Books I Recommend You Read [May]

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

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More great books to kick off the season of wining and reading!




The Husband Hour by Jamie Brenner
This was an amazing book about a widow whose husband died in the military after his NHL career ended from a nasty brain injury.  A filmmaker comes to town and is trying to interview people and do research about what really happened and Lauren (the widow) finally breaks down and talks to him.  Her sister Stephanie also talks to him and that's when things come to light that change everything they knew about Rory and each other.


Wreckage by Emily Bleeker
This book played out just like an amazing movie.  A group of people go down in a plane crash and end up on an island.  David and Lillian eventually become very very close but then it's back to reality when they are saved.  The story is told in the past and present from both of the main characters.  The truth starts to come out about several things that happened on the island and it keeps you wondering how it's going to affect their lives in the present and future.  A great read for sure!



When the Beat Drops by Anna Hecker
This was a super fun and entertaining read about a 17 year old girl named Mira that loves to be different.  She loves music while the rest of her family was always into sports.  She dives into her future music career for the summer but after a party she attends with her older sis she realizes she has a thing for dance music and DJing.  She meets a man that says he can make her famous.  So now she's pursuing a different type of music career until a terrible incident occurs and she realizes she can't trust or rely on anyone.  This book was so well written I could feel Mira's happiness and her pain like it was happening directly to myself.  It's a great and realistic tale of what happens all too often for a lot of people in life. 





Rosie Colored Glasses by Brianna Wolfson
A young girl named Willow is growing up with two divorced parents, one whom shows her much more love than the other.  This book lets you understand how both parents feel as they navigate their situation and when tragedy strikes Willow, it's up to her dad to be there for her. This was a tragic but endearing and realistic story. 

UnFu*k Yourself by Gary John Bishop
This is a badass book!  It's basically for anyone that feels beat down by life, whether it's your job, your finances, your relationships, or even your health.  Gary straight up tells you how to get out of your head and into your life.  The book is like sitting down with one of your most blunt and honest friends and just getting schooled.  There are seven assertions in the book and they are all very empowering (I personally love "I am relentless" and the way everything is written and explained it's easy to remember and to repeat to yourself throughout each day.  You can read self help books all you want, but Gary is going to give it to you straight up no BS in this book.  I love how motivated this left me feeling! It's like having a life coach at your fingertips.   And every time you doubt yourself - PICK UP THE BOOK AGAIN!  You're the one that's in control of how you life your life so get out there and live it!!  This is a must read for every person out there!

Closer Than You Know by Brad Parks
This was a thriller of a novel! It's about a woman who is framed for a drug offense and it seems like everyone's out to get her.  The problem is...she's innocent and because of everything going on, Social Services takes her son.   The story is told by various key players and as things start to unravel, you finally get to see who the REAL bad guy is, and PS - he's also a rapist! What an awesome book! It kept me so engrossed that I finished it in two days!


Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
This was a really great book about a woman and her twin children that go missing.  The entire neighborhood is buzzing about it and the fact that her soon to be ex husband is staying at the empty house makes everyone suspicious.  He begins to try to spark a romance with Izzy, one of the neighbor women and everyone is in a tizzy!  I kept wondering if he was really to blame for his wife's disappearance or if maybe she left on her own accord.  And that's exactly what the book reveals at the end. So you have to read to find out what happens!

How To Walk Away by Katherine Center

This was an amazing novel about a woman whose life is changed forever in a tragic accident with her fiancĂ©.  As she works to recover and they grow apart a new man enters her life and her journey of recovery.  They fall for each other but it's one of those forbidden loves so they both try to move on in life without each other.   I love how this book detailed the recovery of the character after her accident and made me feel like I was standing right there next to her watching.   So will they end up together in the end?  Guess you'll have to read to find out!


My Name Is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd
This was a very interesting novel about a girl who kills her mother's boyfriend after she's tired of his perverted ways. Since she's so young, she does her few years in juvie and during that time her mentally challenged younger brother goes missing.  When she finally gets out she searches for him.  The story covers what happens to her brother while she's locked up and how Venus and her mother rekindle their relationship.   All she wants is for her mother to be on her side.  Meanwhile, her brother Leo has actually been taken care of by a family when Leo's abductor up and leaves him one day.   It's a tale of right and wrong on a whole new level.


Gun Love by Jennifer Clement
This was an easy read about a girl named Pearl who lives in the back of a car with her mom.  Pearl makes very blunt observations about the world around here which sadly includes guns and violence.  When it touches her personally and she's thrown into the foster care system she has to decide if she wants to settle or keep moving.   It's a great look at how the events that changed her life are forever changing every detail about it.


Love Match: The Art and Science of Finding Your Ideal Partner by Dr. Shaelyn Pham
This is a great "self help" book that covers how you can find true, healthy, and meaningful love.  A good relationship should be full of love and add to your life, not take away from it.  I think that's the problem with so many relationships these days. I love how Dr. Pham explains the four types of intimacy and the differences between love and attachment.   And if you're heartbroken Dr. Pham even discusses how to find love again.  And she even talks about my favorite topic - the five love languages which I think everyone should know so they can understand other people and how they give and receive love as well as how each of us ourselves gives and receives love.  This is a great book that offers realistic and honest advice on how to better manage conflict in long-term relationships, and how to keep things exciting.   It's a very down to earth book that's easy to understand regardless of what kind of relationship you are in currently. 



Who Are You Trudy Herman  by B.E. Beck
This book is about Trudy Herman the badass girl that was taught to stand up for herself and the truth.  This book takes place in the 40's and it deals with Trudy and her family being sent to a German-American Internment Camp in Texas.   Trudy makes friends there but after 2 years her family is released and they settle down in Missouri.  This book shows the hate and bigotries that comes naturally to the white residents.  Trudy sees how even those black people she loves, like the housekeeper are being tortured by the crisis.  Then Trudy gets a chance to stand up for the truth.  It's an amazing coming of age story of someone living in a time when so much was going on in the country and the world and how she still was fearless and decided to stand up for what's right in her own neighborhood.


Straying by Molly McCloskey
This was an amazing novel about a woman and her marriage and the emotional ups and downs she experiences when she embarks on an affair.  Rather than shaming her, I love how the author details all the emotions including the anxieties and the lust that she feels for another man. It's a poetic look at the why and how of an affair.

Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff
This was a beautiful story about a family that suffers a tragic lost in the midst of a time in some of their lives where they are struggling and even seeking happiness from a source outside of their marriage.  It's amazing to see how the affairs can transform and evolve the characters even for the better and how some secrets are better kept to yourself. 



The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll
WOW this book was scandalous and AWESOME! It follows the story of five women on a reality show (think real housewives type stuff) and really does a good job of showing how youth seems to be EVERYONE's obsession in the public eye and how women try to interact with each other while trying to grow themselves in everyday life.   And there's a pretty big twist too as the book uncovers what happened to one of the characters who died.





The Drowning Girls by Paula Treick DeBoard
Paula is an amazing author and this book did not disappoint.  This story is told from the points of view of a husband and wife during a rough period not only in their community, with him being employed as a teacher and his wife as a counselor.  Their daughter befriends a girl named Kelsey who is NOTHING but trouble.   Kelsey sets out to burn their world down and this is one of those books that leaves you astounded and gutted and so glad it's not happening to you. 


















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