Summer Reading Celebration

The Western Wind carries the changes that the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment will bring to 15th century England through the microcosm of a small, backwater town called Oakham. The story unfolds in reverse, beginning with the last day and ending with the first which makes for a thought provoking premise from the start. But soon you realize that the narrator isn’t entirely reliable and as the storyteller he attempts to put himself in the best light. It’s a mystery but not a typical whodunnit. The small focus questions center on is it murder, a suicide, or an accident? The bigger questions grapple with the nature of sin and forgiveness, the perceived need for an intercessor between humans and God, the role of art and music in religious experiences. The motivations of the characters are as real as yours and your neighbor’s. There is much to chew on here.

Everything about Henrietta Lacks and her family was heartbreaking. Henrietta was lost to history and not even a footnote in her own story. Her genes were used over, and over again. Her DNA was used in so many breakthroughs in science and not even a mention. What a harrowing life. Henrietta's story was tragic, dying young of cancer and so riddled with tumors that pain was her only companion. What was more tragic was her children's mistreatment, malnuroshment and torture at the hands of the people that should have protected and sheltered them in their time of grief. Circumstances were just not on the Lacks family side. Most of the children were dead or imcarcerated before the book was even published. The author, Rebecca Skloot did so much research and talked to the family extensively even when said family was very against even that for a long time. This book was good and very interesting but oh so devastating. Please read this story, if not to hear this family's story but to get the true behind the immortal genes and where they really came from.

I relistened to this book this summer. "People are starving for the awe of God." is one of the basic premises of the book. The book is divided into two parts (although you won't find a formal division in it.) The first part is all about the awe of God. Dyke uses vivid illustration to help the reader grasp God's great ess and what we are missing by allowing ourselves to to accept a shallow, domesticated version of a powerfully grand God. The second half deals with what theology calls the eminence of God. That means that he allows us to relate to him and is close to us. There are some beautiful quotes in this book, but the following sums up Dyke's message: "Our souls find satisfaction only in the God that is grand enough to worship and close enough to love. We need both, but the church today has by in large focused too much on the closeness if God and forfeited His grandness. "The tiger has been tamed. We aren't moved by God's greatness and splendor." If you want to get some of that reverence back, I recommend this book.

Pretty good. Sweet. Very Wattpad ngl. She's "smart" but not like smart. Idk you can tell she started this book at a younger time and then had to try and finish it. The family was frustrating at the beginning. The end turned them around but they still bothered me. And also the fact that there is no trigger warning for harassment, assault, and stalking is CRAZY!!! especially cause its on page. That really yucked me out.

I loved the movie. Read the book. Loved the book. Separately though. Is my brain fully formed?

Great story about a gay romance and international intrigue.

Mr Popper’s Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater was a fun one to read to my children. The kids loved the absurdity of keeping a penguin in a refrigerator, and later loved comparing and contrasting it to the film.

Woman gets a chance to visit other possible lives when she reaches a crossroads in her own. It was pretty good, although there were a few places that seemed to drag. Overall, not bad

Mystery, military operations, international relations, drama, and a little romance

I've put off reading this author for so long and I'm so disappointed that I did. I really enjoyed this book. Its not heavy, but its definitely more than a "beach read." I read 28 Summers by this same author, or rather I listened to them, and Hilderbrand is my new favorite author!