I always have about 3 books going at any one time, so thank goodness for Goodreads now, so I can keep track of what I’ve read and what I want to read! If you’re a friend who shares my reading tastes (fun, funny, memoir, quirky real-life, romance, adventure, fairy-tale, magical and delightful) then you might want to check out these 5 recent faves of mine and add them to your summer reading list!
- For the Love by Jen Hatmaker. I don’t read a ton of nonfiction, mostly because I feel like I get plenty o’ real life and just want me some magical, fictional life instead, but this was one I knew I wanted to read and was so glad I did. I laughed my way through most of it, and she hits the nail on the head about so many things – motherhood, family life, church, faith and more. I also like the short chapters and read this in about a day.
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Ok, so I’m like 10 YEARS late to the party here, and no, I haven’t yet seen the movie, yet. But after reading Big Magic and loving it, and loving Elizabeth’s Ted Talks, I wanted to try this one too, of course, and I was not disappointed. Makes me ready to pack my bags and head to Rome instantly for pasta and all things drizzled in olive oil.
- Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson. This is a YA fiction novel, and I was instantly swept up in the beautiful writing and the story. It has some of my favorite things – a strong, pioneer-spirited girl who has some special abilities, adventure, danger, wagon crossing (hello, beloved Oregon Trail game of my younger days!) romance and more. I cannot wait for the next one in this series.
- The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Adieh. A fresh take on the Shahrzade tale, I was captivated by the writing, the romance and the intrigue. I love re-tellings of familiar stories, and this one does not disappoint. The second book in this series is queued up on my Kindle, it’s out now!
- Withering-by-Sea by Judith Rossell. This one’s a middle grade novel, which I enjoy, but I know there are some adults among you who steer clear from these thinking it beneath you (you shouldn’t!), but I loved Withering-by-Sea. The illustrations were wonderful, the main character Stella is everything I love in a heroine of that age: curious, plucky and smart and the Hotel Majestic is such a neat place to live and explore, and her aunts were so delightfully odd and terrible. This was a great adventure story, and 10-year-old me would have been geeking out about it non-stop.