Back and refreshed and bringing you the July Book Review <3

We had a great time away and I will share a bit tomorrow, but for today – here are the books I managed to read in July.

And none of them were actually read on vacation…all before we left. Since two were library books and had to be returned, the photos are separate.

Here we go:

I feel like I already shared a little about this one.

It is one that has popped up in my social media feeds and so I checked if our library had it. They did.

I enjoyed it as it was more a collection of conversations and stories with the author. She describes herself as being between 80 and 100. Which pretty much sums up her personality and approach to life.

She has led an interesting one and as a mother of five who moved internationally with her husband, she has some fun stories and perspectives to share.

I thought this would be a method type book on how to clean out your house of years of accumulated possessions but it is more a look at why we keep things and how to know when it is time to release them.

This was a quick and uplifting read.

Since I am known to have a Biblical world view, I do want to add that Margareta is not a woman of faith so if you are expecting that aspect, you will not find it. She also uses the occasional swear word from our language and she is up front about topics that might surprise you from a woman who is between 80 and 100.

I do highly recommend reading it. It is full of wisdom and even if Margareta does not acknowledge God per se, we know that all wisdom comes from Him. She is a delightful story teller and I was thoroughly entertained.

It has also been a boost to my own season of cleaning out some cluttered areas of our home without feeling guilty about a bit of sadness as I part with things.

Next…

When I saw she had another book, I checked our library and again took advantage of just borrowing it for a quick read.

Again, the stories of her life and her observations made for an easy and enjoyable read.

There was less for me to take away from this one, but I did like it and would recommend it if you like to hear other’s stories.

Ditto for the previous caveat on her beliefs. I hope that you make room for others and their stories in spite of where they differ from you. This was a good insight into the culture of her country and life.

That is the marvel of books. We can travel without leaving our armchairs and learn so much about others.

And finally…

This book was gifted to me several years ago. I started it a couple of times before I got serious about finishing it.

True confession, I read it off and on through June and July. It is not an easy read for me and I would have to start and stop and go back sometimes.

While I did glean some thoughts to save from it, there were parts that were difficult to wade through for me.

Charles Martin is a fiction writer and has a slew of bestsellers on New York Times and USA Today.

From the title, you can see that he is a “storyteller” and so often the text would include his imaginative take of Scripture.

I didn’t sense anything that was off spiritually, but his style was a deeper dive into theological subjects that included a variety of tangents about how the disciples gave their all and how we are called to that kind of devotion.

He definitely takes the Bible to heart and applies it to his life. And, as I said, I have a few sections marked to take notes from.

If this is one you have seen and wondered about, I can recommend it. In fact, if you are local and would like mine it is not one I will keep to go back to and would be happy to pass on! Just leave me a comment and I will get the book to you!

That’s it for July… how about YOU? What are you reading?