Book Review {May}

Last month was a good reading month for me.  I love reading and the best days are when I can spend a little time each day reading.  This month I read three great books and I can't wait to share them with you! 

You can read my other book reviews from this year here 

January

February

March

April 

My favorite book this month was The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay.  I read this book for my book club and it was so so good.   We had a great discussion of this book at our monthly book club meeting.  This book told the true story of 12 year old Gulwali who fled from Afghanistan at his mother's insistence  after his beloved father and grandfather were killed and 12 year old Gulwali was recruited by the Taliban.  His harrowing journey lasted a year and during that year he was at the mercy of his handlers who were helping him escape.  As a refugee he was passed from handler to handler and was treated horribly at times.  He was also imprisoned, and faced many days of having no access to food or water.  In the end he did make it to England and got asylum there.  He graduated from College, eventually reunited with his mother and even carried the Olympic torch in 2012!    This was a hard book to read and it's amazing to me that he survived all of the trauma he endured during his year of being a refugee.  It's so crazy to me that there are millions of people just like Gulwali who are refugees at this very moment.  It made me realize that the freedom, safety, security and comfort that I have always had is a big blessing.  

I also read The Paris Wife by Paula McClain.  This book was about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley.  Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding the couple moved to Paris, France where they fall in with a fun and lively friend group that includes lots of drinking, partying and affairs.  Ernest struggles to write and takes many unfulfilling day jobs until he can afford to write full time. Hadley struggles with Ernest and with being his wife.  In the end the pair divorce because Ernest falls in love with another woman.  

The last book I read this month was Present Over Perfect.  I had heard great things about this book and I was thrilled when I saw it on my library app.  I downloaded it and finished it in a few days.  In this book the author Shauna Niequist talks about how she was exhausted from trying to be all things to all the different people in her life.  She was tired of being tired all the time and she knew something needed to change. She started focusing on what matters most to her-her family and being present with them day to day.  I struggle daily with being so busy and trying to fit everything in and this book was a breath of fresh air.  I need to slow down and focus on what is important and this book really brought all of that into focus for me.

If you've read any good books lately.  I'd love to hear about them.  I am always looking for good books to read!

Happy Thursday!
xoxo