Recent Reads

Before I Called You Mine*... Oh, I loved this sweet book! Y'all know romance isn't my thing but good stories about relationships of all kinds are! The premise is that Lauren is still single so sets out to adopt a child as a single mother... And then, of course, meets a great guy. She can't pursue a relationship while she pursues this adoption but has kinda perfect so it got really fun, really fast. I loved moving right into Lauren's mind and I getting to know her so we'll, and to see her relationships with different friends and family members. Tbis was another homerun for me and I've gotta say, Bethany House is really killing it with their fiction this past year!

Chasing the White Lion*... This book is super hard for me to review. Basically, I think I no longer enjoy reading action-heavy stories. I would avoid reading it, then I'd be sucked in and couldn't turn the pages fast enough! So I guess my honest review is that it's a good story line, well-written and fast-paced but that I still didn't enjoy it and skimmed the whole second half. If you like reading action stories/law enforcement stories, this is absolutely worth your time.

Don't Overthink it... I adore Anne Bogel and this one was great! I actually finished it this morning. Anne is an Enneagram 9 and so am I, so this book resonated so perfectly for me! I think anyone prone to over thinking/overanalyzing will find some great advice here.

Fierce Kingdom... This book was talked about on the Currently Reading podcast and even though I don't read suspense/thriller these days I went for it because Meredith said to HSPs (Highly Sensitive Persons) like myself, "You can handle this book." She was right, but only barely! I won't give away that scary event but I will just say that the story takes place over the course of about five hours and the motherhood descriptions were so beautiful I couldn't help but tear up a few times.

Loving vs Virginia... This was a super short audio book, I think it was three hours! This is a fictionalized account of the true interracial marriage battle between Mr and Mrs Richard Loving and the state of Virginia, who arrested them for cohabitating even though they were married, and then released them saying they could never return there together again. (As in no family Christmases or birthdays, no 4th of July barbecues, nothing). I thought it was very well done on audio and would recommend it.

Motherhood so White... This was also on audio, a memoir about about a single black woman who adopted a black son (and later a black daughter) and her experience with adoption, with society's view on single mothers, and of course what the "black version" of these things looks like. This one was really insightful and eye-opening, and was a perfect pairing with Before I Called You Mine which was also about adoption.

* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.