Aggie's Kitchen

Book Love: Wally Lamb, Bread & Wine and more Summer Reading

Add MediaSummerReading

I’m on a reading binge. I recently read this post and have since declared (quietly, to myself) that I was going to binge on reading this next month or two (aka summer break).
There could be worse things to binge on right?

Reading fills my happy tank. It relaxes me, takes me away from the daily grind for just few minutes, opens up my mind to someone else’s world, real or not. If you’ve been one who finds yourself saying you want to read more but don’t have the time to read, truth is you do have the time…but you may have to rearrange it a bit to squeeze in 10 or so minutes of reading. I loved reading the tips to help you read more shared on The Art of Simple’s post I mentioned above, and my big tip to add is to put your phone somewhere you can’t reach it. I don’t know how many times I check my phone “for the time” and find myself on FB and Pinterest for 20 minutes. You know how many pages I could have read in 20 minutes?? When you’re limited on time (especially during the summer with all the kids at home), 20 minutes of reading can feel like a vacation.

SummerReading

Here are a few books I’ve read recently, let me know in the comments if you’ve read any of them or are currently reading something great! (I’ve linked each book to the description on Goodreads)

The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard – I found this book while looking for a different book by the same author my friend recommended to me called Labor Day. It was the first I’ve read by this author and I really enjoyed it. Good summer read. I have to get my hands on Labor Day for summer.

We Are Water by Wally Lamb – If you like Wally Lamb I think you will find his newest novel interesting, it’s a big book so be forewarned. My friend Sheila read it for her book club and wrote more about it here.

I Forgot To Remember by Su Meck – I picked up this book after reading Kristen’s review on it (like I do many of my books!). It’s a memoir about a mom of two small children who suffered a head injury and literally lost her memory of … everything. EVERYTHING. What this woman lived through is pretty incredible, and makes you really think.

Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist – I’ve heard of this book from Sheila and Kim among other bloggers for months now and couldn’t wait to finally read it. This book was one of the most relaxing books I’ve read in a long time. A memoir, it’s written in short essays with recipes sprinkled among the chapters in relation to the story being told. A week after finishing Shauna’s book, I can tell you that I am finding myself still thinking about some of the stories and the food. I’ve actually started to slowly come out of my cooking funk inspired by a few recipes I found in this book. I’m recommending it to everyone who loves food and loves feeding people.

 

…and from my “summer stack” (shown above in first picture)

I’m currently reading The Orphan Choir but I have to be honest, I’m not loving it. I’m actually making the decision right now as I type to move along to the book I really want to read The Fault In Our Stars. This book has been on my library list forever it seems but I finally got impatient and just bought it instead this week. Apparently it’s a good cry (though I don’t tend to cry while reading, we’ll see…), can’t wait to dive in!

Hope you all are enjoying your summer!

 

Are you following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest? If you’d like to subscribe to Aggie’s Kitchen and have each post delivered straight to your e-mail box, then please add your email here. Happy cooking!

There are affiliate links in this post. I make small earnings through any purchases made through these links. Thank you for supporting Aggie’s Kitchen!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

12 comments on “Book Love: Wally Lamb, Bread & Wine and more Summer Reading”

  1. I have been reading a lot too! Can’t wait to check these out! I just finished The One & Only.

  2. Good for you, Aggie! You are right, there is time. I should do the same! Ditch cooking, cleaning, working, my phone, TV and read. Recently I feel overworked in all aspects of my life and it’s a race. I do love your outlook on life!

  3. Ah summer reads! I just said to Ken the other day I can’t wait till our anniversary vacation so we can just set and read together for days on end! I’m so glad he loves to read too! Thanks for sharing my reviews. xox Sheila

  4. Can’t wait to check out these books!

  5. I can’t tell you how excited I got when I saw that you did another book post! Yay! I will probably be adding many of these to my “to read” list. I LOVE having a good book to look forward to. Thanks, Aggie!

  6. oooh adding a few of these to my goodreads list! thanks for the rec (also recently read Bread & Wine and loved it!)

  7. I always love your book posts! I read Bread & Wine and loved it. There are a few recipes in there that I still make.
    I am headed to the beach for a week and plan on getting a lot of reading done! First up will be Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank. Recently, I read Sarah Jio’s Goodnight June, which I loved. Though I love all her books. Silver Star by Jeannette Walls was also good.

  8. I love to read as well. I am going to add these books to my TBR pile for the summer. Reading is my escape route.

  9. So weird. I just finished “We Are Water” this morning and started “The Fault in Our Stars” this afternoon. Great minds think alike?
    I really liked “We Are Water”, but I didn’t love it. I’m sure I’ll read his next novel, though.

    • that is funny! Great minds…

      I felt the same about We Are Water, it kept my interest but I didn’t “love” it. The subject matter got disturbing at times. I just went to see The Fault In Our Stars at the movies yesterday, it was a good movie. I enjoyed it.

  10. OK, I decided to get back to reading before the summer is over LOL. I took your recommendations, from the old posts too, and am going to a library today. I need to shut off my brain from work and kids ASAP.:) Hope you are having an amazeballs summer.:)

    • Yes! I always need to shut off my brain from work and kids and other things lol. Reading is definitely my escape from it all! You’ll have to let me know what books you end up reading. Hope you are well! 🙂