june: 27, 28 & 29

my mom reminded me that we're at the halfway point of the year - 26 weeks in, and i've read 29 books this year.  this puts me on track to have a great year of reading - 58 books if the pace continues.  who knows what the second half of the year will bring, honestly, so we'll see!

the happiness hypothesis, by jonathan haidt (i went to a conference where this author spoke, and i was drawn to this book of his on what makes people happy.  i definitely folded down several pages as i was reading, and the philosophy of happiness is pretty interesting stuff.  if the topic sounds interesting to you, this book is worth a read!)

'round midnight, by laura mcbride (man, sometimes the second book you read by an author isn't as good as you wanted it to be - and this book falls into that category.  i think that's a theme of my reading this year!  i loved we are called to rise, and this book was good and kept me interested, but i won't be rushing out to recommend it to everyone.  it's the story of four women and how their stories intersect (you know i love that in a book! but perhaps because i love that in a book i'm critical of books that don't do it as well as some others do).  i also discovered that they changed the title of this book when it was published in paperback - in the midnight room is the other title.  honestly, neither title is great.  the midnight room isn't crucial to the plot.  anyway: this book was fine and will keep you entertained if you pick it up.)

how to be an antiracist, by ibram x. kendi (like all good white liberals, i picked up this book in june - i listened to the audiobook over the past few weeks.  the author reads it (which i always like), and this did a lot to further me on my journey.  i have the physical book coming in the mail, but it's backordered, and i do expect to read it again when it arrives - probably more carefully, with annotations.  the audiobook got me through the important concepts, but a lot of what he says requires some more thought.  i'll also say: if someone had told me in advance that this is part memoir, i would have read it sooner.  i love a memoir, and i found kendi's story very powerful.  if you read this, the interview he does on brene brown's podcast is also worth a listen.  definitely recommend!)