Books read in June

I was out of town almost the entire month of June! I had little responsibility and quite a bit of free time. I did plenty besides read but I also read a lot. (If that makes sense...)

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley- This was a fun, quick read. Down on her luck Jess needs a place to crash so she contacts her brother Ben who says he can stay with him at his Paris apartment. Jess arrives only to find no trace of Ben. She gets to know his neighbors, none of whom are friendly to her as Jess questions what has become of Ben. Suspenseful with several twists typical of the genre. I liked this one quite a bit!

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins- Lux and her boyfriend are paid by two young women to charter a boat to uninhabited Menroe Island which is off the coast of Hawaii. Menroe has a dark, creepy past despite the tranquil beauty of it- a place where shipwrecked sailors resorted to cannibalism to survive. Another boat is on the island when the foursome arrive. At first all is good, then secrets begin to emerge and then things head south real fast. This was a quick, suspenseful read.

Transit by Rachel Cusk- I was ready for a more literary read and Transit delivered (no pun intended). It's the second one in a series. Recently divorced, the main character (her name is not given), buys a house near London that needs many renovations. That's about all there is for plot. It's very character driven in stream of conscious style. I like this author's writing style and will definitely read the 3rd one in the series. 

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves- Six friends in their seventies who have been friends since college meet every five years for a weekend reunion in a coastal town in England (I think that's the location?). All is good until one of the friends ends up dead. The death appears to be a suicide but Det.Vera Stanhope determines otherwise. I like the main character, Stanhope. She's opinionated and overweight (in many books main female characters are often described as thin. I like deviations from the norm and loved Stanhope's healthy appetite!). The book does end on a sad note. There are other books by this author featuring Det. Standhope and I do plan on reading them.

Lessons by Ian McEwan- This book covers almost seventy years of a man's life and the significant events in it including being abused as a teenager and his wife leaving him and their young son to pursue a writing career. It was kind of depressing but I do love Ian McEwan's writing so that helped. We got to witness, via our protagonist and his experiences, major events like the Berlin Wall falling all the way to the pandemic (referred to as a plague). Overall, I liked it but I was not a fan of any characters in the book. 

The Waters & the Wild by DeSales Harrison- a therapist living in NYC as a single dad to a teenage daughter has his life upended with mysterious packages arriving that reference a life he lives in Paris with his daughter's mom before she (the mom) committed suicide. The reader is taken back in time to when the man was young and dating the woman. Shortly after the packages arrive, his daughter disappears. She has seemingly left on her own but the packages and letters within them cause the main character to be fearful for his daughter's life. This book is a literary mystery and I enjoyed reading it quite a bit. It was a slow, enjoyable burn. It doesn't have an uplifting ending so if neat and tidy and happy are criteria, then I would avoid this. 

You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz- A therapist in NYC writes a book about relationships and recognizing red flags in men (it could apply to men but the book is geared towards women and helping them avoid relationship pitfalls) to avoid heartache down the road. The therapist and her oncologist husband have a son who attends a private school where the therapist and her husband's salary render them among the "poor" in the posh school. (As an aside, I really liked the setting of NYC in the book as I read the book shortly before going to NYC for the first time!). Anyway, a mom in the school is murdered- goodness, things like that just don't happen in the wealthy enclave where the family lives and without warning (or were there signs??), the therapist's life is upended. I like this author a lot and enjoyed reading the book. I felt like it was a bit predictable but that didn't detract much at all from my enjoyment of it. 

Fearfully & Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand, Philip Yancy- this was just so, so good! Dr. Brand treated leprosy patients for years. Leprosy causes the person who has it to experience no pain. Not feeling pain is truly one of the worst thing that can happen to one's body. The book covers some of the intricacies of the human body- from the role of pain, blood, the skin to many others and draws on analogies to the spiritual body. It is an incredible book to read both to be awed by the mechanisms inside our body that keep us not just alive but our fingers moving and our eardrums being able to detect sound- surely the human body was created with design- and how perfect analogies are to the body of Christ. Highly recommend. 

The Theft of American's Soul by Phil Robertson- this was also really good! It's written by Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty. He's a dedicated Christian who loves to share his faith with anyone who'll listen and now uses his platform as a well known person to write books. This book doesn't proffer super deep theology but it is steeped in common sense- as our nation has turned away from the Lord and the teachings of Christianity, things are not going so well for us as a nation. I mean, something is going on that is not good (I think anyone would agree with that whether a Christian, agnostic or atheist). The book is somewhat depressing as it's hard to imagine our nation returning to its Christian roots and some of the Biblical virtues that Americans once possessed in abundance- temperance, a respect of order, hard work, humility, kindness to others. Moral relativism, humanism and narcissism seem to be defining features of a post- Christian America and with it huge increases in addiction, depression, broken homes and relationships and anxiety. Ultimately, however, any book that tells (or reminds) readers of the good news of the Gospel, of God's absolute and unchanging love for us, salvation through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus for our sins is an uplifting one if for that news or reminder alone. Phil Robertson has written other books that I plan on reading. 

Bookends by Zibby Owens- This is a memoir by a woman who hosts a popular podcast about books. She interviews authors and is apparently quite popular in that podcast genre. I had not heard of her before but I don't seek out podcasts like hers so I'm not surprised I had not heard of it. Zibby grew up in Manhattan, the daughter of extremely wealthy parents. However, in spite of her family's wealth, Zibby had a strong work ethic and excelled in school and beyond due largely to striving to do her best. She lost her best friend on 9/11 which was heartbreaking to read. Her best friend was working on the floor that the first plane hit and no remains were ever found. I remember that time so well; growing up in Indiana and living in Ohio in 2001, I knew no one in NYC during that time and had never been to the city. So although of course it was tragic, for me there was nothing personal to attach to it. I've read of stories of people who lost love ones on 9/11 but I've never read a book where the tragedy features so prominently. Overall, the tenure of the book is positive in spite of the tragedies that Zibby endured by losing several key loved ones in her life. I read this shortly before going to NYC to the first time which increased my desire to see the city even more ;).