My book topics were all over the place in March – witches, labor and delivery, Jesus, interior decorating, with some fiction thrown in the mix! I still didn’t spend as much time reading as I would like to (darn social media!) but I’m getting there. Overall, it was a good book month and I have several recommendations for you.
Books I Read in March:
// The Nesting Place – A great book if you’re interior decorating challenged, like me. I really love Myquillyn’s writing style and her tips on creating a home with intention, but not with perfectionism in mind. I can also relate to her because she’s lived in (I think) 13 rental places and Tim and I have had quite a few of those over the years (and are still renting!), so it is inspiring for me to know that other renters are decorating their places and making a house feel like a home – no more excuses! This definitely isn’t just a how-to-decorate book, it reads more like a story/blog, but I liked that. I’ve now decided to decorate the nursery even though we may move before Baby Beni ever uses it, so you can say that this book worked it’s magic on me for sure.
// The Witches: Salem, 1692 – A while ago I read Cleopatra by this author, too, and both books are similar in style, although not in content. Basically, I’ve visited Salem a few times and love hearing about the Salem Witch Trials and all things in that time period. I just think it’s so interesting to hear about hysteria can lead people to do crazy things – such as be convinced of witch craft and then bring ‘witches’ to trial and ultimately sentence them to death. Unfortunately, there just aren’t historical records that say what was really happening in the minds of the victims and the accused, but if you want to read about the trials and learn more about who the witches were, this is a good read. (I will say, though, that there are a lot of people in this book and sometimes I got confused about who I was reading about. This book can be quite dense and I wouldn’t consider it an easy read.)
// The Love Song of Miss Queenie – I thought this book was okay. It was an easy read and there was some mystery to it (in terms of wondering when all of the puzzle pieces of the story were going to fit into place and we, as readers, would know the entire thing). I think I may have liked it more if I had read “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” first, but now I’m putting that one on my library hold list so we’ll see if that helps me like both of these stories more. Basically, I liked this book, but there are better reads out there.
// The Birth Partner – My new ‘must read’ for pregnant women. I had heard about this book when I was pregnant with Clara, but mistakenly thought it would be more beneficial for birth partners than the actual pregnant woman. I actually think it’s a must read for everyone who plans on being in that labor & delivery room, and it was a good way for me to brush up on some of my labor and delivery knowledge, since we aren’t taking a class this time around. Highly, highly recommended.
// Jesus Feminist – Jesus + Feminism… how would I not love this book, from just the title alone?! This book is easy to read and it brings up great points, but I wasn’t actually blown away by any one specific thing. I think it’s because I follow a few blogs (Sarah Bessey‘s, included) that cover some of these topics, so this book wasn’t very radical for me. I still highly recommend you read this if you consider yourself a feminist and a Christian (or I guess even if you don’t!) because I think it’s important to realize that women can be both feminist while still being Christian, a concept that many people seem to struggle with.
Have you read any of these books? Thoughts? What should I read in April?
