I breezed through a dozen books last month, with nearly no non-fiction in the middle three weeks. I needed that non-fiction break! Here’s what I read in August! Everything was from the library. I think in October I really need to address my unread and owned bookshelf. It’s also a little out of control. But for now, onwards with my library obsession! :)

Fiction:

Campaign Widows by Aimee Agresti – 3 stars. Interesting and good for breezing through on a weekend or to get out of a reading slump. Not necessarily inspiring, but entertaining.

 

Perennials by Julie Cantrell – 4 stars. The slow paced prose surprised me by being utterly enthralling; everything I didn’t know I wanted to know about gardening and flowers. Conclusion: I need more flowers in my garden. Fyi: cancer sideplot 😭. ($1.99 on Kindle right now)

 

Saints and Misfits by S.K Ali – 4 stars. (Audiobook) Listened to this during my long run and it was delightful. Interesting cultural stuff, delightful personalities, and a good story. I loved hearing the Arabic phrases in the audio version.

 

Rainbirds by Clarissa Goenawan -3.5 stars. A young woman is killed and her brother is left trying to figure out the mystery of her death while dealing with his own issues of growing up. Set in Japan. Interesting mystery and coming of age.

 

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandyha Menon – 4 stars. YA. So fun. But I got so frustrated with Twinkle for being so dense about which boy was right for her. Haha.

 

The Ensemble by Aja Gabel – 3.5 stars. A calm story told in the interweaving voices of a quartet living in the high-pressure world of professional music. Real life, art, stress, music, friendship, growing up. Good for a leisurely read. Not for inhaling.

 

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich – 3 stars. (Audiobook) – Story of an adopted Native American woman uncovering her story while caught in a world trying to fight human de-evolution. Dystopian, trippy, horrifying, riveting.

 

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan –  4 stars. A family so rich it’s almost mythical and all the drama therein. Set mostly in Singapore. So fun. I wanted to be sure to read this before I saw the movie. (Still haven’t seen the movie.. shh, no spoilers!)

 

Non-fiction:

Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks and a Writer’s Life by Kathleen Norris – 4 stars. audiobook. Beautiful narrative combined with research and dives into historical spirituality. Interesting story and discussion.

 

 Well, That Escalated Quickly by Franchesca Ramsey – audiobook. 4 stars. Loved it. Political, fresh, hilarious, and a look into someone else’s creative journey. Fyi, not PG.

 

Boundaries in Marriage by Henry Cloud – 3 stars. I’ve had this book in my kindle app for ages since Boundaries by the same author was so good. I finally read it. There is a lot of good advice, but some seems manipulative. Just be kind to your spouse. (I would recommend the more general Boundaries, instead).

Thirty Million Words by Dana Suskind – 4 stars. Interesting research project and resulting child-parent program by a cochlear implant surgeon. She investigated why some kids benefitted so drastically from the surgery and some didn’t. The answer is important for the intellectual potential of all children: parent talk. Keys: Tune in, talk more, take turns. Very interesting.

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Linking up for QuickLit, hosted by Modern Mrs Darcy, with the books I read in August! What have you read recently?

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