Hello! Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday. This is a time when I share something I'm thinking out loud about and invite you to link up and do the same. On the first Thursday of each month, I share what I read the month prior - so today I'm sharing what I read in June!
June was a great reading month for me! I read three books that I loved and one I can't stop recommending to anyone who will listen. Let's jump in ~
When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon and others
This was our library book club selection this month and I was excited to read it because of one of the authors - Ariel Lawhon. Ariel wrote Frozen River, which I absolutely loved! When We Had Wings was also very good and kept my attention. If you are wondering, everyone in the book club liked it also! Bonus: if you have Kindle Unlimited, this book is free. Here's the summary ~
The Philippines, 1941. When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S. Army nurse Penny Franklin, and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army Navy Club in Manila, they believe they’re living a paradise assignment. All three are seeking a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty and promise of their surroundings give way to the heavy mantle of war.
Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the U.S. military and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of the Philippine Islands, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and, ultimately, endure captivity as the first female prisoners of the Second World War. As their resiliency is tested in the face of squalid living arrangements, food shortages, and the enemy's blatant disregard for the articles of the Geneva Convention, the women strive to keep their hope— and their fellow inmates—alive, though not without great cost.
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
I listend to this one on audio, and it easily earned a spot among my favorites books of the year. If Kathryn Stockett's name sounds familiar, it's because she's also the talented dautor of one ofmy all-time favorites, The Help. The audiobook narration was absolutely wonderful and made the story even more enjoyable. I found myself looking for excuses to keep listening! This is one of those books that stays with you long after it's over, and I've been recommending it to just about everyone I know.
Oxford, Mississippi, 1933.
Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed.
Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister’s seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies.
Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates—and Meg’s—converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives. But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women’s freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences.
The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer—an epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious—the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.
Culpability dives into the rapidly evolving world of AI in a way that's both fascinating and thought-provoking. It raises some intriguing questions about technology, responsibility, and the choices we make. I never knew where the story was headed, and I loved all the twists and turns along the way. It's one of those books that keeps you guessing long after you think you've figured it out!
When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Yet each family member harbors a secret, implicating them all in the tragic accident.
During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.
Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.
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