Penny's Passion: What I Read in July

Happy August! Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday where I share something I'm thinking out loud about and invite you to link up and do the same. Today I'm reflecting on the books I read in July.

In July I discovered Colleen Hoover. I honestly don't know how this author never made my reading list before now. I read two of her books last month and can't wait to read more! The first one was Reminders of Him. It's free if you have Kindle Unlimited, but even if I would have paid for it the book would have been worth it. I had a hard time putting this one down! Warning: there are a couple very steamy parts, so heads up if that's not your thing. Here's the summary from Amazon ~

After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.

The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.

The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.

The second Colleen Hoover book was Regretting You. This one was free with Kindle Unlimited too! Again, this book held my interest and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Here's the summary ~

Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris―Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.

While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.

Our library book club selection this month was The Hilarious World of Depression by John Moe. I say this all the time, I love being in book clubs because it forces me to read books I typically wouldn't have even picked up. This is one of those books. It was an interesting take on depression and how people inflicted with this disease see things. John Moe had a podcast talking about this same subject so you might have heard of him. Here's the book summary ~

For years John Moe, critically acclaimed public radio personality and host of The Hilarious World of Depression podcast, struggled with depression; it plagued his family and claimed the life of his brother in 2007. As Moe came to terms with his own illness, he began to see similar patterns of behavior and coping mechanisms surfacing in conversations with others, including high-profile comedians who’d struggled with the disease. Moe saw that there was tremendous comfort and community in open dialogue about these shared experiences and that humor had a unique power. Thus was born the podcast The Hilarious World of Depression.

Inspired by the immediate success of the podcast, Moe has written a remarkable investigation of the disease, part memoir of his own journey, part treasure trove of laugh-out-loud stories and insights drawn from years of interviews with some of the most brilliant minds facing similar challenges. Throughout the course of this powerful narrative, depression’s universal themes come to light, among them, struggles with identity, lack of understanding of the symptoms, the challenges of work-life, self-medicating, the fallout of the disease in the lives of our loved ones, the tragedy of suicide, and the hereditary aspects of the disease.

The Hilarious World of Depression illuminates depression in an entirely fresh and inspiring way.

This program features podcast interviews with Maria Bamford, Guy Branum, Neal Brennan, Dick Cavett, Margaret Cho, Ana Marie Cox, Whitney Cummings, Mike Drucker, Solomon Georgio, Chris Gethard, John Green, Gary Gulman, Hannah Hart, Jenny Jaffe, Jen Kirkman, Jenny Lawson, Aimee Mann, Rhett Miller, Reggie Osse, Kryssy Pease, Andy Richter, Peter Sagal, Scott Thompson, Paul F. Tompkins, Jeff Tweedy, Baron Vaughn, Wil Wheaton and Mara Wilson.

Lastly, I listened to Mitch Albom's The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. Mitch Albom's books always make me reflect on my life and this book was no exception. Many musicians are woven into the story, which made it fun to read.

Narrated by the voice of Music itself, the story follows Frankie Presto, a war orphan born in a burning church, through his extraordinary journey around the world. Raised by a blind guitar teacher in Spain and gifted with a talent to change people’s lives—using six mysterious blue strings—Frankie navigates the musical landscape of the twentieth century, from the 1950s jazz scene to the Grand Ole Opry to Elvis mania and Woodstock, all the while searching for his childhood love.

As he becomes a famous star, he loses his way, until tragedy steals his ability to play the guitar that had so defined him. Overwhelmed by his loss, Frankie disappears for decades, reemerging late in life for one spectacular yet mystifying farewell.

Part love story, part magical mystery, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is Mitch Albom at his finest, a Forrest Gump-like epic about one man’s journey to discover what truly matters and the power of talent to change our lives.