April Reads

I’m starting to make my summer reading list! I’m a big fan of ebooks (this is the kindle that I have, and I love it!), so I’m starting to load up my kindle with all the books I want to read when I’m on my traveling this summer.

If you’re searching for some good summer reads, I’ve got 7 of them here. I was a reading machine this month, mostly because I was playing a gig all month that had me in the car a lot. I’m so thankful for audiobooks!

This month I read more fiction than usual….I think it’s because I was listening to them instead of reading. It’s always easier for me to read nonfiction, and listen to fiction.

1. The little book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

The Little Book of Hygge actually made me excited about winter! “Hygge” (pronounced hoo-ge”) is a Danish state of being that can be a noun, a verb, or an adjective. It’s defined by certain things that are cozy, happy, friendly, and delicious. This sweet little book describes hygge, and then explains how it is probably one of the most important reasons why people in the Nordic countries are consistently ranked as some of the happiest people in the world….despite the fact that they have freezing cold weather and don’t get much sunlight!

I loved this book, and I’ll be reading it again just before Christmastime!

Did you read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? Well, I’m pretty sure that the publishers of The Little Book of Hygge saw the success in that and wanted to start a similar phenomenon. We’ll see if it takes off in the same way…

2. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

This is a book about old, buried lies in a family that has worked so hard to make everything appear pretty. I think this might be my favorite Joshilyn Jackson novel to date! It’s about a young woman, Laurel, who finds the dead body of her young neighbor in her swimming pool. Laurel needs to call her reckless and unpredictable sister, Thalia, to help with the situation, knowing fully well that calling her sister will also result in having to address some of the very things she’s worked so hard to hide.

I’ve read 5 of Joshilyn Jackson’s books, and I’ve loved them all! These are good books to enjoy as audiobooks because the author reads them. She has a background in theater, so she’s great at portraying the character. Plus, she has this subtle, adorable southern accent that matches the tone of her books perfectly.

3. Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Cutest book award! Dumplin’ is set in a small Texas town that revolves around two things: football, and the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant. Willowdean “Dumplin'” is a plus-size teenager whose mama is famous for winning the pageant decades ago. Fed up with her mom’s diets and her school mate’s mean nicknames for her, Willowdean decides to enter the pageant one summer….not because she has to make a point, but because she feels she shouldn’t have to make a point.

Of course, as is the case with small Texas towns and beauty pageants and overweight teenagers and summer love, a lot more unfolds. I won’t give it away. 🙂

Dumplin’ was refreshing to read! I fell in love with Willowdean.

4. Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle

I want everyone to read this book!! (Here’s the link – seriously, I can’t recommend it enough!)

Love Warrior is the memoir of Glennon Doyle. If you haven’t heard of her, she’s a speaker, author, and activist who founded the online community Momastery. Her story includes addictions and disease like bulimia, alcoholism, and struggling with mental health. She found out her husband had been cheating on her for their entire 11 year marriage. She’s now married to Olympic gold-medalist Abby Wambach.

So, it’s safe to say that her story is fascinating!

But there’s a much deeper meaning in this book than simply telling her story. Glennon fights for her belief that we must be honest and true and love the person we live our entire lives with: ourselves.

Please, go order this book!

5. The seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

I’m a little sad to have finished this book because it means there’s only one of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels left for me to read! I’ve read 4, and they’re all good. These are the perfect little books to read when you want something easy (kinda like chick lit) but with more depth. They’re definitely not all lighthearted, happy books with Disney endings. But her writing is so quick and easy and fun to read, and I’ve finished every book feeling like I truly know the characters.

Evelyn Hugo is a (fictional) iconic film star who rose to fame in the 1950s. In addition to her Oscar win for Best Actress and a long line of box office hits behind her, Evelyn Hugo is famous for having been married seven times…and outliving all of them.

Now, she contacts a young, no-name journalist in NYC and wants to give away all her secrets to be written in a biography, worth millions and millions of dollars. But why?? I guessed and I was completely wrong! But I couldn’t put this book down until I got to the very last page!

6. Unsubscribe by Jocelyn K. Glei

Unsubscribe: how to kill email anxiety, avoid distractions, and get real work done has been the most practical self-development book I’ve read lately. I’m putting a few of Jocelyn’s tips into practice, and in a few weeks I’ve already noticed more efficiency in how I handle my email inbox, and less guilt associated with it as well.

Last week, I wrote a blog post called “10 Little Ways I Find Rest,” and the first thing on my list is listening to Jocelyn’s podcast, Hurry Slowly. If you’ve listened to that podcast (or if you haven’t, but you’re interested in creating a calmer, more creative, and more productive lifestyle), this is a fantastic book to add to your list!

7. The Distance Between Us by kasie West

I accidentally read this book. I rarely read YA fiction, so let me tell you the story of how I read this:

My little sister, Kylee, and I are constantly swapping book recommendations. She’s a social worker, so she reads really good, hard, soul-searching books. I love almost everything that she tells me to read.

So she texted me and told me she’s reading “The Distance Between Us” and that I’d love it, so I immediately downloaded this one! And I listened to the entire audiobook this month, and I thought it was very cute! I didn’t quite understand why she was so excited about it, though…

And then when I was writing this post, I realized there’s another book with the same title, but it’s a memoir by Reyna Grande, a Mexican author who grew up in poverty and was left behind by her parents. She later illegally crossed the border as an undocumented child immigrant, and was eventually the first person in her family to earn a college degree.

I have not read that book yet…but I’ll be reading it next month. Ha!

Hope you find something here that strikes your fancy. Happy reading, friends!