful they are. I have already implemented some of these things and have already noticed significant improvements in my cycle. Living without severe cramps and PMS is a game-changer folks. If you’re a woman, I would recommend this book. Because the reality is, our bodies are different, most research is based on male bodies so there’s so much that we aren’t taught, and when your body is functioning properly — it makes everything else life throws at us, much easier to handle.

Book Reviews: May - September 2021