What I’m Reading This Month: July Edition

Each month I share the books I have been reading as a part of The 2016 Reading Challenge, as well as books I have read for fun.  I hope that these quick reviews provide you with some new titles to add to your list of Books to Read.

This month has been filled with writing my book and teaching summer school.  I have managed to enjoy a number of YA novels, though!

Adult Nonfiction

Book Boss by Abby Lawson

Ok, so this isn’t technically a book, but I have been spending a lot of time reading and working on it!  Book Boss is a fantastic course written and taught by Abby Lawson, of Just a Girl and Her Blog, that will help you create and launch a profitable e-book in 90 days.  If you’ve ever thought about writing an e-book, this is absolutely the best resource available to help you.  I have been working REALLY hard over the past few weeks on my upcoming e-book.  I’m waiting a few more weeks before I spill all the details, but for now I’ll give you a hint:  it is designed to help you and your family celebrate the feasts and fasts of the church.  Look for more info coming soon!

My Life in France by Julia Child

This one was on my Summer Reading List because I am (a bit sheepishly) in love with any book written about France.  🙂  I also am fascinated by cooking even though I am not the world’s best cook.  I really enjoyed Julia Child’s memoir and found it quite inspiring.  I hadn’t realized that she didn’t begin cooking until she was in her late 30s.  She then took a class, became intensely focused on learning, and practiced all the time.  As someone whose 35th birthday is fast approaching, I was really encouraged by this!

Young Adult Fiction

Fort by Cynthia DeFelice

Fort is a book that my middle school boys will love.  The story centers around two boys who play in the woods and build a fort one summer, take on some bullies, and learn a bit about friendship.  I found it a quick read with enough action to please reluctant readers but enough depth to cause them to consider their own friendships and treatment of those who are different.

The Thickety: A Path Begins by J.A. White

I read all three books in this series within a week because I just couldn’t put them down!  The first in a series that combines magic, an enchanted forest, brave and talented children, and a question–The Thickety has all of the elements of a classic fantasy with a modern twist.  Though the book is written for children 8-12, I would recommend it for readers ages 11-15 because of some of the dark and unsettling content.  The book begins with young Kara seeing her mother hanged for witchcraft and our realization that Kara is also a witch.  Over the course of the book Kara has to find out if there is such a thing as a good witch–and if she wants to be one.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Echo is the hauntingly beautiful story of three different children growing up in three different places who are tied together by a love of music and a harmonica.  The first story tells of a disfigured boy growing up in Nazi Germany who longs to become a conductor, the second of two orphan boys with a talent for the piano who search for a family during the Great Depression in the United States, and the third of a young Hispanic girl living in California amidst prejudice and fear of the unknown.  I couldn’t put this book down and am going to be passing it out left and right to my seventh graders this coming school year.

What have you been reading lately?  I’d love to hear your recommendations!

(Linked to Quick Lit.)

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