My Month in Books - Everything I Read in March 2018

It’s time for my month in review – book review that is!

This month was a rough reading month. I am a moody reader, meaning that I don’t enjoy a book nearly as much if I am not in the mood to read it. So this month I set aside several books that I started just because I wasn’t in the mood to really get into them. It made for very restless reading. But my favorite thing about books is that one book that may not be for me can draw you in and make you love it. Every reader is individual in their reading love. So hopefully you will find something interesting for you in my list this month.

Non-Fiction

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown – Every now and then, I felt like I wasn’t quite smart enough to grasp the depth of what Brene was saying. Ha! But there are so many great aha! moments in this book, and once she gets into the 10 guideposts to whole-hearted living, I said, “Ooooohhh, this is why everyone calls her Queen Brene.” Although, let me add that with it missing the “God factor,” there is a lack of depth in the explanation of why we humans are valuable. God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice is what makes us valuable and worthy.
The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone – This guy’s enthusiasm is both off-putting and contagious at the same time. And that’s just the way he likes it! I listened to the audiobook of this one, and I’m telling you it’s for the hard core hustler! It is both scary and inspiring, if you can handle it!
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp – I don’t know why it took me so long to read this “new Christian classic.” The poetic prose were beautiful, but sometimes they were just too much for me and felt repetitious. BUT this book is more than simply about keeping a gratitude journal. It’s deeper than that. It’s about finding the beauty in simplicity and every day moments, noting it, writing it down, reminding yourself of it. And it inspired me so, that I started my own list of One Thousand (or more) Gifts. I’m on #32.

Kid’s Read-Aloud

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (NOT the movie tie-in) – Almost every night I read aloud to the kids before they go to bed. This way I can get them to read books they would be less likely to pick off the shelf themselves, plus get a little intentional family time together (as I wrote about HERE). This month we finished A Wrinkle in Time just “in time” for the movie (which I don’t necessarily recommend). The book was of course better, and I was pleasantly surprised with how many Christian references there were. Then, just as unpleasantly surprised when I found out that the movie tie-in version of the book was changed to match the movie and the Christian references removed. *rolling my eyes* This book makes science and math fascinating for kids and shows children that no matter your age, you can make a difference!

Fiction

Cold Feet, Hot Summer by Emma St. Clair – This is a quick, clean romance ebook. However, it is not a stand alone book. If you want to pick this one up, you’ll want to start with the two short stories that precede it. I actually liked the short stories that go with it even better.
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller – Sadly, I cannot recommend this one to anyone. While it has possibly the BEST first line of any book that I have read, the rest of the book left me feeling icky. I don’t even want to share the amazing first line with you, because if I do, you’ll want to keep reading!
The Selection by Kiera Cass – Earlier this month, I was just talking with a friend of mine about how much we are burnt out on series (series’s…oh my goodness what is the plural of series…?). Then I picked this one up, recommended to me by a sweet Instagram follower, and I loved it. I smiled like a fool through nearly the whole thing. This is Book #1 of a young adult, dystopian (another thing my friend and I were saying we were so over!) series. It’s the Bachelor meets the book of Esther! Ha! Maybe I just needed a really light, fun read, but I’m already looking forward to the rest of the series. Here’s to the follow-up books being just as good!