I have been so excited to utilize my library for myself, finally! As much as I love to peruse the shelves, if you’ve ever done that at a library with two kids, I wish you all the wine.
Me? No thanks.
I’ve been reaching out to my mamas and papas. My business owners. My advocates. My heart crushers. And I came up with my current reading list, just three books, to nail down before school’s back. Along with the hustle, bustle, and limited me-time.
The novel
Untethered from Julie Lawson Timmer, is about the loss beyond the loss, and the struggle of what truly forms a family. Char, “CC”, loses her husband Bradley, the father of her stepchild, 15 year old Allie, and she is forced to live in the moments of what if.
With the loss of Bradley, there is nothing tethering Allie to Char. On one Monday morning, she is happy and full, living a beautiful, mid-western life, and by the evening she is deflated and empty, and the thought that Allie is not her own is nearly as gut-wrenching as the loss of her husband. In the eyes of the law, all rights to daughter Allie belong to Lindy, Allie’s self-absorbed biological mother, who wants to move to her home in California.
Allie begins to struggle in school and tensions mount between her and Char, Allie’s connection to young Morgan, a ten-year-old-girl she tutors, seems to keep her grounded. But then Morgan, who was adopted out of foster care, suddenly disappears, and Char is left to wonder about a possible future without Allie and what to do about Morgan, a child caught up in a terrible crack in the system.
I am reading this all week on vacation, and hope to incorporate it into Book Club!
#bossbabe
How to’s are generally NOT my thing, but You are a Badass caught my eye for the title alone. I am working on a fall release of a two-week personal development group and I am super excited, but just because I am psyched to guide and teach, doesn’t mean my own learning is over. This book is going to help my own growth, and for that, I am so excited.
You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life sort of sums it all up. From New York Times Bestselling Author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, comes 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word. Helping you identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, blast past your fears so you can take big exciting risks, figure out how to make some damn money already, learn to love yourself and others, set big goals and reach them. Basically, Badass shows you how to create a life you totally love, and how to create it NOW.
By the end of You Are a Badass, you’ll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.
The advocate
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book that directly challenges the notion that the election of Barack Obama signals a new era of colorblindness. Legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control—relegating millions to a permanent second-class status—even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness. In the words of Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, this book is a “call to action.”
If this isn’t a time to be reading, becoming a better ally, and understanding the turmoil in the US, there never will be one. Although I am 14th on the waiting list at my library, I am patiently waiting until I can get my eyes, head, hands and heart on this book.
What are your reading list picks right now? Let me know in the comments!
An interesting reading list. If you like ‘You are a badass’ can I suggest a further title to you – ‘#GirlBoss’ which has given me inspiration to finally do what I always wanted to do and work towards being my own boss. It has great stories and sayings within it that will make you laugh out loud as well as leaving you to think about things for yourself.
Love that! I will definitely check it out! Thank you!
I actually don’t read, but my husband loves it. He reads at least 6 or 7 books a month!!
I miss reading when I don’t get a book in a month!
I loved You are a badass so great! You should check out Colleen Hoovers new book it comes out in a few weeks!
I definitely will, thanks!
This is a great list of back to school reading for Mom. I really want to make more time to read when the kids hit the back to school season, I miss reading on a regular!
Amen to that!
The New Jim Crow is a book that is definitely going on my reading tbr list. My list is so large that I don’t even know where to begin! I used to love going to the library–but don’t anymore-unless I am driving my Mom there-she still utilizes the library system. My most favorite place to go when I was a young child was the NYC Public Library—-and my local library of course. Even if you don’t take out books from the library—I hope all parents take their children-there are plenty of activities for them as well.
YES! The library is my favorite place to take the kids- they LOVE to check out new books and learn all about specific topics we’d never buy books on.
These are such good suggestions, and I think I’ll at least pick up Tethered. I could use a good novel for my upcoming air travel.
You will love it… it certainly pulls at the heartstrings.
I’m so glad that you had list, this is really useful to me.
Hope you find a book you like.
Oooo what a great list!!! I’m all about reading these days. Might just have to read a few of these
They aren’t all fun reads, but I think they’re all books everyone can learn from or enjoy!
You never cease to amaze me with your bold and beautiful reading choices. Reading is such a great gift and a way to expand our minds and hearts … and you always nail it. I just wish more folks would read too… <3
FYI: Check out Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Will do! Thank you for the suggestion.
I’m not sure that I will have much time for reading for leisure during back to school since I will be starting a new teaching position. I do love to read when I have the time to do so.
I hope you do find some time! Good luck at your new position!!