June Book List

Life on the Edge by Jennifer Comeaux
An enjoyable e-novel about a pairs figure skater, Emily, who falls in love with her coach on her way to Olympic gold. I'll read anything about figure skating (or ballet), and I loved the insider snippets of skater life that held equal weight with the love story. It's refreshing to see a Christian main character who stands her moral ground, but is also multi-dimensional and likable.

Ruby Slippers: How The Soul of a Woman Brings Her Home by Jonalyn Fincher
This book blew my mind in the best of ways. Jonalyn Fincher makes a case that femininity is embedded in women's very souls. Through scientific, philosophical, and theological research, she identifies traits that are common to women, while warning against using those traits as scorecards. She unpacks Eve, how the Fall affected woman's nature, and how Jesus wants to heal and redeem our womanhood. She boldly calls out our secret shames (some of which I've never heard addressed in a book or sermon), while affirming that they don't define us. And throughout, she emphasizes that women are independently made in God's image - not God's afterthought, with her worth tied to man, but His whole and separate creation to reflect His image in a distinct way. This will be one of the main texts if I ever run a seminar or discussion group on Christian womanhood.

The Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L'Engle
The second of Madeleine L'Engle's Crosswicks memoirs tells the story of her last summer with her mother, who is dying of what she calls atherosclerosis, but I think is actually Alzheimer's. To combat her mother's loss of memory and awareness, L'Engle recounts her own memories of her mother and what she knows about her early life and family background. In between the flashbacks, she reflects on her struggle to deal with her mother's decline. It's a sad book, but profound as always, and the family history is fascinating. L'Engle's maternal ancestors were from the Jacksonville area, and she shares firsthand accounts of the Jacksonville fire of 1901 and other North Florida history.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel, but I was pleasantly surprised. Lena lives in a dystopian USA ruled by logic and control, where all 18-year-olds receive a brain surgery that removes their emotions, making them unable to love. Lena starts out a model citizen who looks forward to the promise of a peaceful, content life. But just a few months before her procedure, she meets a mysterious boy, Alex - and "becomes infected" with the "sickness" of love. Alex tells her about the Wilds, where people live free, and helps her uncover some shocking realizations about her mother, who supposedly killed herself when Lena was a child. I literally could not put the Kindle down while reading this - I walked around doing things one-handed. Sign me up for book 2.

For Darkness Shows The Stars by Diana Peterfreund
I've been looking forward to this "post-apocalyptic Persuasion" since the first time I heard about it! Several generations after the Reduction, the genetic crisis that led to near-total destruction, Elliot North is struggling to keep her family's estate going. She's also fighting to protect her Reduced and "Posts" (healthy, normal children of the Reduced), who are basically slaves, from her callous father. Most of all, she mourns the loss of her Post childhood sweetheart, Kai, with whom she refused to run away four years ago. But when Kai returns as Malakai Wentforth, a prosperous captain of a Post Fleet, and brings all kinds of new ideas with him, everything changes. It's hard to sum up this story because it encompasses so much. It's a hybrid of historical and sci-fi that never feels false or unbelievable. I loved it and found Elliot's strength so inspiring!

Hatteras Girl by Alice Wisler
All Jackie wants in life is to find a good man, and to own the bed and breakfast that she grew up loving in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This novel is about her unexpected, bumpy route to both of those dreams. It's a sweet story, but a few serious plotlines such as her best friend's widowhood keep it from being annoyingly fluffy. Jackie's boisterous family, friends, and co-workers also make a great supporting cast. This would be a cute movie a la Sweet Home Alabama.

Books for June: 6
2012 year to date: 34