Every month I try to read at least one book from the following categories: nonfiction, devotional, and fiction. And this year I’m participating in the 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge, so I’m also going to be listing which category my books fulfill. If you want to join in on the fun, you can check out the list of categories here! This is my June 2018 Reading List, my brief reviews and book recommendations for June 2018. Hopefully I’ll provide you with some inspiration for your future reading as well!

Books Finished:

Gods in Color: Polychromy in the Ancient World by Vinzenz Brinkmann, Renee Dreyfus, and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann

You can only purchase this book in hardcover, and it’s a large coffee-table sized book. The photographs are stunning. And it’s quite informative about the use of color in art throughout the ages and in different cultures. Spoiler alert: there was a lot more color than modern viewers would think from looking at plain white marble.

All in All Journaling Devotional: Loving God Wherever You Are by Sophie Hudson

I really enjoyed the format of this book with its short daily topics. The book is written geared toward young women, high school and college primarily, but there was still a lot that is applicable to adult women as well. This book was a nice change of pace from some of the other devotional or spiritual books that I’ve read recently.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

2018 PopSugar Challenge: a book with a time of day in the title

This book is so fantastic, with such weird people. I loved it! Seriously, if you’ve not read it, you should. It feels a bit like peering into the lives of interesting people and situations in Savannah, Georgia. And in the process, it feels as if you learn to understand the city a bit more.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

2018 PopSugar Challenge: an allegory

I listened to this on audio, and am glad that I did. It’s beautifully written, with short poetic chapters that tells a bit about the life of the author. I recommend this very highly, and absolutely recommend it on audio.

The Stargazing Companion by James K. Blum

I’m a tiny bit of an amateur astronomer, and found this gem in the Friends of the Library book sale. I found it interesting, but not over my head. A great little book for other wannabe astronomers.

Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom

I loved The Kitchen House, and after finishing it, immediately added Glory Over Everything to my TBR list. And this did not disappoint. The story follows African-Americans prior to the Emancipation, and is exciting and heartbreaking and heartwarming. Wonderful.

In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen

I picked this book up thinking it was simply historical fiction, which I love. But it was a mix of historical fiction and mystery, which made it more exciting. The mystery is examined from the perspectives of the different characters and their experiences and quite a page turner. If you want something a bit different from your normal historical fiction or mystery book, this is a great combination of the two.

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

This book is so, so good. It is a novel based on the true stories of one Jewish family trying to survive the Holocaust and find one another again. As the title implies, the family has an extraordinary level of luck. Read this book. You won’t be sorry.

The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepistall

My book club book for June, this novel is fun and funny, and a bit heartbreaking all at the same time. It is the story of a girl, Willow, and her mom, and old age, and cancer. It wasn’t anything at all that I expected, but was a great break from some of the more serious things I’ve been reading lately.

Books in Progress:

Twelve Women of the Bible by Lysa TerKeurst (My bible study just started working through this book and the associated videos)

Life by Keith Richards and James Fox

Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study Of The Years 1900-1925 by Vera Brittain

Mischling by Affinity Kovar

Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer by John Douglas and Johnny Dodd
2018 PopSugar Challenge: a book by two authors

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek (My overdrive checkout expired on this, so I’m waiting for my new hold to come up on it so that I can finish it.)

Books Abandoned:

None.