August Reads

 Read:

Need to Know by Karen Cleveland (★★★★☆) -  This was my Books and Booze book club book for August.  I really enjoyed it!  The four stars is only because I wanted to scream at the main character multiple times! The book is about a wife that works for the CIA.  She runs a program to hunt down Russian spies.  In one of her searches, she finds that her husband and father of her four children is a Russian spy!  I liked the twists and that the book moved pretty quickly as she is trying to figure out how to maintain her relationship with her husband but stay loyal to her country.  

How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7 by Joanna Faber (★★★★★) -  This book had lots of good content to help get through some tantrums.  I think she did a great job of putting things into perspective by comparing interactions/tantrums of toddlers with a similar situation that an adult would go through.  I think I should reread this as Hailey/Miles get older to remember some of the things as they are more relevant since Hailey isn't quite at the communication level for some of the advice.  Some of the helpful things (that are very similar to the Big Little Feelings course that I bought) are to make sure to ackowlege and accept the feelings, not necessarily the actions.  Also, instead of always saying Good Job and compliments like that, actually articulate what they did - you put the puzzle in the right spot! - stuff like that.  The chapter on eating food was also a good one since we are going through a small/picky eater phase with Hailey.  I really liked the advice for shy children - "They will join you when they are ready", empowering the child to make the decision when they are ready to join in a crowd and not force them into uncomfortable situations.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (★★★★☆) -  Ooft, this was a tough book.  It is just unimaginable the things that happened and what people were capable of doing to other people.  This book was a fictional account based on the life of a man who, through luck and helpful friends, was chosen to tattoo numbers onto people getting sent to concertation camps.  He has a decent/weird relationship with a SS soldier that helps him get advantages and extra food.  He falls in love with a woman that is imprisoned as well.  

The Hunting Wives by May Cobb (★★★☆☆) -  I would have really liked this book if it weren't for the relationships between grown adults and teenage boys... I also found it really hard to like any of the characters!  The book is about a woman who has moved to a small town in Texas from Chicago with her husband and toddler son to slow down a little bit with life.  It turns out, the small town/slow living isn't quite what she wanted and she starts obsessing over a rich, manipulative woman in town.  The woman befriends her and invites her to her Hunting Wives club that involves shooting skeet and cheating on husbands...  The little twists at the end were great and I'm glad the killer wasn't the obvious suspect, but it couldn't make up for the cheating and relationships with kids.  

Nomadland by Jessica Bruder (★★★☆☆) - This book followed different people who have taken to living out of their RVs/vans as a way to afford life.  They travel to different places in the US and take minimum wage paying, temporary jobs to make it by.  One of the most interesting parts of this book, to me, was the Amazon warehouse jobs and the desccription of how the employees are recruited and treated and the brutal beating their bodies take. The other interesting parts were reading about the different upfits people do to their living quarters and how they blend into different areas so they don't get the cops called on them while they sleep.  While I enjoyed this book since it was a little different than what I am usually into, it was very slow and drawn out.

Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman (★★★☆☆) - I got through this book rather quickly.  It did start out with an opening scene/altercation that just made me feel icky reading... I think that's why I ended up not enjoying the book as much as I would have liked.  I think it's a first in a police procedurals series, so introduces the main character, a cop named Kala Stonechild.  She is a new cop up in Ottawa in a new crime unit that is assigned the case for the death of a rich man.  She is also searching for a friend, which is why she took the job in the first place.  I appreciated all of the different characters and how they tied into the story and the different roles that they played.  I actually didn't guess who the killer was, so that always makes for a good book!

Mothers, Daughters, and Body Image by Hillary L. McBride (★★ ☆ ☆ ☆) - I really liked parts of this book and wanted to like the whole thing because it is such an important topic.  While there were some good parts, I think it bothered me that one of the chapters basically stated that the only way that she has found people can truly accept their body is through their spirituality and knowing god made everyone as they were meant to be… It sort of overshadowed other parts to me.  I do think that she made a good point about talking about things with your body before they come up so that it’s clear you’re willing to talk about them - getting your period, advocating for yourself sexually, etc.

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad (★★ ☆ ☆ ☆) - Meh.  This book was written in 13 different 'chapters' that were told from different perspectives and periods of a woman's life.  It went through her struggles with being overweight as a kid and how she worked so hard to lose weight as she got older and searching for acceptance externally. She never seemed to find happiness. There were definitely parts of the book that resonated with me and my weight loss journey, but I feel like I just hated the character and it got a little graphic in some parts.

No Drama Discipline by Daniel J. Seigel (★★★★☆) - A good book that uses a lot of data to drive parenting and disciplining children.  It had a lot of the same messages as How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen.

Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor (★★★★★) - Loved, loved, LOVED this book!  I want to be friends with Deena.  This book was a lot about how she channeled positive thinking into running and everyday life to become a better runner and person.  It detailed her story of getting into running, getting through injuries, becoming a professional runner and finally medaling at the Olympics.  It was just such an amazing book. 

In Process:

Bravey by Alexi Pappas

The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

Up Next:

This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay

Dietland by Sarai Walker

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Confident Moms, Confident Daughters by Maria Furlough