the best books I read this month – june 2018

Another month, another pile of books read. This has been such a good reading month, mostly due to the fact that I currently have over two hours of public transit a day which I spend reading (and sometimes listening to podcasts). Being able to do this much reading has been awesome and as such I have quite a few books to share with you this month.

For a full list of all the books I read as well as a look into what I am wanting to read check out my Goodreads account here.

1. Save the Date by Morgan Matson
   This was the perfect book to read as we are heading into summer as it was light, fun, but also full of heart. Centered around a hectic and crazy wedding weekend for the protagonists sister there are more mishaps that one can even imagine happening in a few short days resulting in hilarity, but also a lot of heart. While this book was definitely not a deep one, it was one that was great to read at the end of a long day.
2. We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
   I have a slight obsession with reading books about the holocaust. It started around the age of 8 and my mom recently confided in me that she was actually worried for a while. 16 years later I still really enjoy reading books set during World War II and this one was no exception. Centered around a family of 7 from Poland the story follows all of them throughout the war and their vastly differing stories. It was a bit tough at the beginning to keep track of all of the siblings, their significant others, and their journey’s but once I got the hang of it it was hard to leave their stories as I was so enthralled.
3. The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
   This true story told a dark piece of history that I had never heard of before, surrounding the women that painted Radium Watches in the beginning of the 20th century. Their jobs were seen as glamorous and something that many girls wanted to do, but when many of them began to get very sick they had a long road ahead of them to get their stories heard and their employers to take the blame. The descriptions of their health problems could get to be a bit much at times, but I am glad I now know about these women and how much they had to go through.
4. Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
   This book was everywhere in London last year as it was the book chosen by the library for the entire city to read, but for some reason I didn’t want to read it then. Now I am super glad that I did eventually get to reading this book as it was such a fun experience. Centered around a eighty-two year old woman who decides to walk from her home in Saskatchewan to the Atlantic Ocean (Etta), her husband (Otto), their neighbour (Russell), and the fox that travels alongside her (James). This was a book that made me think, but also made me smile.
5. The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis
   
   It is rare that my husband reads a book before I do, but one day he came home from the library with this book not knowing I had just put it on hold that day. This was such a heartbreaking book that made me almost cry while on the bus. The story told in this book was an important one about a closeted gay teenager with an abusive family and his loneliness and heartache was painful. I am so glad I read this book and also that I had someone to discuss all my feelings about it with.
6. Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto
   This book is the most recent winner of Canada Reads and for good reason. Telling the story of two families in Canada on different sides of a world wide conflict. One side is Japanese in Vancouver and instead of being interned decide to move to Alberta and work on farm for a family. The other is on the Eastern coast until one sun goes to Southeast Asia to fight and ends up in a POW camp. These two families end up connecting years later and their true stories and how their interweave is wonderful. I also love the parts that take place in Medicine Hat as it is a place that my husband and I love. (You can read his blog post all about it here)
7. Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood
   A few years ago I tried to read Lolita and couldn’t do it, mainly due to the fact that I couldn’t handle the narrator. This book is based on the real life story that inspired Nobokov to write that story and I found it so much better. Now it is still unsettling and horrible to read, but it is told from the perspective of the little girl and her family, and not from her abductor which I found a lot better. This book had me hooked and I really enjoyed reading it.
8. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Confession time, I actually read this book at the end of May, but after I had written my May post so I needed to put it into this post. “When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings.” This book made me think about a lot of things I don’t usually think about, especially as I am trying to only buy ethical clothing and has the most amazing voice throughout the story.

What have you been reading lately?

Reading Roundup:

• Books Read in 2018: 163
• Canadian Books: 7/12
• Diverse Books: 7/12
• Goodreads Challenge: 15/20