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I’m writing my August book review a little early this month because I’m waving my white flag and giving up hope of finishing any more books before the end of the month. This is because all of my free time is currently being spent asking Brighton if she needs to go potty and then celebrating said potty-ing and then repeating that same exact cycle times eleven million and basically, there you have my very existence boiled down into one meaningful ritual. It’s special.
But considering how little I feel like I’ve been reading, I have surprised myself at the number of actual books I’ve fully read this month. Probably because August 2018 has been the longest month of my entire life. Some adult-only travel in there definitely helped with my bottom line, but these have indeed been the dog days of Summer, and I’m getting the distinct impression that it’s just a hotter, more humid version of Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day.
ANYWAY, you’re here for the BOOKS. So let’s get rolling.
I’m Still Here / Love Does / The Road Back to You / When Life Gives You Lululemons / Magic Hour / Tell Me More / The Path Between Us
Earlier this Summer I participated in an Instagram Book Exchange. It was underwhelming to say the least, but the PREMISE is that you gather up about 6 friends to participate and then they gather six of THEIR friends and if everyone just sends ONE book to a person they’re assigned, you’ll end up with 30+ new books. Brilliant, right!? Except that barely anyone who SAID they would participate, did. So I ended up with 3 books, one of which came from my sister and she’s obligated by blood relation to hold up her end of the deal. BUT one of the other books I received was I’m Still Here; Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. What’s cool about that is that if I’m being fully honest, this book is just not one I would have normally grabbed. Not because I am racially insensitive (at least I sincerely hope not to be), but because I just feel relatively removed from racial conflict in my little world. Of course I have a diverse friend group, our children go to probably the most culturally rich and diverse school in our area, and we even bridge ethnic gaps in our own family since my sister’s international adoption last year. But grabbing a book off the shelf about black dignity was just not on my radar if left to my own devices, so even though the book exchange was underwhelming in terms of quantity received, I was delighted to receive a book that was selected by someone else because their experience with it was so meaningful. It’s incredibly thought-provoking and revealing, and I’m certainly more awakened to the biases that my black friends and neighbors deal with since reading it. For me, the most relatable quote from this book comes from the white classmate of the author who said “I can’t fix your pain and I can’t take it away, but I can see it. And I can work for the rest of my life to make sure your children don’t have to experience the pain of racism. Doing nothing is no longer an option for me.” Let it also be true of me.
Next up was Bob Goff’s book Love Does. Bob Goff is an amazing man who chases the heart of God with such zeal and passion, and he is so likable. I listened to this book as I did his other book, Everybody Always, and while I loved this book and heard many beautiful stories of what it looks like to live LOVE, I must confess I enjoyed his second book Everybody Always much more. Stockton read Love Does with his men’s group about a year ago and he was slightly underwhelmed by the book and felt it was just a feel-good and sort of spiritually shallow book. I don’t entirely agree because I think it’s OK to be childlike in our wonder of God and to simplify our perception of people to simply say “They’re a child of God and I should just treat them accordingly.” Bob teaches us how to do that. However, I think he goes deeper and reveals a much more convicting argument in his book Everybody Always that goes beyond the fluff and into the challenge of truly loving tricky people.
Lately I have become truly fascinated by the Enneagram, which prompted me to dive into The Road Back to You; An Enneagram Journey to Self Discovery. I could geek out on this topic for a long time (and have done so several times with my sister, Kaley, who introduced me to the concept early in 2018), but the gist is that we all represent one of nine different core personality styles with slight variations (wing styles) and types that we gravitate toward in times of stress and security. Guys, it is DEAD ON. I have taken several other types of personality tests before and none have been as accurate and spiritually-founded as this one. It’s beautiful to read about all nine different styles and realize if we are ALL made in the image of God, then God represents ALL of these personality styles in one way or another. It changes the way you look at people in your life and has given me so much more grace for other people (and myself). I can’t recommend taking the test and then getting a little more knowledgable enough. If you are interested, the first step is to take this test to determine your personality style. Yes it costs $10, but please don’t be dissuaded by the cost; it’s powerful knowledge to possess about yourself. Next, I recommend grabbing The Road Back to You which simply but succinctly describes the Enneagram styles and how to understand this concept a little more.
Jumping ahead a couple books, I read The Path Between Us; An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships. It is a perfect second step in understanding the Enneagram better, and especially worth reading for seeing how your personality style interacts with that of your spouse, siblings, parents, colleagues, etc. Again, if knowledge is power, this makes us powerful again the tricks of the enemy to try to divide and cause dissension between us! Stockton didn’t read this, but I read plenty of it out loud to him and we were just amazed by how many times we were able to say “That is SO TRUE!” As I was reading it, I noticed myself extending more grace and simply understanding his actions so much clearer because I knew the place where his motives stem from since I understand his personality style more. SUCH a great marriage tool, in my opinion.
Changing gears a whole lot, I read When Life Gives you Lululemons while on an adult-only vacation with Stockton earlier this month. It was a perfect, shallow beach read for our California weekend. This is a Devil Wears Prada spinoff book, and I enjoyed the story, the drama, the wit and the sarcasm. It wasn’t my favorite book of all time, but if you’re looking for something that’s a quick and easy vacation-style read, this may be the book for you (especially if you’re interested in fashion and style because there are loads of designer references in this book).
I went a whole lot deeper with the book Magic Hour following When Life Gives you Lululemons, and it was yet again, all the confirmation I needed to realize that Kristin Hannah may be one of the most gifted story tellers of our time. This book is about a little girl who turns up in a small town outside of a huge forest in the Pacific Northwest and nobody has any idea where she came from or what to make of her. With no verbal or social skills and a pet wolf as her only companion, the local police chief and her sister, a renowned child psychologist, take the orphan in to help nurture her back to a normal cognitive level for a girl her age and try to get some answers about her mysterious past. The book is chilling. I was so engrossed with it the entire time, and I couldn’t wait to pass it on to my sister who recently adopted internationally because she can so closely relate to establishing healthy attachment to a child that doesn’t understand the concept of family yet. Kaley agrees, this book is incredible and should be on every person’s reading list! Kristin Hannah, you’ve done it again.
My final book (of the audible variety) for the month was Tell Me More; Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say. I liked this book. I liked it a lot. I didn’t love listening to the author read it. Audio books can be so fickle; some are amazing and some are harder to appreciate simply due to the distraction of the reader’s delivery. It could be a slow voice, or maybe an accent that’s slightly irritating. I don’t even know what it was about her delivery that wasn’t my favorite, but I pushed through that and can say it was still a great book about 12 simple yet profound things we should all learn how to say (such as No, Yes, Tell me more, I Know, etc.). See? Simple, yet profound. Her stories are about everything from her Irish-Catholic childhood to losing her best friend and father both in a short span of time. I loved the message she had to share (I just recommend you read it instead of listen to it).
Overall, I’d say the books I read this month ranked pretty darn high! I usually have a couple rotten apples in there, but the variety and quality of these books kept me on my toes, and I hope you’ll check a few of them out!