Three Books I Recommend
Hope you are having a fantastic summer (or winter)! This year, there are 98 days between the “official” start of summer in the USA, Memorial Day, and the traditional end of summer, Labor Day. So, we are over half-way through summer! At this point, you may be in the mood for some more books to take to the pool, beach, or your favorite backyard reading spot. I’m happy to share some of my favorite summer reading with you! You’re welcome!
Looking for more books to read? Please visit my Book Promotions page and explore all the latest releases. Extracts, blurbs, reviews, author info, books links- all waiting for you!
Little Lovely Things by Maureen Joyce Connolly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Little Lovely Things is a book that demands discussion. When the last of Author Connolly’s beautiful words had faded, the gripping story continued to echo within me. Readers, I need to discuss this book with you. (So spell-bound was I- I sent the author amateurish questions and she kindly answered them. Let’s spare her. You can all talk to me instead. Or discuss it with your book club.)
Why did this book affect me? The book blurb, and many reviewers, tell the beginning of the story. Claire is driving with her children when she is overwhelmed by sickness. She pulls into a gas station, leaves her kids in the running car, and the car is taken while she’s in the bathroom.
Moms, how many sleep-ending 3 am panic attacks begin with, “What if someone took my kids?” But this is just the start of the story. The point of view shifts throughout the rest of the book so that we see the aftermath through the eyes and hearts of the other characters. The kidnappers, the interested witness, and a young girl are vivid, colorful and deep characters.
There are many “little, lovely things” in this book. The kidnapped children, a dress with special charms, a stone from Lake Michigan, the legends of the Lakota and Irish, a child’s drawings, a memory of bubble bath, isn’t this what fills a life? Author Connolly is a masterful storyteller, who blends lyrical metaphors and similes with grim passions and uplifting sweetness to create a story you can’t put down, and can’t forget.
In some ways, this book reminds me of What was Mine by Helen Klein Roth, which also focuses on the kidnapper and the years after. Like this book, the point isn’t so much on who is good or who is bad, but rather on how we all manage to keep going day after day. And how, once the dust settles, we still have our little lovely things.
I’m glad I overcame my mommy anxieties and bought and read this book. Highly recommend.
The Kindness Method: Change Your Habits for Good Using Self-Compassion and Understanding by Shahroo Izadi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
How many times have you tried a new diet, blown the new diet, and yelled at yourself? Or what about drinking- tired of the hangovers? But, it’s so hard to stop drinking. What’s wrong with you?
Nothing. Nothing is wrong with you. That’s the message I learned from author Shahroo Izadi who has written an excellent book, The Kindness Method- Change Your Habits for Good Using Self-Compassion and Understanding. She has worked as a drug counsellor and also has faced a weight challenge, so she knows how to focus on changing habits.
Her premise is that we should show compassion, forgiveness and kindness to ourselves. When we have trouble making a life change, it’s not because we are “bad”, or “weak” or “lazy.” Would you say those words to other people? Please don’t say them to yourself! Instead, learn to be kind to yourself.
“Kindness” means taking action to create your most enjoyable and exciting life. Look at the big picture! “Kindness” is not following for the latest fad or quick-fix. With friendly, understanding language, the author shares her step-by step process of using maps and journals to learn more about yourself and prepare to have the rich and fulfilling life you want.
Shahroo Izadi is a Behavioral Change Specialist. She provides relapse prevention coaching and support groups at a recovery house for young women in addition to delivering sold-out workshops designed to help people change any habit on their own terms. Her work has drawn attention from BBC Radio 1, The Telegraph, Red Magazine, The Pool, and more. Her laid-back, non-judgmental style that rejects the traditional professional-patient dynamic has proven to be a huge success and her ambition is to make evidence-based psychological tools accessible to the public.
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Essentials for a digital review copy. This is my honest review.
Judge Thee Not by Edith Maxwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“For all those who are wrongly judged.”
Rose Carroll is a Quaker midwife. She lives in a New England factory town, Amesbury, Massachusetts, in the year 1889. I don’t mean to make Rose sound stuffy or boring. She is a good friend, a compassionate medical person, and a loving presence for her beloved fiancé. She investigates wrongdoing when she is compelled to do so, and has been in some harrowing incidents because of her crime-solving skills.
This is the fifth book in the Quaker Midwife Mystery series. I must find the time to read the first four books, as I bonded with Rose and her small town, faith-filled life. This is a calm, and sedate cozy mystery, which I enjoyed because it was so lovely and slow-paced. I felt like I was with Rose: riding my bicycle, stopping to visit with friends, including the poet John Whittier, and watching as she tended to her antenatal patients. The peace and tranquility of the book was so comforting and the well-drawn mystery presented just enough excitement.
“I’d learned how important it was to remain calm and be a strong, quiet presence when helping a laboring woman.”
I admired Rose and her willingness to treat everyone fairly, when other people didn’t. I will continue to follow this series as I want to “be there” when Rose gets married! Thanks to Netgalley and Beyond the Page publishing for a digital review cop. This is my honest review.
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