Four more books! That is all I have left to reach my goal for this year's GoodRead's challenge.
I'm thinking about up-ing it, but I don't want to go to ambitious because I want to stay motivated.
I guess it's a lot like my dieting and exercising mindset. I can be really good for long stretches and then really bad for long stretches.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Evelyn Hugo is glamorous, had a scandalous career, and after a long life, she is finally ready to tell all about it. Monique Grant is an unknown magazine reporter who Evelyn reaches out to write her story.
Evelyn's story begins in Hell's Kitchen, then Los Angeles in the 1950s, and as she ends her career in the 1980's. The book is divided into sections based on one of her seven husbands as she shares her ambition, love, and secrets. Her big reveal, in the end, ties her past with her present and left me in tears.
This is in my top five book list for this year. I know this is fiction, but I can't help but wonder if this has more truth than a story for many silver screen actresses of the past. It's also a good reminder to not take anything on face value.
Orphan Train: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline
Reading Orphan Train right now is a reminder that how well-meaning people can get good intentions very wrong. 200,000 immigrant, orphaned, abandoned or poor children were sent west between 1854 and 1929 in an experiment to help them. Many found a home, but some children found themselves as free labor to farmers.
In this book, Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is in foster care when she steals a book from the library. Hoping to avoid being sent away, she agrees to community service cleaning out the attic of Vivian. As Molly helps Vivian go through boxes, Molly learns that they have more in common than she expected.
When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri
This was my June choice for Book of the Month and given the other choices, it was an easy pick.
I'm not one for romance novels, but When Katie Met Cassidy is such a sweet, fun read that I could not help but fall in love with both characters.
Sometimes, love is complicated and messy. And, sometimes, love is fluid. Granted this book had a quick happy ending, but that's what makes it the perfect book to read by the pool.
Schroder: A Novel by Amity Gaige
Schroder was really hard for me to read. There were so many times that I put the book down and vowed not to pick it up. But, I had to find out how he would get himself out of taking his daughter, across state lines, while in the middle of a nasty divorce.
Not only is he probably having a mental breakdown and leans towards being narcissistic, he has also lied his entire adult life about who he really is and his past.
I didn't hate the book, but I can't say I liked it either. Schroder is one of those characters you want to see become a better human, but he doesn't, he just can't see past his own needs.
Never Stop Walking: A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World by Christina Rickardsson
Never Stop Walking moved me through so many emotions and was hard to put down.
Christina Rickardsson shares her story of extreme poverty in the slums of Brazil, being adopted by a loving couple in a middle-class Swedish home, and what it was like to go back to Brazil as an adult.
While much of her story is heartbreaking and she admits to the rage she often felt throughout her life, there is also pure joy in her happiest memories.
I highly recommend reading this to anyone who wants insight into poverty and mental health.
For July I'm reading...
What's on your reading list this month?
Consider joining me in the Book of the Month Club! Books you may not have ever discovered, shipped to your home.
