Affiliate links appear in this post. Any purchases made using these links will earn Taz + Belly a small commission. You can read more about our affiliate relationships here.
Woohoo for EIGHT BOOKS read in June! I was averaging a book for every day of our vacation and if I hadn’t been so busy the week before and so tired the week after, I probably could have a fit a few more titles into the month. I’m almost finished with another audiobook and just cracked open my first nonfiction read for July, so I’m hoping to have plenty of fun reviews to share with you again in August. I’m trying to be better about sharing my reads — in real time — over on my Bookstagram, so join me there if you are tired of waiting until the end of the month for recommendations!
21. THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah
★★★★☆ | Contemporary Fiction
Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier. Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown. At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources. But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.
The Nightingale — historical fiction set during World World II — is the only book by Kristin Hannah I had read until I devoured this one during our vacation. I have been hearing wonderful things about it for months, but it was big and I knew I didn’t have the time needed to devote to it. It was my first vacation read and, although it took me several days to finish, it was one of my very favorites! I have a bad habit of reading too fast, but I really tried to savor this one. On Instagram, I said it was “a slow burn that picked up momentum with every single page” and I wasn’t kidding. I loved Leni and her story from the very first moment, but the longer you read the deeper you’ll fall for her. It was hard and harsh and beautiful and I was not ready for it to end.
22. ENGRAVED ON THE HEART by Tara Johnson
★★★☆☆ | Christian Fiction
Reluctant debutante Keziah Montgomery lives beneath the weighty expectations of her staunch Confederate family, forced to keep her epilepsy secret for fear of a scandal. As the tensions of the Civil War arrive on their doorstep in Savannah, Keziah sees little cause for balls and courting. Despite her discomfort, she cannot imagine an escape from her familial confines―until her old schoolmate Micah shows her a life-changing truth that sets her feet on a new path . . . as a conductor in the Underground Railroad. Dr. Micah Greyson never hesitates to answer the call of duty, no matter how dangerous, until the enchanting Keziah walks back into his life and turns his well-ordered plans upside down. Torn between the life he has always known in Savannah and the fight for abolition, Micah struggles to discern God’s plan amid such turbulent times. Battling an angry fiancé, a war-tattered brother, bounty hunters, and their own personal demons, Keziah and Micah must decide if true love is worth the price . . . and if they are strong enough to survive the unyielding pain of war.
I have a hard time finding Christian Fiction — especially romance — that I love, but this novel was sweet and unexpected. It’s a quick read and you’ll love seeing Kizzie’s strength as she fights her family and societal norms to stand up for what she believes to be biblical truth. I was able to read this one in a single day and since Ella is always asking to read my books, I was thrilled that this one was the perfect way to introduce her to romantic reads. She has been reading it since we got home from the beach and I love hearing her daily check-ins on the romantic side of things, as well as her perspectives on slavery, abolition, and choosing one’s own path.
23. THE KISS QUOTIENT by Helen Hoang
★★★★★ | Contemporary Romance
Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases–a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice–with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan–from foreplay to more-than-missionary position. Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he’s making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic.
This is about as stark of a contrast with the previous love story as you can get, but I loved this one so much. On a whim, I selected it as one of my Book of the Month selections for June and I am so glad I did. It’s preeeeetty spicy, so steer clear if that is not for you. Stella — an econometrician with Asperger’s — decides to hire a male escort to show her the ropes of being intimate and learning to function within a relationship. Of course, hi-jinks ensue — she’s perfectly inappropriate, social awkward, and adorable enough to cheer her on from the very first page. Michael has a few secrets of his own and a complicated family story. This one is laugh out loud funny and the steamy scenes are perfectly balanced with the stuff of awkward first dates. This is one of my favorite reads of the year!
24. THE BOOK OF ESSIE by Meghan Maclean Weir
★★★★★ | Contemporary Fiction
Esther Ann Hicks–Essie–is the youngest child on Six for Hicks, a reality television phenomenon. She’s grown up in the spotlight, both idolized and despised for her family’s fire-and-brimstone brand of faith. When Essie’s mother, Celia, discovers that Essie is pregnant, she arranges an emergency meeting with the show’s producers: Do they sneak Essie out of the country for an abortion? Do they pass the child off as Celia’s? Or do they try to arrange a marriage–and a ratings-blockbuster wedding? Meanwhile, Essie is quietly pairing herself up with Roarke Richards, a senior at her school with a secret of his own to protect. As the newly formed couple attempt to sell their fabricated love story to the media–through exclusive interviews with an infamously conservative reporter named Liberty Bell–Essie finds she has questions of her own: What was the real reason for her older sister leaving home? Who can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?
Guys, this might be my favorite book of the entire year and I’m sure I can’t properly articulate why. I was a little skeptical when I read the jacket copy before ordering this one — the reality television phenomenon worried me more than a little bit. It sounded intriguing, but I worried it would be too sensational or not serious enough. I was sorely mistaken, because I literally couldn’t put this one down — I read it over the course of several hours and then talked about it on Instagram Stories for the rest of the day. It chronicles the lives of three characters — and how they intersect — while dealing with racism, homophobia, and violence against women in such a beautiful and poignant way. Whatever you do, read this one next.
25. ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS by Scott O’Dell
★★★★☆ | Middle Grade Fiction
Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply. More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana’s quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.
I remember loving this book as a girl and bought it for Ella to read several summers ago. She’ll tell you it’s her favorite book and after she re-read it on our vacation, I decided to read through it again before passing it along to Sophie. It is the perfect story of adventure and girl power and was just as good at (almost) 39 as it was at 9!
26. THE CHALK MAN by C.J. Tudor
★★☆☆☆ | Thriller
In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same. In 2016, Eddie is fully grown, and thinks he’s put his past behind him. But then he gets a letter in the mail, containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank . . . until one of them turns up dead. That’s when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago. Expertly alternating between flashbacks and the present day, The Chalk Man is the very best kind of suspense novel, one where every character is wonderfully fleshed out and compelling, where every mystery has a satisfying payoff, and where the twists will shock even the savviest reader.
This one sounded so good to me and I thought it might be something Josh and I could enjoy together (we don’t often agree when it comes to books and authors). Honestly, I’m having a hard time deciding what to say about this one. There were things about it that I loved. It wasn’t easy to pinpoint what was happening or who was responsible for all of the events that took place in both timelines, but — in the end — I was frustrated with the main character and not satisfied with how the final chapters came together. This is a perfect example of when the last few chapters can make or break a story for me.
27. US AGAINST YOU by Fredrik Backman
★★★★★ | Contemporary Fiction /
A Book in Translation (audiobook)
A small community tucked deep in the forest, Beartown is home to tough, hardworking people who don’t expect life to be easy or fair. No matter how difficult times get, they’ve always been able to take pride in their local ice hockey team. So it’s a cruel blow when they hear that their town’s ice hockey club might soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in the neighboring town of Hed, take in that fact. But the arrival of a newcomer gives Beartown hockey a chance at a comeback. Soon a team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; always dutiful and eager-to-please Bobo; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a huge challenge, especially as the town’s enmity with Hed grows more and more acute as the big game approaches. By the time the last goal is scored, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after everything, the game they love can ever return to something as simple and innocent as a field of ice, two nets, and two teams. Us against you. Here is a declaration of love for all the big and small, bright and dark stories that give form and color to our communities. With immense compassion and insight, Fredrik Backman reveals how loyalty, friendship, and kindness can carry a town through its most challenging days.
I’m going to keep this short and sweet — this book is WONDERFUL. I couldn’t believe how much I loved Beartown — a book about hockey, of all things — but I might have loved the follow up novel even more. Backman’s storytelling is so good and the narrator of this audiobook delivers every line perfectly. I don’t know what else to say, except you won’t forget how you felt when you read this one.
28. GLOW KIDS: HOW SCREEN ADDICTION
IS HIJACKING OUR KIDS by Nicholas Kardaras
★★★☆☆ | Nonfiction
In Glow Kids, Dr. Nicholas Kardaras will examine how technology―more specifically, age-inappropriate screen tech, with all of its glowing ubiquity―has profoundly affected the brains of an entire generation. Brain imaging research is showing that stimulating glowing screens are as dopaminergic (dopamine activating) to the brain’s pleasure center as sex. And a growing mountain of clinical research correlates screen tech with disorders like ADHD, addiction, anxiety, depression, increased aggression, and even psychosis. Most shocking of all, recent brain imaging studies conclusively show that excessive screen exposure can neurologically damage a young person’s developing brain in the same way that cocaine addiction can. Kardaras will dive into the sociological, psychological, cultural, and economic factors involved in the global tech epidemic with one major goal: to explore the effect all of our wonderful shiny new technology is having on kids. Glow Kids also includes an opt-out letter and a “quiz” for parents in the back of the book.
I’ll admit to not wanting to read this. While I would do anything to protect my girls and I am worried about the implications of social media on their generation, we had literally given Ella an iPhone days before I discovered this book on a friend’s Instagram feed. I reluctantly ordered it and have been reading it in doses since the end of May. It gets all the stars for content, but I struggle with nonfiction and this one wasn’t super engaging for me. The information is important and necessary, but I couldn’t read more than a chapter or two at a time. I think it’s a great read for any parent considering the purchase of a phone (particularly a smart phone) for their adolescent child, but it should definitely be paired with buckets of common sense and life experience. Every child is different, every parent handles things in their own way, and navigating technology together is going to be tricky, no matter how much you limit it. I think this book and its case studies certainly helped us set better parameters and we’ll be doing everything we can to help Ella figure out how to use social media effectively and to minimize it’s effects on her personality, behavior, and future.
You know I didn’t set any numerical reading goals for this year, but I still plan to track my numbers, much like I did in 2017.
Total number of books in June: eight
Number of fiction books in June: seven
Number of nonfiction books in June: one
Number of Audible books in June: one
Total number of books this year: twenty-eight
Favorite book of 2018: The Book of Essie
Currently reading/listening to: All the Little Lights
Rachel and I are so excited for you to join us this month, for the fifth edition of the Book by Book Link Party! The first week of each month, we’ll share our reading recap from the previous month, along with a linky widget where you can share your own post(s). The widget will be open for the entire month, so feel free to add as many posts as you’d like until the next round begins. Share your reviews, reading roundup posts, gift guides for readers, or anything else book related. Share with your friends and tag us on Instagram — let’s grow another link up together this year.
Want bonus points for reading something outside of your comfort zone? Here is a list of Collaboreads-style reading prompts, just for you!
