I'm finally back on a reading roll and I've been enjoying books again.
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything. [source]. I started reading this book but switched over to the audio format and finished it that way. It's a long one but worth it.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives will change forever. [source]. This is another book I listened to on audio and could not stop listening every chance I got. I've read one of the author's books Daisy Jones & The Six as well.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah- I had been on a Kristin Hannah break but my daughter recommended this one. I couldn't put it down. The depiction of life in remote Alaska in the 1970's is harrowing.
Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.
Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown. [source]
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult- I hadn't picked up a Jodi Picoult book in awhile. This one is definitely not her typical style and it's probably not for everyone. I learned so much about elephants, which I've always loved so that was a bonus for me.
13-year-old Jenna Metcalf is on a quest, searching for her mother, Alice, an elephant researcher, who disappeared 10 years earlier after a tragic accident at their sanctuary for former circus/zoo elephants in New England. Leaving Time explores the mother-daughter relationship, be it elephant or human, and the idea that those we can't forget are never truly gone. [source]
True Biz by Sara Novic-I learned so much about Deaf history and culture from this book. Truly eye opening and fascinating!
True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another—and changed forever. [source]
Dial A For Aunties Jesse Q. Sutanto - I needed something light and fun and this fit the bill! I can't wait to read the next one, Four Aunties and a Wedding!
When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is accidentally shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working, at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for their family wedding business—“Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream cake flowers.
But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend? [source]
The Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe
This was a quick, powerful read and the author's debut novel.
Felicia “Fe Fe” Stevens is living with her vigilantly loving mother and older teenaged brother, whom she adores, in building 4950 of Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes. It’s the summer of 1999, and her high-rise is next in line to be torn down by the Chicago Housing Authority. She, with the devout Precious Brown and Stacia Buchanan, daughter of a Gangster Disciple Queen-Pin, form a tentative trio and, for a brief moment, carve out for themselves a simple life of Double Dutch and innocence. But when Fe Fe welcomes a mysterious new friend, Tonya, into their fold, the dynamics shift, upending the lives of all four girls.
As their beloved neighborhood falls down around them, so too do their friendships and the structures of the four girls’ families. Fe Fe must make the painful decision of whom she can trust and whom she must let go. Decades later, as she remembers that fateful summer—just before her home was demolished, her life uprooted, and community forever changed—Fe Fe tries to make sense of the grief and fraught bonds that still haunt her and attempts to reclaim the love that never left. [source]
TV shows
Obi Wan Kenobi on Disney+ - Ewan McGregor is great in this.
Always Sunny in Philadelphia - I'm just catching on to this Philly based show and we've been watching it from the beginning. They are horrible people but the gang is hilarious.
The Bear on FX & Hulu - This is a very short series set in Chicago. The main character is a chef and his brother leaves him his struggling sandwich shop. We were hooked!
Severance on Apple tv - This one is a little creepy and trippy and takes an episode or two to get into but it's so good! We're almost done season 1.
Bonus movie: The Phantom of The Open- friends recommended this and we loved it. It's such a heart warming film. It is based on a true story of a crane operator who entered the the 1976 British Open without ever having played a round of golf. You don't need to know anything about golf to enjoy this!
What have you been reading and watching this summer?
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