My Week in Books (4/29/19)

(#partner #freebooks: All books noted by asterisks (***) indicate I received the book for free from the publisher, the author, or another promotional company to review. All opinions are my own.)

We headed out of town this week to watch my niece’s dance recital! It was a great weekend with family and now we’re gearing up for the last month of school. I can’t believe we’re heading into summer; this year flew by for us! Do any of you guys have fun plans for this summer?

Last Week’s Reads:

*** The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by: Melinda Gates (Flatiron) – Pub Date: April 23, 2019

• “Saving lives starts with bringing everyone in. Our societies will be healthiest when they have no outsiders. We should strive for that. We have to keep working to reduce poverty and disease. We have to help outsiders resist the power of people who want to keep them out. But we have to do our inner work as well: We have to wake up to the ways we exclude. We have to open our arms and our hearts to the people we’ve pushed to the margins. It’s not enough to help outsiders fight their way in – the real triumph will come when we no longer push anyone out.”

  I have long believed that the change in the world we are so desperately seeking will come first through the empowerment of women. They are the ones that first demonstrate love, kindness, empathy, and compassion. Because many of our societies are patriarchal, I believe, women hold the power to be the change agents. While that’s easier to say in some cultures than others, it’s through the awareness and work of people like Melinda Gates that the opportunities are being created for all women to share in this powerful movement.

  This book is a true gem – full of insightful and educational information, I quickly had to get a highlighter because there was so much here to digest. It’s a book I will continually return to because Gates has not only presented us with some of the life-changing work she has embarked on, but she also gives us – privileged people – ideas and ways to also help empower all women of the world, especially those that are poor. She gives hope throughout the book and I have a lot of respect for the work she and her husband, Bill Gates, are doing to heal societies and to give women around the world a chance to succeed.

Miracle Creek by: Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton Books) – Pub Date: April 16, 2019

“But that was the way life worked. Every human being was the result of a million different factors mixing together…Good things and bad—every friendship and romance formed, every accident, every illness—resulted from the conspiracy of hundreds of things, in and of themselves inconsequential.”

From the first page, I had to know how this one was going to turn out. It was literary, but also very mysterious. Angie Kim weaves themes of immigration, parental and sacrificial love, morality, and courtroom drama into an engaging read that I couldn’t put down.

Admittedly, the ending frustrated me. But it also forced me to think about the choices I’d make to protect those I love. Would I do what Young did or would I do the opposite? It’s hard to ever know what one would do until put in that specific situation. I mean, I know what’s “right” in this situation, but given the circumstances in the story…would you do the “right” thing? Sometimes doing the right thing can feel so difficult. This topic alone would be so fascinating to discuss, making this a great book club selection pick!

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by: Yara Zgheib (St. Martin’s) – Pub Date: February 5, 2019

“Anorexia is the same girl with the same story, told over and over again. It does not matter what she is called; her name designates nothing. My name is Anna but anorexia got rid of it, my feelings, body, husband, life.”

Let me start by saying that this is an important book and a topic that should be given a voice. Anorexia (and bulimia) are legitimate and powerful diseases, and until recently, fairly misunderstood, I think. Zgheib tells the story of anorexia so carefully and compassionately that she gave me a clearer understanding of the disease and the perspective of those that have it. My best friend in high school had bulimia and eventually had to seek treatment for it. But she, and her family, hid it so well from the rest of us that, even I, as her best friend, never knew until it was obvious in her physique. I was too young to fully understand the issues surrounding eating disorders, and I wish I had known then what this book relays so well. 

This book is heartbreaking and demands a lot emotionally from the reader. Please be very mindful of picking this one up if eating disorders (anorexia and/or bulimia) or body image are triggering to you in any sort of way. Honestly, I do not have an unhealthy relationship with food in any sort of way and, at times, I found this book triggering even to me. I found myself analyzing my food choices in ways I never have before and a bagel with cream cheese has never looked so threatening!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE BE CAREFUL when deciding if you should pick this one up!

*** 🎧 The Girl He Used To Know by: Tracey Garvis Graves (St. Martin’s) – Pub Date: April 2, 2019

After a chance encounter many years after their relationship ended, Anika and Jonathan meet again and rekindle their romance. Alternating between present day and 10 years prior, we discover what led to their demise the first time around.

This is a sweet romance and I found myself rooting for Jonathan and Anika from the beginning. While I sort of found Jonathan’s character a little “too good to be true”, I was also hopeful that there really are men out there with his character given the circumstances of the relationship (#nospoilers).

Unexpectedly, I LOVED the friendship between Anika and her roommate, Janelle. I truly appreciated and respected this healthy, no competition relationship and wish more authors would champion these types of female friendships in books more often. Instead, it seems like the marker is over saturated with mean girls, so I found this a refreshing and wonderful portrayal!

Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Light We Lost will love this one!

Possible trigger warnings: miscarriage, 9-11 events.

Currently Reading/Listening:

 

*** A Veil Removed (Henrietta and Inspector Howard #4) by: Michelle Cox (She Writes Press) – Pub Date: April 30, 2019

This book is tough – I like it once I sit down and devout some time to reading it, but it’s really hard for me to want to even pick up in the first place. I kind of feel like I really just don’t care. I’m probably about halfway through…I plan on pushing through, but I feel so many other books calling to me and I may end up abandoning it. 😬

Likely to Read Next:

*** The Farm by: Joanne Ramos (Random House) – On Shelves: May 7, 2019

I’m a huge fan of A Handmaid’s Tale and this one has been compared to it. Basically, women attend a “retreat” where all their needs are taken care of. The catch? They belong to the retreat for nine months – while they’re pregnant – and they lose all sense of autonomy. So far, this one seems to have quite a few negative reviews and DNFs which only intensifies my curiosity!

*** Juliet the Maniac: A Novel by: Juliet Escoria (Melville House) – On Shelves: May 7, 2019

Tyler Goodson gave this one five stars and that’s how this one landed on my radar. As a fourteen-year-old girl spirals into mental illness and self-destruction, this one sounds intense. The synopsis reminds me of Girl in Pieces which I really liked.

*** The Unhoneymooners by: Christina Lauren (Gallery Books) – On Shelves: May 14, 2019

A light-hearted beach read sounds about right! I’ve seen great reviews of this one already so I’m looking forward to it!

Tell me, friends, what’s been your favorite reads lately?