Read in July
For the month of July I wanted to be festive! I only read Red, White, or Blue books that take place in America! That did mean I had a WWII book (based in Europe) that I had to put on hold, but overall it was very easy and fun to stay in the Americana genre! I had a larger stack I could have chewed through but summertime is not my prime reading time!
Molly Saves the Day: A Summer Story by Valerie Tripp
5 Stars: Summer Camp was a different beast back in the 40’s! Read this to the girls right before my oldest ( age 6) went to her first Summer Day Camp. She did play capture the flag at her camp but “it was nothing at all like the way Molly played!” This book is a fun and interesting look into summer life for girls during WWII, and of course, we loved reading all the historical facts at the end. It is interesting to reflect on how childhood/ expectations/ camp life have changed over the years and also how some things never change like growing through overcoming fear and being brave. Very fun and perfect for July!
These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas
5 Stars: This book was nothing like what I was expecting and the storyline sucked me in quickly! With a unique yet historical perspective of life between the World Wars, Hedda, a German girl, tries to find closure on her fiancé’s disappearance in North Carolina during WWI. While seeking answers, the world is also changing around her and she may never be able to go home to Germany. This book is about resiliency, flexibility, friendship, new beginnings, and unexpected gifts throughout life’s journey. I so enjoyed Hedda and Garland and the whole cast of characters! A very interesting, mostly US based book to read this month! Also, it is clearly blue!
Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes
This is my second Amanda Dykes books and there is always so much going on in her writing! So many storylines that feel disjointed, you have no idea how the puzzle will fit together, and then suddenly all the pieces start clicking into place! I ended up listening to the audiobook for this one and it was a wonderful. I pick this book up because it is Colorado history (you know, mining towns) and it is so fun learning about those in the summer because we always camp around this kind of history! I was passing on tidbits of knowledge to my kids when hiked around old abandoned mines! This book carries heartache, misunderstandings, poor choices, great choices, grief, and joy! It can be a rollercoaster of emotions as you grieve for things that you chant change but root for the characters to find renewed purpose, hope, joy, and love. While the ending wraps things up, I could have continued to follow the story of Mercy Peak and it’s cast of colorful characters! What a journey!
Freedom’s Ring by Heidi Chiavaroli
3 Stars: I didn’t really like Annie or Liberty so it is hard to give this book a higher rating! While it was an interesting twist on a dual timeline patriotic story (pairing it with the bombing of the Boston Marathon), the historic timeline really carried the book. I wanted to give both Annie (modern timeline) and Liberty (historic timeline) more grace, but honestly they felt immature and annoying to me. If they were more likable, it would have been easier to root for them. While the historic timeline was much more interesting in my opinion, it also still wasn’t satisfying. I don’t love how she always loved two men – seriously I hate a love triangle. And I found it hard to sympathize with the poor choices she made (honestly same for Annie!) Alexander is the best character – the boys really help float this story. And lastly, it breaks my heart that the ring’s story didn’t get passed on and it was mostly lost in time – I guess I am grateful Brad and Annie did the work to uncover that.
Well we made it halfway. As of today we sit at 40/80 books. Will I reach my goal? Jury is still out, but I do have some catch up to do! You can check the status of my Goodreads report here. If you don’t already, follow me on Goodreads to see what I am reading, what I want to read, my favorite books, and every review I write! I also share all the books that I have rated 4 or 5 stars on my Amazon storefront AND here are my Monthly Book Review archives for all the books I’ve read this year and years before!! Always feel free to share recommendations with me – I am a big fan of word of mouth!