June 2021 Monthly Reading Wrap Up

[Jessica]

We are well into the summer and our Summer Reading Challenge now. I’m loving seeing how many of you are participating and earning those grand prize drawing entries! Keep it up! If you haven’t heard about our Summer Reading Challenge yet check out this link for more info: bit.ly/2021GastonAdultSummerReading. I’m unfortunately falling a little behind my goal of 16 books already, but hopefully I’ll catch up!

This month I read…

Still Me by Jojo Moyes- I listened to this on Audiobook. Honestly, I think this one might be my favorite of the trilogy, yes even over Me Before You. I feel like we finally get to see Louisa discover who she is and what makes her happy and that was so nice after growing attached to this character over 3 books.

Orphan Train by Christine Baker Kline- This was a great historical fiction about a part of history I wasn’t super familiar with to dive into. While the story is told from two POV’s, Vivian and Molly, I have to say I wasn’t really invested in Molly’s story. Vivian’s story however drew me in and kept me engaged. Overall, I would definitely recommend it.

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman- I listened to this on Audiobook. I will never stop being awed by what Fredrik Backman can do with characterization in his novels. In this story he takes a character from My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry and brings her to life even more. I loved listening to Britt-Marie’s journey as I read and the ending was perfect for the story.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo- After realizing that the Netflix show brought the characters from this book into the Shadow and Bone adaptation I had to pick this one up as well. It starts off pretty slow and there is a lot of build up, but after about ⅔ of the way through it starts to pick up. It’s a unique story for a YA novel which I love and the ending did make up for the slow beginning. Definitely reading the next one soon.

Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder- I listened to this on Audiobook. This was a pretty interesting non-fiction. The closing portion made the book too. It really helped bring everything together. I was saddened to see that so many after working for much of their lives are working even harder jobs in their old age and living in often unideal situations. The hopeful tone of the novel was nice though and I’m glad that even though their situations are tough, so many have found freedom in this lifestyle as well.

What did you read this month? Be sure to share down below!

Happy Reading!

[Brandye]

I loved reading Orphan Train. After fostering and adopting 2 children, books like this really interest me. Before reading this book and others like it, I had no real idea how foster care and adoption started in the United States.

[Jessica]

Brandye wrote: "I loved reading Orphan Train. After fostering and adopting 2 children, books like this really interest me. Before reading this book and others like it, I had no real idea how foster care and adopti..."

I've always been fascinated by books like this as well. If you haven't read it already, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is a must read!

[Brandye]

I have read Before We Were Yours and I loved it too!