Books I'm Reading, Launching & Savoring
What It's Like These Days
Books I’m Launching
You remember that “book cover reveal” I promised? It turns out that the book “The Courage to Raise: The Heart of Parenting a Child with Special Needs” is ready earlier than I thought it would be.
This book is full of heartwarming stories from families facing surprising medical needs due to having children who were either born with disabilities or developed symptoms-to-be-uncovered as they grew up.
My own story kicks off the book with one of our kids’ medical diagnoses that took a few years to discover. What I love most about the book is that it’s not a downer. Sometimes, prescriptive books can be one of the following: A) boring or B) downright depressing.
Nobody needs any more darkness in their lives, amiright?
This book tells stories of courage, creativity, compassion, joy, hope, and freedom. Even if you don’t have a child who is facing a medical challenge, it’s an inspirational tale of how families learned about themselves and God because of the journey they’ve been walking.
I’m biased, but check it out and grab a copy for a friend!
Books I’m Reading
I’ve already posted about this one on my Instagram account, but in case you missed it, go get this book!
Colleen Oakley’s “Jane and Dan at the End of the World” is a fun, spunky, heartfelt exploration of how we all question our life decisions at some point or another (but fortunately, not many of us are held hostage in a restaurant while we’re rehashing our life choices!).
What I love about this one (although all of Oakley’s titles are lovely little twists of delight) is its storytelling structure. I’m a sucker for a book that goes back and forth between today and what once was. In this story, we get to see the right-now whodoneit through the lens of a couple and their marital deterioration, plus the questionable choices made by one of their kids.
Anyone who has ever been married or has a child will feel so seen when you read this. (And you’ll laugh!!)
I’m rounding the 30-pages-til-the-end mark, and I’ve been treasuring the way this book has made me think even while it’s light and entertaining.
Books I’m Savoring
I started listening to Ann Patchett’s “Tom Lake” at the beginning of the year when my schedule was insanity defined. I’m not one of those people who can do household chores while listening to fiction audiobooks, and I’m very rarely alone in the car. So my No. 1 audiobook listening time is while I walk.
This summer, I’m getting back to this story within a story (again, love a good double-story/backstory).
It’s great for a lazy summer day because you get so invested in these characters’ lives and then recognize your own propensity toward one of them at some point along the way.
One of the other reasons this has been a “savoring” book for me is that my own kids are teens, one of whom is just a year away from official adulthood. They were recently shocked to learn I dated people before their dad and even had marriage offers before his!
So, the fact that this mom is telling her grown daughters about how she met her dad (and another first love) feels timely. It never occurred to me how much my life begins with my kids’ lives (in their eyes). It also never occurred to me how having kids really does divide our lives into ‘before-kids’ and ‘after-kids,’ and how we reconcile the two is such a personal, slow-developing path of discovery as we head into our later adult years. (My younger teen just told me that “30 is the ‘the new old,’ Mom,” and yet our older teen disagreed — way to score Mom points!)
Emily P. Freeman’s post about books she’s reading in the summer inspired this post (and a book that’s launching a couple of weeks earlier than I thought it would!), so give her essay a quick read.
We’re traveling next week, so you might hear from me again but it’ll be super short if you do!
In the meantime, follow me on Instagram to stay on top of all the book launch details (Charlotte, Atlanta, we’re coming for ya!) and track our travels. The older my kids get, the shorter our summers get. (How is that possible?!)