I started the year excited for the book of the month idea, but once we hit May it all went out the window. Mostly because May was all about the Big Magic bookclub. (And if you missed that, all the posts are still available here to read at your own pace).
Just because I stopped blogging about my reads doesn’t mean I have stopped reading. So here is a quick summary of the books that have stood out to me over the last few months.
Shauna Niequist captured my reading heart with her beautiful book Bittersweet and I have devoured everything she has ever written. So I was anxiously awaiting her new book Present over Perfect. It did not disappoint.
It came at just the right time for me, and I curled up in my reading chair and read it in one day. This book is for those of us who feel the pressure to always be doing. For those of us that really struggle with slowing down and stopping. For those of us that need to let go of control of life and remember how to live again. I will definitely be rereading this book.
I bought Happy People Read and Drink Coffee by Agnès Martin-Lugand purely on the title. Which was a mistake! Because the book wasn’t happy. But it was brilliant.
It tells the story of one woman’s grief in a raw and beautiful way. It never loses the intensity of the emotion, whilst showing the journey towards healing. A powerful read, and ultimately uplifting, but not light.
On the subject of grief I have also finished On Grief and Grieving by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler. Which I have been reading for my writing.
Covering how every person grieves differently whilst still showing the common threads of grief is tricky. But Kubler-Ross and Kessler mange to make this exploration of the grieving process both informative and personal.
Lastly, my kids are both at the stage where they can read books by themselves. Yet, I didn’t want to lose the joy of reading together as a family. So last school holidays I grabbed James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl and we read it. We have since worked through George’s Marvellous Medicine and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is up next.
Have you read any of these books? Or have you had any other good recent reads? Let me know your thoughts.
Join me for the (reading) journey,
Jodie
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