What I Read: June

One of my favorite things about summer is that it means I have more time to read! June was a great start to summer reading! The kids and I completed the summer reading program long before they started giving out the awards on June 20th. Now I'm working my way toward a black out on my bingo sheet.

Books:

• A Cup of Silver Linings by Karen Hawkins- This was a companion to The Book Charmer and was set in Dove Pond which is a precious, little town. I really enjoyed it. The ending left it open for the next book to focus on a new Dove sister and I'm looking forward to that!

  

  Couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture of this book with one of the tea cups from my grandma!

• What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence by Michele Filgate- This was like most books of essays with different writers, some essays I loved and others were hard to get through. I came across this one at a Little Free Library at some point, I had never heard of it.

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis- I read this aloud with the kids. I never read the Chronicles of Narnia as a kid and have been slowly collecting the series through Goodwill and Little Free Libraries. Both the kids were into this book and wanted to read it, but weren't super hooked.

• Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi- I really wanted a sci fi book so I wandered down that section at the library. When I saw this title, I knew what I really wanted was a fairy tale for adults. I enjoyed this one.

• The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray- I saw this one sale at Wal-Mart and the cover art was beautiful so I picked it up. After reading it, I found out it was a debut novel for this author which checked a box on my library bingo. I really liked it.
  

• Finding Baba Yaga: A Short Novel in Verse by Jane Yolen- One of the boxes on my library bingo was "Read a Tween Novel". I wandered down the tween aisle and this book stood out to me because I love Jane Yolen and I love fairy tales. I thought it was kind of weird and just okay. Baba Yaga herself is a strange character and I knew that going into the book, but it was the story line that was odd. I didn't feel like there was much of a story.

• Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez- I wanted to read a book written by an LGBTQ+ author for Pride month and came across this on a few book lists. I was suckered in by the cover which I thought was beautiful. I had a hard time getting through the book, it was written in such a strange way. The years bounced around in a way that was nonsensical to me. I also hated that the first 40 pages are from the grandpa's perspective and then it never returns to his character. The structure of the book just felt so weird. It was very interesting to get the perspective from someone who grew up Jehovah's Witness and there were some very eye opening points made in the book. I'm sure some people love it, but I wouldn't recommend it. 
  

eBooks:

• If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin- This book left me wanting more. I wondered if Tayari Jones was inspired by this book when she wrote An American Marriage because this book made me think of her book.
  

• Peter Darling by Austin Chant- Whew, would not have finished this book had it not been so short! I was so excited when I saw it while looking in our library system's book mobile with the kids at an outdoor storytime event. It was not at all what I was expecting and I wasn't a fan of the writing. I was hoping for more of a fantasy novel. It irritates me when a book is re-written or they write the next portion of a character's story and take the magic out of it and try to explain away all the original magic. That's what this one did for me. I was not a fan!

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo- This was one of the better books about race that I have read. She had some really good points that I hadn't seen or heard before and explained things in a way that was easy to understand. I highly recommend this book!
  

• Holes by Louis Sachar- Carter was reading this book and liked it so much, he kept suggesting I read it. I thought I had read it when I was younger, but once I started reading it, I didn't remember that much about it. So either I read it and forgot a lot or I didn't read it and just watched the movie. Although I don't remember watching the movie. It was very good!

Audiobooks:

• Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell- I really enjoy Jewell's writing. I was excited for this one, but Ellie's storyline was just so sad, I really didn't enjoy this book that much. I liked the ending and the letter Ellie wrote.
  

• One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle- This is the 3rd book of hers I've read. The other 2 I semi-liked, but this one was a swing and a miss for me. I was surprised because the librarian who always picks books I love recommended I listen to this as an audiobook because Lauren Graham read it. I loved Lauren Graham's audiobook she wrote and read so I was all in. The storyline was ick and I just didn't enjoy the story. Then add in Graham's affectless, monotone, boring voice and I actually found myself not wanting to listen to my audiobook while I did chores which pretty much never happens! I think I would have liked the book better and definitely would have liked the audiobook a lot more had it been read by someone who did different voices for the characters and had an Italian accent for these Italian characters. Graham seemed to butcher the Italian words in the book, not that I speak Italian, but it sounded awful to me! One of my friends loved this book and gave it 5 stars, so don't take my word on this, but I did not like it.

• Troublemaker by Leah Remini- This came recommended to me by a friend who went down a rabbit hole at one point reading books about Scientology. I thought that was funny because I saw this audiobook on Libby at one point and started to check it out, but then I saw the subtitle had scientology in it and I was out. I ended up loving this book and would highly recommend it as an audiobook because no one can do Remini justice but herself and she reads it!

• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones- I saw this on the shelf in our Native American section at the library. I started it as a book but wasn't in the mood for something dark at the time so I put it on hold as an audiobook and returned the book. I loved it. It was creepy and dark and incorporated Native American mythology and customs. I explained the story to Ty and said I thought he'd like the book, he did not agree with that, but did agree that my mom would like it. I love that the library by our house is the Native American Resource Center so we have a whole section of Native American books. I definitely read more Native American authors, thanks to that section, than I would otherwise!
  

• Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond- This was our book club pick for August. Dumond went to college at TU and this book was set in Tulsa. She did a wonderful job incorporating lots of cool, fun places in Tulsa into her book. I loved everything about the book, it was so fun and sweet. It was interesting that she set the book at the time when there was a big debate over same sex marriage and it slowly became legalized. Doing so she was able to bring up lots of things I had never thought about in relation to gay rights. This was an awesome book!
  

• Circe by Madeline Miller- This is our One Book, One Tulsa book for this year. I was really excited about it because I love mythology. I put it on hold as a book, ebook, and audiobook and the audiobook came in first (almost always). It was so good! I've never read the Odyssey, although I know the basic plotline, but now I want to!