This summer has been a bit of a blur, and I can’t believe it’s almost over.
I was one million months pregnant for the first half. I’ve spent the second half snuggling with my new angel babe with one hand and keeping my little Sour Patch Kid toddler happy with the other.
I try to read a little before bed most nights and sometimes during the afternoon if I can manage to line up the girls’ nap times. It’s how I recharge and relax best, outside of working out (pray for me, I’ll start on that next week, lol).
I’ve been trying to share every single book I read on IG stories–both the ones I love and the ones that fell flat for me. I would want to know if someone didn’t like a book I was planning on reading, too!
Today, I wanted to do a little round up of my favorite books I’ve read this summer. There’s a little bit of everything here.
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness – Austin Channing Brown
This book is so important. The way Austin illustrates her experience as a black woman in America is raw and beautiful and heartbreaking. It was humbling for me to read and opened my eyes in an even bigger way to the privilege that I was born with, that could have easily been given to someone else. If I have learned one thing this year, it’s that we could all do a lot more listening, learning, and advocating, both in and outside our homes.
The Flatshare – Beth O’Leary
On a much, much lighter note, The Flatshare is a hilarious and adorable British rom com. It’s about two people who don’t know each other at all and begin to share an apartment. One of them works days and the other nights so it’s a “ships passing” situation. It’s clever and cute and I truly enjoyed every page.
The Guest List – Lucy Foley
Tyler and I started this on audiobook on our road trip to NorCal and Utah in June. Charlotte absolutely hated it, so we only made it about 20% through before succumbing to nonstop princess music for the remaining 1500 miles. I finally went back to read it on my Kindle a few weeks ago and finished it in a couple of days! This was a great mystery/thriller and wasn’t too dark–something my postpartum hormones just really have no tolerance for. A murder takes place at a wedding, and I won’t say anything more!
Genius Foods – Max Lugavere
This is the best book I’ve read on nutrition and recommend it to everyone I know. Max covers all of the reasons that the Western diet can be so harmful to our brains and bodies and backs up everything with science. It took me a while to get all the way through the book because a lot of it was SO sciency that I had to really slow down and study it. He also talks about the foods we should be eating: why we should eat them and how to incorporate them into our daily meals. This book was so inspiring to me. Tyler–who is a loyal fan of Max too–and I did a total overhaul of our kitchen and revamped the way we approached our meals this past month. I’ll do a post about that soon, but for now just trust me. This book will completely change the way you think about food and give you the tools to do something about it.
Writers and Lovers – Lily King
This was STUNNING and one of my favorite books I read all year. The premise of the book is simple: a writer struggling to finish her first novel. I was completely mesmerized by the writing and character development. I laughed out loud, cried a few times, and found myself re-reading pages at a time because they took my breath away.
Looking for more reading inspo?
