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June 2018 Reading List

08.14.2018 by Tana Henry //

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.

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Categories // What I Read Tags // Affinity Kovar, All in All, Brown Girl Dreaming, Georgia Hunter, Glory Over Everything, Gods in Color, In Farleigh Field, Inside the Mind of BTK, Jacqueline Woodson, James Fox, James K. Blum, John Berendt, John Douglas, Johnny Dodd, Kathleen Grissom, Kathy Hepinstall, Keith Richards, Leaders Eat Last, Life, Lysa Terkeurst, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Mischling, Renee Dreyfus, Rhys Bowen, Simon Sinek, Sophie Hudson, Testament of Youth, The Book of Polly, The Stargazing Companion, Twelve Women of the Bible, Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann, Vera Brittain, Vinzenz Brinkmann, We Were the Lucky Ones

The Book of Polly Book Club Questions

07.10.2018 by Tana Henry //

The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall

The Book of Polly Book Club Questions

Did you read all of the book? Part of it? Or none of it?

Do you think Polly is a good mother? Why or why not? Should Polly be judged by the modern standards of parenting? Why or why not? What effect does Polly’s age at the time of Willow’s birth have on her parenting? What effect does the Captain’s death have on Polly’s parenting of Willow?

Polly hates varmints, and yet she nurtures Elmer, the baby squirrel, in secret. Why does she do it in secret? And what does this say about who she really is?

What do you make of Willow’s relationships with her siblings?

Dalton is Willow’s childhood best friend who becomes her boyfriend when they grow older. What do you think is special about these kinds of changing relationships? Did any of you marry your childhood/high school sweetheart?

There seems to be a lot of drama around Polly’s cooking—for example, Thanksgiving dinner or the time she invited the neighbors over to discuss the fence. Have you ever had a dinner party go horribly wrong? What is it about food that adds humor to a dark situation?

Polly and her neighbor have a contentious relationship, but after the night he dies she admits in a weak moment that she “kind of liked the old bastard.” Do you think she softened in her view of him after his death? Or that she was secretly fond of him during life? Or is this simply an example of our desire to never speak ill of the dead?

What did you make of the dramatic change of the neighbor’s wife after the dinner party?

Was Polly right to shield Willow from her personal history? When is the appropriate time to share certain details about your life and your health with your family? Can you think of examples where your parents have shared stories of their lives after you’re an adult? Or examples where you’ve shared these kinds of stories with your children?

What do you think is the significance of Polly using the term ‘the Bear’ to refer to her cancer? In what ways does superstition play a role in the novel? Can superstition be a good thing as well as a bad thing? What is the significance of the analogy of ‘the Bear’?

It seems that the book is all about the theme of rescue. Can you think of examples of this theme throughout? (i.e. Willow attempting to rescue Polly from the Bear, Phoenix and Shel’s rescue of Willow and Polly on the raft, Polly rescuing Elmer, etc.) Why do you think that this is a theme used by the author?

In some ways, Phoenix seems to be an almost saint like, protective presence around Willow and Polly. What do you think of his thematic role? How does his involvement affect the dynamics of the family?

What do you think happened after the book ended?

Who would you cast in a movie of this movie for Polly? For Willow? For the other characters?

 

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Categories // Book Club Questions Tags // book club, book club discussion guides, book club questions, discussion guide, discussion guides, Kathy Hepinstall, The Book of Polly

My name is Tana, and I am an attorney in South-Central Nebraska. I'm married to a great guy, named Mike, and have a dog named Emmy and a cat named Scout. I read as much as possible, and travel any chance I get. Luggage and Literature chronicles both. I hope you enjoy looking around! Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

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